Title: Beyond CSR: the virtues-based approach to corporate responsibility and sustainability in Italian SMEs

Authors: Mara Del Baldo

Addresses: Department of Economics, Society and Politics, Carlo Bo University of Urbino, Via Saffi, 42, 61029, Urbino, Italy

Abstract: The work addresses the issues of authentic corporate sustainability and social responsibility (CSSR) orientation, focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the aim to enquire if and how values and virtues foster CSSR strategies and activities and influence the effectiveness and authenticity of this orientation. Therefore, in a global context where CSR and sustainability are often used opportunistically, the study intends to verify if the shift from values to virtues can be considered a driver of innovative CSSR-oriented strategies, capable of fostering social innovation and to build a model of sustainable development. The study has been developed by adopting both a deductive and an inductive approach. After presenting the literature review, the second part analyses a case-study relative to an exemplary Italian company, which has been distinguished for its authentic CSSR-orientation, deriving from a set of shared human and transcendental virtues diffused inside and outside the organisation.

Keywords: authenticity; CSSR; corporate sustainability and social responsibility; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; values; virtues; Italy; CSR; corporate social responsibility; social innovation; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJENVH.2015.077132

International Journal of Environment and Health, 2015 Vol.7 No.4, pp.394 - 414

Received: 15 Jul 2015
Accepted: 05 Jan 2016
Published online: 21 Jun 2016 *

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