IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i2p952-d482811.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Prompts Small and Medium Enterprises to Implement CSR? A Qualitative Insight from an Emerging Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Zengming Zou

    (School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Yu Liu

    (School of Economics and Management, Communication University of China, Beijing 100024, China)

  • Naveed Ahmad

    (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Central Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan)

  • Muhammad Safdar Sial

    (Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan)

  • Alina Badulescu

    (Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania)

  • Malik Zia-Ud-Din

    (Department of Law, Islamia University, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan)

  • Daniel Badulescu

    (Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania)

Abstract

The topic of corporate social responsibility (henceforth referred to as CSR) has been a central topic during the last decade, but the majority of the existing literature discusses CSR relationship with large organizations. Whereas, its contribution in small and medium enterprises (henceforth referred to as SME) sector has received little attention. There have been some studies that focused on CSR activities in SME sector quantitatively in the context of developing economies like Pakistan, but the fact is, to date, SME sector of Pakistan is not participating actively in CSR-related activities due to some constraints. The present study is a pioneer attempt, to explore CSR barriers that restrict SME sector of Pakistan from practicing CSR initiatives. For this reason, the present study explores these barriers qualitatively in order to gain in-depth knowledge of different CSR barriers. In doing so, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews from 9 SMEs in Lahore city of Pakistan. We performed thematic analysis, which produced five relevant themes of CSR barriers, including: Lack of resources, lack of regulations, lack of top management commitment, lack of CSR knowledge, and passive customer behavior. Our analysis further showed that lack of resources is the most related barrier that hinder SMEs to be engaged in CSR activities. This paper contributes to CSR literature in emerging economies’ context. Through an increased awareness of barriers, policy makers and practitioners may take necessary steps to improve CSR practices in SMEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Zengming Zou & Yu Liu & Naveed Ahmad & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Alina Badulescu & Malik Zia-Ud-Din & Daniel Badulescu, 2021. "What Prompts Small and Medium Enterprises to Implement CSR? A Qualitative Insight from an Emerging Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:952-:d:482811
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/952/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/952/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Eric Yanfei Zhao & Greg Fisher & Michael Lounsbury & Danny Miller, 2017. "Optimal distinctiveness: Broadening the interface between institutional theory and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 93-113, January.
    2. Fuming Jiang & Tatiana Zalan & Herman H. M. Tse & Jie Shen, 2018. "Mapping the Relationship Among Political Ideology, CSR Mindset, and CSR Strategy: A Contingency Perspective Applied to Chinese Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 419-444, January.
    3. Jui‐Ling Hsu & Meng‐Cheng Cheng, 2012. "What Prompts Small and Medium Enterprises to Engage in Corporate Social Responsibility? A Study from Taiwan," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(5), pages 288-305, September.
    4. Alexander Dahlsrud, 2008. "How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37 definitions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Lixin Shen & Kannan Govindan & Madan Shankar, 2015. "Evaluation of Barriers of Corporate Social Responsibility Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process under a Fuzzy Environment—A Textile Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Ali Alotaibi & Francis Edum-Fotwe & Andrew D.F. Price, 2019. "Critical Barriers to Social Responsibility Implementation within Mega-Construction Projects: The Case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Hussain Bux & Zhe Zhang & Naveed Ahmad, 2020. "Promoting sustainability through corporate social responsibility implementation in the manufacturing industry: An empirical analysis of barriers using the ISM‐MICMAC approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1729-1748, July.
    8. Gustavo R. Espinoza-Ramos, 2020. "‘Unwritten Rules’ in Social Partnerships: Defining Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Through Institutional Theory in the Peruvian Mining Industry," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Belén Díaz Díaz & Nicholas Capaldi & Samuel O. Idowu & René Schmidpeter (ed.), Responsible Business in a Changing World, pages 235-245, Springer.
    9. Adebimpe Lincoln, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria: Drivers and Barriers Experienced by Female Entrepreneurs When Undertaking CSR," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Samuel O. Idowu & Stephen Vertigans (ed.), Stages of Corporate Social Responsibility, chapter 0, pages 25-45, Springer.
    10. Anwar Ali Shah G Syed & Muhammad Muneer Ahmadani & Naveed Shaikh & Faiz Muhammad Shaikh, 2012. "Impact Analysis of SMEs Sector in Economic Development of Pakistan: A Case of Sindh," Journal of Asian Business Strategy, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 2(2), pages 44-53.
    11. Daiva Beniulytė & Beata Šeinauskienė & Aušra Rūtelionė, 2020. "Perceived influence of corporate social responsibility on consumer loyalty: the role of ethical ideology," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(1), pages 291-300, September.
    12. Kuo, Tsai Chi & Kremer, Gül E. Okudan & Phuong, Nguyen Thi & Hsu, Chia-Wei, 2016. "Motivations and barriers for corporate social responsibility reporting: Evidence from the airline industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 184-195.
    13. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    14. Aymen Sajjad & Gabriel Eweje & David Tappin, 2015. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Motivators and Barriers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7), pages 643-655, November.
    15. Anwar Ali Shah G. Syed & Muhammad Muneer Ahmadani & Naveed Shaikh & Faiz Muhammad Shaikh, 2012. "Impact Analysis of SMEs Sector in Economic Development of Pakistan: A Case of Sindh," Journal of Asian Business Strategy, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 2(2), pages 44-53, February.
    16. Guo‐Ciang Wu, 2017. "Effects of Socially Responsible Supplier Development and Sustainability‐Oriented Innovation on Sustainable Development: Empirical Evidence from SMEs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(6), pages 661-675, November.
    17. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    18. Valeri, Marco, 2015. "Networking and cooperation practices in the Italian tourism business," MPRA Paper 77465, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Apr 2016.
    19. José María Agudo-Valiente & Concepción Garcés-Ayerbe & Manuel Salvador-Figueras, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility Drivers and Barriers According to Managers’ Perception; Evidence from Spanish Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-24, October.
    20. Theodoulidis, Babis & Diaz, David & Crotto, Federica & Rancati, Elisa, 2017. "Exploring corporate social responsibility and financial performance through stakeholder theory in the tourism industries," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 173-188.
    21. Felix G. Bello & Grace Kamanga, 2020. "Drivers and barriers of corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry: The case of Malawi," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 181-196, March.
    22. António Marques-Mendes & Maria João Santos, 2016. "Strategic CSR: an integrative model for analysis," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 363-381, June.
    23. Albert Berry, 1998. "The Potential Role of the SME Sector in Pakistan in a World of Increasing International Trade," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 25-49.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mauricio Latapí & Lára Jóhannsdóttir & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir & Mette Morsing, 2021. "The Barriers to Corporate Social Responsibility in the Nordic Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-30, April.
    2. Naveed Ahmad & Zia Ullah & Asif Mahmood & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Heesup Han & Miklas Scholz, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility at the Micro-Level as a “New Organizational Value” for Sustainability: Are Females More Aligned towards It?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Tee, Kienpin & Chen, Xihui Haviour & Hooy, Chee-Wooi, 2024. "The evolution of corporate social responsibility in China: Do political connection and ownership matter?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    4. Peggy M. L. Ng & Tai Ming Wut & Kam Kong Lit & Cherry T. Y. Cheung, 2022. "Drivers of corporate social responsibility and firm performance for sustainable development—An institutional theory approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 871-886, July.
    5. Wang Hongxin & Mohammed Arshad Khan & Jian Zhenqiang & Laura-Mariana Cismaș & Mohammad Athar Ali & Usama Saleem & Lucia Negruț, 2022. "Unleashing the Role of CSR and Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior for Organizational Success: The Role of Connectedness to Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Shay Tsaban & Tal Shavit, 2024. "The Agency Problem of the Modern Era – The Conflict Between Shareholders’ and Managers’ Motives to Invest in Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 1-18, October.
    7. Asif Khan & Chih-Cheng Chen & Kwanrat Suanpong & Athapol Ruangkanjanases & Santhaya Kittikowit & Shih-Chih Chen, 2021. "The Impact of CSR on Sustainable Innovation Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Second-Order Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, November.
    8. Zafeiria Masouti & George Tsiotras & Katerina Gotzamani, 2024. "The Significance of CSR in the Pursuit of Business Excellence and Competitiveness: Evidence from the Greek Supermarket Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-25, May.
    9. Alla Mostepaniuk & Elsie Nasr & Razan Ibrahim Awwad & Sameer Hamdan & Hasan Yousef Aljuhmani, 2022. "Managing a Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    10. Camila Kolling & José Luis Duarte Ribeiro & Donato Morea & Gianpaolo Iazzolino, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and circular economy from the perspective of consumers: A cross‐cultural analysis in the cosmetic industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1226-1243, May.
    11. Shilong Wei & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Ubaldo Comite & Phung Anh Thu & Daniel Badulescu & József Popp, 2021. "An Examination to Explain the Mechanism of Employees’ Environment-Specific Behavior through CSR and Work Engagement from the Perspective of Stewardship Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-20, September.
    12. Cao, Peng & Sial, Muhammad Safdar & Ã lvarez-Otero, Susana & Brugni, Talles Vianna & Comite, Ubaldo, 2024. "Eco-engagement: Tracing CSR communication's ripple effect on consumer hospitality loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Linghui Kong & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Naveed Ahmad & Mariana Sehleanu & Zhihui Li & Malik Zia-Ud-Din & Daniel Badulescu, 2021. "CSR as a Potential Motivator to Shape Employees’ View towards Nature for a Sustainable Workplace Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, February.
    14. Qinghua Fu & Wafa Ghardallou & Ubaldo Comite & Irfan Siddique & Heesup Han & Juan Manuel Arjona-Fuentes & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2022. "The Role of CSR in Promoting Energy-Specific Pro-Environmental Behavior among Hotel Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, May.
    15. Naveed Ahmad & Asif Mahmood & Heesup Han & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Mohi ud Din & Ghazanfar Iqbal Khan & Zia Ullah, 2021. "Sustainability as a “New Normal” for Modern Businesses: Are SMEs of Pakistan Ready to Adopt It?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    16. Asif Mahmood & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Mohammad Adnan, 2021. "Unleashing the Barriers to CSR Implementation in the SME Sector of a Developing Economy: A Thematic Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asif Mahmood & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Mohammad Adnan, 2021. "Unleashing the Barriers to CSR Implementation in the SME Sector of a Developing Economy: A Thematic Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Naveed Ahmad & Asif Mahmood & Heesup Han & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Mohi ud Din & Ghazanfar Iqbal Khan & Zia Ullah, 2021. "Sustainability as a “New Normal” for Modern Businesses: Are SMEs of Pakistan Ready to Adopt It?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Anat Anaqie Zahidy & Shahryar Sorooshian & Zahidy Abd Hamid, 2019. "Critical Success Factors for Corporate Social Responsibility Adoption in the Construction Industry in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-24, November.
    4. Antonella Biscione & Dorothée Boccanfuso & Annunziata De Felice, 2021. "Regulations and Corporate Environmental Responsibility: evidence from a panel of firms in Transition economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(54), pages 6286-6299, November.
    5. Mauricio Latapí & Lára Jóhannsdóttir & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir & Mette Morsing, 2021. "The Barriers to Corporate Social Responsibility in the Nordic Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-30, April.
    6. Rafael García Martín & Alfonso Duran-Heras & Karen Reina Sánchez, 2022. "Analysis of the Main Corporate Social Responsibility Drivers and Barriers and Their Foreseeable Evolution—Evidence from Two Leading Multinationals: The Airbus and TASL Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-23, July.
    7. Minna Halme & Maria Korpela, 2014. "Responsible Innovation Toward Sustainable Development in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: a Resource Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(8), pages 547-566, December.
    8. Lucas Inacio Santos & Rosley Anholon & Dirceu Silva & Carlos Raul Etulain & Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues & Walter Leal Filho, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility projects: critical success factors for better performance of Brazilian companies and guidelines to qualify professionals and entrepreneurs," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1685-1706, December.
    9. Hussain Bux & Zhe Zhang & Naveed Ahmad, 2020. "Promoting sustainability through corporate social responsibility implementation in the manufacturing industry: An empirical analysis of barriers using the ISM‐MICMAC approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1729-1748, July.
    10. Luo Jing & Joonho Moon, 2021. "Airline Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Social Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-12, August.
    11. Ammad Zafar & Sadaf Mustafa, 2017. "SMEs and its Role in Economic and Socio-Economic Development of Pakistan," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(4), pages 195-205, October.
    12. Marco Valeri & Rodolfo Baggio, 2021. "A critical reflection on the adoption of blockchain in tourism," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 121-132, June.
    13. Muhammad Wasim Jan Khan & Muhammad Khalique, 2014. "An Overview of Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia and Pakistan: Past, Present and Future Scenario," Business and Management Horizons, Macrothink Institute, vol. 2(2), pages 38-49, December.
    14. Venugopal Ramachandran, 2011. "Strategic corporate social responsibility: a ‘dynamic capabilities’ perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(5), pages 285-293, September.
    15. Muhammad Mubushar & Shahid Rasool & Muhammad Imtiaz Haider & Roberto Cerchione, 2021. "The impact of corporate social responsibility activities on stakeholders' value co‐creation behaviour," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1906-1920, November.
    16. Muhammad Haseeb & Marcin Lis & Ilham Haouas & Leonardus WW Mihardjo, 2019. "The Mediating Role of Business Strategies between Management Control Systems Package and Firms Stability: Evidence from SMEs in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-20, August.
    17. Antonella Biscione & Annunziata de Felice & Teodoro Gallucci, 2022. "Energy Saving in Transition Economies: Environmental Activities in Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.
    18. Mehrnaz Ashrafi & Gregory M. Magnan & Michelle Adams & Tony R. Walker, 2020. "Understanding the Conceptual Evolutionary Path and Theoretical Underpinnings of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, January.
    19. Mike W. Peng & Joyce C. Wang & Nishant Kathuria & Jia Shen & Miranda J. Welbourne Eleazar, 2023. "Toward an institution-based paradigm," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 353-382, June.
    20. Faiza Manzoor & Longbao Wei & Mohammad Nurunnabi & Qazi Abdul Subhan & Syed Irshad Ali Shah & Samaher Fallatah, 2019. "The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Job Performance and CSR as Mediator in SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:952-:d:482811. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.