Case studies
Table 29. ESA – Cosmetic Company.
Observed environmental practices
* Adoption of green product design practices associated with the use of natural ingredients and development of cruelty-free products. * Adoption of green processes practices associated with process monitoring, waste management and improvement of operations to achieve efficiency in resource management and the implementation of energy efficiency programs. * Socially based Investments for developing the company´s projects, in order to achieve win-win deals. * Support for culture-based educational programs, co-financing of infrastructure and public utilities, financing of social entrepreneurship and support for rural development projects. * Adoption of industry standards and voluntary initiatives such as ISO 14001, Global Compact and printing of catalogues in environmentally sound paper (PEFCa certified). * Support for environmental conservation programs focused on reforestation plans. The Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification provides reassurance to companies involved in the purchasing of wood and paper products committed to the sustainable management of forests. a
• ESA Factors. a) Business context: Cosmetic Company is influenced by a mimetic pressure exerted by a competing family business from the same sector in the Latin-American market. These two firms actually dispute the second and third places in Latin-America. Competition began at the end of the 60´s, when the president of Cosmetic Company used to run a family cosmetic business with his brother. However, in the 80´s the two brothers decided to split and nowadays each of them runs his own company. The main competitor has deployed similar practices not only regarding sustainability (i.e. natural ingredients, cruelty -free products) but at the strategic focus (i.e. direct sales and women empowerment (Cosmetic Company, 2018b; UEBT, 2019). Cosmetic Company is also exposed to normative sources from [international] successful competitors. For example, because of the dynamism of the sector, “the cosmetic industry is always selecting safe ingredients and developing safer products for humans and the environment, renovating every year one quarter of all the cosmetic products on the market” (Cosmetics Europe, 2019). The industry exerts pressure on cosmetic companies not only because of the highly competitive market, but also because of the need to preserve the
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