Corporate Social Responsibility to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Extending Sustainable Development in Society

Abstract

Sustainable development (SD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) could be perceived as a meta-fix whose ideas and philosophies have evolved from an objective perspective to one of process. While SD aims to sustain economic growth with the required maintenance and protection of the environment, CSR is a long-term business strategy that balances corporate rights with economic, environmental and social obligations towards its stakeholders. The semantics of these two terms have changed over time to a point where these concepts have become interrelated processes for ensuring a longreaching development. This chapter posits the notion that SD can contribute to realizing the objective of integrating development throughout society if small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could be sensitized to the core dimensions of CSR.