CSR and Competitiveness European SMEs - KMU Forschung Austria

34 CSR and Competitiveness - European SMEs’ Good Practice - Consolidated European Report
are involved in socially responsible causes. So, while in general a positive correlation
between engagement in CSR activities and company size can be observed, also the percenttage
of micro enterprises involved in socially responsible measures must not be neglected.
The level of engagement of SMEs in CSR activities differs, however, among countries. For
example, 83 % of Finnish SMEs are engaged in CSR whereas “only” 46 % of Spanish SMEs
conduct such activities (see Table 2). Generally, the northern and central European countries
show the highest percentages of SMEs involved in external social activities, contrary to
southern countries as well as France and the United Kingdom where social involvement is less
common among SMEs. Reasons to explain these national differences may be different cultural
traditions regarding the role of enterprises in the society, different public welfare traditions or
different expectations from the general public on the social involvement of enterprises.
(European Communities, 2002)
Table 2 Percentage of SMEs Involved in External Social Activities, by Enterprise Size and
Analysed Country 1
Austria Finland Germany Norway Spain Total 2
0-9 employees 68 82 53 67 45 48
10-49 employees 72 96 62 87 65 65
50-249 employees 80 94 74 95 61 70
Total 68 83 54 68 46 49
1
As the Observatory of European SMEs 2002 covers the EU-15 plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
no data is available for Poland and Romania.
2
EU-15, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
Source: European Communities, 2002
Relevant surveys are also available at national level. Data for Germany, for example, show that
approximately one quarter of the medium-sized enterprises participate in Corporate Citizenship
(being defined as voluntary contributions to the society) at least once a year and an increasing
tendency may be observed over time while another 15 % are engaged in Corporate Giving
(declining tendency over time) (Maaß/Backes-Gellner (2006)). On average, SMEs with less than
99 employees spend 0.11 % to 0.12 % of their annual turnover on sponsoring, donations and
Corporate Citizenship (Maaß/Clemens, 2002). Larger enterprises “only” provide 0.05 % to
0.07 % of their turnover for such purposes. So, relative to their potential, SMEs are willing to
invest comparatively more than large enterprises on their societal relations. Austrian data based
on a broader survey approach highlight that almost all responding enterprises are engaged in
some form of Corporate Citizenship or community focused activities (Deuerlein et al., 2003).
As regards the involvement of different economic sectors in CSR the Observatory of European
SMEs shows no significant differences between the sectors. SMEs active in the trade and
manufacturing sectors show a slightly higher involvement in external social activities than SMEs
in the transport and business services sectors (European Communities, 2002). Also a survey
among Danish SMEs confirms this tendency. There, enterprises in the real property/business
services industry are least likely to have implemented CSR activities while enterprises in
transport and manufacturing are most likely to have done so (TNS Gallup, 2005). These results
are, however, in contrast to Spanish research (Fundación Empresa y Sociedad, 2006) 49 which
shows that in the services sector respective activities are most widespread.
Generally, certain sectors (like energy, transport, chemicals and nuclear as well as specific
industries like the timber industry) seem to be more exposed to negative reactions by the
society resulting from their activities than others. This can also have an influence on the
decision of an enterprise to adopt CSR initiatives. (Bronchain, 2003)
49 No specific SME focus has been taken in the study.