Abstract
The discussion on the issue of corporate social responsibility has shown a shift from large organizations to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It has been observed that SMEs do address issues underlying CSR. However, such activities of SMEs are not similar as the CSR activities of large organizations. Moreover, the underlying motives and barriers of CSR might be change across type of organization, region of world, and time. This qualitative study is conducted for exploring CSR activities, and the motivations and barriers of CSR in context of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). After literature review, 12 SMEs – 8 manufacturing and 4 service sector – were selected. A total of 17 Informants were selected for in-depth semi-structured interview from different industrial sectors through judgment sampling. Triangulation is done to validate the findings of study by choosing sample of diverse set of professional, industries, and through comparing the results with studies conducted in other parts of the world. Findings suggest that many of SMEs do focus on CSR issues, however, such organizations relate the term with philanthropic contributions. Six main categories of CSR in SMEs are found with three categories of motivational factors named as: intrinsic, instrumental, and stakeholder pressures. Further, owners/managers of the SMEs stated financial constraints, managerial skills, and infrastructural problems as main impediments to implementation of CSR.
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, SMEs, Motivations, Barriers, Stakeholders