Socially responsible business practices in small and medium sized firms

Abstract

Socially responsible business initiatives are more often taken by large companies than small and medium-sized ones. Progress on corporate social responsibility in Lithuania is slow, especially at the level of small and medium-sized enterprises. The scientific literature does not sufficiently analyze socially responsible business practices in small and medium-sized enterprises, therefore the article seeks to analyze the prevailing practices, what criteria determine successful or unsuccessful corporate social responsibility activities, what motivates and possible reasons hindering faster CSR progress. The aim of the research is to empirically investigate the practices of socially responsible business in Lithuanian small and medium - sized enterprises after analyzing the theoretical aspects and practices of corporate social responsibility. The research of the article is based on the systematic and logical analysis of scientific literature, analysis of empirical research, semi-structured interview method and content analysis. The study examines socially responsible business practices in small and medium-sized enterprises, identifies the aspects of CSR prevailing in small and medium-sized enterprises. Based on the results of the research - SMEs carry out socially responsible activities without direct benefits (profit, advertising, image improvement) - in the future the research can be continued to investigate whether socially responsible business practices affect business results in shaping socially responsible business practices.