To (Crafts) Man Up: How Swiss SMEs Cope with CSR in Harsh Times

Abstract

Many Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland have highly sophisticated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agendas. In many cases they are unintended, informal as they are coming from corporate cultures that nurture a “raison d’etre” and a noble business purpose beyond profit-maximisation. Previous research aggregated this core logic to an overarching SME business model, L’EPOQuE, making Swiss SMEs, arguably, hidden CSR champions with regard to social, economic, and environmental responsibilities. This model is borne by a set of key features: i.e., the process of work socialisation, soft assets, proximity and informality, agility, the nexus of company ownership and government, the focus on education, and long-range planning. By the methods of focus group discussion with seven SME owner-managers combined with case studies located in the French-speaking part of Switzerland this research looked at the impact of different financial crisis on the Swiss CSR business model. The results show surprisingly strongly, that there is no substantial leverage. The psychological and sociological tradition of stewardship and the SMEs’ emphasis on excellent craftsmanship help sustain morale and ethics despite economic downturns. As their business model evolves from CSR as “moral activity” it prevents the potential sacrifice of ethics due to financial scarcity. At the same time, it mirrors a highly competitive business approach that can be generalised to other unconventional, “non-standard” milieus where money might be short (e.g., in start-up companies). Considering the economic, political, and social competitiveness of Swiss SMEs and their relevance within CSR, this study demonstrates the power of the small business approach as it works detached from economic situations.