An empirical examination of the influence of corporate social responsibility dimensions on the small and medium enterprise performance in Northern Malaysia

Abstract

The movement of corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) is no longer just the concern of the large-scale multinational company (MNC) but also of the small and medium enterprise (SME). However, the practices of CSR activities among SMEs are still not as effective as MNCs. To examine this, a cross-sectional study of quantitative questionnaire survey approach was conducted using a purposive convenience sampling technique drawn from 29 SMEs in Kedah, Malaysia. A questionnaire was distributed via self-administered procedure and the data was analysed using the PLS analysis. Overall, the study found support for the influence of CSR on the SMEs performance. The findings further show that internal factors and knowledge level factor rather than the external factors have significant influence on the SMEs performance. The study concludes that CSR practices help SMEs to build corporate image and goodwill thereby enhancing the firm performance. Unfortunately, not all SMEs actually execute and practice CSR even though they might have CSR policies.