Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Relations – The Perspective of German Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have not only their own way of understanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but also their own way of applying it. This paper explores the understanding of CSR by SME owners and analyses their corporate activities. The qualitative survey conducted among 33 SMEs in the metropolitan region of Hamburg reveals that owners of SMEs feel a strong responsibility towards their employees and – even further – towards their families. The fact that employees are the key stakeholders of SMEs is taken into account when applying Freeman’s stakeholder model on SMEs. Moreover, the survey reveals that the engagement of SMEs has a strong local focus and is done in an intuitive “hands-on” way. SMEs did not implement CSR strategies and they do not intend to do so. Their non-communication of CSR reflects this attitude. The challenge for SMEs seems to be the treatment of CSR as a competitive advantage by implementing it in the companies’ overall strategy.