1 COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY AS A DIMENSION OF CSR: A DESCRIPTIVE OVERVIEW OF THE BUSINESS PRACTICES IN URUGUAY. Oscar Daniel Licandro Juanita Sabath Stefanía Yapor olicandr@ucu.edu.uy jsabath@ucu.edu.uy steyapor@ucu.edu.uy Universidad Católica del Uruguay ABSTRACT This paper presents a descriptive overview of the management actions for the benefit of the Community, carried out by companies belonging to business organizations that promote CSR in Uruguay. In the first place the paper contains an analysis of the documentation provided by this kind of organizations and some of their suggested criteria towards an adequate management in social action are extracted from there. Then, the document shows the results on an empirical research based on a self – administrated survey which was addressed to the managers who are responsible for the social actions in those companies. Key words: Corporate Social Responsibility, Commitment to the Community, Corporate Social Action, Social Proyect, Civil Society Organizations. 1. INTRODUCTION Analysis of the academic literature suggest clearly that after more than two decades of debates and reflections, the academic world has not yet reached minimal consensus about what is CSR. Questions still remain about its domain, its conceptual dimensions, its returns or even about which are the best models to manage it. According to Basu and Palazzo (2005), the academic thought about CSR has given priority to the conceptual discussion over the empirical research; and even a great part of the academic research has not managed to go beyond the philosophical discussion about the definition of the concept without reaching any agreement. In Licandro and González (2010) it is suggested that the authors of major renown in the field of CSR have determined priorities over the empirical investigation and reflection of the following conceptual aspects: a) define and justify the CSR; b) establish its action field; c) analyze its recipients; d) identify its returns concerned to corporate reputation, management of the knowledge or strengthening of the competitive strategy; and e) propose models to manage the CRS. “But, generally, the approach to these conceptual worries was done from the field of the reflection and not from the one concerning the empirical investigation” (Licandro and Gonzalez, 2010). As a consequence from all this, the academic debate, far from contributing with conceptual tools for the management of the CRS (as it has done with finance, marketing or organizational change), is giving a wrong message to the businessmen and managers. Unlike what happens in the academic world, the business organizations that promote the CRS tend to converge on its definitions and its models. In fact, the agreements reached towards ISO 26000 demonstrate the aptitude of the managerial world when it comes to reach consensuses that academics did not achieve. In the definitions about CSR adopted by several of business organizations that promote this new paradigm in the South Cone of Latin America (IARSE in Argentina, Instituto ETHOS in Brazil, ACCIÓN EMPRESARIAL in Chile, ADEC in Paraguay and DERES in Uruguay) it is assumed that this is a multidimensional concept and all definitions include actions for the benefit of the community as one of these dimensions. Also, this idea is presented in the last versions of ISO 26.000. As it will be seen below, the concept "commitment to the community" emerges in the corporate literature and results from an analytical effort focused on constructing tools to manage the relationship with this so particular and wide skatehoder: the society. Community refers to society as a whole, but also to specific groups towards the social action of the companies is canalized. The document will present a descriptive view about the way in which Uruguayan companies, which are leading to the incorporation of CSR as a model of management, manage their actions for the