Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social ...

CSR area significanceThe following figure illustrates an estimatedpositioning of each one of the CSR areas –marketplace, workplace, community andenvironment. The graph shows the significance ofCSR for SMEs (vertical axis) and the CSR actionsimplemented by SMEs (horizontal axis) in Chile.This positioning is an approximation, developed bythe authors, and it is based solely on theinformation utilized for the writing of this report(interviews, panel discussions and literature review).maxminminMPWPCECSR actual positioning in ChileWPCEMPCSR actions implementationSMEs country positionin the Marketplace areaSMEs country positionin the Workplace areaSMEs country positionin the Community areaSMEs country positionin the Environment areamax3.1 MarketplaceIn the Chilean case, the marketplace area isperceived as highly valuable for SMEs. They thinkthat marketplace issues such as customerrelationships, supply chain management, ethicalbehaviors, quality and compliance may affectcompetitiveness in the mid- and long-term.Competitiveness is the main objective of ChileanSMEs and CSR becomes relevant to this goal whenspecific actions can be linked to the enhancementof competitiveness, i.e. through financial benefits,gains in image, and reputation (SOFOFA, 2004). Inparticular, SMEs believe that CSR issues affect theircompetitiveness when it helps them become part oflarge firm supply chains, and therefore promotinginvestment and credit trust though the developmentof new management tools and strengthening theexport quota of Chilean SMEs. In some cases, thesurvival of SMEs can be directly connected to theirparticipation in a large supply chain, in terms oftheir export quota and their access to credit.In Chile, “dependent CSR” (Prohumana, 2004), orthe supply chain requirements of large companies,is the most common entry point to CSR,particularly in export sectors where approaches toethical trade have been pioneered. Moreover, somesectors, such as food and wine, have pioneeredsimilar responsible behaviors when requested byinternational buyers from North America or Europe.The regulatory framework on marketplace issues iswell diversified and organized:• Several laws and regulations have been launchedand enforced.• Most of the international accountability andreporting standards i.e. Global ReportingInitiative and Accountability’s AA1000 standards;as well as international guidelines and principlessuch as the UN Global Compact, and the OECDcorporate governance principles, have beenintroduced in the country.52 Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)