Responsabilità sociale e costi della non sostenibilità nelle imprese globali.

The thesis aims to examine the risks and the economic consequences resulting from unsuitable corporate decisions in terms of sustainability. The aim is to demonstrate how the adoption of sustainability policies represents an unavoidable choice for the defense of the competitive advantage. The success of a company is not only based on economic performance criteria, but requires the integration of economic, social and environmental responsibility to satisfy the expectations of the stakeholders. The great corporate scandals of recent years show that the lack of attention towards sustainability causes significant negative consequences on the economic dynamics of a company. Therefore, the thesis wants to demonstrate how the orientation towards sustainability in the global markets represents an opportunity for the companies; ignoring this could lead to significant implications in terms of ability to create value, development and survival. Furthermore, the research considers that, regarding to an increasing importance of sustainable behaviors, there are still many companies that, despite having structured systems of reporting, of internal control and ethical codes, disrespect global responsibility or aim at exclusively protecting a specific stakeholder class.