The main objective of the study was to understand how sustainable business strategies relate to business performance considering different sectors, sizes and levels of international integration. Thus, we identified the major social and environmental management practices of Brazilian companies and the leading indicators that make up the performance of the companies surveyed. The research was characterised as a quantitative research. Among the main aspects highlighted in the analysis one should mention the supremacy of the environmental variable in the relationship with the business performance. With less intensity arise the variable reputation/image, showing that this variable is among the priorities in the socio-environmental agenda of companies. The social variable seems to be among the least concerns of firms, or it is not yet seen by managers as a strategic element to their business competitiveness. The methodological procedures adopted allow us to confirm the existence of a relationship between socio-environmental management practices and business performance.

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O artigo objetiva analisar o entendimento de gestores da empresa estudada a respeito de RSE (responsabilidade social empresarial) e da forma como suas práticas influenciam as estratégias, tendo como pano de fundo o ambiente complexo. A revisão da literatura destacou as influências às quais a referida organização está sujeita, analisando de que maneira estes fatores impactam as organizações. Essa discussão abordou a importância da estratégia para o posicionamento da empresa em tela, considerando tanto o ambiente complexo e inconstante quanto a inclusão de práticas socioambientais para a formação dos valores da sociedade. Os resultados do estudo, de caráter qualitativo e descritivo, foram obtidos a partir da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com os principais gestores da organização e da avaliação crítica de dados secundários. A análise das inter-relações correntes evidenciou a falta de existência de uma percepção clara dos conceitos sobre RSE, resultando na ausência de alinhamento das práticas socioambientais com as estratégias corporativas.Palavras-chave: responsabilidade social empresarial, estratégia, práticas de responsabilidade social empresarial.

The main objective of this study was to identify the main forms of management of sustainable technological innovation and examine the relation of these practices with the increased competitiveness of the Brazilian chemical industry in the international market. To conduct this research, we examined the management practices of a chemical industry located in southern Brazil through the descriptive and qualitative case study, using semi-structured interviews with those responsible for the company's innovation management and analyzing secondary data. The analyses of the survey results with respect to the relation between the sustainable technological innovation management and the increased international competitiveness of the chemical industry were not conclusive. The data only show that the management practices of sustainable innovation may represent motivations for seeking international partnerships and innovations that can be converted into business opportunities in the domestic and international market