Ethics and CSR, the strategy debate

The aim of the paper is to find a link between CSR, ethic and strategy. In today's increasingly competitive economic market and globalized economy, forcing the company to seek the integration of economic success with social cohesion and environmental protection, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become not just a general practice, but almost a necessity for business development. Indeed, a growing number of companies promoting their corporate social responsibility in response to a variety of social, environmental and economical pressures. The aim is to send a signal to the various stakeholders with whom they interact: employees, shareholders, investors, consumers, public authorities and NGOs. By planning out CSR as part of a company’s strategy, organizations can ensure that profits and increasing shareholder value don’t overshadow the need to behave ethically to their stakeholders. Strategy becomes part of the culture of the economic entity and as such is fully integrated into long-term strategy, thus finding its natural place in the value chain. The creation of long-term value is only possible through the implementation of a strategy to develop socially and environmentally sustainable. For a company it is a strategic decision to fund the creation of value that binds to improving the quality of life of employees and the communities in which it operates. In the second part of the paper, to better understand the link between CSR, ethic and strategy, we consider two Italian companies that have distinguished themselves for their CSR strategy: Olivetti and Luxottica. The first is the Italian company driven by Adriano Olivetti, that at a time not suspect voluntarily deployed policies on CSR and articulated effective in their great company. For the second company responsibility and ethic are central in the life of the organization; they are the daily guidelines in business decisions and relationships with their stakeholders. Both examples show how CSR is successful if it is integrated into the strategy and if there is an ethical vision.