Estudio empírico sobre el estado y tendencias de la responsabilidad social corporativa en Ecuador mediante el análisis de caso: del Cantón de Loja

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Ecuador is a new concept applied in national companies; however it is an issue that in recent years has gained prominence and established itself as a trend of business management.
That is why; a case study was conducted in Loja city, this study was rough and experimental; the aim of it was to analyze the current situation regarding the implementation of CSR practices in the three sectors of the economy. For carrying out the study a survey was applied to a sample of 222 companies, the sample was calculated by the method of simple random sampling. The used instrument was a questionnaire designed by ETHOS Institute of Brazil; it was implemented and validated by the Association of Christian Businesses (ADEC) of Paraguay, for this study it was adjusted to the characteristics of the research.
Also for the research secondary information was used, it was taken of Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos de Ecuador (INEC) (2013), and it shows that in Loja were 18.025 active companies. The largest sector is the tertiary, with 15.604 companies; the secondary sector with 1.500; and the primary sector with 921. Together the three sectors reached a sales level of about 1,034 million; the tertiary sector contributed 92% of total sales, with 6% secondary and primary with 2%. Similarly, the three sectors employed 48.061 workers of which 54% were men and 46% women. To achieve the objectives of this research, indicators were analyzed for each stakeholder and they were evaluated according to the fulfillment of the CSR practices. The results show that, in relation to ethical commitment indicator, the three sectors have an application of the 70% of practices; related to dialogue and engagement with stakeholders indicator the primary sector shows a 90% of application and, in general, in the twenty three indicators studied it was observed that the primary sector is the one that applies in a greatest way the different CSR practices, and the tertiary sector the lowest one. From the regression analysis it was found that the variables size, age and industry are not determining factors in implementing CSR practices.