Understanding how SME’s handle CSR activities connected to the supply chain : A qualitative study in a B2B context

Sammanfattning: It has been argued for the past years that one of today’s main important factors for gaining competitive advantage is to implement CSR activities. There have been many studies showing the many benefits CSR have, not only to the organizations but also to society and the environment. However, CSR does not only concern the organization itself but also ensuring that the social and environmental behaviour is accomplished throughout the whole supply chain. Larger firms have the ability to implement and focus on several tasks at once, while small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling with limited resources and cannot afford any mistakes. This study is focusing on how SMEs with limited resources implement CSR within the supply chain and what difficulties they experience, since CSR is often seen as a complex and resource based issue. A case study was conducted at a SME in a B2B context and the study is based on a qualitative approach, with empirical data gathered from five in-depth interviews. After the empirical data was analysed it was concluded that by decreasing the supplier base is a way of gaining stronger contact and trust, also centralizing the supplier base in order to decrease transportation and emissions. SMEs with limited resources can outsource duties such as checkups and audits to external companies in order to assure quality and environmental criteria’s. Also, being an SME with limited resources indicates that the employees have to take on multiple roles in order to adapt to all customer and supplier demands, which was shown to be a complexity since obligations such as making a profitable procurement, were often prioritized before CSR. It was also found that the internal CSR communication was a major contributor to the lack of knowledge as well as interest in the subject, CSR is not seen as an obligation if not having anyone responsible for the CSR activities. Lastly, both CSR and digitalization were found to be two crucial keystones for organizational survival on the market.