Abstract:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a requirement for competition in the short term, as a tool of inherent actions that allows permanence and sustainability for the company in the long term, for which the SMEs in the construction sector considering the changes that occur in the environment because of the globalization of the economy. For this article, investigations carried out at a national and international level were used as background, as well as bibliographic material related to Social Responsibility Theories such as: Albuquerque, Koskinen, & Zhang (2018). Araque and Uribe (2015). Bradly & Nathan (2018), De la Cuesta y valor (2011), Gil, Carrillo & Aldana (2020).), Jiménez, (2014). Pelaez and Garcia (2014). Ramirez (2013), Uribe (2018). This research was framed in a qualitative analysis with a post-positivist approach, and an ethnographic method, selecting key informants from five SME companies in the construction sector in the city of Barranquilla Colombia.  For this, a semi-structured interview technique was used for the collection of data, the analysis and disclosure of the results, the categorization and structuring of categories was applied, with the aim of contrasting the information provided by the informants with the theoretical contributions. In this process, the findings showed that the companies do not have a clear knowledge of CSR, for which it does not develop socially responsible actions with its stakeholders in an appropriate and quality manner, which indicates that these companies must promote corporate social responsibility programs and policies, as well as the key elements of CSR, such as codes of conduct, sustainability reports in the search for harmonious development in the context in which they operate.