A marked increase has taken place in the past two decades in the volume of research undertaken into the procedures used, and issues encountered, by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into their business strategies. In the present study, we uncover, by means of a systematic literature review (n=118), a growing conceptual and terminological fragmentation of the nomenclature used to capture notions surrounding areas of business responsibility that are specific to smaller business. Likewise, as a result of this, a diverse selection of terms are used by scholars in the field as alternatives to the term “CSR”. This practice hinders consolidation in the field. Here, we use a qualitative content analysis approach to explore the different expressions used to characterize CSR in the context of SME strategy. We then categorize the academic literature into 4 overarching topics: (1) “Ethical values and social connections/relationships of the entrepreneur or owner-manager”, (۲) “Relevance of business context and long-term performance”, (۳) “Importance of formal processes for CSR integration”, and (4) “Political issues with relevance to CSR”. This categorization serves as a basis for future research: by consolidating a fragmented field, it offers a comprehensive foundation on which to base future conceptual and empirical efforts into evaluating the various ways in which SMEs integrate CSR into their strategies.

Introduction

Since the 1990s there has been a growing interest in the scholarly literature in combining CSR with business strategy (Carroll, 1999; Lee, 2008; Porter and Kramer, 2011). Since then, the understanding of CSR has partially shifted from being considered predominantly as the moral imperative of managers and company owners (Bowen, 1953), to being considered, in the main, as an integral factor both in a firm’s strategy as well as in its success (Kotler and Lee, 2005; Lee, 2008; Porter and Kramer, 2011). Initially, the literature adopting this strategic view of CSR focused mainly on large and multinational enterprises (see Clarkson, 1995; Lee, 2008; Porter and Kramer, 2006, 2011). There is, however, a broad consensus that SMEs are an important and sizeable economic force and that the strategic outcomes of CSR in SMEs therefore likewise merit investigation (Morsing and Perrini, 2009). At the same time, several scholars argue that there are particular features distinguishing the ways in which SMEs integrate social and environmental issues into their strategies from their larger counterparts (e.g., Johnson and Schaltegger, 2016; Russo and Perrini, 2009; Spence, 1999, 2007; Vazquez-Carrasco and Lopez-Perez, 2013). Specifically, even if SMEs have fewer resources available to integrate CSR into their strategies and face less public scrutiny and stakeholder attention when compared to large enterprises, responsible or ethical motives often carry more weight in the former because of the personal influence of the owner-manager (Burton and Goldsby, 2009; Wickert, 2016). In terms of operationalization, an additional distinguishing feature is that while larger enterprises tend to adopt formal strategic measures for implementing CSR (e.g., certifications, periodical reporting), small enterprises often adopt informal ones (e.g., ad hoc conversations with specific stakeholder groups) (Baumann-Pauly et al., 2013; Fassin, 2008; Russo and Tencati, 2008; Wickert, 2016).