SMEs' suppliers' practices and contractors' expectations on CSR management tools: the gap

Abstract

Stakeholder relationships, especially between multinational companies (MNCs) and their numerous suppliers [small and medium enterprises (SMEs)] are closely intertwined in a supply chain perspective (Gereffi and Lee, 2016). It is a major challenge to properly disseminate more sustainable practices, products and services respecting local and global ecosystems. But MNCs and SMEs are not only 'lost in sustainable tools', but also are different in their expectations and practices. Paradoxically, though MNCs and SMEs are encouraged/and are often willing to adopt CSR tools (ISO26000, AA1000 AS, etc.) to reach economic, social and environmental sustainable goals specifically based on a stakeholder approach, they tend to impose inappropriate tools to SMEs and a 'no dialogue' relationship. The aim of this paper is to compare CSR tools developed and used by SMEs on the one hand and developed and used by large contractors for their suppliers on the other hand. The question of alignment between SMEs' practices and MNCs' expectations is important to ensure a sustainable performance among the supply chain and manage this relationship between suppliers and contractors.