Antecedents and Barriers Which Drive Smes in Relation to Corporate Social Responsibility? Literature Review

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cannot be considered a "shrunken" of large enterprises. They are highly heterogeneous, usually have more informal organizational characteristics, and do not have departments dedicated explicitly to corporate social responsibility (CSR) tasks. Therefore, research on CSR in SMEs faces many challenges. The situation is a complex phenomenon, primarily because the nature of CSR is influenced by the environment uniqueness in which it is studied or practiced. This paper aims to identify the main themes of qualitative research on CSR in SMEs. The Web of Science database was chosen to identify relevant literature, and the research focuses only on peer-reviewed articles published in English up to November 2022. The resulting dataset was created by selecting articles with a qualitative or combined approach. A total of 21 articles published in 10 journals were identified. The published studies contained the following research streams: 1. SMEs' CSR activities and reasons for involvement, 2. Ethical values of the entrepreneur or owner-manager and their impact on SMEs' social responsibility, 3. Relationships with stakeholders, 4. The nature of SMEs' social responsibility implementation. The findings of this study contribute to the CSR literature and have important practical implications for SME managers. The conclusion also formulates questions to stimulate the potential for further research.

Perception of Selected Factors on the Sustainability of SMEs: Empirical Study from Visegrad Group Countries

“…The effectiveness of production capacities, problems with the distribution of products/services, or issues with suppliers are attributes of operational risk that are evaluated the worst in Slovak SMEs. Authors Rózsa et al [17] and Małkowska et al [19] share the same opinion, i.e., they state that the evaluation and measurement of SME performance is an important element of prosperous businesses and, therefore, it is necessary to change the thinking of SME owners in the financial area.…”

“…Increasing demands for sustainability lead to a change in the thinking of SME owners in the financial area [17]. As a result of a German study carried out in medium-sized enterprises, factors were identified that influence measures for the transformation of sustainable enterprises [7,18] -1.…”

Effect of CSR Implementation and Crisis Events in Business on the Financial Management of Smes

“…Given the importance of financial management in the management of SMEs, the proven positive impact of CSR practices and the perception of sustainability on the financial management of SMEs, the related context including the need for innovation supported by CSR practices, there is a need to look for ways to support these factories and to remove the main barriers to their implementation, of which the much discussed limited access to finance (Rozsa et al, 2022;Baumann-Pauly et al, 2013; of business ventures, including innovative ones, clearly emerges as the most critical.…”

Exploring the link between motivation and procrastination in the workplace: a case study of SMEs in Slovakia

“…In today's fast-paced and demanding work environment, employees often find themselves grappling with the challenge of managing their tasks effectively. Heightened risk of job loss, substantial alterations in work roles and responsibilities, the need to acquire new skills, and shifts in management practices frequently result in reduced work performance sustainability (Rózsa et al, 2022a). This also happens in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are recognised as comprising approximately 90% of businesses worldwide (Azman & Abdul Majid, 2023), (Šimberová et al, 2022) and employing roughly half of the global workforce.…”