Unlocking corporate social responsibility in smaller firms: Compliance, conviction, burden, or opportunity?

Pillai, Ratna Devi, Wang, Pengji, and Kuah, Adrian T. H. (2022) Unlocking corporate social responsibility in smaller firms: Compliance, conviction, burden, or opportunity? Thunderbird International Business Review, 64 (6). pp. 627-646.

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DOI: 10.1002/tie.22315

View at Publisher Website: https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22315

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Abstract

There is a recognition that corporate social responsibility (CSR) by smaller firms could have greater social and environmental impacts if these engagements are meaningful. Small firms are players in the global eco-system as they supply to larger global firms as subcontractors or suppliers. However, do they practice CSR with a conviction or as a compliance measure? Using stakeholder theory, in-depth interviews were carried out with 31 firms in Singapore. We found that these firms in highly normative sectors practice CSR due to compliance in the interests of stakeholders. But in less-normative sectors, where regulations and norms are minimal, a majority of firms practice CSR out of conviction. All firms acknowledged that their businesses have a responsibility toward society and our results further revealed the importance of careful stakeholder involvement in these firms.


Item ID:	76829
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1520-6874
Keywords:	corporate social responsibility, engagement, Singapore, small and medium-size enterprise (SME), small firms
Copyright Information:	© 2022 The Authors. Thunderbird International Business Review published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2022 23:15
FoR Codes:	35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour > 350702 Corporate social responsibility @ 40% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour > 350717 Stakeholder engagement @ 40% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour > 350716 Small business organisation and management @ 20%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280106 Expanding knowledge in commerce, management, tourism and services @ 50% 11 COMMERCIAL SERVICES AND TOURISM > 1103 Property, business support services and trade > 110399 Property, business support services and trade not elsewhere classified @ 50%
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