Corporate social responsibility in the perspective of Brazilian management students: the inversion of the pyramid

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the viewpoint of undergraduate Management students at a Brazilian public university regarding the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It theoretically articulates the notion of CSR and the formal education perspective to discuss managerial education. Design/methodology/approach Stude nts in the Management program were surveyed for their opinion on the notion of CSR. Data were collected through triangulation by combining the application of questionnaire and documentary research. There were 241 valid questionnaires, and this is the size of the sample. Data were analyzed by using the SPSS software (version 20), descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. Findings Results reveal that, for undergraduate Management students, the most important CSR dimensions are, in hierarchical order, the philanthropic, the ethical, the legal and the economic. Thus, one can notice an inversion of the original CSR pyramid proposed by Carroll (1991). Research limitations/implications The main limitation is the conduction of research in the context of a single public university. Practical implications Results indicate a change in how CSR is understood, the philanthropic dimension becoming the main factor for the establishment of organizational goals. Social implications Considering that undergraduate Management students are the future members of the corporate world and decision-makers in society, these results indicate the stance these future professionals will take when confronted by dilemmas involving CSR. Originality/value This investigation is original in Brazilian context, for it identifies students’ opinion on CSR using a questionnaire whose development was based on the CSR pyramid.