Small Business Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain: a Literature Review

The aim of the chapter is to investigate how Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) deal with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) along the supply chains to which they belong. The analysis is carried out by a literature review that aims at identifying: the role played by SMEs, both as buyers and suppliers; the practices implemented; drivers, risks, barriers to small business social responsibility in the supply chain, and the means to overcome such barriers. Most of the reviewed papers deal with small business social responsibility in general and investigate the role of SMEs only as suppliers of large customers. The most cited driver, risk, barrier, and means are: supply chain pressure, exclusion from supply chains, low power by SMEs, and partnership, respectively. The study also stresses questions that would benefit from further research, such as the effect of supply chain pressure on small business social responsibility. The study contributes to fill a gap in the literature as, to our knowledge, no literature reviews on small business social responsibility in supply chains have been developed.