A METHODOLOGY TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. A STUDY OF THE EUROPEAN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

This paper aims to develop a methodology to assess the corporate social responsibility performance of European car manufacturers. The research started with a content analysis of sustainability and social responsibility reports published by European automotive businesses in 2010, 2011 and 2012, identified the indicators used in the respective reports and created a comparative table. The methodology focused on developing a unique model to assess CSR performance, consisting of four dimensions: business performance, work relations performance, environmental commitment performance and societal commitment performance. Applying this model has allowed us to create a composite index of CSR performance and corporate hierarchy and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of CSR performance. The results of the study reveal that analysed organizations focus most of their attention on business performance and less on environmental and societal commitment performance. Limitations of the current research arise from the complex choice of indicators relevant to the model we have created and from the need to standardize data, which is often reported in various ways by companies. This study contributes to knowledge in the field, while at the same time, opens up opportunities to be extended and improved in terms of methodology by including new indicators to evaluate CSR performance.