Company Case Study 4: Boxmarche – A Heritage of Values for a Virtuous Company

In SMEs the orientation towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is usually triggered by entrepreneurs’ values and beliefs. Accordingly, the main objective of this section is to point out, through exploring a case study - BoxMarche- how SMEs can successfully perform authentic socially-oriented strategies in that actions align with stated values and are triggered by the entrepreneur’s inwardly-derived values. The hypothesis underlying the study is that particularly among SMEs, the orientation toward CSR is intrinsically driven since it is triggered by the entrepreneur who is inspired by personal and family values and virtues tied to cultural and social variables that are typical of the territory he belongs to. The case-study first aims to point out the key values experiences by the manager/entrepreneur and translated into the company mission. Secondly, the coherence among the mission-governance-accountability dimensions will be analysed. Third, attention has been focused on specific virtues - the cardinal virtues - and on how they affect relationships with stakeholders and are applied in the business context rendering authentic the CSR orientation