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

Zengming Zou, Yu Liu, Naveed Ahmad, Muhammad Safdar Sial, Alina Badulescu, Malik Zia-Ud-Din and Daniel Badulescu
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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
Malik Zia-Ud-Din: Department of Law, Islamia University, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-16

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.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility barriers; small and medium enterprises; Pakistan; environmental management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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