Corporate social responsibility in supply chains of small and medium-sized enterprises

Lee, Hee-Yong; Kwak, Dong-Wook; Park, Jeong-Yang

Abstract

Research has shown that implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice represents a considerable challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This research conceptualises the dimensions and contingencies of CSR in SMEs’ supply chains. Drawing on institutional theory and stakeholder theory, we investigates the degree of importance and implementation of CSR practices in SMEs. A large-scale questionnaire survey with SMEs in manufacturing sectors and panel discussions were conducted in South Korea. The findings indicate that SMEs tend to focus on explicit CSR practices that can be easily identified by their customers. Consistent with this, stakeholder and institutional pressures were valid in the performance of CSR practices, but largely biased to customers, government and regulatory pressures. Based on institutional theory and stakeholder theory as overarching theoretical lenses, this research contributes to offer a fuller understanding of dimensions of CSR practices in the supply chains from a SME perspective.

Citation

Lee, H., Kwak, D., & Park, J. (in press). Corporate social responsibility in supply chains of small and medium-sized enterprises. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1433

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 17, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 23, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 22, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 24, 2019
• Journal: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
• Print ISSN: 1535-3958
• Electronic ISSN: 1535-3966
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1433
• Keywords: corporate social responsibility, institutional theory, small and medium-sized enterprises, South Korea, stakeholder theory, supply chain management
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/867588
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csr.1433/abstract
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Lee, H.-Y., Kwak, D.-W., and Park, J.-Y. (2017) Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Mgmt, which has been published in final form at doi:10.1002/csr.1433. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.