In this knowledge centre we provide information on eight areas of Responsible Entrepreneurship:
1. A powerpoint presentation for you to use
This presentation can be used if you have been asked to give a presentation on responsible entrepreneurship or if you want a bird's eye view of the topic at a glance.
2. EBBF's research on this topic in a short article
You can download a short article (6 pages) summarising the situation of Responsible Entrepreneurship and its main characteristics.
3. EBBF's publication on the subject
This publication by George Starcher emphasizes the importance of reputation, offers segmentation of SMEs according to their responsible behaviours. Describes how entrepreneurs have integrated their social and environmental concerns in their business operations. Presents a compelling business case for responsible entrepreneurship and summarizes how external stakeholders can engage SMEs.
Click on the book cover to view this and a number of other EBBF publications.
4. Case Studies
Download some practical case studies of how SMEs have implemented Responsible Entrepreneurship programs:
5. Bibliography
The following is a list of some of the most relevant publications on this subject:
BOOKS
Franks, Lynne, The Seed Handbook: the feminine way to create business. Thorsons, 2000.
Freeman, R. Edward, and Sankaran Venkataraman, ed. Ethics and Entrepreneurship. The Ruffin Series No. 3. Society for Business Ethics, 2002.
Fussler, Claude, Aron Cramer and Sebastian van der Vegt, Raising the Bar: Creating Value with the UN Global Compact. Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield UK 2004.
Jenkins, Rhys and Peter Utting.. Voluntary Approaches to Corporate Responsibility. UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), 2002.
Handy, Charles. The Alchemist:
Hillary,Ruth, Ed. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Environment : Business Imperatives. Sheffield UK: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd., 2000.
Mamic, Ivanka, Implementing Codes of conduct: How Businesses Manage Social Performance in Global Supply Chains. Greenleaf Publishing Ltd. and ILO, 2004
Ray, Michael and John Renesch. The New Entrepreneurs: Business Visionairies for the 21st Century. Sterling & Stone. San Francisco. 1994.
Walters, Jamie. S. Big Vision, Small Business: The Four Keys to Finding Success & Satisfaction as a Lifestyle Entrepreneur. Ivy Sea Publishing, 2001.
ARTICLES
Adams, Frank, Sheb True, and Robert Winsor. Corporate America’s Search for the “Right” Direction: Outlook and Opportunities for Family Firms. Family Business Review, vol. XV, no.4. Decemb er 2002.
Besser, Terry L. and Nancy Miller. Is the good corporation dead? The community social responsibility of small business operators. The Journal of Socio-Economics 1 Vol 30, Issue 3 (May 2001).
Chamberlin, Diane. Women Entrepreneurs: Catalysts for Transformation. European Bahá’í Business Forum, 2000.
Garcia-Alverez, Ercilia and Jordi Lopez-Sintas. A Taxomony of Founders Based on Values: The Root of Family Business Heterogeneity. Family Business Review, vol. XIV, no. 3, September 2001.
Jagersma, Pieter Klaas and Desiree M. van Gorp. Spin-out management: Theory and practice. Business Horizons. March0April 2003. pp. 15-23
Kelly, Louise M., Nicholas Athanassiou, and William F. Crittenden. Founder Centrality and Strategic Bahavior in the Family-Owned Firm. Entrepreneurship. Winter 2000, pp 27-39.
Kelly, Marjorie. The Legacy Problem: Why social mission gets squeezed out of firms when they’re sold. Business Ethics. Summer 2003,Vol. 17, No 2.
Schminke, Marshall. Considering the Business in Business Ethics: An Exploratory Study of the Influence of Organizational Size and Structure on Individual Ethical Predispositions. Journal of Business Ethics 30: 375-390, 2001.
Spence, Laura J. and José Félix Lozano. Communicating about Ethics with Small Firms: Experiences from the U.K. and Spain. Journal of Business Ethics 27: 43-53, 2000.
Tilley, Fiona. Small firm environmental ethics: how deep do they go? Business Ethics: A Euroopean Review. Vol 9 No 1 January 2000
See also Families in Business, a quarterly periodical on FOB
STUDIES AND REPORTS
Benchmarking business angels : Final Report 4 Nov 2002. European Commission, Enterprise Directorate - General
The Business Case for social responsibility in small and medium-sized enterprises. (www.smekey.org) Developed with the support of the EC Employment and Social Affairs Directorate. 2002
The Business of Enterprise: Meeting the Challenge of Economic Development through Business and Community Partnerships by Peter Brew and Frances House. Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, 2002.
Codes of Conduct (for business partners) An Issue Brief. Business for Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications for Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries. by Peter Raynard and Maya Forstater. United Nations Industrial Development Organization. 75 pp. Vienna, 2002
Responsible entrepreneurship: A collection of good practice cases among small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe. Directorate-General for Enterprise, European Commission, 2003 A really excellent overview of CSR in general and its relevance to SMEs and to developing economies.
Creating an entrepreneurial Europe: The activities of the European Union for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A Commission Staff Working Paper. Commission of the European Communities. Brussels, 21.1.2003
Developing Value: The business case for sustainability in emerging markets.SustainAbility and International Finance Corporation. 2002
Encouraging responsible business by David Irwin. Department of Trade & Industry, SmallBusiness Service. March 2002. (23 pp, can be downloaded from www.sbs.gov.uk)
Engaging SMEs in Community & Social Issues. A consortium research study on behalf of the DTI, led by BitC, with British Chambers of Commerce, IoD and AccountAbility. May 2002 (can be downloaded from BitC web site)
Entrepreneurship: A Survey of the Literature, paper prepared by David Audretsch for the EC, Enterprise Directorate General, July 2002.
Entrepreneurshiip in Europe, a Green Paper of the European Commission. January, 2003. (http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/green_paper/green_paper_final_en.pdf)
The Environmental Challenge and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Europe. Background paper prepared by KPMG Environmental Consulting. April 1997
European SMEs and social and environmental responsibility: Study by the Observatory of European SMEs, 2002/ No. 4 for the European Commission.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000 UK Executive Report. see also Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000 Executive eport (covers all 21 GEM countries).
Global Enterprise Monitor. 2000
High 5! Communicating your Business Success through Sustainability Reporting. The Blobal Reporting Initiative. 2005
Inspiration - successfully engaging Europe’s smaller businesses in environmental and social issues: A thought-piece for The Copenhagen Centre” by David Grayson. The Copenhagen Centre, 2002.
The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship by J. Gregory Dees. Posted in Via3 Community Newsletter, No.9, 21 July
Monitoring of Global Supply Chain Practices. An Issue Brief. Business for Social Responsibility
The New Workplace: Innovative Work/Life Strategies from Small Businesses by Elizabeth Cushing Payne. Business for Social Responsibility. 2000.
ORSE: L’accompagnement des PME par les Très Grandes Entreprises dans une logique de développement durable. September 2003
PME et développement durable: Guide Pratique. Agenda Canton de Genève. June 2003
Priorities, Practice and Ethics in Small Firms by Laura J. Spence. The Institue of Business Ethics, 2000.
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A National Survey.by Bob Mandy, SGS Consulting. 2002
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: Social Capital and Civic Engagement. Laura Spence.A working paper presented at the International Workshop, 17 June 2002.
Small and Medium Size Enterprises & Sustainable Development: A scooping paper on the large company link. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. January 2004.
Youth Business International: Bridging the gap between unemployment and self-employment for disadvantaged youth by Rachel Chambers and Anna Lake. International Labourt Office, SKILLS, Working Paper No. 3.
Supplier Environmental Management. Issue Brief. Business for Social Responsibility.
Encouraging responsible business by David Irwin. Small Business Service, Department of Trade and Industry, UK. 2002
Action-Research on Corporate Citizenship among European Small and Medium Enterprises. CERFE Group 2001
Fostering Entrepreneurship, OECD, Paris.
Fostering Entrepreneurship in Europe. The UNICE Benchmarking Report (1999) .
Think Small First, A National Strategy for Supporting SMEs in the United Kingdom (2000). Small Business Service, DTI
GUIDES FOR SMES ABOUT CSR
SME Starter Kit - Business for Social Responsibility, USA. (www.bsr.org)
Dutch SME guide (www.samen.nl)
Finish guide (www.businessandsociety.net/index_en.html)
People, Planet and Profits - Sustainable Development - Make it Your Business - brochure for business start-ups - Shell Livewire - (www.shell-livewire.org)
SME Key: CSR Europe (An Italian version of the SME Key has been produced by Milan-based Solidatas) - www.csreurope.org
6. Links to selected relevant organisations
EBBF has selected for you a few of the most credible and active organisations where you will be able to deepen your research into this topic:
Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (Janet Buguslaw)
British Chambers of Commerce
Business in the Community
www.bitc.org.uk/communitymark (Community Mark)
CJD (Centre de Jeunes Dirigeants)
Conversations with Disbelievers: an online resource with case studies, reports and latest news on the business case for corporate responsibility particularly for SMEs.
CSR Europe - www.smekey.org
Department of Trade and Industry
European Commission (DG Enterprise):
Observatory of European SME's (EU/EC's Enterprise Policy agency)
Families in Business; Campden Publishing Ltd.
www.campden. com
International Network for SMEs
NFTE (Teaching entrepreneurship to youth)
email: nftebelgium@hotmail.com
Small Business Journey: web site contains excellent list of resources
UNEP's Efficient Entrepreneur Calendar Industry reach
(How small and not-so-small businesses can join large companies in increasing profits and improving the environment. a joint effort of UNEP and Wuppertal Institute)
YES (European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs)
SOME OTHER WEBSITES ON RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
www.ClimateBiz.com - site by BSR and GreenBusiness Network.
Excellent guide for self assessment by SMEs, 14 pages on “The business case for SR in SMEs”, glossary, and other material.
Beyond Grey Pin Stripes
excellent study of MBA programmes and teaching on social and environmental problems.
Overall conclusion: inadequate given increasing importance of these issues to corporations.
The Efficient Entrepreneur Calendar and Assistant Handbook, prepared by UNEP and the Wuppertal Institute.
The Efficient Entrepreneur is a practical tool that enables Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to reduce costs, increase productivity and satisfy clients while reducing business risks and protecting the environment. The tool empowers SMEs to communicate their achievements to financial institutions, regulatory authorities, local neighbours and other stakeholders. The Efficient Entrepreneur webpage also introduces related tools for SMEs in the textile and retail industries, as well as the reporting handbook High5! and the upcoming SMART tool for responsible entrepreneurship.
www.sbs.gov.uk/organisation.sbc.asp (Small Business Council)
www.societyandbusiness.gov.uk (DTI UK)
www.portailpme.fr (Agence des PME)
www.cdcpme.fr (Caisse des Depots et consignations)
www.commonsense.be (CommonSense- Sustainable Business Development)
- People, planet and Profits - Sustainable Development -Make it Your Business - brochure for business start-ups
European network of organizations in community involvement
Cooperatives:
7. Key Quotes and Definitions
DEFINITIONSFor SMEs, responsible business does not mean reinventing the wheel, but rather building on existing achievements and good practice in a way that maximises benefits for their businesses as well as for their internal and external stakeholders. (The SME Key)
IMPORTANCE OF SMES
“Europe’s competitiveness depends on our SMEs. The only way to make Europe the most competitive economy in the world is to make our small enterprises the most competitive of all.” Erkki Likanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Invormation Society, May 2002 (Source: The SME Key)
SURVEYS
Half of European SMEs are involved to different degrees in external socially responsible causes. The degree of involvement tends to reflect the size of the enterprise, ranging from 48% amongst the very small enterprises to 65% and 70% amongst the small and medium sized enterprises resectively. (EU Survey)
In a 1999 survey of 4000 people, conducted in France, Germany, Italyand the UK, 88 percent said they would be more likely to buy from a company that supports and engages in activities to improve society. (Fleishman-Hillard/Ipsos Report on European Attitudes Toward Corporate Community Investment. May 1999.
A 2001 survey by the Conference Board Inc showed that 42% of respondents thought that companies should be wholly or partially responsible for helping to solve social problems.
In the Millennium Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility, 56% of the respondents cited social responsibilities as the factor most influencing public impressions of individual companies. (1999, condected by Environics International Ltd in cooperation with the PWBLF and the Conference Board).
A 1999 study by Fleishman-Hilliard found that 87% of European employees would increase their loyalty to a conmpany if it were seen to be involved in activities that help improve society. (Quoted in To Whose Profit? Building a Business Case for Sustainability, WWF and Cable & Wireless, 2002)
FORCES AT WORK
1. Suppliers will come under increasing pressure from major companies to improve environmental and social performance, particularly those suppling firms in the UK. Listed companies in the UK have begun examining the CSR performance of their contractors as closely as their own and suppliers will have to become equally concerned with CSR to remain competitive. Patrick McCurry, a UK based consultant, says large companies “may find themselves vilified . . . for using suppliers that pollute or have unethical employment practices. NIKE and GAP have both been accused of using child labor because of overseas suppliers’ practices. Suppliers will find it increasingly difficult to compete if they do ot recognize the changing business climate.
Quality Times - July 2002
Business Standard (New Delhi) Aug 12, 2002
www.business-standard.co
2. Rafael Wong, executive vice president, Reybancorp, Ecuador, commented, “When we first obtained financing from the IFC, the environmental standards seemed like an obstacle, but we now realize that they have helped us to build a strong business. In five years, there will be no access to international markets for companies that do not show respect for the enviironment. It is becoming fundamental to international trade”
IFC-The Partner of Choice
International Finance Corporation
Washington, 2002,page 5.
8. Other Articles
By clicking on this link you have access to a number of articles and
documents produced by EBBF members and friends of EBBF. These are offered as supporting materials but views expressed in these papers are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Baha'i Business Forum.
