5.1 Introduction

Despite the proliferation of countless initiatives developed by various agencies and organizations, the social responsibility management tools that contribute and seek to cover the classic pillars of sustainable development – the so-called triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental) – are structured so as to develop an approach through engagement of stakeholders, including shareholders, workforce (own and outsourced employees), clients, suppliers, partners, community, environment, among others.

The main difference among the management tools presented refers to the level of compliance, commitment and depth of organizations (of all sectors) in relation to sustainability. Although these tools have the same objective of advancing in the theme, their application processes are quite different, especially in the degree of completeness and complexity used in addressing the theme.

Some tools are very accessible and easy to use, allowing adjustments on the part of organizations that adopt them, depending on its objectives and particular characteristics. A simple questionnaire or educational guide, for instance, can be an information tool that does not seek to change the organization’s management style immediately, but is part of a policy that aims to raise awareness about the theme and is, therefore, a “fist step”. The questionnaire-based approach seeks to:

• help the organization to create awareness, by making “good’ questions;
• visualize its status regarding the different phases of sustainable development, identifying its gaps and strengths;
• become a framework for several internal and external monitoring operations, and develop a database to diffuse its practices and inform the media.

The educational guides that accompany the questionnaires are tools characterized by a self-learning structure of sustainability practices and indicators. They are usually guides that explain the concepts and present good practices, suggesting the paths for organizations to follow to become socially responsible.

In these cases, the educational dimension is certainly present.

On the other hand, certain management tools go beyond the questionnaire phase or the information sharing phase to become typical management systems. They generally offer a formal planning structure (with a logic similar to the PDCA Cycle) that comprise several aspects and require more resources, know-how and motivation to be successful.

That requires formal planning structures, with stakeholder engagement, including even its value chain, thus demanding a more complex process and a higher number of people involved, both inside and outside the organization.

Finally, in the logic of “normative tools”, each organization must answer several criteria established and published. It is the “standard” formatting, with which the organization will seek to comply in order to achieve certification. These are tools that focus on continuous improvement processes involving standard organizations and internal/external auditing firms, making results more reliable and easier to understand.

The reliability of organizations that adopt CSR practices with its stakeholders greatly depends on the definition of their content, the formalization of initiatives through the application of transferable, and assessable tools, as well as the possibility to compare the compliance of the organizations’ practices with their disclosures.

Because it monitors the organization in the different implementation phases of a tool, external auditing is certainly one of the most exhausting and expensive options, but it has, among other advantages, an objective look on the situation.