Sobre el concepto de responsabilidad social de las empresas. Un análisis europeo comparado

Abstract

The RSE concept is in its origin “vague” and it is linked to the worry of the enterprise leaders by the consequences of the activity of the company in the social and environmental scopes, without forgetting the interests of the shareholders and of those for which the company offers goods or services. The first environmental preoccupations can be detected around the eighties of the past century and, in the nineties, the sustainable development, the social dialogue and the good management are included into the contents of the RSE. Since then the necessity to avoid damages to the reputation of the company or the defence of their competitive position has been identified as frequent triggers for the implantation of RSE policies, which in Europe must go beyond the mere fulfilment of the legislation. In the beginning of the new century “ethical codes” and “codes of conduct” proliferate. They are the instruments in which the RSE policies are shaped, and sometimes are negotiated with representatives of the workers and in other occasions they have a unilateral enterprise origin.