The Corporate Social Responsibility: a Case Study

This work aims at demonstrating how the integration of the social responsibility in corporate strategy is a factor of competitiveness in the market, achieved through the full involvement of all stakeholders. The corporate social responsibility issue, still very controversial and difficult to univocally define, has been, in the latest years, of a fundamental importance in the business management models, leading to changes in the corporate mission itself. A prime example of this is found in the world’s leading furnishing company IKEA. Widely regarded as one of excellence in the field of social and environmental responsibility, IKEA aims at making sustainable development one of the business values. The business case proves that a balance between the profit achievement and a socially responsible behaviour is not only possible, but it is transformed into a real winning strategy as regards the obtaining of a competitive advantage on the competitors. JEL classification numbers: D21, O13, D23