Proposal for a Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Model as a Competitive Factor for the Tequila Manufacturing Industry.

• Author: Sanchez-Gutierrez, Jose

INTRODUCTION

The tequila manufacturing industry in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, is currently comprised of 133 companies, of which only 107 are certified as producers of 100% agave tequila. Tequila is classified by category according to the percentage of sugar it contains derived from the 'blue' version of the plant known as Agave Tequilana Weber. Traditionally, tequila is manufactured with a mixture of sugars, 51% being from the 'blue' version of the Agave Tequilana Weber and 49% being derived from other natural sources (Camara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera, 2017).

Different stakeholders are involved in the various stages of tequila manufacturing, with each being committed to introducing action plans incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with a view to creating conditions that foster harmony between the tequila manufacturing industry, environmental care and social responsibility.

Tequila is Mexico's most iconic product and as such is considered in Mexican culture to be "a gift from Mexico to the world." Tequila is regarded as a blessing, and its production is based on the basic principles of sustainability (Centro Mario Molina, 2016). The strategic business model used in the tequila industry employs CSR as a competitive factor, which optimizes the economic, environmental, and social responsibility aspects of the tequila manufacturing industry. Firms involved in the field are able to implement the model and correlate the factors involved in it, thereby enhancing the profile of and attitudes towards the business among stakeholders.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that has been in continuous evolution over the course of the last few decades. Several authors (Jankalova, 2016; Zhao, Song, & Chen, 2016; Barrena, Lopez, & Romero, 2016) suggest that in actuality CSR initially emerged at the beginning of the 20th. Century, evolving gradually and being adopted internationally by major businesses, particularly those focused on assigning resources to activities both present and future-oriented that were perceived as being socially beneficial (Monzur & Habib, 2017). This meant that CSR was regarded as having significant influence in lessening social as well as environmental and economic inequalities.

Corporate Social Responsibility however goes beyond simple voluntary actions and compliance with regulations: it involves the implementation of practices by a particular company in order to derive benefits and advantages within the context of the socioeconomic environment in which the company operates (Bisogno, 2016). As a result of the potential benefits of CSR implementation, it began to grow in importance. The belief was that a business should return to society the benefits it had derived from that society, via what became known as sustainable development (Fatma, 2014).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has also been considered a potential success factor for a company in addition to its human capital, business skill, technological resources, government support, marketing strategy, planning processes and access to information (Pletnev & Barkhatov, 2016).

Considering the factors mentioned above, the literature suggests that there are three main elements involved in CSR: social, economic and environmental (Herrera, Larran, Lechuga, & Martinez, 2016; Gilinsky, Newton, & Fuentes, 2016; Skilton & Purdy, 2016).

Some authors suggest however that other factors such as cooperation with the local community and voluntary work also have a part to play (Jankalova, 2016), along with profitability and sustainable development (Zhao, Song, & Chen, 2016). It could therefore be argued that CSR is linked to different elements of these three dimensions, as well as being important to the actors (stakeholders) who participate in them (Freeman, 1984).

Competitiveness

Over the course of the last few years, competitiveness has evolved in heretofore unforeseen ways, encompassing indicators and forces which are closely related to the distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) and which also evidence company efforts to foster sustainable human development and the intention to guarantee equal conditions and opportunities for all.

The 'forces' previously referred to comprise employees, business people, company owners, the local community, and the state/government, all of whom play a decisive role in competitiveness-based quality-of-life improvements (Done, 2015).

The sustainable competitiveness index (SCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has superseded the standard...