CSR-Related Employment Relations and HRM Practices at Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises vs. Multinational Corporations.

The article explores practices of employment relations (ER) and human resource management (HRM) in relation to corporate social responsibility (CSR) at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) compared to multinational corporations (MNCs). The topic is under-researched compared to the more established separate research fields of ER, HRM, and CSR. In the field of ER & HRM, research indicates that MNCs are inclined to adopt more up-to-date ER and HRM practices than SMEs. For CSR, research indicates that SMEs tend to adopt more positive attitudes toward CSR than MNCs, but not necessarily actual behavior. What is less known is the state of ER & HRM practices with respect to CSR in each type of business organization. Recent research on SMEs and MNCs points to a blurring of the differences between these types of business organizations that had been observed a few decades ago. The main blurring processes can be attributed to the internationalization of SMEs. Theories explaining the business behavior of SMEs and MNCs in general are mainly complex and resource-based. These approaches, however, are not specific to CSR. The present article develops a model to explain ER & HRM practices related to CSR based on institutional variables in the business firms’ environment and on a management behavior variable. The main finding is that CSR-related ER & HRM practices do not differ between SMEs and MNCs. Both types of firms fail to outperform regulatory demands or beyond compliance voluntary standards in CSR. The dynamics of CSR-related ER & HRM practices at