دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی ادغام مسئولیت اجتماعی شرکتی در استراتژی های شرکت های کوچک و متوسط - الزویر 2018

Abstract

A marked increase has taken place in the past two decades in the volume of research undertaken into the procedures used, and issues encountered, by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into their business strategies. In the present study, we uncover, by means of a systematic literature review (n=118), a growing conceptual and terminological fragmentation of the nomenclature used to capture notions surrounding areas of business responsibility that are specific to smaller business. Likewise, as a result of this, a diverse selection of terms are used by scholars in the field as alternatives to the term “CSR”. This practice hinders consolidation in the field. Here, we use a qualitative content analysis approach to explore the different expressions used to characterize CSR in the context of SME strategy. We then categorize the academic literature into 4 overarching topics: (1) “Ethical values and social connections/relationships of the entrepreneur or owner-manager”, (2) “Relevance of business context and long-term performance”, (3) “Importance of formal processes for CSR integration”, and (4) “Political issues with relevance to CSR”. This categorization serves as a basis for future research: by consolidating a fragmented field, it offers a comprehensive foundation on which to base future conceptual and empirical efforts into evaluating the various ways in which SMEs integrate CSR into their strategies.

Discussion and conclusion

In this paper we have presented a systematic review of the literature concerning the integration of CSR into the strategies of SMEs, analyzing 118 papers in total. To our knowledge this is the first review which aims to understand how the term CSR is used and defined in the context of SME strategy, since other reviews have considered a maximum of two out of the three concepts: Vazquez-Carrasco and Lopez-Perez (2013) examined CSR in SMEs and Engert et al. (2016) examined CSR and strategic management. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the reviewed literature, supported by ATLAS.ti, the research questions may be answered as follows:

1. What terms are used to define CSR in the academic literature on the integration of social and environmental responsibility into the strategies of SMEs? We found 56 different terms that have been used in the analyzed literature as alternatives to “CSR” (see Appendix A). Consequently, we support Vazquez-Carrasco’s and LopezPerez’s (2013) argument that a terminological splintering within the research area has arisen mainly from the fact that SMEs tend to consider the terminology of CSR opaque and the concepts thereby inaccessible, such that it is difficult for them to apply CSR to their operations. Other scholars, too, have pointed out that even if SMEs often do exhibit business behaviors which have positive social, economic and environmental outcomes, they do not use the specific term “CSR” to describe their activities (Fassin et al., 2011; Perrini et al., 2007). In other words, SMEs do practice CSR but tend not to label it as such. Thus, the term CSR cannot be said to have a unified meaning across the selected literature, but instead is an umbrella term encompassing 56 sub-terms. The abundance of definitions and labels is a reflection of scholars’ efforts to describe and to analyze the manifold and various practices employed by SMEs (see also Dahlsrud, 2008).