CSR ENGAGEMENT BY ZIMBABWEAN SMES
Abstract
This study examines CSR engagement by Zimbabwean SMEs through their practices and procedures. A qualitative approach was adopted, involving 16 in-depth interviews with key decision makers of ICT SMES in Zimbabwe. The study makes finds that Understanding of CSR by SMEs is patchy, their approach to selecting and executing CSR activities is ad hoc, unstructured and not supported by dedicated budgets while decision making rests solely with the CEO who values and upbringing plays a defining role in this process. The study presents useful insights from a developing world context on CSR characteristics by SMEs.Downloads
References
Achua, J.K. 2008. Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria Banking System. Society and Business Review, (3)1, 57-71.
Basera, C.H 2013. Internal Corporate Social Responsibility: A key tool for Competitiveness in the Retail Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) sector in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Management Sciences & Business Research, 20(10), 72-80.
Baumann-Pauly D., and Scherer A. 2013. The Organizational Implementation of Corporate Citizenship: An assessment Tool and its Application at UN Global Compact Participants. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(1), 1–17.
Bell, J., Crick, D. and Young, S. 2004. Small Firm Internationalisation and Business Strategy, An Explanatory Study of ‘Knowledge-Intensive’ and ‘Traditional’ Manufacturing Firms in the UK. International Small Business Journal, 22 (1), 23-56.
Boatright, J. R. 2009. Ethics and the Conduct of Business, 6th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Business & Society 2012. Business & Society Special Issue Call for Papers, SMEs and CSR in Developing Countries: Advancing Academic and Policy-Oriented Knowledge.
Carroll, A.B. 1999. Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a Definitional Construct. Business & Society, 38(268), 268-295.
Carroll, A.B and Buchholtz, A.K. 2011. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management, 8th edition, Cengage Publishing.
Dahlsrud, A. 2008. How Corporate Social Responsibility is defined: An Analysis of 37 Definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1-13.
European Commission 2001. Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility – Green Paper (Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. COM (2001) 366, Luxembourg).
Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A. 2011. Qualitative Research Methods, SAGE Publications Ltd.
Hess, D., Ragovsky, N. and Dunfree, T. W. 2002. The Next Wave of Corporate Community Involvement: Corporate Social Initiatives. California Management Review,
(44)2, 110-125.
Holme, C. 2010. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Strategic Issue or Wasteful Distraction? Industrial and Commercial Training, (42)4, 179-185.
IFC 2012. IFC Issue Brief / Small and Medium Enterprises, International Finance Corporation, USA.
Jamali, D. 2007. The Case for Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing Countries. Business and Society Review, (112)1, 1-27.
Jamali, D. and Mirshak, R. 2007. Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Theory and practice in a developing country context. Journal of business ethics, 72(3), 243-262.
Jamali, D., Zanhour, M. and Keshishian, T.2009. Peculiar strengths and relational attributes of SMEs in the context of CSR. Journal of Business Ethics, 72:3.
Kant, I. (Ed.) 2002. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, in L.P. Hartman. Perspectives in Business Ethics. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.
Lantos, G. P. 2001. The boundaries of strategic corporate social responsibility. Journal of consumer marketing, 18(7), 595-632.
Kotler, P. and Lee, N. 2005. Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Maphosa, F.1997. Corporate Social Responsibility in Zimbabwe: A Content Analysis of Mission Statements and Annual Reports, Zambezia, 24 (2), 181-193.
Maseko and Manyani, O. 2011. Accounting practices of SMEs in Zimbabwe: An investigative study of record keeping for performance measurement (A case study of Bindura). Journal of Accounting and Taxation, (3)8, 171-181.
Mathibela, A. 2013. Corporate Social Responsibility in Zimbabwean Business, Available from: www.povo.co.zw/features
McAuley, A. 1999. Research into Internationalisation Process: Advice to an Alien. Journal of Research and Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 11-17.
McWilliams, A. Siegel, D. S., & Wright, P. 2006. Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 1-18.
Murillo, D. and Lozano, J.M. 2006. SMEs and CSR: An Approach to CSR in their Own Words. Journal of Business Ethics, (67)3, 227-240.
Nelling E. & Webb E. 2009. Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: the ‘virtuous circle’ revisited. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, (32)2, 197–209.
Nieman, G., Hough, H. and Nieuwenhuizen, C. (Editors). 2009. Entrepreneurship: A South African Perspective, Van Schaik, Pretoria.
Raynard, P. and Forstater, M. 2002. Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications for Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries. UNIDO.
Scott, S. 2007. Corporate Social Responsibility and the Fetter of Profitability. Social Responsibility Journal, (3)4.
Simpson, M. and Ndhlela, D. 2010. The Informal Economy, SMEs and the Missing Middle in Zimbabwe: Some Observations, Comprehensive Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe, Working Paper Series No 9. UNDP- Zimbabwe.
Tsokota, T. and Solms, R. 2013. ICT and the Turning Around of the Zimbabwean Economy. International Conference on ICT for Africa 2013, Feb 20-23, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Vogel, D. 2005. The market for virtue: the potential and limits of corporate social responsibility. Washigton: Brookings Institution Press.
WFP 2012. Zimfact Sheet 11 April, 2012, World Food Programme, Available from: www.wfp.org/sites
Wickert, C. 2014. Political Corporate Social Responsibility in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Conceptual Framework. Business and Society, 38, 268-295.
Zimbabwe 2008. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Policy Framework 2008-2012- the Engine for Growth, Final Draft, Harare.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors may use the publisher's version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors’ publisher's version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: “This is an electronic version of an article published in the African Journal of Business Ethics, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX–XXX”, DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://ajobe.journals.ac.za/pub) may be found.
The following Creative Commons license applies:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
