IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/srjpps/v6y2010i2p237-251.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social dimension of sustainability in retail: case studies of small and medium Brazilian supermarkets

Author

Listed:
  • Fábio Marques
  • Paulo Sérgio Miranda Mendonça
  • Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour

Abstract

Purpose - The concept of sustainability is often viewed by organizational leaders as being abstract and difficult to apply in organizational reality. It is thus necessary to conduct more focused research to develop specific dimensions of the sustainability concept. In this context, the objective of this work is to analyze the social dimension of sustainability among supermarkets in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a literature review and the development of a framework of social business variables, the study examined which practices small and medium Brazilian supermarkets have adopted to promote the social dimension of sustainability. These companies were examined with the goal of relating the actions of each organization to their social performance. Findings - The study found that the Brazilian supermarkets in the sample group practise social responsibility focused on strict regulations and labor laws; these practices conformed with existing legislation but did not address the development of broader actions or social projects. The results show continuities and discontinuities in the adoption of social practices among organizations in order to meet the requirements of labor legislation. The authors found a lack of social projects and greater integration into the community in which each supermarket operates. Originality/value - The study contributes to research on social responsibility in retail, with a specifically Brazilian focus.

Suggested Citation

  • Fábio Marques & Paulo Sérgio Miranda Mendonça & Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour, 2010. "Social dimension of sustainability in retail: case studies of small and medium Brazilian supermarkets," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(2), pages 237-251, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:srjpps:v:6:y:2010:i:2:p:237-251
    DOI: 10.1108/17471111011051748
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17471111011051748/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17471111011051748/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/17471111011051748?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. Cunningham, 1997. "Case study principles for different types of cases," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 401-423, November.
    2. Katherine Trebeck, 2008. "Exploring the responsiveness of companies: corporate social responsibility to stakeholders," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(3), pages 349-365, August.
    3. Sanjay Sharma & Audun Ruud, 2003. "On the path to sustainability: integrating social dimensions into the research and practice of environmental management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 205-214, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dubey, Rameshwar & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Childe, Stephen J. & Papadopoulos, Thanos & Luo, Zongwei & Wamba, Samuel Fosso & Roubaud, David, 2019. "Can big data and predictive analytics improve social and environmental sustainability?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 534-545.
    2. Andreas Moursellas & Debashree De & Thomas Wurzer & Antonios Skouloudis & Gerald Reiner & Atanu Chaudhuri & Theodoros Manousidis & Chrisovalantis Malesios & Konstantinos Evangelinos & Prasanta Kumar D, 2023. "Sustainability Practices and Performance in European Small-and-Medium Enterprises: Insights from Multiple Case Studies," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    3. Reginald Masocha & Olawale Fatoki, 2018. "The Role of Mimicry Isomorphism in Sustainable Development Operationalisation by SMEs in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Reginald Masocha & Olawale Fatoki, 2018. "The Impact of Coercive Pressures on Sustainability Practices of Small Businesses in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-14, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bossink, Bart A.G., 2004. "Effectiveness of Innovation Leadership Styles: A Manager’s Influence on Ecological Innovation in Construction Projects," Serie Research Memoranda 0027, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    2. Tiago Francisco Camargo & Antonio Zanin & Sady Mazzioni & Geovanne Dias Moura & Paulo Sérgio Lima Pereira Afonso, 2018. "Sustainability indicators in the swine industry of the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 65-81, December.
    3. Robin Hogrefe & Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, 2023. "The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    4. Zhong Wang & Rui Xu, 2022. "Price Controls and Platform Ecosystem: A Comparative Analysis of Parking Applications between Beijing and London," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Laura Maria Ferri & Nelly Oelze & André Habisch & Mario Molteni, 2016. "Implementation of responsible Procurement Management: An Institutional Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 261-276, May.
    6. Yongjian Li & Qianzhou Deng & Chi Zhou & Lipan Feng, 2020. "Environmental governance strategies in a two-echelon supply chain with tax and subsidy interactions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 290(1), pages 439-462, July.
    7. Simona-Roxana ULMAN, 2018. "Study on general awareness regarding the problem of environmental degradation," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, April.
    8. Joern H. Block & Marcus Wagner, 2014. "The Effect of Family Ownership on Different Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Large US Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(7), pages 475-492, November.
    9. Bossink, B.A.G., 2003. "Coinnovation research : manual for experiential research into organizational coinnovation," Serie Research Memoranda 0016, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    10. Nelson Oliveira Stefanelli & Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour & Lara Bartocci Liboni Amui & Jorge Henrique Caldeira de Oliveira & Hengky Latan & Pascal Paillé & Martin Hingley, 2021. "Unleashing proactive low‐carbon strategies through behavioral factors in biodiversity‐intensive sustainable supply chains: Mixed methodology," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2535-2555, July.
    11. Muñoz, Pablo & Dimov, Dimo, 2015. "The call of the whole in understanding the development of sustainable ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 632-654.
    12. Md. Rayhan Sarker & Md. Abdul Moktadir & Ernesto D. R. Santibanez-Gonzalez, 2021. "Social Sustainability Challenges Towards Flexible Supply Chain Management: Post-COVID-19 Perspective," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 22(2), pages 199-218, December.
    13. Bossink, B.A.G., 2002. "Innovative quality management practices in the Dutch construction industry," Serie Research Memoranda 0021, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    14. Bossink, B.A.G. & Blauw, Jan-Nico, 2003. "Strategic ambitions as drivers of improvement at Daimler Chrysler," Serie Research Memoranda 0002, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    15. Angeloantonio Russo & Rosamartina Schena, 2021. "Ambidexterity in the context of SME alliances: Does sustainability have a role?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 606-615, March.
    16. Tarja Ketola, 2007. "Ten years later: where is our common future now?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 171-189, March.
    17. Anja Schaefer, 2004. "Corporate sustainability – integrating environmental and social concerns?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 179-187, December.
    18. Antony Paulraj, 2009. "Environmental motivations: a classification scheme and its impact on environmental strategies and practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 453-468, November.
    19. Markus Beckmann & Stefan Hielscher & Ingo Pies, 2014. "Commitment Strategies for Sustainability: How Business Firms Can Transform Trade‐Offs Into Win–Win Outcomes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 18-37, January.
    20. Olaf Weber, 2005. "Sustainability benchmarking of European banks and financial service organizations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), pages 73-87, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:srjpps:v:6:y:2010:i:2:p:237-251. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.