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This paper seeks to verify both the incorporation level of the Brazilian social and environmental challenges associated with the millenium development goals (MDGs) in the strategic planning of companies and the discrepancies found in the perceived interface between the business and those challenges.

The paper analyses the incorporation into strategic planning, business impact and importance to business of each MDG‐related issue. The universe comprises companies formally engaged with sustainability from various sectors. Data are based on web‐based quantitative investigation.

The results point out that the MDGs perceived as important to business – environmental issues and education – are also those most incorporated in strategic planning. Poor housing supply and conditions and public health are at the bottom of both the importance and the incorporation lists. Negative impacts of business are hardly perceived.

The results found a call for a better elaboration on governance structures and on the roles of the state and of the business in tackling certain social issues, besides a reflection on the necessary conditions to build the capacity of the state.

Unclearly perceived interface between companies and social issues signal that further work is needed by business schools on that matter.

The paper indicates how much the MDG‐related issues permeate strategic planning. While these issues are associated with weak governmental performance, the paper identifies their limitations along the private sector by revealing which issues are more easily absorbed, and which might need other approaches to be tackled by society.

The purpose of this paper is to present a model of corporate social entrepreneurship. The case of Odebrecht demonstrates how companies are using society's sustainability challenges to innovate, in particular by adopting a corporate social entrepreneurship approach that allows the company to differentiate from competitors and create shared value.

This research applies a comparative case study design in combination with a review of the literature in order to present a model of corporate social entrepreneurship.

The case study of two major projects within the Odebrecht group allows us to design a model of corporate social entrepreneurship explaining how the company transforms external triggers such as socio-environmental risks into sustainability innovations, creating competitive advantages.

The two case studies provide some evidence of how companies blend sustainability and innovation within corporate social entrepreneurship strategies. More research is needed in order to refine the patterns and components of the corporate social entrepreneurship model.

Integrating sustainability into the innovation process allows Odebrecht to differentiate itself from competitors and have meaningful engagement with stakeholders. This helps the company to grow, especially in developing economy markets, which face similar sustainability challenges as Latin America.

The combination of corporate entrepreneurship models and these case studies of sustainability innovation helps to create a model of corporate social entrepreneurship explaining how companies can transform external sustainability challenges into shared value creation.