Regional CSR Policies and SMEs’ CSR Actions: Mind the Gap—The Case of the Tourism SMEs in Crete

Eleni Apospori

doi:10.3390/su10072197

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions have the potential to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs. Regional authorities can support the development of SME CSR actions within the framework of their sustainable competiveness agenda. The alignment between regional CSR policy initiatives and SMEs’ CSR needs is crucial for achieving the regional sustainable competitiveness’ goals. We introduce a conceptual framework to facilitate the alignment between regional CSR policies and SMEs’ needs. We use this conceptual framework and the quantitative technique of survey to empirically investigate the alignment of regional CSR policies with the CSR needs of tourism for SMEs in Crete, Greece. The findings indicate gaps between the perceived level and type of support offered by regional CSR policies and the CSR needs of the SMEs. Based on the findings, we provide recommendations to the regional authorities and tourism SMEs in Crete for implementing CSR policies and actions.

Highlights

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) extends the responsibility of companies beyond their shareholders to the broader community of internal, e.g., employees, and external stakeholders, e.g., society, environment and consumers
This study identified that CSR actions related to priority management of employees and customer issues, have a stronger influence on Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) performance than CSR actions related to environmental management and societal issues
Regarding the first research question, the findings show that tourism SMEs in Crete think that the CSR awareness level is low and so is the information and support level available in their region; they think that the regional public authorities should support SMEs regarding CSR issues at a moderate level (Table 5)

Summary

Introduction

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) extends the responsibility of companies beyond their shareholders to the broader community of internal, e.g., employees, and external stakeholders, e.g., society, environment and consumers. CSR can be defined as “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” [1] The CSR concept suggests that companies should try to optimize their performance by maximizing synergies and minimizing conflicts among economic, social, and environmental objectives. Over time scholars suggested that CSR may become a more integral part of corporate strategy [3] and, may have the potential to produce competitiveness benefits [3,4]. CSR is not applicable only to large Multinational Companies (MNCs) but it is very relevant for Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs).SMEs’ CSR actions may potentially contribute to the enhancement of SMEs’ competitiveness [5,6,7,8,9]

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