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  1. An Empirical Study of Environmental Awareness and Practices in SMEs.David L. Gadenne, Jessica Kennedy & Catherine McKeiver - 2009 - Journal of Business Ethics 84 (1):45-63.
    With increasing awareness of environmental issues, there has been rising demand for environmental-friendly business practices. Prior research has shown that the implementation of environmental management practices is influenced by existing and potential stakeholder groups in the form of external pressures from legislators, environmental groups, financial institutions and suppliers, as well as internally by employees and owner/manager attitudes and knowledge. However, it has been reported that despite business owner/managers having strong “green” attitudes, the level of implementation of environmental-friendly practices is low. (...)
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  • Formal vs. Informal CSR Strategies: Evidence from Italian Micro, Small, Medium-sized, and Large Firms.Angeloantonio Russo & Antonio Tencati - 2009 - Journal of Business Ethics 85 (S2):339-353.
    Recent research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) suggests the need for further exploration into the relationship between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and CSR. SMEs rarely use the language of CSR to describe their activities, but informal CSR strategies play a large part in them. The goal of this article is to investigate whether differences exist between the formal and informal CSR strategies through which firms manage relations with and the claims of their stakeholders. In this context, formal CSR strategies (...)
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  • Does integrity matter for CSR practice in organizations? The mediating role of transformational leadership.José M. C. Veríssimo & Teresa M. C. Lacerda - 2014 - Business Ethics: A European Review 24 (1):34-51.
    Scholars have long debated whether leader's integrity affects managerial decision making with respect to social responsibility. In this paper, we propose a model in which transformational leadership mediates integrity and corporate social responsibility and examine the relationship between these concepts. A survey of 170 senior managers from 50 organizations was conducted. Results indicate that integrity is a predictor of transformational leadership behavior and that transformational leaders’ behaviors are linked to CSR practices. It was also found that leaders rated with higher (...)
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  • Institutional Environment, Managerial Attitudes and Environmental Sustainability Orientation of Small Firms.Banjo Roxas & Alan Coetzer - 2012 - Journal of Business Ethics 111 (4):461-476.
    This study examines the direct impact of three dimensions of the institutional environment on managerial attitudes toward the natural environment and the direct influence of the latter on the environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) of small firms. We contend that when the institutional environment is perceived by owner–managers as supportive of sound natural environment management practices, they are more likely to develop a positive attitude toward natural environment issues and concerns. Such owner–manager attitudes are likely to lead to a positive and (...)
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  • From Quality to Sustainability.Gerard I. J. M. Zwetsloot & Marcel N. A. Van Marrewijk - 2004 - Journal of Business Ethics 55 (2):79 - 82.
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  • Small firm environmental ethics: how deep do they go?Fiona Tilley - 2000 - Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility 9 (1):31-41.
    This paper explores the meaning of environmental ethics in the small firm domain. A distinction is made between two approaches: conventional ethical discourse based on shallow ecological principles and a new ethical discourse based on deep ecology principles. Using the literature in this multi‐disciplinary field of inquiry a link is made between small firms, ethics and the environment. Empirical research data based on the author’s doctoral work with firms in Leeds is discussed. The research results indicate that small firms from (...)
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  • (1 other version)Multiple Levels of Corporate Sustainability.Marcel Van Marrewijk & Marco Werre - 2003 - Journal of Business Ethics 44 (2/3):107 - 119.
    According to Dr. Clare Graves, mankind has developed eight core value systems, as responses to prevailing circumstances. Given different contexts and value systems, a one-solution-fits-all concept of corporate sustainability is not reasonable. Therefore, this paper presents various definitions and forms of sustainability, each linked to specific (societal) circumstances and related value systems. A sustainability matrix - and essential element of the overall European Corporate Sustainability Framework - is described showing six types of organizations at different developmental stages, with different forms (...)
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  • CSR Strategies of SMEs and Large Firms. Evidence from Italy.Francesco Perrini, Angeloantonio Russo & Antonio Tencati - 2007 - Journal of Business Ethics 74 (3):285-300.
    While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming a mainstream issue for many organizations, most of the research to date addresses CSR in large businesses rather than in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), because it is too often considered a prerogative of large businesses only. The role of SMEs in an increasingly dynamic context is now being questioned, including what factors might affect their socially responsible behaviour. The goal of this paper is to make a comparison of SME and large firm (...)
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  • Sustainability-Driven Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility: Application of the Integrative Sustainability Triangle.Alexandro Kleine & Michael von Hauff - 2009 - Journal of Business Ethics 85 (S3):517-533.
    Current corporate social responsibility approaches attempt to implement the vision of sustainable development at the corporate level. In fact, the term "corporate sustainability" may be a more accurate descriptive label for these attempts. Ambitious governmental, business and academic goals, and corresponding efforts have been established. Nonetheless, a truly satisfactory implementation of the broad CSR concept as well as the more specific challenges of corporate sustainability continue to be an elusive goal at the corporate management level. This article presents a description (...)
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  • CSR Policies: Effects on Labour Productivity in Spanish Micro and Small Manufacturing Companies.Pablo Esteban Sánchez & Sonia Benito-Hernández - 2015 - Journal of Business Ethics 128 (4):705-724.
    This paper analyses empirical evidence of efforts to enable Spanish micro and small manufacturing companies to boost their labour productivity rates through the development of the main pillars of their corporate social responsibility policies. This study aims to develop new approaches and sensibilities towards work from an ethical, values and CSR perspective, showing how internal dimensions of CSR, such those related to relationships with employees and responsibility in processes and product quality, can improve labour performance and labour efficiency, thereby contributing (...)
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  • Reviewing the Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: New Evidence and Analysis. [REVIEW]Philipp Schreck - 2011 - Journal of Business Ethics 103 (2):167-188.
    This study complements previous empirical research on the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) by employing hitherto unused data on corporate social performance (CSP) and proposing statistical analyses to account for bi-directional causality between social and financial performance. By allowing for differences in the importance of single components of CSP between industries, the data in this study overcome certain limitations of the databases used in earlier studies. The econometrics employed offer a rigorous way of addressing the problem of endogeneity (...)
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  • Peculiar Strengths and Relational Attributes of SMEs in the Context of CSR.Dima Jamali, Mona Zanhour & Tamar Keshishian - 2009 - Journal of Business Ethics 87 (3):355-377.
    The spotlight in the CSR discourse has traditionally been focused on multinational corporations (MNCs). This paper builds on a burgeoning stream of literature that has accorded recent attention to the relevance and importance of integrating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the CSR debate. The paper begins by an overview of the CSR literature and a synthesis of relevant evidence pertaining to the peculiarities and special relational attributes of SMEs in the context of CSR. Noting the thin theoretical grounding in (...)
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  • Environmental marketing: A source of reputational, competitive, and financial advantage. [REVIEW]Morgan P. Miles & Jeffrey G. Covin - 2000 - Journal of Business Ethics 23 (3):299 - 311.
    Corporate reputation is an intangible asset that is related to marketing and financial performance. The social, economic, and global environment of the 1990'shas resulted in environmental performance becoming an increasingly important component of a company'sreputation. This paper explores the relationship between reputation, environmental performance, and financial performance, and looks at the contingencies that impact environmental policy making.
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  • Environmental Respect: Ethics or Simply Business? A Study in the Small and Medium Enterprise Context.Jesús Cambra-Fierro, Susan Hart & Yolanda Polo-Redondo - 2008 - Journal of Business Ethics 82 (3):645-656.
    In recent years there have been evergrowing concerns regarding environmental decline, causing some companies to focus on the implementation of environmentally friendly supply, production and distribution systems. Such concern may stem either from the set of beliefs and values of the company's management or from certain pressure exerted by the market - consumers and institutions - in the belief that an environmentally respectful management policy will contribute to the transmission of a positive image of the company and its products. Sometimes, (...)
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  • Reexamining the Expected Effect of Available Resources and Firm Size on Firm Environmental Orientation: An Empirical Study of UK Firms.Khaled Elsayed - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 65 (3):297-308.
    An emergent body of literature examined why some firms apply some environmental initiatives while other firms do not take responsibility for their natural environment? Thus, firm environmental orientation (responsiveness and performance) are linked in the literature to several variables. Unfortunately, the relationship between firm environmental orientation and either available resources or firm size showed mixed results and inconclusive evidence. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show empirically how available resources and firm size can explain differences in firm environmental (...)
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  • Mainstreaming Green Product Innovation: Why and How Companies Integrate Environmental Sustainability. [REVIEW]Rosa Maria Dangelico & Devashish Pujari - 2010 - Journal of Business Ethics 95 (3):471 - 486.
    Green product innovation has been recognized as one of the key factors to achieve growth, environmental sustainability, and a better quality of life. Understanding green product innovation as a result of interaction between innovation and sustainability has become a strategic priority for theory and practice. This article investigates green product innovation by means of a multiple case study analysis of 12 small to medium size manufacturing companies based in Italy and Canada. First, we propose a conceptual framework that presents three (...)
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  • (2 other versions)Pushing forward sme csr through a network: An account from the catalan model.David Murillo & Josep M. Lozano - 2008 - Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility 18 (1):7-20.
    This paper presents the results of a Catalan project in which an academic institution acted as a practitioner to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The project involved the establishment of a working network with intermediate organisations and the creation of specific tools for the purpose. The paper is set up as a case study, emphasising inclusion, representativity and legitimacy as key elements for the successful construction of a network to promote CSR in SMEs. It (...)
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  • Investigating the Impact of Firm Size on Small Business Social Responsibility: A Critical Review.Jan Lepoutre & Aimé Heene - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 67 (3):257-273.
    The impact of smaller firm size on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is ambiguous. Some contend that small businesses are socially responsible by nature, while others argue that a smaller firm size imposes barriers on small firms that constrain their ability to take responsible action. This paper critically analyses recent theoretical and empirical contributions on the size–social responsibility relationship among small businesses. More specifically, it reviews the impact of firm size on four antecedents of business behaviour: issue characteristics, personal characteristics, organizational (...)
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  • SMEs and environmental responsibility: a policy perspective.Richard Blundel, Adrian Monaghan & Christine Thomas - 2013 - Business Ethics: A European Review 22 (3):246-262.
    Environmental policies to promote environmentally sustainable economic activity have often concentrated on larger firms. However, increasing attention is being paid to the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurial actors. In this paper, we examine how policy tools are being used to improve the environmental performance of SMEs and to redirect entrepreneurial energies in more environmentally benign directions. The empirical section adopts a case-based comparative method to examine four instances of policymaking, drawn from different countries and industry sectors. (...)
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  • (1 other version)Multiple levels of corporate sustainability.Marcel van Marrewijk & Marco Werre - 2003 - Journal of Business Ethics 44 (2-3):107-119.
    According to Dr. Clare Graves, mankind has developed eight core value systems,1 as responses to prevailing circumstances. Given different contexts and value systems, a one-solution-fits-all concept of corporate sustainability is not reasonable. Therefore, this paper presents various definitions and forms of sustainability, each linked to specific (societal) circumstances and related value systems. A sustainability matrix– an essential element of the overall European Corporate Sustainability Framework – is described showing six types of organizations at different developmental stages, with different forms of (...)
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  • Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size.Krishna Udayasankar - 2008 - Journal of Business Ethics 83 (2):167-175.
    Small and medium-sized firms form 90% of the worldwide population of businesses. However, it has been argued that given their smaller scale of operations, resource access constraints and lower visibility, smaller firms are less likely to participate in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. This article examines the different economic motivations of firms with varying combinations of visibility, resource access and scale of operations. Arguments are presented to propose that in terms of visibility, resource access and operating scale, very small and (...)
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  • SMEs and CSR in Developing Countries.Søren Jeppesen, Peter Lund-Thomsen & Dima Jamali - 2017 - Business and Society 56 (1):11-22.
    This article is the guest editors’ introduction to the special issue in Business & Society on “SMEs and CSR in Developing Countries.” The special issue includes four original research articles by Hamann, Smith, Tashman, and Marshall; Allet; Egels-Zandén; and Puppim de Oliveira and Jabbour on various aspects of the relationship of small and medium enterprises to corporate social responsibility in developing countries.
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  • Why Do SMEs Go Green? An Analysis of Wine Firms in South Africa.Ralph Hamann, James Smith, Pete Tashman & R. Scott Marshall - 2017 - Business and Society 56 (1):23-56.
    Studies on why small and medium enterprises engage in pro-environmental behavior suggest that managers’ environmental responsibility plays a relatively greater role than competitiveness and legitimacy-seeking. These categories of drivers are mostly considered independent of each other. Using survey data and comparative case studies of wine firms in South Africa, this study finds that managers’ environmental responsibility is indeed the key driver in a context where state regulation hardly plays any role in regulating dispersed, rural firms. However, especially proactive firms are (...)
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  • The impact of organizational pressures on environmental performance of firms.Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, Boonchan Poomkaew & Prithwiraj Nath - 2014 - Business Ethics: A European Review 23 (2):169-182.
    The role of various organizational pressures in influencing performance of firms has been an interesting research topic in a variety of fields and has received the attention of researchers working in the field of environmental strategy. Although there are previous studies that have looked at the influence of various pressures in influencing firms’ environmental strategies, our study provides a more holistic analysis considering a variety of such pressures in a single framework. We discuss a research study to analyze how pressures (...)
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  • Beyond Size: Predicting Engagement in Environmental Management Practices of Dutch SMEs.Lorraine M. Uhlaner, Marta M. Berent-Braun, Ronald J. M. Jeurissen & Gerrit de Wit - 2012 - Journal of Business Ethics 109 (4):411-429.
    This study focuses on the prediction of the engagement of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in environmental management practices, based on a random sample of 689 SMEs. The study finds that several endogenous factors, including tangibility of sector, firm size, innovative orientation, family influence and perceived financial benefits from energy conservation, predict an SME’s level of engagement in selected environmental management practices. For family influence, this effect is found only in interaction with the number of owners. In addition to empirical (...)
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  • Drivers of Environmental Behaviour in Manufacturing SMEs and the Implications for CSR.David Williamson, Gary Lynch-Wood & John Ramsay - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 67 (3):317-330.
    The authors use empirical research into the environmental practices of 31 manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to show that ‚business performance’ and ‚regulation’ considerations drive behaviour. They suggest that this is inevitable, given the market-based decision-making frames that permeate and dominate the industry in which manufacturing SMEs operate. Since the environment is a pillar of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the findings have important implications for CSR policy, which promotes voluntary actions predicated on a business case. It is argued that (...)
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  • Personal attributes, organizational conditions, and ethical attitudes: a social cognitive approach.Dirk Holtbrügge, Anastasia Baron & Carina B. Friedmann - 2014 - Business Ethics: A European Review 24 (3):264-281.
    This paper investigates the impact of personal attributes and organizational conditions on attitudes toward corporate misdeeds. On the basis of social cognitive theory, we develop hypotheses that are tested against data collected from 215 German employees using an online survey. Our findings suggest that personal attributes have a much greater impact on ethical attitudes than organizational conditions. Further, a moderating effect of control-oriented culture on the relationship between personality traits and attitudes toward corporate misdeeds is found. We derive implications for (...)
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  • Sustainability reporting and corporate identity: action research evidence in an Italian retailing cooperative.Massimo Battaglia, Lara Bianchi, Marco Frey & Emilio Passetti - 2014 - Business Ethics: A European Review 24 (1):52-72.
    Cooperatives are facing the challenge to be competitive in the market, without losing their traditional values of mutuality and democracy. To do that, they need to re-construct open and participative dialogue with their employees and members based on more democratic forms of communication and engagement. From this point of view, the measurement and communication of sustainability aspects may allow a dialogue to be mobilized with shareholders and stakeholders without losing the attention on competitive factors. Based on these premises, the article (...)
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  • Social and Symbolic Capital and Responsible Entrepreneurship: An Empirical Investigation of SME Narratives.Ted Fuller & Yumiao Tian - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 67 (3):287-304.
    This paper investigates links between social capital and symbolic capital and responsible entrepreneurship in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The source of the primary data was 144 ‘Business Profiles’, written by the owner-managers of small businesses in application for a Small Business Awards competition in 2005. Included in each of these narratives were claims relating to the firms’ contributions to wider society, relationships with customers, employees and stakeholders. These narratives were coded and classified in a framework drawn (...)
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  • Small Business Champions for Corporate Social Responsibility.Heledd Jenkins - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 67 (3):241-256.
    While Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has traditionally been the domain of the corporate sector, recognition of the growing significance of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) sector has led to an emphasis on their social and environmental impact, illustrated by an increasing number of initiatives aimed at engaging SMEs in the CSR agenda. CSR has been well researched in large companies, but SMEs have received less attention in this area. This paper presents the findings from a U.K. wide study (...)
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  • (1 other version)Critical points of CSR‐related stakeholder dialogue in practice.Ursa Golob & Klement Podnar - 2014 - Business Ethics: A European Review 23 (3):248-257.
    This paper examines the roles of dialogue in the process of communication with stakeholders. The conceptual frameworks of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder relationships frequently present the initiation of a dialogue with stakeholders as a way for an organization to respond to criticisms of its social and environmental policies and actions. The paper discusses dialogue in the stakeholder and CSR literature. This is followed by the analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews in the empirical section. Theoretical discussion and empirical examples (...)
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  • The over-reliance on self-regulation in CSR policy.Gary Lynch-Wood, David Williamson & Wyn Jenkins - 2008 - Business Ethics: A European Review 18 (1):52-65.
    The view that CSR performance can be improved most effectively through external pressures is shown to be invalid for most firms. In exploring why this is the case, the authors demonstrate that most small and medium enterprises are not exposed to the same pressures as large firms, and that this undermines many of the assumptions that underpin the externally driven business case (EDBC) for voluntary CSR practices. The analysis does this by looking at the external drivers of one of the (...)
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  • SMEs and CSR Theory: Evidence and Implications from an Italian Perspective.Francesco Perrini - 2006 - Journal of Business Ethics 67 (3):305-316.
    Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has acquired an unquestionably high degree of relevance for a large number of different actors. Among others, academics and practitioners are developing a wide range of knowledge and best practices to further improve socially responsible competences. Within this context, one frequent question is according to what theory should general knowledge of CSR be developed, and in particular the relationship between CSR and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). This paper suggests that research on large firms should be (...)
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  • Understanding instrumental motivations for social responsibility engagement in a micro‐firm context.Erlend Nybakk & Rajat Panwar - 2014 - Business Ethics: A European Review 24 (1):18-33.
    Firms engage in social responsibility activities for diverse reasons. This study focuses on understanding firms' instrumental motivations for engaging in socially responsible activities. We suggest that the instrumental motivations underlying firms' corporate social responsibility engagement are associated with their market, learning, and risk-related behaviors; thus, we identify market orientation, learning orientation, and risk-taking attitudes as three constructs that influence firms' CSR engagement. This research was conducted in the Norwegian firewood sector, in which CSR expectations are high and in which we (...)
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  • (2 other versions)Pushing forward SME CSR through a network: an account from the Catalan model.David Murillo & Josep M. Lozano - 2008 - Business Ethics 18 (1):7-20.
    This paper presents the results of a Catalan project in which an academic institution acted as a practitioner to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The project involved the establishment of a working network with intermediate organisations and the creation of specific tools for the purpose. The paper is set up as a case study, emphasising inclusion, representativity and legitimacy as key elements for the successful construction of a network to promote CSR in SMEs. It (...)
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