Corporate Social Responsibility in Credit Unions seen from Carroll Pyramid Model: A qualitative study in Colombia

One of the main limitations of Carroll Pyramid Model is that it does not consider the differences in the dynamics of each business sector; nor has there been an adequate theoretical justification of the relative relevance of each of the four dimensions that compose it. This study explores the Social Responsibility practices reported by Credit Unions from the Carroll’s Pyramid for a) establishing what type of information (economic, legal, ethical or discretionary) they are privileging in their Social Balance Sheet reports and b) recognizing to what extent there are differences in the way the model is expressed in this economic sector. To accomplish this, a qualitative research study was conducted through a content analysis of the social balance reports of 20 Colombian Credit Unions. The results show that the Carroll’s Pyramid can adopt another type of order in the dimensions that compose it (economic, legal, ethical and discretionary), depending on the economic sector being studied or the type of organization being explored, however, differences found regarding Carroll’s model were not radical as the differences found in other research which found a fully inverted pyramid. These findings pose challenges for cooperative organizations regarding compliance with the 2030 agenda and the mandatory annual report of Social Balance Sheet in Colombia.