Social Responsibility in the University-Business-State Relationship

Abstract

This article reviews the findings of a study on social responsibility, particularly that of universities in the twenty-first century. It underscores the importance of the university-business-state relationship as a strategy to encourage the development of research and innovation through an association between education, business and government sectors geared towards generating competitive capacity for the advancement of science, technology and production processes aimed at increasing productivity in a way that will contribute to the advancement of society. The article is divided into five parts. In the first, social responsibility is conceptualized as a key element in the business-society relationship. The second part outlines the university's responsibility to society and points out that, in addition to training professionals, it is the university's mission to create and recreate knowledge relevant to the region. In the third section, the responsibility of companies is analyzed in light of their capacity as organizations that acquire processes for innovation and competitiveness through their relationship with academia. In the fourth section, the responsibility of the university in processes of change in relation to the productive sector is identified; and, in the firth, the establishment of university-business-state relations is described as a strategy to create scenarios of trust between the three sectors.

The study concludes that the social responsibility of universities in the XXI century is assumed from the standpoint of the relevance of their core functions to the social context. Therefore, universities should integrate with the economic, political, social, cultural and environmental areas of society by playing a significant role in the development of the region and the country.