1. CSR: Business ethics and small enterprises

Organizers:
Mette Morsing, Copenhagen Business School
Laura Spence, Royal Holloway, University of London

“The small company” is the dominant way of organizing (Spence and Rutherfoord 2003), and as scholars, practitioners and politicians endeavour to understand and promote a corporate social responsibility engagement, we contend that an improved understanding of current CSR practices in SMEs has the potential of stimulating a high impact for global society as well as for the SMEs and their local environments themselves.


Yet, it is our claim that in the attempt to explore, develop and critique the new societal balances in the perspective of corporate social responsibility, the influence of the small business for the global economy is overshadowed by a focus on the more conspicuous merits or scandals of large multinational companies. Although it is a lot more complex to identify, to investigate, and to communicate CSR in the small business, we believe this area deserves more attention.


The workshop deals with – but not exclusively - the following areas:

    - Leadership of social issues in SMEs

    - SMEs and the working environment in a CSR perspective

    - Employees and CSR in the SME

    - Organizing CSR in the small business

    - CSR and supply chain issues in SMEs

    - Stakeholder engagement in the SME

    - Political dimensions of the SME engagement in CSR

Final order of presentations

Session WS1.1, Thursday 22 October, time: 15.15-16.45, location: Conference hall:

Chair: Mette Morsing (with Laura Spence)
 
 
'The role of ethics and local roots in international expansion of SME’s'

Gellert, Franz Josef & Graaf, Frank Jan de, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands:
'The relationship between ageing workforces and Corporate Social Responsibility'
See PowerPoint presentation

Cleal, Bryan, National Research Centre for the Working Environment & Roepstorff, Anne, Copenhagen Business School & Hohnen, Pernille, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark:
'CSR and the Working Environment in Small Enterprises: A beautiful friendship?'


Session WS1.2, Thursday 22 October, time: 17.15-18.45, location: Conference hall:
Chair: Laura Spence (with Mette Morsing)
 
Roloff, Julia & Hudson, Sarah, ESC Rennes School of Business, France & Klein, Simone, Katholische Universtität Eichstätt, Germany & Vorbohle, Kristin, Institut für werteorientierte Unternehmensführung, Germany:
'Drivers and Brakes for Corporate Responsibility - A comparison of German and French SME'
See PowerPoint Presentation

Kallehave, Tina, University of Copenhagen, Denmark:
'Diversity without diversity management'

Granerud, Lise, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark:
'CSR, work environment and trust creation in SMEs. Impact of ethical behaviour on firm level work environment'

Jong, Dirk Johan de, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands:
'Socially responsible stakeholder management and performance in foreign markets: an SME perspective'
See PowerPoint Presentation