Essays on corporate social and resource responsibility

This thesis "Essays on Corporate Social and Resource Responsibility" is based on three research papers, organized in three chapters (chapters 2, 3 and 4). Chapter 1 introduces the topic and overall research questions. The final chapter 5 concludes on the overall project. The thesis discusses CSR and sustainable development on a global and regional scale by using different methodological approaches. lt emphasizes the holistic engagement needed by firms irrespective of their size to ensure sustainable development. To that end, chapter 2 provides a conceptual framework for firms to organize their CSR activities with regards to stakeholder requirements. lt outlines the necessity for firms to actively take on a CSR agenda if they want to benefit their stakeholders, and thereby, themselves. By clustering companies' CSR agendas within this framework, chapter 2 underlines the necessity to develop a knowledgeable and possibly strategic approach towards CSR and thus contributes to the introduction of social responsibility in organizations. Especially SMEs are increasingly facing stakeholder pressure, notably from their often large-firm customers, to operate sustainably. Due to SMEs' idiosyncrasies and the considerable differences among SMEs and large firms in organizing CSR, chapter 3 takes a closer look on the direct and indirect effects of mandatory CSR reporting on firms of different size in Germany. lt finds firm size plays a role in the evaluation of mandatory reporting, however, only for firms directly affected by reporting requirements. Chapter 3 thus contributes to the understanding of when firm size matters in the case of mandatory SR and underlines the role of organizational resources and capabilities as well as the special position of SMEs. SMEs are not generally worse endowed to handle demands for formalized CSR. Research on SMEs and their access to (formal) CSR yields mixed results, however. As SMEs contribute the major share to the triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic aspects, chapter 4 therefore discusses formal CSR in SMEs and the associated relevance of selected sustainability reporting frameworks in depth. lt explains firms' current and future reporting activities and outlines the relevance of reporting frameworks for SMEs and large firms. Chapter 4 concludes firms can and should proactively engage in formalized CSR, irrespective of firm size and background, to contribute to the sustainability agenda. The detailed analysis and discussion of developments across selected reporting frameworks sheds light on their relevance for current and future reporting of SMEs and large firms. Finally, chapter 4 argues for regulatory support especially for SMEs to be socially and environmentally responsible. The thesis concludes greater engagement in sustainability matters is needed by companies regardless of their size. Organizations, governmental as well as non­governmental, should support firms in formalizing their engagement