CSR IN SMEs: Values Becoming Valuable Once Shared

In an ever-changing world, re-thinking traditional concepts and frameworks is becoming a must, especially for the world of business where profit has always been the ultimate goal to attain.

The economic aspect, although crucial, has lost its monopole making room for other pillars that a business should take into consideration in order to survive in a highly competitive market.

Therefore, companies are no longer perceived as isolated entities detached from their environment and communities.

Nowadays, with the rapid evolution of social media, the balance of power has been completely transformed, giving stakeholders the right to put companies under the microscope analyzing their promises, behaviors and therefore demanding answers.

Transparency is no longer an asset that enterprises can proudly portray as a competitive advantage.

However, the way companies choose to communicate, and engage with their stakeholders can be a distinctive approach forging a unique corporate identity.

Hence, corporate responsibility is becoming a duty and a fact rather than a choice, putting the company´s reputation at stake, and its maintenance an ever-growing challenge.

The emergence of SMEs is a living proof that when it comes to corporate responsibility size does not matter.

Therefore, all the misconceptions that link corporate social responsibility with the company´s size and budget, are becoming ideas from the past.

However, in SMEs, savings in the budget are often achieved through innovation and eco-efficient measures.

Small and medium enterprises have been created as a response to a specific demand in society, justifying their size, structure and business focused on niche markets.

Stressing on the important fact that CSR is not a simple add-on to the company´s performance, SMEs are being created with responsibility at the heart of their mission, vision and purpose. They are being portrayed as role models due to their contribution to sustainable development and the contagious effect it is generating, by transcending the limits of the communities where they operate.

It is a well-known fact that change makers should start by looking at themselves in the mirror first, before changing the world. And that is exactly the strategy that is being adopted by SMEs.

Before engaging the external stakeholders, it is essential to start with the heartbeat of the enterprise itself; its people.

The employees are the doers, responsible to transform the owner´s words, promises and values into concrete behaviors, reflecting the cultural essence of the enterprise.

Therefore, internal engagement and motivation of the employees are key success factors.

When the source and the inside of the organization is healthy, it reflects on the outside, and translates the purpose of the business in the most honest way possible, straight to the heart of its stakeholders.

The staff is the mirror of any enterprise, their efficiency and passion feed on the inputs they receive from the top management. A management that believes and apply the values they  preach across the company.

In a world where focus is being set on increasing the market share, all businesses are looking in the same basket, whereas multiple sources of inspiration and innovation can be extracted, just by looking at their own businesses.

Coherence will start rising as soon as the actions of the companies start matching their promises.

Innovation is leading the way, and presenting new alternatives even in times of crisis. Innovative solutions that are focused on the core excellence of the SME seek, to achieve positive change by getting an increasing number of other enterprises on board for a collective and more influential impact.

“Doing good” does not contradict the purpose of business it complements it, and gives it an added value.

From the suppliers to the customers, SMEs are conscious about their position and the nature of the relation they are trying to build with every stakeholder.

By setting their own rhythm and trend, SMEs are forging the path of shared values, by getting all their stakeholders on the same boat and making them feel part of the company.

Decision-making is not management oriented anymore, brainstorming and collective input and feedback are humanizing the business.

Traditional top-down communication trapped in a hierarchic corporate context is being transformed into a lateral communication, where the messages are spread across the enterprise.

Nowadays, isolation offers rejection and interaction with other entities is a guarantee for survival, acceptance and trust.

Therefore, personal values coexist with the company´s values as well as the values shared by society as a whole.

Allowing all stakeholders´ values to be heard will enhance the love brand zone that every company is aiming to install towards their clientele, by trying to transform them into evangelists.

In other words, the goal is to create loyalty towards the brand, through emotional engagement.

Values define identities, and corporate identity is clearly a competitive advantage, since it sets the company apart from its tribe.

According to Roy Disney: “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are”.

Comments Off on CSR IN SMEs: Values Becoming Valuable Once Shared / 23 Apr 2014 por rimaelkhoury
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