Small business owners are divided on whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) is something that requires only lip service or whether it can genuinely benefit their business, according to a survey by OTX Research on behalf of SEE Potential.
The research suggested that 54% of small business owners see CSR as having a valuable role to play in modern business compared to 41% who see it as mere tokenism.
The poll also revealed that having a definite ethical policy can be good for business, with 62% of respondents saying it helps them with recruiting and retaining staff, 60% believing it can improve innovation, 49% having identified new business opportunities as a result of such a stance and 34% saying it can actually reduce their costs.
"Many businesses continue to fall into a trap by wanting to ‘do CSR' but not really knowing how or why," said Michael Solomon, founder and managing director of SEE Potential, which has developed an accreditation process for companies looking to achieve recognition for their work in this area.
"But as this study shows, there are sound pragmatic business reasons for developing business-wide strategies to deal with a range of SEE (social, environmental and ethical) issues," he added.
The majority (68%) of respondents believe this issue is set to increase in importance over the next few years, with 36% saying that an external verification of their policies would be beneficial.
The companies whose work in this field is most admired by those surveyed are M&S (cited by 19% of those naming firms they admire), Microsoft (12%), and BT, Body Shop, Shell and Virgin (all 8% respectively).
Companies wanting to acquire SEE accreditation have to answer a number of challenging questions about their work in areas such as community relations, charity work and human rights.
The organisation has launched its SEEcompanies.com website, which lists all 23 companies that have so far been accredited on the scheme.
