Classifying sustainability actions: a content analysis of leaders’ interviews

Abstract

This research aims to determine whether companies that present themselves as having social and environmental attitudes do it for law requirements, or by being proactive. Thus, this study identifies and classifies attitudes of sustainability in the various categories and constituent dimensions of corporate social responsibility. The approach adopted considers the information coming from the leaders of the organizations studied. The methodology utilized was the content analysis of interviews of the Exame Magazine Sustainability Annuals, being a descriptive research, based on literature review. For the set of categories of analysis and context, it was used the performance indicators of sustainability, developed by the NGO Global Reporting Initiative. According to the proposed goals, attitudes have been cataloged, observing a high concentration in only a few issues of corporate social responsibility. It was found that most of these companies are acting proactively to the benefit of humanity and nature, making more than the minimum to avoid penalties.