What is Corporate Social Responsibility? - InnoTrain CSR

Facts & figures about CSR
2.1. CSR in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
In short
A very large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) behave
responsibly towards their environment and surrounding stakeholders.
Nevertheless, they often deem social commitment to be so self-evident that
they do not even bother to use "modern terms" such as Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) or Corporate Citizenship to describe them. For an
extended period of time, CSR was initially a strategic topic used by large
companies. However, SMEs are increasingly starting to recognize the strategic
success factors of CSR. There are some 23 million SMEs in the European
Union, providing around 75 million jobs and accounting for 99% of all
enterprises. Thus, SMEs represent the foundation for the further development
of responsible corporate management.
Learning targets
� Be able to discuss the specific character of CSR in small and medium-sized
enterprises
CSR learning contents
After the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate
Citizenship were initially adopted by large companies, small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) are slowly discovering them for their own benefit. However,
before re-igniting the debate about sustainability in connection with the buzzword
CSR, social responsibility was already strongly rooted in medium-sized companies.
Many small and medium-sized enterprises are acting socially and ecologically
responsibly, usually based on tradition and ethical attitude. Nevertheless, many of
these operations do not realize that they are already acting within a CSR concept.
Not only the huge number of around 23 million SMEs in the European Union, but also
the broad range of individual CSR engagements of companies and varying CSR
cultures in different countries, make comparable data extraordinarily difficult. Micro-,
small and medium-sized enterprises are collectively referred to as SMEs. Within the
EU, the following size classes are used for SMEs:
� Micro enterprises: less than 10 persons employed
� Small enterprises: 10 – 49 persons employed
The project "InnoTrain CSR" is organized by GILDE GmbH and has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 12/2010
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