Is enganging in corporate social responsability enough?

: what could companies do in order to increase the shared value transmitted to stakeholders? : the EDP Case

Abstract

The main aim of this dissertation paper is to study how can companies create Shared Value (CSV) to a given community, by engaging in Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The problem statement relies on questioning if CSR is the best solution to provide CSV or if there must be something else a company must do, namely, create a special segment in order to address this subject matter. In order to comply with the objective of explaining the problem statement, a study case was built with EDP Group, the leader in the energy sector in Portugal, as well as its Foundation; EDP Foundation, leader in the tertiary sector in the same country. The case study is important to analyze if the companies which address CSR are delivering the shared value desired by society, or if it would be better for them to address CSR by the means of a Foundation, or a different entity, that deals solely with the tertiary sector. The structure of this dissertation consists in five main chapters: (1) Introduction, referring to aim, scope and methodology that will be used in the dissertation paper; (2) Literature Review, addressing the academic background for CSR, Strategic CSR and CSV; (3) Case Study, presenting EDP Group and EDP Foundation; (4) Teaching Notes, discussing the case study while implementing theory to the given questions, as well as providing the guidance Professors will need to conduct the study case to students; (5) Conclusions, Limitations and Future Research, that mainly discusses the relevance of taking a strategic and shared value approach to CSR.

Date of Award	2013
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Susana Frazão Ferreira Fernandes Pinheiro (Supervisor)