From the introduction:

We asked ourselves the question: What does corporate social responsibility mean for corporations in Brazil and how does its practical implementation look like? We wanted to take a deeper look into the CSR activities of SAP and understand what CSR means for SAP in general and, specifically, for the SAP Labs Latin America; we wanted to find out how they act and why.

To this end, we looked at the management approach of “Shared Value Creation” developed by US researchers Michael Porter and Mark Kramer, which propose to create shared values for companies and society through adaptive corporate strategy. The Shared Value approach takes up many ideas of CSR but tries to implement a more holistic management approach.

For our research, the SAP Labs Latin America served as the research unit. By conducting qualitative interviews, we first wanted to find out what CSR actually means for the strategy in the Lab. In a second step, we wanted to examine the “shared value” potential of the CSR measures and identify new opportunities for potential Shared Value. Various methodologies were used for collecting data: Besides conducting qualitative interviews, we had the opportunity to participate in events, initiatives and to talk to different stakeholders involved in CSR activities.

The structure of this paper initially includes an examination of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. Then the further development of CSR as “Shared Value Creation” as a strategic management tool is discussed and a bridge between both concepts is built. To better understand the measures taken by SAP, Brazil’s social problems is examined and finally the results of our research is presented.