Social impact consulting emergence and its impact on society: exploring its effectiveness in social change and in the relationship between the business area and the respect for human rights

Abstract

This thesis explores the business and human rights field particularly in the emergence of social impact consulting and its impact on society. A business and human rights approach was used to examine the CSR practices among the European countries in order to demonstrate the real need to include the social impact area in the consultancy “world”, a need that arises both from client companies and, consequently, from providers of these services that increasingly respond to this gap in the market. This thesis uses the example of a company dedicated to consultancy services, KPMG, and explores the work that its firms develop in three different countries, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Through the interviews, it addresses a practical perspective on the work developed in this area, and also compares the three geographical contexts and the influence of each one own legislation. This dissertation aims to demonstrate that social impact consulting is a service that contributes to organizations’ transparency, ensures a better management of companies’ social impacts in general and most important it has the capacity to increase the level of commitment of the country to the debate on companies and human rights In fact, through this investigation it is possible to conclude that social impact consultancy is a path to social change, and that through this service companies can have a more positive effect on society.