SME sustainability dashboards: An aid to manage and report performance

This applied paper introduces the concept and potential application of sustainability dashboards by SMEs as an aid to meet growing demands for sustainability management and reporting. It suggests how dashboards can be integrated into the planning and control systems of SMEs to facilitate data visualization for the purpose of sustainability decision making. The paper highlights benefits including low cost and discusses practical implications, such as use of dashboards beyond sustainability management and the need for policymakers to provide better access to training and software for SMEs

The views of stakeholders on mandatory or voluntary use of a simplified standard on non-financial information for SMEs in the European Union

Artigo publicado em revista científica internacional: This paper investigates the variables that may explain the views of stakeholders regarding the need for a simplified non-financial reporting (NFR) standard for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (EU) and whether this standard should be mandatory or voluntary. This paper uses, as a source, 588 answers provided by different groups of stakeholders within the process of public consultation conducted by the EU, from February to June 2020, concerning possible revisions to the provisions of the Directive on NFR. The findings showed that the most consensual attribute that probably explains the views of stakeholders on this matter is the importance attributed by them to the concepts of comparability, reliability, and relevance. From the stakeholders’ perspective, this topic may also be explained by the users’ needs. Notwithstanding, its importance may differ, depending on the type of user. These findings are relevant within the process of developing an NFR model applicable to SMEs based on a mandatory standard, providing evidence that regulators and standard-setters should consider the qualitative characteristics of non-financial information as well as the needs of various stakeholders within this process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pondering Digitalization: An Exploratory Study on Organizational Capitalization of Digital Media for Disclosing CSR

The goal of this study had as a premise a perceived gap of knowledge regarding the use of digital media and platforms by Romanian organizations with the purpose to disclose corporate social responsibility (CSR) information. In the context of the ever-increasing digitalization process, the research aimed to explore the current situation within the organizational setting to provide evidence on the type of media and content used and with a view to identifying possible trends. To objectively assess the situation, the study employed models developed by various researchers to measure CSR disclosure on corporate websites, Facebook and Twitter accounts. The results of the study indicate that the selected Romanian companies make limited use of online media for the purpose to reveal CSR. They rather prefer corporate websites and Facebook accounts to communicate such information to stakeholders, while Twitter is rarely utilized. The findings point to the fact that education and social development are the areas of CSR where Romanian companies mostly contribute, but, at the same time, they signal that the advantages and advances availed by systemic digitalization are yet to be properly exploited against the backdrop of CSR disclosure

A critical analysis of small business social responsibility in independent foodservice businesses

This thesis critically analyses how small independent foodservice businesses express and implement their social responsibility, considering the lack of research in the emergent small business social responsibility (SBSR) field, particularly within the foodservice sector. This gap in knowledge should be addressed, because the backbone of the industry are small businesses, which are often unaware of their collective impacts and the importance of implementing socially responsible practices. In order to interpret the peculiarities of SBSR among small foodservice businesses, the research is qualitative and utilises an abductive research methodology, based on semi-structured interviews with owner-managers, as well as archival documents of the business. A key finding identifies that the business mission influences the perceptions of SBSR; in particular, the hospitableness of value-driven businesses and the social mission of social enterprises, makes the business more likely to get engaged in proactive SBSR actions. Another key result has been to highlight that the SBSR in these foodservice businesses is a holistic phenomenon, based on a complex mix of factors: personal values of the owner-manager influence the business mission and perceptions of SBSR, but also business motivations and external factors play a role in determining a sustained SBSR practice in the long term. A core contribution to knowledge to the SBSR literature is clarifying that the commitment to a business mission informed by prosocial values, distinguishes the more socially oriented businesses. The core contribution to knowledge to the hospitality literature is to show how the hospitableness influences the owner-managers’ ethical perceptions of SBSR. The findings cannot be generalised to the entire population of small foodservice businesses, as the qualitative research relied on a purposive sample, moreover ethical research can be affected by issues linked to social desirability bias and positionality of the researcher. Future research avenues should focus on narrative studies of small businesses able to prioritise their prosocial values while maintaining competitiveness, therefore highlighting practical avenues for small businesses to engage with SBSR

Sustainability in fashion supply chains: Examining the dynamics of small and medium enterprise sustainability in fashion industry multitier supply chains

Sustainability in supply chain management (SSCM) has become established in both academia and increasingly in practice (Fraser, Müller and Schwarzkopf, 2020). As stakeholders continue to require organisations to take more responsibility for their entire supply chains, this has led to the development of multitier SSCM. Despite small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs’) pivotal impact on the global economy, environmental and social responsibility commitments and SSCM have been largely overlooked (Chow et al., 2017). Little attention has been paid to the convergence of sustainability dimensions in SMEs. This thesis examines how sustainability-inspired SMEs in the fashion industry in Scotland implement sustainability and diffuse sustainability across the diverse supply chain. This leads to an investigation of the factors that influence sustainability practices along the supply chain and practices adopted to verify sustainability in the supply chain, with an overall view to improving multidimensional performance. This research adopts an exploratory multiple case study approach that combines multiple data sources: semi-structured interviews, observation, and secondary data analysis. The empirical study includes two SME fashion retailers registered in Scotland and their respective supply chain partners. This thesis contributes to SSCM research in SMEs by exploring from both the conceptual and empirical points of view, investigating fashion SMEs’ sustainability and SSCM and developing a conceptual sustainability performance rating model. This conceptual model uses multidimensional sustainability measurement criteria derived from the literature to determine sustainability performance levels from the farm to the retailer. Evaluation of the supply chain is likely to aid supplier selection, sustainability comparison and transparency. The investigated fashion SMEs and their supply chains are used to exemplify the usefulness of the proposed conceptual sustainability performance model. Based on the supply chains investigated, both retailers’ sustainability performances are similar, while one supply chain outperformed the other. In addition, the research findings show that SME retailers face the greatest challenge in managing supply chain sustainability, while the most influential suppliers can develop creative approaches to diffuse sustainability within the supply chain. This thesis suggests that there is considerable need for further qualitative research and the proposed model perhaps needs to be implemented in various business models to evaluate its validity

El Estado de Información No Financiera: de la Directiva a su aplicación en las Pymes

Las empresas y los grupos de interés están cada vez más preocupados por el impacto que estas producen en la sociedad y el medioambiente, por lo que ideas como la responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE) están teniendo cada vez más interés. En consecuencia, la Unión Europea ha elaborado e implantado la Directiva en materia de Información No Financiera y Diversidad, un texto que busca desarrollar la forma en la que las grandes empresas divulgan información relativa a la sostenibilidad de sus políticas y el impacto que ejercen en la sociedad empleando el Estado de Información No Financiera (EINF). Pero no sólo las grandes empresas mantienen estas preocupaciones, las Pymes como principal motor de la economía están también más cerca de estas ideas de la responsabilidad social empresarial, y el desarrollo de políticas al respecto les permiten obtener ventajas competitivas. En el presente trabajo se realiza un estudio de la Directiva europea para analizar tanto su articulado como su proceso de elaboración, y se aborda una crítica en aspectos fundamentales como el ámbito de aplicación de esta, el papel de las sanciones, el marco de referencia para elaborar los informes y el papel del auditor/verificador. Por otra parte, en este trabajo se aborda la divulgación de las políticas de responsabilidad social en las Pymes analizando el estado de la cuestión en la Unión Europea; los principales factores, barreras y aceleradores para la implantación de estas políticas y su divulgación en las Pymes; y el marco de referencia que estas pueden utilizar para desarrollar sus informes no financieros

Las políticas de RSE y la divulgación de información no financiera en las Pymes: Una perspectiva de los gerentes

La responsabilidad social en las Pymes tiene una especial importancia habida cuenta de que estas representan la mayor parte del tejido productivo de un país y dan trabajo a la mayoría de los empleados de este. La sostenibilidad es, en muchos casos, inherente a las Pymes pero el desarrollo de herramientas formales no es habitual, lo que lleva a la existencia de una Responsabilidad Social silenciosa. El desarrollo de políticas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial (RSE) y la divulgación de estas mediante la emisión de informes no financieros en las Pymes se encuentra con barreras y aceleradores de entre los que destaca la falta de recursos y herramientas o una percepción limitada de los gerentes de lo que suponen estas políticas, así como con características de las propias Pymes que en ocasiones comportan una dificultad o una ventaja para este desarrollo. En el presente trabajo se realiza un análisis a través del contraste de las opiniones de diferentes gerentes de una muestra heterogénea de Pymes obtenidas mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas con las conclusiones de diversos autores y estudios previos para conocer cuál es el enfoque que estas empresas tienen sobre la RSE, cuáles consideran que son sus principales barreras y aceleradores a la hora de implantar estas políticas de RSE, y qué información estarían dispuestas a divulgar en un marco de información no financiera para Pymes. Los resultados revelan la opinión de estas empresas sobre aspectos generales de la RSE, las principales barreras y aceleradores y los elementos que estarían dispuestas a informar en un marco de información no financiera, así como las principales características que tienen las Pymes con un mayor compromiso con las políticas de RSE