The ESADE Institute for the Individual, Corporations and Society (IPES) has presented a new study: CSR and SMEs: Striving for Business Excellence. The study’s presentation was moderated by Josep M. Lozano, IPES Director, and participants included Andreu Morillas, Economy Secretary for the Government of Catalonia, David Murillo, study co-author and researcher, ESADE IPES, and Xavier Martínez, Managing Director, TQ TECNOL, one of the companies included in the study. 

All the participants stressed the importance of bringing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) closer to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and of recognising their existing social policies, since CSR is a distant concept for this type of company. This is one of the principle conclusions of the study, CSR and SMEs: Striving for Business Excellence, recently published by the ESADE Institute for the Individual, Corporations and Society (IPES) and sponsored by La Obra Social de Caixa Sabadell. The study published by the business school demonstrates that SMEs perceive CSR as a concept pertaining to large firms or policies beyond the scope of their economic and organisational possibilities.

For this reason, the study’s authors, Josep Maria Lozano, IPES Director, and David Murillo, researcher, propose a quarantine on the CSR concept and stress the need for a new model to appeal to SMEs. This would imply “adopting the responsible competitiveness concept since CSR is linked to certain values among SMEs, but is also associated to a pragmatic interest in obtaining competitive advantage to guarantee the company’s survival in the market.”

The study also reveals that social responsibility in SMEs is closely linked to the businessman’s/owner’s own values, values which leave an important mark on the social policies adopted by these companies.

The companies included in the study

- TQ Tecnol SA: A young firm founded in 1997, and construction industry supplier. Recognised for its innovative flexi-time practices.

- Pàver SL: Metallurgy company established in 1967. Recognised for its practices promoting environmental sustainability.

- Ascensores Jordà SA: Company within the maintenance industry and founded in 1953. Recognised for its contribution to quality and occupational health innovation.

- Euroquímica de Bufí y Planas SA: Company within the chemical industry founded in 1962. It is a reference point in terms of employee participation in company management and social policies. The company also grants its own awards to the best corporate capital and work integration initiatives.

(source : ESADE)

Social Policies and Economic Results

The four companies included in the study keenly defend that there is a close relationship between social policies and business results, although there are no objective measures to base this on, other than the mere perception that social practices are one of the elements which influence their results positively.

According to the report, the most important criteria for SMEs to legitimate CSR practices are, firstly, to improve the relationship between employees and the company, and secondly, to improve the relationship with external stakeholders. As the study’s authors indicate, “this emphasis on the internal CSR dimension contrasts with the predominant discourse on CSR which generally stresses the external dimension.” In this sense, the study concludes that the benefits of CSR only reach the external stakeholders indirectly and, often, due to the recognition garnered by the company from its presence in the media.

The aim of the ESADE Institute for the Individual, Corporations and Society study is to gain greater insight on SME perceptions regarding CSR. To this end, four small and medium-sized companies known for their societal or environmental policies were the object of this study: TQ Tecnol (a chemical supplier in Reus), Pàver (a metallurgy firm in El Vallès) and Ascensores Jordà and Euroquímica de Bufí y Planas (both in Barcelona).