Research Symposium

BIO

Hi! My name is Sheevam Patel and I am a first year Finance and Management major from Jupiter, Florida. I'm an avid watcher and player of basketball, a total foodie, and I'm passionate about the intersection of investment and market research.

Assessing the Social Side of Corporate Responsibility

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify current social sustainability metrics in place and the role they play in fostering corporate social responsibility (CSR). In doing so, we felt it was necessary to examine consumer and stockholder demand for sustainable products and the overall net benefits of engaging in both environmental and social sustainability practices. Therefore, we decided to compile social and environmental sustainability metrics from our review and construct an all-encompassing sustainability evaluation framework that could be applied to any company based on its current practices. In the interest of time, we decided to center our framework around social and environmental sustainability in the agri-food industry and engage in a case study on two companies in order to see how the framework fares in real-world application against an already existing framework. Based off the data collected in the case study, we will assess the framework and its effectiveness. This information can be beneficial to corporations, small businesses, governmental agencies, shareholders, and consumers among other entities.

Keywords: Sustainability, Corporate Responsibility, Framework