The Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Micro and Small Enterprise Sector

The concept of corporate social responsibility assumes that understanding the influence of their activity on different groups of stakeholders the enterprises should willingly apply best practices. The number of companies declaring social engagement in Poland is rising. However, these are mostly large companies (mainly West European concerns operating on the Polish market, major Polish Companies). Corporate social responsibility of micro and small enterprises, employing less than 50 people is practically not mentioned. A reason for such a situation may be found in the condition of those companies as well as in their knowledge regarding management. They are often businesses run intuitively without any documented strategy. They concentrate mainly on current issues and surviving the difficult market environment. Among the micro and small enterprises we can find those, which in spite of unfavourable conditions are able to implement the principles of social responsibility effectively. These companies have developed the mechanism of creating relations with their shareholders based on exchanging value on the social responsibility principles. Their actions are often intuitive, not always effective or efficient. What is the concept of corporate social responsibility in the micro and small enterprises specificity? What are the benefits and the associated obstacles if they are engaged in socially responsible business. Are micro and small enterprises receiving any support from local authorities, employers' association, etc. considering limitations and obstacles they face? The aim of the article is to present specificity of applying the concept of corporate social responsibility in the micro and small enterprises in Poland. To accomplish the aim the author carried quality research (In-depth Interview method was applied) among owners of micro and small enterprises. The results were used to work out the guidelines which will help socially responsible micro and small enterprises apply benefits from their social engagement to a greater extent. On the other hand the shareholders' profits will increase as a result of exploiting the full potential of socially responsible micro and small enterprises.