Title: Characterisation of CSR practices in Spanish SMEs through a cluster analysis

Authors: María Paula Lechuga Sancho; Manuel Larrán Jorge; Jesús Herrera Madueño

Addresses: Financial Economics and Accounting Department, Business and Administration College, University of Cádiz, Av. Duque de Nájera, 8, Cádiz 11002, Spain ' Financial Economics and Accounting Department, Business and Administration College, University of Cádiz, Av. Duque de Nájera, 8, Cádiz 11002, Spain ' Financial Economics and Accounting Department, Business and Administration College, University of Cádiz, Av. Duque de Nájera, 8, Cádiz 11002, Spain

Abstract: Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the main driving force in European economic growth and as such this research aims to provide an insight into SME corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Within this scope, the objective is to analyse the level of development of SR practices for a sample of 509 Spanish SMEs, and the impact that certain explanatory factors such as size, sector, ownership structure or genre of the manager have on the level of implementation of sustainable practices. The main results of this study reveal that CSR has already been incorporated into the daily management of such companies being these practices essentially internally focused. Also, our results imply further evidence confirming the statements of many authors who have pointed out the sector, size and being women at charge of a firm, as key explanatory factors, which affect the company in adopting and implementing CSR practices in the strategic plans of SMEs.

Keywords: cluster analysis; corporate social responsibility; empirical research; small- to medium-sized enterprises; Spain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2017.086912

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2017 Vol.16 No.4, pp.308 - 336

Accepted: 06 Feb 2017
Published online: 02 Oct 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article