COGITA is made possible by Bologna, 23 October 2014 European Public Policies on CSR: The perceptions SMEs Eleni Apospori, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of

COGITA is made possible by

Bologna, 23 October 2014

European Public Policies on CSR: The perceptions SMEs

Eleni Apospori, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Communication

Athens University of Economics and Business - Research Centre / Business Communication Laboratory

COGITA PROJECT – Final Conference




COGITA provides input to public policy by supporting the uptake of an Integrated Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Three-dimensional approach for integrated CSR associating CSR public policy themes, CSR public policy instruments, and SME fields of action on CSR.

CSR Public policy themes: Awareness Raising, Capacity Building, Transparency, Supply Chains, Branding & Communication

CSR instruments for implementing these policies: Economic, Informational, Partnering, Hybrid, Legal

CSR fields of action: Leadership, Workforce, Market, Environment, Society

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IntroductionThe COGITA project



IntroductionThe integrated COGITA approach to CSR

X-axis: public policy themes•Awareness•Capacity Building•Transparency•Supply Chains•Branding & Communication

Y-axis: CSR fields of action•Leadership•Workforce•Market•Environment•Society

Z-axis: public policy instruments•Legal•Economic/Financial•Informational•Partnering•Hybrid



Public authorities should select an “optimum” mix of CSR policy themes and policy instruments to support SMEs to uptake CSR actions.

Important to have a picture of how SMEs evaluate the dimensions of the integrated CSR concept.

CSR fields of action and public policy themes:o Importanceo Degree of public support needed by SMEso Degree of support provided by public authorities

Public policy instruments:o Importanceo Effectiveness

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IntroductionThe integrated COGITA approach to CSR



Survey population: companies operating in the 13 project partner regions.

Sampling unit: SME which may or may not perform CSR activities

Questionnaire structure:o SME’s characteristicso Assessment of CSR fields of actiono Assessment of public policy themeso Assessment of public policy instrumentso Overall status of CSR at regional level

Scale:o 6-point Likert scale (1 = none / 6 = very high)

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IntroductionSurvey methodology



Sample characteristicso Sample size: 230 companies from 12 countrieso 89% are SMEso 81% already implement some CSR actionso Frequency per country:

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IntroductionSample characteristics



Five Fields of CSR Action

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Analysis of the ResultsCSR Fields of CSR Action

Fields of CSR Importance for your company

Support needed Support offered by public

authoritiesLEADERSHIP (Company owners and managers shape the culture and values of the organisation. They demonstrate the firm’s commitment by managing in a transparent, ethical way and leading by example)

none very high I don’t know



WORKFORCE (Companies commit to their workforce by respecting employee rights, work/life balance and occupational safety/health, by investing in employee development and training and facilitating diversity and equal opportunity in the workforce)




MARKET (product safety, service quality, innovation, fair pricing, responsible supply chain management, ethical advertising)




ENVIRONMENT (biodiversity, recycling, waste and water management, resources and energy efficiency, “greener” supply chains, e.g. reuse of water in production process)




SOCIETY (Human rights, healthcare, education, poverty, local infrastructure, spreading the word about CSR)






































































Scale: 1:none 2: very low 3: low 4: moderate5:high 6:very high



Importance of CSR Fields of Action

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Support Needed vs. Support Offered

9



5,08

3,55 4,033,02

3,04



Five CSR policy themes

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Analysis of the ResultsCSR Policy Themes

Importance for your company

Support needed Support offered by public authorities

AWARENESS ON IMPACT OF CSR (Awareness among executive board and the employees of the SMEs about the potential positive impact of the CSR)

none very high

I don’t know



CAPACITY FOR CSR (Successful CSR implementation requires the respective skills of employees and resources by the company as a whole)

none very high

I don’t know



TRANSPARENCY OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES (Acting in a transparent way and reporting these environmental, social and governmental factors to various stakeholders like consumers, suppliers, public authorities, investors and society)

none very high

I don’t know



RESPONSIBLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (Adopting, implementing and coordinating CSR values, strategies and tactics in all levels of the supply chain, from sourcing the raw materials to the end user)

none very high

I don’t know



CSR BRANDING AND COMMUNICATION (Communication about the CSR actions of the firm to a wide set of stakeholders such as employees and customers, suppliers, business partners etc. The brand then, becomes a promise for the communicated social values)

none very high

I don’t know







none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know






none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know






none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know




none very high

I don’t know





Importance of CSR Policy Themes

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Support Needed vs. Support Offered

12



2,83 2,87

3,824,71

3,80



Five CSR Public policy Instruments

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Analysis of the ResultsCSR Public Policy Instruments



Effectiveness of instrument

INFORMATIONAL (such as seminars, information events, campaigns, branding, training, conferences and the companies) none very high

I don’t knownone very high

I don’t know

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL (such as tax credits, subsidies, training, coaching, consulting, awards, etc. in order to build the necessary CSR capacity and skills in companies)



PARTNERING (such as networks, stakeholder dialogues, Public-Private Partnerships, in order to share valuable knowledge and expertise, reduce the costs of action and lead to initiatives that individual SMEs cannot achieve)



HYBRID (combination of single instruments above like financing joint research activities involving companies and academia) none very high


I don’t know

LEGAL (regulations, directives, public procurement etc. Legal and political frameworks can set obligatory requirements with regard to the integration of CSR by SMEs)







I don’t know









I don’t know








I don’t know









I don’t know






Importance CSR vs. Effectiveness of Public Policy Instruments

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Analysis of the ResultsCSR Public Policy Instruments


4,02 3,983,97

4,89

3,67



Leadership was rated as the most important CSR field of action

More support is needed for actions towards the Workforce of SMEs

More support than needed is offered for actions towards the Environment

The most important policy themes, requiring the most support : Capacity building and Awareness raisingo However, Capacity building is rather overlooked by European public authorities

Economic, Partnering and Hybrid instruments are ranked first in terms of importance

Informational instruments are considered as the most effective in implementing CSR policy

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DiscussionMain Findings



4 out of 5 (81%) of the responding SMEs desire at least a moderate level of intervention/support of their public organizations.

SMEs express low desire for legal actions.

Regional authorities and companies should collaborate in order to identify the elements of the three-dimensional approach for which SMEs in their region require assistance.

Then, the public authorities should tailor their efforts and instruments in the local context and needs.

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DiscussionMain Findings



Questions ?

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DiscussionQuestions

Documents

COGITA is made possible by Bologna, 23 October 2014 European Public Policies on CSR: The perceptions SMEs Eleni Apospori, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of