The benefits of corporate social responsibility introduction in small and medium sized enterprises: a systematic review of the literature
Abstract Corporate social responsibility is considered as an important part of entrepreneur's strategic behaviour. Its purpose is not only to achieve and maintain the good economic results, but at the same time also effort to do well to the environmental and social impact of business on the society. The systematic review of the literature was used to compare attitude of domestic and foreign SMEs and to identify the benefits of CSR implementation in business practice. The research findings point to the fact that the Czech SMEs do not realize enough the benefits of CSR introduction for their business. Keywords corporate social responsibility sustainable development small and medium sized enterprises JEL Classification M14, O13 Introduction Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fairly broad term that includes a variety of activities, which can be divided into specific areas. As the founder of the CSR concept, which first appeared in the 1950s, is considered (Bowen 1953) which stressed the idea that large companies are a kind of power centres whose decisions and activities affect people's lives in different ways. According to (Bowen 1953) therefore, seems to be reasonable the expectation that managers of these companies should assume some kind of responsibility on the matter. According to (Carroll 1979) CSR access of the business entity includes economic, legal, ethical and voluntary expectations, which the society has to the organization at the moment. The CSR can be viewed according to (Jenkins 2009) in terms how entrepreneurs manage their business processes in order to achieve the overall positive impact on the society. Evropska komise (2001) defines CSR as the voluntary integration of social and environmental concerns "companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis" According to Kotler and Lee (2005) can be CSR characterized as an entrepreneur's commitment adopted in order to improve the well being of society through discretionary business practices and the benefits of enterprise resource. It can be a form of voluntary entrepreneur's commitment to behave ethically, to contribute to social development and efforts to constantly improvement of the society's quality life from many diverse aspects. Business Leaders Forum (2012: 2) defines corporate social responsibility as "a voluntary commitment of companies to behave responsibly in the context of its operation to the environment and the society in which they operate" CSR is in accordance with (Evropska komise 2015) about continuous improvement and should be seen as part of the modern model of business excellence, in particular for SMEs. Also the members of the so called Big Four are engaged in the issue of CSR. PwC (2015) stresses that they would like to be a part of the global conversation and movement towards responsible business practices and they support creation of the positive change in the world. PwC therefore focuses on four key areas, where they see the possibility to make relevant and significant contributions. These areas include: Responsible business, Diversity and inclusion, Community engagement, and Environmental stewardship. KPMG Czech Republic (2015) stress that the CSR is a part of they corporate culture and values of the company, and therefore tries to act ethically and transparently, and to minimize the impact of its business on the environment. EY (2015) points to the fact that the role of business is changing. A combination of factors envolving the relationship between development and emerging economies, global institutions and nation states and public and private sectors must according to EY (2015) leads a greater understanding of the connection and interdipendecny between business and society. According to Lepoutre and Heene (2006) during the last few decades, business entities, regardless on their size or sector have confirm the increasing pressure on fulfilling CSR imperatives and principles.