An analysis of the practices of social responsibility and sustainability as strategies for industrial companies in the furniture sector: a case study

Abstract Changes in worldwide reality indicate the need of a responsible entrepreneurial awareness in the development process, and require socially responsible and sustainable attitudes and practices from businessmen. The current research aimed to analyze these practices and the correlation between social responsibility management, sustainability and the strategies of furniture industries. This paper is a qualitative and descriptive research of a case study with semi-structured interviews. The empiric concretization of this qualitative research happened in two furniture factories located in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The results highlighted the importance of social responsibility and sustainability once these themes are part of these company values. As internal challenges, they pointed out internal barriers for the implementation of sustainability; and also showed that sustainability and social responsibility are not part of the essential aspects of the business but are complementary ones. As external challenges, in a broader way, we verified that companies involve their suppliers, customers and their communities in some kinds of actions aiming to understand the questions about social responsibility and sustainability. The data collected and analyzed allowed us to realize that these enterprises give importance to the sustainability and to social responsibility and that their practices contribute positively for the economic and social performance of the organizations.