• What is social impact?
• Positive and negative social impact
• Social impact of companies
• Social impact of government measures
• Importance of social impact

We explain what social impact is, both positive and negative. In addition, the social impact of companies and a government.

Negative social impact measures can generate protests.

What is social impact?

Social impact is the degree of affectation or incidence that a Project, an event or a organization in society, that is, how socially it alters their presence and their actions, either directly or indirectly. These alterations are evidenced in the life of the people and the general functioning of communities, and can contribute to the well-being or harm of people.

The society The human being is an organized but active entity that responds and adapts to the conditions and events that take place within it. At the same time, it acts as an interrelated system, so that there are no actions without consequences within society. That means that everything has, to some extent, some degree of social impact, even if we can't easily appreciate it.

Thus, when planning or approving projects and activities, the social impact is an important factor to take into account, and that is the reason why it is usually investigated and measured before giving the go-ahead. An activity can be important or profitable, but if it has a negative social impact, its effects will be perceived as detrimental to the community, which normally causes problems when obtaining permits, approvals or financings.

Society will not look favorably on something that it perceives as a threat or harm, while the projects and activities that it perceives as a benefit will always be easier to approve, finance and materialize.This, of course, can be difficult to determine, since the same initiative can have both a positive impact and a negative impact at the same time. And in those cases, it will be necessary to decide which of the two has greater weight.

Positive and negative social impact

The social impact of an activity or an organization can be of two types:

• Positive social impact. The one that society perceives as a source of wellness, either because it creates new opportunities, meets needs, empowers people, or contributes in some other way to the betterment of society. For example, the opening of a factory that generates new jobs in a neighborhood of the city.
• Negative social impact. The one that society perceives as a threat or a source of discomfort, either because it impoverishes the collective, monopolizes resources or affects society in a pejorative way. For example, the opening of a factory brings with it noise and pollution to a hitherto quiet neighborhood.

Social impact of companies

Companies can have a positive social impact by investing in local events.

The Business and corporations, being a source of innovation and new projects and economic activities, often have a considerable social impact in different ways, for example:

• Through his management of worked. Work is a fundamental activity in society, through which people provide for themselves. This means that the employers can have a significant impact on the community by hiring workers (providing opportunity and wealth) or fire them (causing unemployment). This is particularly crucial in the case of large companies with a large number of employees from the same community, whose decisions to increase or reduce staff can have an immense social impact on the community in which they work.
• Through its economic management.Companies are economic actors that produce wealth through the sale of goods and services. In many cases, these goods and services are essential to society, so their price has a significant social impact. That is the reason why the sudden increase in the prices of certain products can cause a lot of discomfort citizens, especially when there are no substitute products, as occurs with the basic services of society.
• Through its corporate social responsibility. By dedicating a portion of their money to promoting and financing community activities, companies can have a very positive social impact that earns them the affection and loyalty of the public consumer. The sponsorship of sports teams, the investment in infrastructure public or community, the creation of study scholarship plans or even the organization of meetings and festivities can be examples of this.

The social impact of companies usually enhances (if it is positive) or overshadows (if it is negative) the image of the company in the face of the consuming public and can often be translated into an efficient campaign to promote the brand, or on the contrary it can provoking community outrage and ultimately leading to direct or indirect government intervention in company affairs.

Social impact of government measures

The state and governments They are also important actors in everyday life, whose decisions bring great social impact. After all, the State is in charge of laying the foundations of society, and its plans and decisions often alter the course of community life, for example:

• Through subsidy policies. When States subsidize certain essential goods or services, they allocate part of their budgets to artificially cheapen the cost of said goods, since they are considered indispensable. By doing so, the State is investing a good part of its money in making life easier for people, which normally has a very positive impact on society. But at the same time, when these subsidies are withdrawn, the price of goods rises again and immense discomfort is generated in the population, which can go out to express it in the streets, organizing protests.
• Through the laws and judgments handed down. Management of legality and jurisprudence on the part of the State are also activities with a strong social impact, since they largely determine what people can or cannot do. Certain prohibitions and certain legalizations can produce a considerable social impact, depending on whether they cause discomfort or well-being to the population. Prohibitions considered unfair are often disobeyed, or even openly confronted by people.
• Through its ethics politics. Another aspect of great social impact on the part of the States is their vocation to impartial compliance with the laws and their respect for legality. A government can produce a negative social impact by not respecting the very laws it imposes on citizens, or by usurping political power in violation of due process. That is the reason why mass protests break out against authoritarian governments, for example.

Importance of social impact

The social impact is an important variable both for companies and for-profit organizations, as well as for the government and the State, since it determines how harmonious the relationship of these actors with society as a whole will be.

What has a negative social impact tends to be a source of contrary feelings on the part of the population, and depending on how it is handled, it can cause simple complaints, protests or even uprisings against it.Instead, the dynamics of positive impact on society can transform it for the better, and make it a more harmonious and peaceful place to live.