Toolkit – Corporate Social Responsibility for SMEs

European Commission, Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry

2005

Free

Free

Belgian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Experts of the Enterprise and Industry DG:  entr-sustainable-industrial-policy@ec.europa.eu

Corporate Social Responsibility:  entr-csr@ec.europa.eu

 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/documents/corporate-social-responsibility/toolkit/index_en.htm

General Guidance, Self-Assessment

Support for SMEs

The Toolkit presented at the Corporate Social Responsibility for SMEs Documentation Centre features a simplified information-package smaller businesses may need in order to take the first steps towards becoming responsible entrepreneurs. It consists of 4 parts, including an introductory document, a compendium of case studies, a questionnaire for raising awareness of CSR and a manual on how to communicate about the issue.

The Toolkit for SMEs comprises the following documents:

1. The "Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility for Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises" briefly introduces some of the simple steps that SMEs can take to integrate CSR into their daily business practices. It highlights ways in which CSR can make their business more successful. The document addresses why one should be a responsible entrepreneur, and what this means in practice, and gives a few useful sources of further information.
2. "Case studies": This collection of 10 real-life examples, taken from small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe, shows how these companies have become more successful due to their commitment to CSR. (See below for more details.)
3. The "awareness-raising questionnaire" was designed to help SMEs think about their efforts towards CSR and identify steps that might be useful for improving business practice in a profitable and sensible manner. It can be completed within 10 minutes and is for personal use only (not be submitted to DG Enterprise).
4. The "Guide to communicating about Corporate Social Responsibility" explains that communication on CSR-related matters does not need to be complicated, demonstrates that SMEs can get maximum benefit from the steps they take, and provides information on how these steps might be taken. The guide includes information on communication techniques that may be employed in order to inform company staff, communities and the media about the measures being taken.

No

Companies

According to LARRGE evaluation also: Non-governmental organisations/civil society, employers' organisations, employees, intermediaries, business support organisations

Primary (agriculture, fisheries), secondary (industry, extractive) and tertiary (services)

All regions

Small and medium-sized enterprises

Yes. There is a compendium of 10 company case studies taken from European SMEs (Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, UK, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Finland) doing business in a variety of sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing (IT engineering, furniture, plastics and metal working, industrial lubricants), services (including financial) and research. Moreover, the cases address different CSR issues, e.g. community impact, employees, training, environment, business relationships, or sponsorship. The Compendium sketches the CSR actions taken, who was involved, why the company engaged in CSR, what benefits could be gained and how this was reported.

No

No

Yes. Users might use the Toolkit in its entirety, or just draw on the part(s) that are of relevance.

No reference included

No reference included

No reference included

Productive and freely chosen work

Right to work

Prohibition of forced or compulsory labour

Prohibition of child labour

Rights at work including the core labour standards

Right to equal treatment and non-discrimination between women and men, gender issues

Right to equal treatment and non-discrimination concerning all other groups

Diversity Management

Right to education

Right to safe and healthy working conditions

Right to fair wages

Right to equal pay for equal work

Right to decent living

Right to rest, leisure and annual leave

Right to reasonable limitation of working hours

Right to permanent employment relationship

Right to privacy

Right to strike

Right to form and join trade unions

Grievance procedures and remediation

Social protection

Right to social security including social insurance, pensions

Mitigation of adverse employment effects

Social dialogue

Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining

Tripartite consultation

External impact

Right to an adequate standard of living

Security issues, private property protection

Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

• Customers / consumers
• Discrimination
• Dispute resolution / grievance mechanism
• Diversity / equal opportunities
• Due diligence
• Environment
• Health and wellbeing
• Home Workers
• Local communities
• Recruitment and employment practices
• Remuneration
• Safety
• Social investment
• Stakeholder engagement
• Training, skills and talent
• Transparency / disclosure
• Working conditions
• Young workers

No

No. The Toolkit only refers to suppliers in the context of good communication processes (ensure effective feedback, consultation and/or dialogue).

No

No

It is challenging to raise awareness on CSR - or responsible entrepreneurship as it is called here - among small and medium-sized enterprises since they have limited resources (time, manpower, expertise and finances), and might not see the positive effects it can have on their business. Therefore, only a small minority will be interested in using CSR tools, particularly if these tools are very sophisticated. As such, the DG for Enterprise and Industry has developed the Toolkit for SMEs as part of a pan-European awareness-raising campaign on CSR.

The Toolkit is a beginner's pack of information for smaller companies that might never have heard about the concept before, and do not need to be overwhelmed with complex facts and circumstances. This is the reason for the lack of references to international human or labour rights documents. Quite a number of human rights issues are covered implicitly, however, encouraging SME owners to reconsider their workplace, marketplace and community policies.

Beginning with the Introduction to CSR for SMEs, the Toolkit describes how CSR can help SMEs secure the long-term competitiveness and continuity of their business. Read case studies of SMEs which have successfully integrated CSR into their daily operations, and learn about the many ways in which others can engage in, and benefit from, responsible business conduct. Use the questionnaire to find out how to improve your business in a profitable and sensible manner, and how to take further action for the strengthening of your business, its reputation and performance. Use the guide to learn about some of the simplest, most common and most effective means for communicating about CSR activities.

guide_en.pdf
introduction_en.pdf
questionaire_en.pdf
cases_en.pdf
Evaluation_francaise_-_Toolkit_Corporate_Social_Responsibility_for_SMEs.pdf