Il circolo virtuoso della RSI. Ripensare il ruolo della Responsabilità Sociale d’Impresa

During the last years, worldwide companies have paid increasing attention to corporate responsibility issues. One reason behind this trend could be found in the idea that a link between corporate responsibility and performance exists. Starting from that, our paper investigates how the role of CSR activities is changing. Nowadays, the diatribe between firm’s economic goals and social target has strongly limited the strategic potential of the CSR, stressing the conflict between economic and social value of management. At the base of these affirmations there is the attribution of a different and central role of Social Responsibility in firms’ strategies. In fact, more than a simple operation of window dressing, CSR becomes a governance issue. Considering the increasing pressures on managers regarding the resources allocation, investors and stakeholders focus is shifting from the traditional strategic management parameters towards the Social Issues Management, stressing the opportunity to check, measure, and communicate the economic value of the investment in these activities. The CSR impact both on organization and on economicfinancial performance, in fact, appears clear, but a global picture or framework of the effects (positive and negative) created by responsible activities is lacking. The idea of this work is that the advantages and benefits of CSR exceed the related costs, and that, thanks to this effect, CSR can create value for stakeholder in general through a process that we call the Virtuous Cycle of CSR.