RELATIONSHIP OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND INNOVATION IN SMES: CASE STUDY IN SELECTED CEE COUNTRIES

CSR has grown in importance since the economic crisis of 2008. Businesses attempted to search for solutions of economic issues by trying to explore new ways of conducting their business, thus, the perception and efforts to exploit the potential of CSR concept changed dramatically. It might also be a way out of the upcoming crisis for many SMEs. Implementation of CSR via innovation or innovating via CSR might bring them more resilience in the upcoming unprecedented times. As shown by statistical analysis (structural equation modelling) of the empirical data from CEE region - Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia (n=607), innovative SMEs don't need to explicitly concentrate on CSR - its specific activities or reporting. The answer for SMEs lies in business strategy, innovation and sustainable business model.