corporate social responsibility (CSR), idiosyncrasies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), social capital, stakeholder theory,

While corporate social responsibility\ud (CSR) is becoming a mainstream issue for many organizations,\ud most of the research to date addresses CSR in\ud large businesses rather than in small- and medium-sized\ud enterprises (SMEs), because it is too often considered a\ud prerogative of large businesses only. The role of SMEs in\ud an increasingly dynamic context is now being questioned,\ud including what factors might affect their socially responsible\ud behaviour. The goal of this paper is to make a\ud comparison of SME and large firm CSR strategies.\ud Furthermore, size of the firm is analyzed as a factor that\ud influences specific choices in the CSR field, and studied\ud by means of a sample of 3,680 Italian firms. Based on a\ud multi-stakeholder framework, the analysis provides\ud evidence that large firms are more likely to identify\ud relevant stakeholders and meet their requirements\ud through specific and formal CSR strategies

CSR strategies, Italy, large firms, micro firms, multi-stakeholder approach, small and medium-sized enterprises,

For four decades, research on the role and responsibilities of business in society has centered on the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and an increasing number of studies on the corporate social performance (CSP)—corporate financial performance (CFP) link emerged leading to controversial results.Heeding the call for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms linking certain CSR efforts to certain performance outcomes, this study provides a stakeholder-based organizing framework rooted in an extensive review of existing literature on the link between CSP and CFP. In so doing, we aim at guiding research and practice toward less simplistic understandings of the CSP–CFP connection, thus advancing the debate over the consequences of voluntary integrating CSR into business operations and into relationships with stakeholders. By disentangling specific drivers and outcomes of the CSP–CFP link, we underline the importance of setting clear boundaries and specifying levels of analysis to generate comparable results

collaborative governance, network theory, supply chain, sustainability,