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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Corporate social responsibility and competitiveness within SMEs of the fashion industry
T2 - evidence from Italy and France
AU - Battaglia, Massimo
AU - Testa, Francesco
AU - Bianchi, Lara
N1 - This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Our paper analyses the link between the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and competitiveness performance among small and medium enterprises operating in the fashion industry. The study refers to a sample of 213 SMEs (Small and Medium sized Enterprises) located in Italy and France and is based on a correlation analysis between competitiveness variables and the CSR practice adopted. The results show a significant correlation with regard to the innovation process, both from the technical and the organizational point of view, and the intangible performances. On the other hand, another competitiveness macro-category, which is the market performance (measured as demand trend, turnover and business attraction), presents deceptive results, although a positive correlation with the adoption of market-oriented CSR practice emerges. The study is explorative and represents a relevant basis to future studies concerning the nature of the emerged co-relations.
AB - Our paper analyses the link between the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and competitiveness performance among small and medium enterprises operating in the fashion industry. The study refers to a sample of 213 SMEs (Small and Medium sized Enterprises) located in Italy and France and is based on a correlation analysis between competitiveness variables and the CSR practice adopted. The results show a significant correlation with regard to the innovation process, both from the technical and the organizational point of view, and the intangible performances. On the other hand, another competitiveness macro-category, which is the market performance (measured as demand trend, turnover and business attraction), presents deceptive results, although a positive correlation with the adoption of market-oriented CSR practice emerges. The study is explorative and represents a relevant basis to future studies concerning the nature of the emerged co-relations.
KW - competitiveness
KW - corporate social responsibility
KW - fashion industry
KW - SMEs
KW - textile
U2 - 10.3390/su6020872
DO - 10.3390/su6020872
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
SP - 872
EP - 893
JO - Sustainability
JF - Sustainability
SN - 2071-1050
IS - 2
ER -