Intrinsic CSR and Competition, 1st ed. 2020
Doing well amongst European SMEs

This edited book is at the intersection of the discussion on family-owned business, the CSR agenda and company competition in Europe. The authors contribute to the debates on corporate social responsibility by arguing that formal management systems are not the one-size-fits-all solution they are typically presented to be. Exploring alternative interpretations of the profile environmental management activities have in SMEs, the book evaluates the way in which cultural and ethical values are embedded in European SMEs in order to drive and orientate CSR successfully without following the mainstream ?systems? approach. It addresses several values of thought within the CSR debate such as intrinsic CSR, the role of virtue ethics and moral theory in corporate culture, environmental sustainability and vision-driven CSR. Focusing on a European perspective, the book heuristically explores an alternative model for the integration of CSR, innovation dynamics and economic success driven by intrinsic values rather than extrinsic post-decision rationalisations.

Overview over Formal management systems, intrinsic CSR, and the role of culture in management.- Honourable Merchants as a Role Model for Responsible Leadership. History and Perspectives.- Company Case Study 1 - To (crafts)man up: how Swiss SMEs cope with CSR in harsh times.- Company Case Study 2- Novex AG.- Overview: Virtue Ethics and managerial control.- Virtue Ethics, corporate identity and success.- Virtue ethics and CSR: the two sides of sustainable organizational performance.- Company Case Study 3 - Loccioni between innovation, people and future.- Company Case Study 4 - BoxMarche: A heritage of values for a virtuous company.-Overview: Family-run businesses and intrinsic CSR.- Virtue ethics, values of the founders and organizational growth.- Company Case Study 5 - The value of values in Economy of Communion Enterprises: start up and governance of Loppiano Prima.- Company Case Study 6 - Bertola Srl (Italy): a family business within the Economy of Communion “family”.- Overview: Management Strategies, Growth, and Innovation: Are they interlinked?.- Company Case Study 8- Cucinelli: A humanistic enterprise for a sustainable growth and a sustainable world.- Company Case Study 9- Virtuous circles and Innovation in corporate governance of EoC enterprises: The case of the first Business Park in Brazil.- Company Case Study 10 - Spreading the culture of sustainability: the SGR Group’s experience (Italy).- Overview: Employee perceptions in innovation-driven SMEs.- Company Case Study 11 - International HR Management Tasks as Insights into internationally common CSR approaches, attributes, and specifications – greenTEG AG.- Company Case Study   12 - Employee perceptions in innovation-driven SMEs: D-Orbit.- Overview: Intrinsic CSR across Europe.- Company Case Study 13 - Mass production and Luxury Segment Partners that meet the Stipulation of “NoContracts”.- Synthesis: The future of Innovation, CSR and non-formal management.

Walter Wehrmeyer is Reader in Environmental Business Management at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability of the University of Surrey, UK. His 25 years of experience in teaching and research cover the organisation of sustainable development within private and public sector organisations, as well as the context in which managerial decisions towards sustainable development come about.

Stéphanie Looser is a postgraduate researcher in Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey, UK, focusing on Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and their unconventional but sophisticated approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). She is evaluating these heuristic and/or ethics-driven business models for comparison with standard systems in order to hasten them towards policy.

Mara Del Baldo is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, Financial Accounting and the Economics of Sustainability at ‘Carlo Bo’ University of Urbino, Italy. She leads several initiatives aimed at raising awareness of CSR, sustainability, entrepreneurship and business ethics among students, business and institutions.

Presents case studies and theory

Promotes new connections between CSR and firm values

Develops a European perspective towards CSR