Q: One of the important issues faced by CSR today is its dissemination to SMEs. Not all SMEs are yet committed to CSR. What would be the incentives for SMEs to become engaged to CSR?
A: Wait! You are starting at the wrong point. Implicit in the question is the assumption that SMEs are not ‘doing’ CSR already. My research and that of many others shows that there is plenty of socially responsible activities in SMEs, but that it looks different compared to larger firms. For example, a large firm is likely to have a mission and values statement, a code of conduct, an ethics officer or CSR Director, maybe a whistleblowing hotline, be signed up to environmental management schemes etc.
An SME is unlikely to have any of these in place, but may put employees as their key stakeholder, get involved in the local community and win business on its trustworthy reputation. So in answering the question, the first point is to encourage SMEs to see what they do as ‘CSR’, and understand that they could publicize their practices as such. SMEs I speak to often assume that their activities are ‘un-businesslike’, so the first step is to raise awareness of CSR as legitimate business practice. I believe that the best way of doing this is through trade associations. Sector makes a huge difference for SMEs, and translating CSR into sector-specific issues would help enormously. So the incentive is to make CSR ‘normal’ for SME business practice and for others in the same sector.
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