The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) leaves small businesses cold, a report into the area found today.
Heledd Jenkins, one of the UK’s leading authorities on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), said that smaller businesses view CSR as an ‘all embracing’ concept and called for support organisations to tailor tools specifically for them.
Entitled Make a Difference Where You Can: Corporate Social Responsibility in UK SMEs the research, published by the ESRC Funded Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University examined how CSR can both develop and limit a smaller firm.
It highlights the need for CSR tools that are specifically designed to suit the needs of small businesses, which the report found are keen to have a positive impact on a wide range of stakeholders.
Those companies questioned were already carrying out community projects, employee development schemes and implementing environmental management initiatives.
The results found that 71% of the companies interviewed were uncomfortable with the phrase CSR itself, as they did not feel that the term ‘corporate’ fitted the ethos of a small company. Jenkins suggested that a re-classification could be beneficial.
The businesses themselves are already feeling the benefit of socially responsible activities and through the report claimed it represents good PR, increases employee satisfaction and motivation as well as enhancing efficiency levels.
Jenkins said: “The motivational pressures that may engage SMEs in CSR are not the same as for large companies. While the growing visibility and global impact of large companies and brands has heralded calls for greater transparency and accountability, SMEs remain largely invisible and unlikely to see CSR in terms of risk to brand image or reputation.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006
