Small yet social and sustainable
Keywords
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
2020-01-22
Language
en
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In a fast changing world where the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is receiving more attention in business literature than ever, the connection between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and CSR is still rather underexposed. This might seem quite odd, since SMEs have a significant stake in the economy in general. This thesis focuses on this connection and aims at identifying key drivers that move SMEs to implement CSR practices in their businesses, and analyses how these drivers differ across several industries. A qualitative study is conducted using semi-structured interviews on a sample, collected through purposive and snowball sampling, of 16 Dutch SMEs, active in the construction, business-to-business manufacturing, and agricultural industry. After coding the data using the widely accepted coding paradigm of Strauss & Corbin, four internal drivers and four external drivers that move SMEs to implement CSR practices have been identified. The findings of this thesis suggest that CSR activity of SMEs in the construction industry seems to be mainly influenced by internal drivers, where CSR activity of SMEs in the agricultural industry seems to be mainly influenced by external drivers. Concerning CSR activity in the business-to-business manufacturing industry, the influence of internal and external drivers seems to be more balanced.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen