Overview on corporate social responsibility in small and medium enterprises : the European context

Abstract EN

Corporate social responsibility (thereafter CSR) is an issue that has increasingly gained the interest of company mangers around the world.

It emphasises that companies should serve the community in which they operate as well as the other stakeholders (employees, consumers, suppliers, competitors, etc.) and make the world a better place to live.

Although this concept has primarily been the concern of large companies, it is increasingly involving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they have significant impacts on society.

SMEs have different needs and operate in their own context which offers them unique opportunities to contribute to sustainable development, and unique challenges too.

Therefore, they have their own specifies regarding CSR.

Focusing on the European context, this article aims at giving an overview about the CSR opportunities and challenges in SMEs, the European initiatives to foster CSR among SMEs, CSR implementation in SMEs.

Furthermore, it brings some examples of CSR practices in the European SMEs.