CSR in SMEs: The Surprising Impact of SMEs on the Global Triple Bottom Line

When sustainability professionals hear the term “business as usual”, they picture scenarios such as the countless human rights offenses of multinational corporations, the shady self-serving deals on Wall Street, or the corruption of politicians in the developing world. Others may envision “business as usual” as a complex web of intangible global brands, unaccountable corporate entities, and complex economic and political systems. However one may envision it, “business as usual” is often blamed for the increasing environmental footprint of our human family, the oppressive treatment of workers around the world, and the global economic crash and recession. In response, sustainability experts and civil society activists alike tend to place immediate blame on the big, menacing, and intangible global brands that have been so famously responsible for some of the most horrendous behavior toward the health of our people, our planet, and our economy.

But is this really the whole picture? I am learning that there is an important piece of the debate that is overwhelmingly left out of solution strategies proposed by activists, policy makers, international legal institutions, and civil society alike — and the biggest offender is, in fact, right around your corner. Believe it or not, the biggest culprit for these complex global issues are the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of the world.  Yes, I’m even talking about your favorite local coffee shop, your trusted grocery store, and even your treasured hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant. How come?

In OECD countries of high-income economies, SMEs make up over 95% of firms, 60%-70% of employment, and produce 55% of GDP — adding up to an impact that is not small or medium at all. If we look at this from the perspective of the global triple bottom line, SMEs can be accountable for more than half of our economic productivity, the income and wellbeing for nearly 70% of our population, and the production of 80% of the global greenhouse gas emissions that threaten our planet.

What surprised me most about this dynamic is that SMEs are often left out of the sustainability conversation. Professionals, analysts, consultants, practitioners, and students alike continually put large corporations in the spotlight, often pressuring them to implement integrated sustainability strategies, pay enormous fines, or reclaim their brand in the face of investigative international media campaigns. This is not to say that multinational corporations have not committed their fair share of crimes against the common economic, social, and environmental good of our human family — but it is clear that the sustainability field needs to have a strategy for identifying, engaging, and empowering SMEs to embrace sustainable and responsible practices.

The effective sustainability practitioner and policymaker must necessarily incorporate the empowerment of SMEs into their solution strategies by providing capacity building, support, compliance assistance, and empowerment to SMEs by other industry leaders in their sector. SMEs are in great need of such support, as the costs of implementing social and environmental innovations are often beyond their annual budgets and capacities. However, there have been inspiring cases of international organizations and industry leaders working together to empower the SMEs that make up such a large portion of the problem.

Put another [more inspiring] way, empowered and informed SMEs may make up the biggest part of the solution. This class has therefore confirmed that any strategy to mitigate the complex global issues we face today must include a major focus on SMEs, which can significantly affect the positive growth of our economies, the health of our planet, and the happiness of our human family.

Comments Off on CSR in SMEs: The Surprising Impact of SMEs on the Global Triple Bottom Line / 17 Apr 2013 por Kelly Elizabeth Behrend
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