CSR and related terms in SME owner-managers' mental models in six European countries: national context matters

As a contribution to the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cognition, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study that compares SME owner–managers’ mental models with regard to CSR and related concepts across six European countries (Belgium, Italy, Norway, France, UK, Spain). Utilising Repertory Grid Technique, we found that the SME owner–managers’ mental models show a few commonalities as well as a number of differences across the different country samples. We interpret those differences by linking individual cognition to macro-environmental variables, such as language, national traditions and dissemination mechanisms. The results of our exploratory study show that nationality matters but that classifications of countries as found in the comparative capitalism literature do not exactly mirror national differences in CSR cognition and that these classifications need further differentiation. The findings from our study raise questions on the universality of cognition of academic management concepts and warn that promotion of responsible business practice should not rely on the use of unmediated US American management terminology

CSR and related terms in SME owner-managers' mental models in six European countries: national context matters

As a contribution to the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cognition, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study that compares SME owner–managers’ mental models with regard to CSR and related concepts across six European countries (Belgium, Italy, Norway, France, UK, Spain). Utilising Repertory Grid Technique, we found that the SME owner–managers’ mental models show a few commonalities as well as a number of differences across the different country samples. We interpret those differences by linking individual cognition to macro-environmental variables, such as language, national traditions and dissemination mechanisms. The results of our exploratory study show that nationality matters but that classifications of countries as found in the comparative capitalism literature do not exactly mirror national differences in CSR cognition and that these classifications need further differentiation. The findings from our study raise questions on the universality of cognition of academic management concepts and warn that promotion of responsible business practice should not rely on the use of unmediated US American management terminology

Learning from Poverty: Why Business Schools Should Address Poverty, and How They Can Go About It.

In the past few years, business schools have begun to address poverty issues in their teaching, learning and curricula. While this is a positive development, the arguments for reconfiguring educational programs to address such matters remain undeveloped, with much of the impetus for such endeavors rooted in calls for social responsibility in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the Social Compact, the Principles for Responsible Management Education and benchmarks such as ISO 26000. This article seeks to clarify the pedagogical grounds for integrating poverty issues in management education by examining the intellectual and personal development benefits of doing so. By critically examining four modes of business involvement in poverty reduction, the article shows how such initiatives can be used as intellectual lenses through which to view the complex and often paradoxical interconnections between socioeconomic and environmental systems. It is thus concluded that a consideration of poverty issues is not a marginal matter, but is key to grasping the 21st century complexities of global business and management

How do European SME owner-managers make sense of stakeholder management? Insights from a cross-national study

The vast majority of empirical research on stakeholder management has traditionally focused on multinational corporations. Only in recent years, scholars have begun to pay attention to the stakeholder management concept in relation to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The few existing studies in this area, however, discuss SMEs as a context free category or remain focused on single country analysis. This cross-national empirical research investigates SME owner–managers’ perceptions of stakeholder management in six European countries. The comparative analysis is followed by a discussion of how institutional, cultural and linguistic contexts can influence owner–managers’ sensemaking of stakeholder management. Our study questions the universality of specific management terms and proposes that more attention should be paid to the institutional, cultural and linguistic environments that shape economic activity in different parts of Europe

Sustainable Companies

Summary Raising consciousness of social and environmental problems on a global scale requires more awareness for the responsible behavior of companies (Avery and Bergsteiner 2011). The economic growth and wealth creation that are essential to achieve sustainable development goals will come primarily from private enterprise (Nelson and Prescott 2008). In this regard a key role is played by sustainable companies that can assume different forms. Among the diverse possible types, community-based enterprises, as well as territorial company, convivial enterprises, benefit corporations, and B Corp, are all examples of actual declinations of promising models for a sustainable development seeing communal values and the notion of the common good as essential elements (Del Baldo 2014; Jenkins et al. 2010)

Company Case Study 4: Boxmarche – A Heritage of Values for a Virtuous Company

In SMEs the orientation towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is usually triggered by entrepreneurs’ values and beliefs. Accordingly, the main objective of this section is to point out, through exploring a case study - BoxMarche- how SMEs can successfully perform authentic socially-oriented strategies in that actions align with stated values and are triggered by the entrepreneur’s inwardly-derived values. The hypothesis underlying the study is that particularly among SMEs, the orientation toward CSR is intrinsically driven since it is triggered by the entrepreneur who is inspired by personal and family values and virtues tied to cultural and social variables that are typical of the territory he belongs to. The case-study first aims to point out the key values experiences by the manager/entrepreneur and translated into the company mission. Secondly, the coherence among the mission-governance-accountability dimensions will be analysed. Third, attention has been focused on specific virtues - the cardinal virtues - and on how they affect relationships with stakeholders and are applied in the business context rendering authentic the CSR orientation

Sunken CSR and SMEs

Summary Despite the increased recognition and emphasis attributed to CSR, numerous problems and scandals involving large corporations continue to emerge. This contradiction nurtures a growing interest in intrinsic CSR rooted in ethical concerns spread among the company’s culture. While larger companies have to consider the expectations of shareholders and multiple stakeholders, SMEs do not need to be accountable to stakeholders through a systematic and formalized approach grounded on the adoption of sustainability reports useful to assess and demonstrate their CSR performance. However, the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic CSR is often very difficult (first) to understand and (second) to bridge and some authors advocate that the extrinsic and the intrinsic motive for CSR could evolve and be integrate

Organizing corporate social responsibility in small and large firms: Size matters

Based on the findings of a qualitative empirical study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Swiss MNCs and SMEs, we suggest that smaller firms are not necessarily less advanced in organizing CSR than large firms. Results according to theoretically derived assessment frameworks illustrate the actual implementation status of CSR in organizational practices. We propose that small firms possess several organizational characteristics that are favorable for promoting the internal implementation of CSR-related practices in core business functions, but constrain external communication and reporting about CSR. In contrast, large firms possess several characteristics that are favorable for promoting external communication and reporting about CSR, but at the same time constrain internal implementation. We sketch a theoretical explanation of these differences in organizing CSR in MNCs and SMEs based on the relationship between firm size and relative organizational costs

CSR, Innovation and Human Resource Management. The Renaissance of Olivetti’s humanistic management in Loccioni Group – Italy

This paper addresses the theme of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies concerning labor and employees by proposing an anthropologically-centered analysis - developed from both the theoretical and empirical profiles - of business and leadership models that are geared toward a multidimensional development, which focuses on the valorization and promotion of the employee. The first part synthesizes the theoretical context in which the empirical analysis is found by proposing a literature review; while the second one analyses the business and leadership models, which have been successfully implemented by a medium-sized Italian firm - Loccioni Group - that is included among the “great place to work” on the national and international scale. This company has, for years, been distinguished for the best CSR-oriented practices regarding human resource management, innovation, environment and furthermore for its capability to “thread networks” with internal and external stakeholders, and is characterized by genuine commitment which is the result of an authentic and solid value-based system and a model of exemplary governance aimed at linking economic well-being, social cohesion and environmental protection. The case study offers an example of best stakeholders’ and employees’ management practices, which co-evolves with the environment, improving, at the same time, the company’s competitiveness and the socio-economic conditions of the local context in which it is deeply embedded. In this context, CSR is part of the DNA and widespread throughout the entire organization. Loccioni Group is an “extreme case” (although not unique in Italy) that is particularly significant and helps develop reflections on the importance of embracing the cultural and anthropological roots of CSR, which are connected to a model of humanistic management, and reinvent the Olivetti’s model of holistic development while conceiving the business as a tool for promoting social, economic, moral and environmental well-being

Authentic CSR and Leadership: Towards a Virtues-Based Model of Stakeholder Dialogue and Engagement: The Loccioni Group Experience

The paper addressed the theme of authentic CSR based on a virtues and a charismatic approach. Several studies—which are part of the theoretical framework of CSR and are placed within ethical theories—underline how entrepreneurial behaviors and values lie at the base of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-oriented strategies and actions. The business ethics literature emphasises the values dimension of entrepreneurial and managerial activity and has introduced concepts such as management integrity, authenticity and virtues, which are becoming widespread in the corporate context. Departing from these premises, the works focuses on entrepreneurial and managerial leadership and on its attributes and role in developing an authentic CSR oriented strategy. The work addresses the following questions: Can a business become a laboratory capable of orienting and educating stakeholders’ “minds and hearts”? How does leadership affect the dissemination of a CSR authentic orientation at all levels of the organization? On which values and virtues is an authentic leadership based? And how can virtues be used to trigger stakeholder engagement, with particular reference to internal stakeholders, like employees? These questions are the thread from which the study has been developed, focusing on the factors affecting leadership that put social responsibility as the foundation of behaviors, actions and strategies to be disseminated and shared inside and outside the company. First, the work offers an analysis of the leadership theoretical framework paying specific attention to values and virtues-based models of leadership. Secondly, the paper presents the first results of an empirical analysis, centered on an exemplary case study relative to a company—the Loccioni Group—which has for years built the CSR-orientation into its mission and governance model and, recently, has been implementing a project aimed to assess virtues among its stakeholders, departing initially from its employees. The results of the study have both scientific and managerial implications and they underline the need for developing a methodology that allows further empirical research on the relationship between ethical values, humanistic education, family and social structures and the development of an authentic CSR-oriented model of entrepreneurial leadership