Corporate responsibility in small and medium-sized enterprises: SME social performance: A four-cell typology of key drivers and barriers on social issues and their implications for stakeholder theory

Purpose - Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often neglected in the context of business and society theory building. The purpose of this article is to build a model of why SMEs address social issues by integrating internal and external drivers and barriers to social performance (SP). Design/methodology/ approach - Using thematic analysis, barriers and drivers to SME social performance are clustered along key stakeholders and presented in a theoretical model. The analysis dates from 1973 until 2006 and is grounded in an extensive literature review that represents a total of 83 countries. It includes academic and practitioner accounts stemming from theoretical and empirical work, as well as conference proceedings. A total of 80 drivers and 96 barriers to SME high social performance are identified. Findings - This paper develops an SME four-cell ideal type of social issues management (SIM) response typology based on drivers and barriers of social performance. Practical implications - The importance of understanding barriers and drivers to social responsibility (SR) of SIM for stakeholder theory, policy makers, and practitioners is discussed, concluding with implications for further SME-SR research. Originality/value - The four-cell typology considers the theoretical claims of stakeholder theory within the context of SMEs and proposes a heteronomy of stakeholder salience.