Calçar a sustentabilidade

: uma visão sobre a responsabilidade social na indústria de calçaco em Portugal

Abstract

As a result of pressure from the international market, customers and the companies they supply, organizations are increasingly encouraged to integrate Social Responsibility (SR) practices into their strategy. However, integration is not always effective. This study aims to understand how companies in the footwear sector in Portugal practice and communicate Social Responsibility and what their perception of its value is. To this end, 3 companies in the sector were analyzed. In order to obtain a more general view, the study included a view of the Portuguese Footwear Technology Center. The main objectives of the study were to find out about the social practices developed by the companies, to understand whether there was uniformity between the practices of the Portuguese companies and their main headquarters, to compare the practices of the different companies and to understand the nature of the actions, whether strategic or normative. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to gather information and compare it with the material already collected. The results show that despite external pressures, this is still a little explored topic in the sector. The actions are mostly internal, focused on labor issues and the well-being of employees. The community is only slightly influenced by the actions and when it comes to social actions, there is even less attention. Communication of actions is practically non-existent, and the value of SR is still very much linked to legal requirements and business partners. CSR is not yet fully integrated into the culture of the companies analyzed, highlighting the need for awareness, structuring and planning in the sector.

Date of Award	20 Oct 2025
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Ribeiro (Supervisor)