2003, European Commission
The 25 good practice cases in this brochure aim to illustrate responsible entrepreneurship among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe.
They are examples of ‘good’ rather than ‘best’ practice since the selection was made to illustrate diversity in terms of the different countries, sectors of activity and size classes represented in the brochure. Identifying 'best practice’ implies a competitive process or benchmarking exercise that clearly would have gone beyond the scope and remit of this project. Besides, differences in cultural and legal backgrounds in Europe make cross-country comparisons difficult if not impossible. The regulatory framework in each country determines the scope for company action to go beyond legal thresholds. But societal expectations as to what constitutes responsible business behaviour may also vary widely depending on history, culture, the level of socioeconomic development and the respective roles of the State and private sectors in society. What is an innovative responsible entrepreneurship practice in one country may be regarded as ‘mere’ legal compliance or ‘business as usual’ in another. Each case therefore has to be judged on its own merits and needs to be set in its particular national, regional or even local context.
What do we mean by ‘responsible entrepreneurship’?
The term ‘responsible entrepreneurship’ denotes voluntary business strategies to achieve sustainable development and is fully in line with the EU definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR):
‘CSR is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.’
Corporate social responsibility is a rather complex notion developed for large companies, which is perhaps not the most appropriate term for communicating with and engaging SMEs. It is for this reason that ‘responsible entrepreneurship’ has been chosen as the theme of the present publication. Responsible entrepreneurship associates the individual entrepreneurial drive and attitude necessary for creating and running a small business with a wider sense of societal responsibilities that often forms part of the personal values of the SME owner/manager. This is the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that the European Union seeks to promote not least with a view to fostering innovation, job creation and competitiveness in Europe.
How were the good practice cases selected?
The examples in this brochure were identified by a group of national experts from EU Member States, Norway and candidate countries according to an agreed methodology. This work was financed and coordinated by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise under its multiannual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship.
