The Social Responsibility of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

International conference on the integration of CSR into SME business practice arranged by CVR.

While CSR is becoming a mainstream issue for many organisations, most of the research to date addresses CSR in large businesses and considerably less attention has been directed at the CSR activities within small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have long been considered to engage actively in CSR activities without a clear strategy surrounding these activities.

The aim of this conference is to provide a forum for academics, practitioners and policy-makers to come together in order to:

* Identify business case opportunities of CSR activities in SMEs   

* Identify best practices of strategic engagement in CSR activities among SMEs

* Draw from the experiences of an ongoing CSR training programme among Danish SMEs

* Discuss research on strategic CSR in SMEs

* Build on the emerging EABIS programme on SMEs and the related European Knowledge Network on CSR & SMEs

Particular issues that will be addressed within this broad agenda include CSR as a driver for innovation, the integration of CSR within business functions, and the competitiveness of the SME sector if it were to fully adopt CSR practices.

Speakers

A number of leading figures across the corporate responsibility stakeholder spectrum will lend their perspectives and theories to the conference dialogue. Those provisionally scheduled to speak include:

David Grayson - Chair, Small Business Consortium (UK) and Director, Business in the Community

Geoff Moore - Chair in Business Ethics and Director of Distance Learning Programmes, Durham Business School

Tom Dodd - Policy Officer (CSR), DG Enterprise and Industry, EU Commission

Peter Lacy - Executive Director, European Academy of Pusiness in Society (EABIS)

Conference Details

The conference is being organised by the CBS Centre for Corporate Values and Responsibility with the cooperation of the Danish Commerce and Companies Agency and The European Academy of Business in Society and financial support from the European Social Fund. Full programme and Call for Papers is available through the event website.