Corporate giving in the Netherlands 1995-2003: exploring the amounts involved and the motivations for donating

• Corporate giving as an expression of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been researched less than the more general theme of CSR. In addition, much of the research in this area focuses on countries with an Anglo cultural tradition.
• The study outlined in this paper offers a comprehensive longitudinal study of corporate giving in the Netherlands. An overview is provided of corporate giving in the Netherlands in the period from 1995 till 2003.
• The data are gathered by means of a biennial survey of Dutch companies as part of the ‘Giving in the Netherlands’ project. Based on these findings, recent developments in corporate giving can be sketched out.
• Moreover, literature on motives for corporate giving behavior is focused upon and applied in exploring Dutch managers' motivations for offering donations. Nonprofit organizations could use this knowledge to increase the efficiency of their fund raising.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Compliance with Producer Responsibility Legislation: Experiences from UK Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises

This study investigated the legal performance of UK small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) with producer responsibility legislation. The research incorporated legislation controlling packaging and packaging waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment and the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Compliance audits and interviews were conducted with SMEs, regulators, government officials and SME support organisations. A total of 44 SMEs from the north‐west of England were audited between April and September 2008. The study's findings suggest:

• low levels of ‘letter of the law’ and ‘spirit of the law’ compliance;
• enforcement activity and surveillance of SME compliance was generally low; there has not been any formal enforcement action taken under the WEEE Regulations or the RoHS Regulations and enforcement under the PER Regulations is extremely low.

Recommendations on how to improve SME compliance control systems are provided. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Motivations and forms of corporate giving behaviour: insights from Australia

• Although corporate support for many nonprofit organisations (NPOs) represents only a relatively small component of their overall income its importance is growing. As a consequence, the need to understand corporate giving behaviour in a way that supports the development of strategically targeted and successful marketing campaigns is of growing importance to marketing managers in many NPOs around the globe.
• This paper presents the findings of a study into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of corporate giving behaviour in Australia. In the seven case studies examined, there was no strong evidence that Australian corporations give for other than strategic profit maximisation or political reasons. In contrast to the literature, altruistic and managerial utility did not emerge as strong motivational factors.
• This study also found that corporations are likely to have a number of corporate giving programmes each with its own underlying motivation and strategic purpose which network together to form a hierarchy of corporate giving programmes.
• The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this research for NPO managers attempting to increase their level of corporate support.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Artists' attitudes to marketing: a cross-cultural perspective

• Although the music industry is dominated by a few global players, the vast majority of musical performances are by nonprofit organisations, self-employed musicians or small and medium enterprises (SMEs). But, while a great deal has been written about the marketing of music—distribution, branding, audience development, etc.—comparatively little is known about the attitudes of musicians themselves to marketing, despite the fact their role as both product and producer is so central to the musical experience.
• The research sets out to gain an understanding of this neglected topic by undertaking a cross-cultural analysis of musicians from two different cultures: it compares the attitudes of artists in a mature, post-industrial economy (UK) with those in a post-communist, emerging democracy (Poland). The research finds that society, culture and the economic environment appear to shape attitudes far less than art itself. Across both cultures the research discovers at best an ambivalence towards marketing, and at worst a general antipathy towards the whole notion of art-as-business.
• The implications of these findings, if replicated across other countries, other musical genres and across the arts as a whole, could be worrying. Historically, the arts have been dominated by nonprofit organisations funded at least in part by public and private subsidies, funds which are being substantially eroded in both mature economies and in developing nations. The challenge for nonprofits and SMEs in the arts, then, is about achieving some sort of engagement with business and marketing, without losing their artistic integrity in the process.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation of Sustainability Management and Company Size: A Knowledge‐Based View

Implementing corporate sustainability strategies requires knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. While much progress has been made in developing such tools in both small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies, the literature claims company size positively affects application. However, the role of knowledge as a mediating factor has not yet been investigated. Using the knowledge‐based view as a theoretical underpinning, this paper draws on empirical survey data from SMEs and large companies in Germany. It analyzes how company size affects the degree of knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. Even though the results reaffirm that SMEs know and apply significantly less tools, company size does not influence the share of tools applied once they are known. Thus, knowledge is identified as a key difference between SMEs and large companies as well as an important mediator to promote sustainability management. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Do board composition and investor type influence innovativeness in SMEs?

Companies need to adapt and evolve if they wish to survive. Future success lies in the ability to develop innovative solutions for customer??s problems and needs. This study aims to explore the influence of corporate governance and ownership structure on (product) innovativeness in a sample of 49 small and medium sized firms (SMEs) in the Belgian manufacturing industries. The main findings of the study are twofold. Firstly, a significant positive relationship between innovativeness and the size of a firm??s board has been found. Secondly, business-to-consumer markets tend to be more innovative than business-to-business markets. No significant relationship was found between the investor type and a firm??s innovativeness.     

Strategic marketing practices and the performance of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan

This paper reports on a survey of the strategic marketing practices of 218 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan. The survey's results indicate that while the higher performing Taiwanese SMEs give a higher priority to marketing than to other business functions in corporate planning, they are still sales- or production-oriented. The higher performing Taiwanese SMEs are more aware of strategic planning tools, but they make less use of them. They compete with value-added products and good buyer-seller relationships. The findings suggest that broad, small firm marketing principles, specifically generated from countries in the West, to some extent contribute to the success of Taiwanese SMEs. Interestingly, however, the specific marketing practices of these small firms are different from those of their Western counterparts. The research results provide additional evidence to support the theory that both Chinese cultural value orientations and mediating environmental factors play significant roles in shaping the attitudes and behaviour of Taiwanese owner-managers and, in turn, the marketing practices of Taiwanese SMEs.     

论西部中小企业增强核心竞争力的途径——以广西中小企业现状为例

西部中小企业要又好又快地发展,走出一条适合自己的道路,就必须不断增强企业竞争力。文章以广西中小企业发展现状为例,简要分析了西部中小企业增强核心竞争力的有效途径。     

The antecedents of SME innovativeness in an emerging transition economy

Understanding forces that contribute to the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is very important, as these enterprises are vital for both developed and developing economies. Since innovativeness is among the most important means through which such businesses contribute to economic growth, numerous research studies were conducted to determine which factors positively impact SME's innovative efforts. This is an even more important issue for developing economies, where SMEs are often faced with inadequate infrastructure. Since there is a lack of studies on SME innovation in developing economies, often policy in such countries is based on findings from developed countries.In this paper, we explore factors that drive innovation activities in SMEs in a small emerging transition economy (Croatia), and compare it with findings from developed economies. In addition to factors used in most previous studies, we consider market scope, firm's market orientation and presence of strategic, managerial and marketing changes. We find that most factors that were found to be important in developed economies are important in developing economies as well. In addition to that, market scope was discovered to be a very important factor in both product and process innovation. Implementing corporate changes has positive impact on radical product innovation while implementing new organizational structures has positive effect on incremental innovation. When investigating determinants of product innovation, we distinguish new products of low novelty from new products of high novelty, and show that they need to be supported by different policies. To gain additional insight in innovation efforts, we examine obstacles to innovation. We find that firms that report facing obstacles are not less likely to innovate less, which suggests that innovators are able to work around obstacles without damaging effects to innovation. This study is based on a postal survey of 448 SMEs in Croatia, which was performed in 2004.     

Commitment to Sustainability in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: The Influence of Strategic Orientations and Management Values

Ecosystem degradation and social sustainability have become important issues in the corporate sphere during the last few decades. However, research discussing corporate social responsibility and related concepts has often focused on larger companies, sometimes neglecting the specifics of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between two common strategic orientations, market orientation (MO) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), in relation to sustainability commitment, sustainability practices and management values in SMEs. Questionnaire responses from 450 Swedish SMEs were analyzed, confirming the influence of MO, EO and sustainability practices on commitment to sustainability, implying that firms committed to sustainability see both market and entrepreneurial advantages of sustainability. The results also show that different parts of MO and EO differ in importance for commitment to sustainability among SMEs. Implications concern the importance for firms and policymakers to work with sustainability issues using both internal and external perspectives. © 2015 The Authors. Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

民营中小企业社会责任的基础结构

企业社会责任日益引起研究者的关注与企业界的重视。民营中小企业履行社会责任离不开一定的环境基础,社会经济发展水平、社会道德意识、国家司法制度、企业经济利益、企业家精神构成其基本条件;同时,亦需要特殊的要素来支撑,分别为企业生命周期、企业规模、行业特点、企业管理能力。     

Circular economy to enhance sustainability of small and medium‐sized enterprises

The circular economy (CE) represents a major paradigm shift of moving from the concepts of linear to circular supply chains across multiple industries. Although some aspects of CE adoption within industrial supply chains have been researched extensively (particularly addressing challenges of design, implementation, and operations), the research that relates CE practices with sustainability performance to reveal the current state of CE practices within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) is scant. The aim of this research was to facilitate SMEs to achieve greater sustainability through CE implementation. This research addresses three research questions—How are CE fields of action related to sustainability performance? What are the issues, challenges, and opportunities of adopting CE in SMEs? And what key strategies, resources, and competences facilitate effective implementation of CE in SMEs? This study adopts a mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative) using survey research, focus group, and case studies; 130 randomly selected SMEs within the Midlands of the United Kingdom have been surveyed, and the responses are analysed using statistical tools along with findings from focus groups and case studies. The study reveals that all CE fields of action (take, make, distribute, use, and recover) of SMEs are correlated to economic performance, but only make and use are related to environmental and social performance. The study further derives strategies, resources, and competences for achieving sustainability across all the CE field of actions. Additionally, this research reveals the issues and challenges, strategies, resources, and competences required for implementing CE in SMEs.     

中小企业财务管理存在的问题及对策——对南京市120家中小企业调查结果的分析

随着中国经济的迅速发展,中小企业成为国民经济的重要组成部分。但有一部分中小企业单纯追求销售量和市场份额,忽视了财务管理的核心地位。同时由于国家政策及企业自身的问题,中小企业在财务管理上存在筹资渠道窄、资金严重不足、企业财务核算制度不健全等问题。本文通过封南京市120家中小企业的问卷调查,分析其问题存在的原因,同时提出了相应的对策和措施。     

Environmental Management in SMEs in the UK: Practices,Pressures and Perceived Benefits

Environmental management represents a significant challenge for small businesses, and prior research has shown that they are typically less engaged with environmental issues than their larger counterparts. At the same time, prior research has seldom explored engagement among small and medium‐sized companies (SMEs) with the wide variety of practices that are encompassed by environmental management, nor has it sought to explore heterogeneity among SMEs. In this study, we analyse the extent of SME involvement in a wide range of environmental management practices and the differences between small and medium‐sized businesses. We also explore SME perceptions of pressures for, and benefits of, engagement with environmental issues. Our findings show that most small businesses are engaged in some environmental initiatives but that there is significant heterogeneity in the engagement of small and medium‐sized businesses. Consistent with this, we show that the smallest companies perceive significantly fewer benefits of engagement with environmental issues. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Management for Sustainable Development and Its Impact on Firm Value in the SME Context: Does Size Matter?

With the increasing demands from society towards sustainable and social responsible business practices, management for sustainable development has become a cornerstone to understand the success of many firms in the current competitive context. This article investigates corporate social responsibility (CSR) and examines the links between CSR practices and business outcomes – both financial and non‐financial (i.e. image and corporate reputation) – for small‐to‐medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, we also attempt to determine whether the impact of such relationships is moderated by firm size. To this end, we carry out a quantitative study using PLS techniques to analyze a sample of SME owners and managers, with a view to test the proposed model in the light of social capital theory. In this sense, our study is pioneering in that it aims to determine – from a quantitative viewpoint – the degree to which firm size has a moderating impact on a series of relevant CSR‐driven outcomes. The data suggest that, in SME contexts, CSR impacts corporate reputation, brand image and financial value of the company. Importantly, we find that the larger the firm, the greater the intensity of the relationships linking CSR and business outcomes. Hence, our findings have important implications for CSR implementation in SME contexts. Finally, we provide a series of guidelines aimed at maximizing the effectiveness of CSR‐based business practices. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Barriers to supply chain information integration: SMEs adrift of eLands

The literature extols the potential benefits of supply chain integration and the crucial role of integrated eBusiness to deliver those benefits. However, adoption of eBusiness in supply chains has been slower than expected, particularly in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper reports findings of a longitudinal study of four supply chains in different sectors over a 4-year period. Specifically it examines the barriers to adoption of eBusiness technologies and therefore to achievement of integrated information in supply chains. Differences between firms in supply chains and between supply chains are examined. The study reveals disparity between existing and planned use of eBusiness by larger downstream firms compared to upstream SMEs. The SMEs are cautious, only planning to invest in eBusiness if dominant downstream customers force them; however, they do not appreciate the full benefits to be gained from eBusiness adoption. The downstream larger businesses are forging ahead with eBusiness in ‘eIsolation’ and are not providing supply chain leadership. They are creating eLands with SMEs adrift of them.     

湖北农村中小企业文化建设现状问题及对策研究

湖北农村中小企业是联系湖北省工业与农业的桥梁,是湖北省经济发展的重要推动力量,因此,应大力推进湖北农村中小企业的发展,而这在很大程度上取决湖北农村中小企业的企业文化建设。湖北农村中小企业文化建设已取得了一定的成绩,但仍然存在认识不足、定位模糊、模仿严重、活力不够等问题。文中通过对文献的梳理和湖北农村中小企业的调查,总结出当前湖北农村中小企业建设中存在的问题,并提出了相应的对策。     

An examination of factors impacting athlete alumni donations to their alma mater: a case study of a U.S. university

• It has been suggested that athlete alumni do not give as generously as they could to their alma maters. Athlete alumni may feel they have given enough to their schools by playing sports, and they may feel greater loyalty to their former sports teams than their alma maters. Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigated whether such attitudes among athlete alumni at a U.S. university were related to lifetime donations. Results indicate:
  • the quality of alumni's athletic experience and the perception that they have already given to their school by playing sports are predictive of giving amount.
  • similar to the general alumni donor, the variables of age, income, and geography were also found to be related to giving level.
• Universities and colleges may need to develop specialized marketing communications programs to mitigate athlete alumni's perceptions of not needing to donate because they competed for their school. Implications for universities and other nonprofit organizations are offered.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A critical review of forms of corporate community involvement: from philanthropy to partnerships

• The paper offers a critical review of the forms of corporate community involvement (CCI) including: corporate philanthropy, benefaction, patronage, sponsorship and cause related marketing (CRM) and partnership. It discusses the differences/similarities and compares the limitations of the transactional forms of interaction with the latest form of partnership.
• The paper suggests that the form of partnership represents a shift towards a non-linear business model of CCI, that is moving away from an outcome towards a process orientation. Three factors are identified conditioning the successful implementation and sustainability of partnerships which are linked with the previous limitations of transactional approaches of interaction. Finally, the paper puts forward three propositions in order for partnerships to: (1) contribute to the increase of institutional trust among organisations and across sectors; (2) assist in balancing the dynamics across the sectors and (3) appreciate the process of interaction as a source of benefits.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of environmental,social and governance disclosure on the cost of capital in small and medium enterprises: The role of family business status

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure has become a critical component of corporate reporting. However, the effectiveness of this type of disclosure remains poorly explored among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), despite the fact that these businesses represent the majority of firms around the world. By leveraging on a dataset of Italian listed SMEs, we fill this gap to shed new light on the effects of nonfinancial disclosure on the cost of capital. The study reveals that, in stark contrast with the evidence on large companies, environmental disclosure for SMEs is bound to provoke an increase in the cost of capital. Yet this pattern is capsized when the company is a family SME, as it benefits from environmental disclosure, as large companies do.