Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in SMEs: Understanding Differences between France and Morocco in the Food-Processing Industry

Jamal EL BAZ, Assistant Professor, Ecole Supérieure de Technologie (EST) d’Agadir, [email protected] Issam LAGUIR, Assistant Professor, Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier Business School, [email protected] Magalie MARAIS, Assistant Professor, Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier Business School, [email protected] Raffaele STAGLIANO, Assistant Professor, Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier Business School, [email protected]

Summary: Our paper compares CSR practices between France and Morocco for SMEs of the foodprocessing industry. We adopt a multi-level governance framework to analyze how national institutions and industry characteristics impact corporate practices. Our results show four CSR profiles based on both the nature of the corporate performance (financial versus global) and the CSR approach (defensive versus active). We found that Moroccan companies are mainly engaged in a constraint-reducing perspective of CSR. They adopt CSR practices to avoid additional financial costs and to preserve their competitiveness on their existing markets. French SMEs mainly adopt an opportunity-seeking perspective of CSR. They are not only attentive as to on how CSR may help preserve their existing markets but also on how it may help create new market opportunities in Europe and in developing countries. We underline the respective place of Morocco and French SMEs in the global supply chain and the conditions for their possible win-win cooperation. Key words: SMEs, Corporate social responsibility, Food-processing industry, France, Morocco.

INTRODUCTION In a post-crisis world, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is gaining importance for companies and their stakeholders. Diverse stakeholder groups are increasingly interested in corporate economic, social and environmental impacts and are pushing companies to redefine their responsibilities toward society. Calls are being launched to incite companies to implement actions to protect the environment, fight against exclusion and contribute to local economies. In other words, CSR appears to be the corporate answer to societal pressures by contributing to Sustainable Development (Steurer et al., 2005). Although the CSR practices of Multinational Companies (MNCs) are most often targeted for evaluation, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are not excluded from this trend, as in many countries they are a significant part of the economic landscape and their cumulative impact on society is strong. Although CSR policies are often less structured and formalized than those in MNCs, SMEs have adopted interesting behaviors to manage societal issues. Their practices are, however, diverse regarding the meaning and the place they give to this concern within corporate strategy. Some SMEs focus on financial performance and CSR is principally devoted to maximizing profits under societal constraint. Others concentrate more on global performance and, in this case, CSR is implemented to create value for a broad range of stakeholders. In addition, CSR policies can be defined by either a defensive approach to limit constraints or an active approach to seek new opportunities.

Some researchers in management (e.g., Jackson & Apostolakou, 2010) showed that CSR practices seem to be deeply related to the governance system in which companies are embedded. In this paper, we adopt a socio-political view of corporate governance to show that companies are influenced by a number of factors (Aguilera et al., 2007; Campbell, 2007), such as stakeholders, capital, labor, product markets, culture and government regulation and so on (Aguilera et al., 2006). More especially, we will analyze the respective and combined effects of national institutions and industry characteristics on SME CSR practices. To study the influence of national institutions, we compare a developed and a developing country (Visser, 2008) sharing a common history, language and economic relations, namely France and Morocco. Beyond the influence of national institutions, we will also take into consideration the impact on industry characteristics on CSR reporting, at an organizational level. We will focus on only one industry, food-processing, because of the high number of SMEs worldwide (Abdirahman & Sauvée, 2011). In addition, this industry is facing

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considerable pressures regarding CSR issues. Indeed, CSR is extremely important for the activities of food production and consumption as food provision is probably the human activity with the greatest social and environmental impacts on stakeholders (Aiking & Boer, 2004).

Our paper thus seeks to explore SME CSR practices within the food-processing industry by analyzing the differences between France and Morocco. This research contributes to the existing literature. First, it will help to understand SME CSR practices in the food-processing industry. Second, this study adds to the knowledge on international comparisons of CSR by examining the convergences and divergences in SME CSR practices between a developing and a developed country. Last, our research provides insight into the combined effects of national institutions and industry characteristics on a specific population of companies. LITERATURE REVIEW

CSR Characteristics in SMEs

Companies are facing growing expectations from diverse stakeholder groups (Arvidsson, 2010; Basu & Palazzo, 2008). In addition to greater financial scrutiny, they are also experiencing more pressure to address societal issues (Johnson & Greening, 1999). In this context, calls have been launched to incite or force them to take into account their impact on society more fully than ever before (Lee, 2011). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is thus gaining in importance for business and political leaders (Buhr & Grafström, 2004). In this regard, Carroll (1991) underlined how CSR is important to understand corporate obligations and duties toward society. She especially developed a framework ranking the four main areas of corporate responsibility: economic (making profits, quality of products and services, etc.), legal (following the law and regulations), ethical (respecting the main ethical standards and principles shared within the corporate environment), and philanthropic (acting with fairness and charity).

SMEs have long been ignored within the management literature. However, understanding their CSR practices is crucial as these companies often make up a large proportion of a national economic landscape. A report from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) states that SMEs represent 90% of all companies 2

worldwide and that they contribute to 50% to 60% of employment. Moreover, despite their limited size, their societal impacts are often significant. The nature of their CSR practices is nevertheless likely to be influenced by their specific characteristics. Indeed, it seems particularly dangerous and counter-productive to transpose the principles of CSR for MNCs to SMEs (Freisleben, 2011; Morsing & Perrini, 2009). First, in SMEs, the CEO’s commitment is key to starting or boosting CSR practices. In particular, his or her values will significantly influence CSR policies (Bellini, 2003; Reynaud et al., 2007). SMEs will also be more impacted than MNCs by their local embeddedness (Quairel & Auberger, 2005). Their insertion within a large supply chain will also be fundamental for driving their CSR initiatives. In this regard, the partnerships (horizontal or vertical) developed with local actors may be fundamental to attract resources and talent and to stimulate innovation (Spence, 1999). SMEs also have specific human resources management. Although these companies often invest in social capital, they don’t always express this initiative by a formalized CSR policy (Habisch, 2004). Last, as SMEs have limited resources (e.g., time, money, human capital, etc.), they are also more dependent on their partners and local public actors/governments to support their CSR actions (e.g., importance of economic incentives; Clemens 2006).

CSR in SMEs: Financial or Global Performance?

In addition to CSR principles, researchers have focused on corporate vision and on how it dictates corporate behaviors regarding the management of social and environmental issues.

On the one hand, a company may be defined as a contract-agent between shareholders and managers. From this perspective, the only corporate objective is to maximize profits by considering social and environmental issues as constraints (Quinn & Jones, 1995) that a company has to integrate into its equation of financial value creation (Friedman, 1970). A company will thus implement CSR actions only if they are seen as desirable for profit maximization. The balance between societal goals and economic concerns is thus only based on an economic calculation. For instance, a CEO will only adopt measures to protect the environment if there is a possibility to reduce costs or boost innovation by implementing such actions. The main difficulty, in this case, will be to prove the positive link between a company’s CSR actions and its financial performance (e.g., McWilliams & Siegel, 2000).

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On the other hand, in addition to maximizing profits, a company may accept Sustainable Development (economic, social and environmental goals). Profits thus become one corporate objective among others (Mathieu, 2005). However, top management always has to prioritize its company’s responsibilities (Bon & Pensel, 2007). Profits indeed remain the first corporate priority and even the essential condition for dealing with other CSR issues (Quairel & Auberger, 2005). Corporate choices will thus be based on both a societal and economic calculation. For instance, a CEO may refuse to delocalize production, even if profitable, to protect his/her employees and local partners. In this case, the CEO’s values (e.g., Hemingway & MacLagan, 2004; Reynaud et al., 2007) as well as the corporate culture (Jaakson et al., 2009) are fundamental to explain the logic of this action.

CSR in SMEs: Defensive or Active Approach? The meaning and scope of CSR will depend on the company’s strategic positioning. From a defensive perspective, SMEs implement limited CSR actions to minimize risks or respond to pressures from stakeholders (e.g., Castello & Lozano, 2009). Managing the risks related to social and environmental issues is indeed crucial for SMEs. For instance, SMEs have to act to reduce their impact on the natural environment (e.g., pollution, waste, energy consumption, etc.) to avoid penalties or negative repercussions. They will especially follow the professional standards prescribed within their environment (Boiral, 2009). Companies also have to ensure that they meet client expectations for quality, safety and so on. Social responsibility includes the investment in employee health and safety (Jenkins, 2009). Such initiatives are indeed fundamental to maintain employee commitment and motivation (Brammer & Millington, 2007). Human rights protection is also important, as regards, for instance, corruption or money laundering. Last, a minimum involvement in the local community is also important to build trust. Managing environmental social and community risks helps companies to avoid legal problems (Levine, 2008) – for example, taxes and trials – and to repair, maintain or improve their legitimacy (e.g., Castello & Lozano, 2011). CSR is mainly viewed, in this case, as a threat or a constraint. This defensive behavior is highly pragmatic and may be profitable. However, this approach may be counter-productive if the behaviors are essentially communication initiatives.

From an active perspective, SMEs use CSR to find new business opportunities (Porter & Kramer, 2006). For instance, implementing a CSR policy may help SMEs to develop new 4

products and services (e.g., Ahlstrom, 2010) or technologies (e.g., Bush et al., 2010). Innovations in green technologies or in social business are some examples of how companies may create new value through CSR. Demonstrating a substantial CSR commitment may also be useful to access new markets (e.g., Jenkins, 2009). Taking advantage of opportunities may even transform a company business model over time (e.g., Halme & Laurila, 2009). This especially occurs for SMEs involved in local or global supply chains (Mamic, 2004), where both clients and suppliers may push them to a stronger consideration of social and environmental issues. Last, SME CSR may also enhance corporate embeddedness in the local environment (Quairel & Auberger, 2005). By taking into account and anticipating the expectations of their stakeholders, companies manage to create a set of shared values within their environment, which acts as an insurance mechanism for the sustainability of corporate activities. This strategic behavior may be particularly interesting in times of crisis. Indeed, CSR is likely to act as a "buffer" and to mitigate the negative events that could result from economic downturns (Peloza, 2006).

Understanding CSR Practices in SMEs: Influence of National and Industry Characteristics

The conditions under which a CSR policy is profitable for companies are fundamental to study (Campbell, 2007). In this regard, Aguilera et al. (2007) suggested adopting a multilevel governance framework to understand the drivers and nature of CSR practices. This framework is based on a socio-political view of corporate governance (Aguilera et al., 2006) and implies taking into account CSR motives at transnational, national, organizational and individual levels. As these levels of analysis are difficult to mobilize simultaneously, we chose to focus on the national and organizational levels. More particularly, we propose to study the combined effect of national and industry characteristics on SME CSR practices.

Influence of National Institutions

National institutions have been recognized as key factors to understand the nature of CSR practices (Jones & Nisbet, 2011). Indeed, national institutions define the “rules of the game” (Thelen, 1999) under which companies develop their behaviors within a specific country. Rather than seeing CSR as a purely voluntary corporate choice, focusing on national institutions helps to understand which incentives/constraints companies face in their national 5

environments (e.g., Matten & Crane, 2005; Windsor, 2004). In this regard, both formal (e.g., government initiatives, Campbell, 2005) and informal institutions (e.g., culture and history, Boliari & Topyan, 2007) are interesting to take into consideration. This perspective is used in our study to compare the SME CSR practices in France and Morocco.

In a globalized world, the main challenge for Morocco is to establish the best conditions for attracting and retaining foreign investors without sacrificing the most fundamental human rights to relentless competition. Moroccan CSR practices have mainly been developed by MNCs and their local partners (Filali Meknassi, 2009). For Moroccan companies hoping to become a prt of the international economic community, CSR now seems to be a new rule of the game. Managing social and environmental issues is henceforth unavoidable to sustain and access markets throughout the global supply chain. The Moroccan government has tried to incorporate this economic reality by updating the national legal framework and by institutionalizing normalization and labeling plans. Labor law has been adapted to conform to the international CSR conventions ratified by Morocco. More especially, in 2004 the labor code included the principles and standards prescribed by the United Nations’ convention regarding the protection of human rights (M’Hamdi & Trid, 2009). A consultative human rights committee and an “equity and reconciliation” commission were also implemented. Environmental law was reinforced by the 11-03 law relative to the protection of the natural environment. Its main objectives are to reduce pollution, improve human living conditions and define the main legal, technical and financial orientations to protect the environment. Normalization has also been developed and Morocco has already published more than 3700 norms covering CSR dimensions in diverse industries (e.g., standards about social management systems: NM 00.5.600, and social audit: NM.5.610). Finally, labeling initiatives have emerged, like the General Confederacy of Moroccan Companies, which rewards the best CSR practices. Companies certified by this label obtain privileges from their administrative and financial partners (e.g., advantageous banking pricing, simplification of the procedures or personalized management). However, in addition to these formal initiatives, Morocco also has maintained a vibrant oral business culture, which sometimes makes it difficult to carry out all of these formalized procedures. Moreover, Moroccan SMEs are characterized by paternalistic management with a rigid hierarchy (El Abboubi & El Kandoussi, 2009). Social considerations thus exist but are developed around respect for the family or clan interests.

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French institutions have also significantly integrated CSR concerns. First, social protection has been part of the French business culture for decades (e.g., the Auroux laws, 1982). Philanthropy is also a French tradition and has always been supported by government initiatives inciting companies to donate (Antal & Sobczak, 2007). In 2001, the French government went a step further by developing a national policy for sustainable development and by promulgating the law of New Economic Regulation forcing listed companies to report on the social and environmental impacts of their activities. In 2005, a national environmental charter was also implemented to protect human living conditions and to guarantee public decisions respectful of the natural environment. Lately, the “Grenelle 1” and “Grenelle 2” laws have proposed social and environmental indicators for all companies from many industries, a CSR training plan for managers, and the creation of forums for dialogue with stakeholders to discuss social initiatives. Normalization is also important in France, as demonstrated by the AFNOR (French Association of Normalization) contribution to the elaboration of the ISO 26000 guide defining CSR principles for all organizations worldwide. This French association also provides labeling solutions like the NF-Environment label. French companies are, moreover, facing strong relational pressures to engage in CSR (Aguilera et al., 2007; Campbell, 2007). Consequently, CSR practices mainly aim to build relationships with diverse stakeholders in order to maintain the social balance required for business continuation (Brammer et al., 2012). However, most of these institutional initiatives have been developed for large companies and SMEs are too often excluded from the national CSR framework.

Influence of Industry Characteristics

Industry characteristics are of crucial importance for understanding CSR practices. Several researchers have demonstrated how CSR varies across sectors and have suggested conducting empirical studies focused on specific industries. For instance, CSR has historically been more developed in the chemical industry (e.g., Sharma, 2000) and the mining industry (e.g., Schrage, 2003), because of the high social and environmental risks associated with these activities. For these reasons, our research is embedded within a single industry, foodprocessing. This industry has been chosen for the high number of SMEs worldwide (Abdirahman & Sauvée, 2011) and its importance within the two selected countries. The food-processing industry represents 29% of the Moroccan GDP and 95% of the firms are SMEs. In France, this industry is the biggest French industrial sector and 90% of the 7

companies are SMEs. This industry is also one of the biggest employers. Moreover, the foodprocessing industry is characterized by significant stakes regarding CSR issues. Indeed, CSR is extremely important for activities of food production and consumption because food provision is probably the human activity with the largest social and environmental impacts on stakeholders (Aiking & Boer, 2004), from the smallest individual rice producer to the stockholders of the biggest MNCs. Moreover, as stated by Maloni and Brown (2006), this industry is greatly impacted by strong consumer vigilance. In this context, defects in product quality and lapses in service or CSR scandals are extremely negative for the market share and corporate legitimacy.

METHODOLOGY

To analyze Moroccan and French CSR practices in SMEs, we collected qualitative data. We conducted semi-structured interviews with SME managers in charge of CSR issues (e.g., Human Resources manager, CEO, quality manager, etc.). We developed an interview guide to define the main themes to discuss with these top managers. We asked questions about the managers’ perceptions and definitions of CSR issues, existing CSR actions and the motivations for and obstacles to these practices (see Figure 1). * Presentation of the company (activities, governance, sites, performance, employees, etc.) * Definition and vision of CSR (in general and for the company) * CSR actions implemented by the company (if relevant) * Reasons for implementing CSR actions in the company (if relevant) * Assessment of the introduction of CSR in the company: results & difficulties (if relevant) * Managers’ expectations for their stakeholders to improve the CSR policy (if relevant)

Figure 1. Interview guide (main themes) Twenty top managers of SMEs in France and Morocco were interviewed. Although all companies came from the food-processing industry, we built a sample to represent the full diversity of company characteristics, like corporate size, ownership structure and degree of internationalization (see Table 1). We used the European Union (2003) definition of an SME: employing a maximum of 250 employees, having a turnover limited to 50 million Euros, and having a balance sheet limited to 43 million Euros.

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Company number E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 Company number E11 E12 E13 E14 E15 E16 E17 E18 E19 E20

FRANCE Activity Production and exportation of essential oils and food flavorings Production and exportation of wine Technologies for the food-processing industry Importer, producer, distributor of products from organic farming Fishing and exportation of sea food Production and exportation of essential oils and food flavorings Production of tea and coffee Production and exportation of wine Production and exportation of fruits and vegetables Production, exportation and sale of potatoes MOROCCO Activity Consultant in the food-processing industry Production and exportation of fruits and vegetables Production and exportation of fruits and vegetables Agricultural cooperative Fertilizers and agricultural products Production and exportation of fruits and vegetables Fishing and exportation of canned fish Fishing and exportation of sea food Production and exportation of fruits and vegetables Fishing and exportation of canned fish

Employees 20 20 22 32 40 50 128 139 150 229 Employees 15 18 28 57 100 155 200 200 200 241

Table 1. Sample Interviews were conducted individually, by phone or face-to-face, and were entirely transcribed. We followed the principle of information saturation to determine the number of interviews we had to do (Baumard et al., 1999). Data were analyzed by content analysis (Huberman & Miles, 1994). We defined the main emerging themes and counted the following: (1) the number of interviews in which a given theme was mentioned and (2) the total number of times the theme was brought up. For example, “health & safety” was mentioned in 6 interviews but was brought up a total of eight separate times for France.

RESULTS The analysis of the SME top managers’ responses helped us to develop the following grid (see Table 2) to characterize the CSR practices for both Morocco and France. Main categories

CSR PRACTICES

Sub-categories

Employees

Environment

Themes

France

Morocco

Health and safety Social partnership and dialogue Training Fair compensation Fight against discrimination Work-life balance Pollution reduction

6(8) 3 4 2 4 5 (7) 9 (12)

9 (16) 3 4(5) 3 1 1 1 9

Community

Products and Services

Suppliers

Waste treatment Preservation of natural resources Green technologies Environmental management systems Environmental labeling and certification Protection of the biodiversity Communication and dialogue with local communities Philanthropy Implication in quality labels/management Organic food Innovation solving social or environmental issues Packaging Loyalty in the long run Fair pricing Respect for contractual and legal requirements Working conditions Training Support of the local community Law and regulation

5 (7) 9 (15) 5 8 (10) 8 (14) 4

0 1 0 3 5 0

6 (12)

1

5 10 (17) 6 (13)

2 (4) 7 (9) 1

3

0

2 4 5 (6) 5 (8) 6 (7) 3 4

0 0 0 0 0 0 1

6 (7)

1

Responding to consumers’ expectations and 7 (6) 3 (5) avoiding consumers’ protests/boycott Evolution of the food-processing market 6 (7) 7 (10) (globalization and standards) Mimetic pressures and reputation/image 3 3 Access to new markets 5 (9) 1(2) CSR drivers Local economic development 3 1 Following the supply chain requirements 4 9 (20) Ensuring business continuation with partners 4 1 Innovation 2 0 Enhancing employees’ commitment and 2 7 (10) CSR motivation DRIVERS Top management’s commitment 5 (7) 2 AND Values and culture 3 1 OBSTACLES Pressures from civil society (e.g., NGOs) 4 1 Products and services market (e.g., pressures on 4 3 prices) Costs and lack of resources 7 (8) 8 (10) Time 3 0 Human resources 1 0 Knowledge of CSR policy practices and benefits 4 3 (4) CSR obstacles Cooperation with stakeholders and collaborative 5 (7) 7 (9) work between diverse departments Economic and social crisis (national level) 3 4 Absence of incentives and support for CSR 3 8 (11) initiatives by the government Family structure of governance 0 1 Lack of global standards for CSR 3 1 In the table: First figure = number of interviews in which the theme was mentioned // Second figure (in parentheses) = total number of times the theme was brought up during interviews

Table 2. Results of the content analysis: France versus Morroco

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CSR in Moroccan SMEs

Moroccan SMEs are mainly engaged in two categories of CSR practices. Their first priority is to improve working conditions. Actions are thus implemented to enhance health and safety, as well as to develop employees’ skills through training initiatives. For instance, E15 has established a “work schedule allowing each employee to adapt his or her working hours and transportation schedule. This initiative gave us the opportunity to discuss diverse social issues like, for example, overtime compensation, safety management and the importance of ongoing social dialogue.” These practices are valuable as most of the interviewed managers believe in the potential of human capital to increase their long-term competitiveness. E17 explains that “a CSR policy is based on the idea that human capital creates wealth. We have to go in this direction. Motivated and involved employees are an asset for corporate performance and are, in any case, more productive than a discouraged and demotivated staff.”

Improving the quality of products and services also appears of crucial importance for Moroccan managers. Their main objective is to conform to international quality standards and to obtain certification. By doing so, they seek to “reassure clients” and “avoid costs related to clients’ complaints,” as stated by the E12 manager. In addition to traditional quality standards, integrating CSR quality criteria acts as “an insurance mechanism for customers. Indeed, CSR and quality policies are complementary and inseparable” (E20). Environmental practices are less developed and don’t seem to be a priority, even though they are progressively gaining in importance. Top managers are especially looking for environmental certification, which is increasingly required by international markets. Achieving this goal, however, requires substantial collaboration with diverse stakeholders, and this is particularly difficult to establish in Morocco. The same brake is underlined by managers when talking about their community involvement. Without great network collaboration, community initiatives exist but remain rare. E15’s manager explains, in this regard, that “corporate governance in the agricultural sector is unfavorable to CSR. SMEs are mainly family businesses that only care about family and tribal interests. Working together is thus a real challenge.”

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Most of the Moroccan CSR actions noted above are developed to maintain corporate competitiveness. The entire Moroccan economy, and especially the food-processing industry, is now facing the opening of the Free Trade Area between the EU and Morocco. In this context, implementing CSR helps “protect our existing markets,” explains E14’s manager. He also adds that “French or Spanish clients importing our products are particularly vigilant about our compliance with social, and even environmental, standards.” By being involved in CSR initiatives, top managers respond to their supply chain’s requirements and thus avoid costs, penalties or even market losses. In some cases, CSR also allows companies to access new markets and sustain their competitive advantage. E16’s manager states that “we are aware that Moroccan companies’ competitive advantage (e.g., cost of hourly wages) will become obsolete in the coming years. For this reason, we are one of the first companies that have implemented quality management systems and have developed a CSR framework since the late 1990s. CSR may become a distinctive capability for our existing and future markets.”

Moroccan SMEs nevertheless encounter obstacles in responding to globalization challenges. The cost of CSR and the ambiguity on how to determine its return on investment are the first difficulties. As explained by E13 “a lack of financial resources is our first constraint. Investing in CSR is not always profitable in the short run and, in this context, how can we evaluate its performance and for which purpose?” In addition to limited resources, managers also struggle to cooperate with their main partners throughout the supply chain. E7’s manager explains that “all stakeholders have to be implicated in a CSR policy. However, only a few companies in Morocco are working in networks. The local supply chain is really fragmented.” Finally, a “lack of a global CSR standard” (E18) also complicates the implementation of a CSR policy. In this context, companies look forward to obtaining better support from the Moroccan government for “implementing and controlling companies’ conformity to regulation, for financially rewarding CSR best practices, and also for fixing fair prices to facilitate exchanges” (E14). The government is also expected to help in explaining the benefits of a CSR policy and developing business awareness about CSR practices. In this regard, and as explained by E11, “the promotion of CSR values and best initiatives could be very helpful for Moroccan companies. In particular, it may be interesting to link CSR with the principles of Islam. In our religion, companies and their managers may have a duty to respect ethics, fairness and humanist values.”

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In conclusion, most of the interviewed Moroccan managers have developed CSR initiatives. However, SME practices remain limited and are essentially implemented to protect existing markets. In this regard, managers are aware that “the most successful companies have built their competitiveness on CSR. This is an essential asset for Moroccan companies. Competition will be based, in the future, on social and environmental performance. Our commitment to CSR is a guarantee for performance in the long run. We have to adapt our behavior to these new rules of the game" (E16).

CSR in French SMEs

Not surprisingly, French companies are more advanced in their CSR engagement than Moroccan ones.

First, their social practices are rarely mentioned in interviews. We can imagine that working conditions and career management are satisfactory, given the requirements imposed by French labor law. Some French SMEs are now going further by working on new social actions especially devoted to assuring the work-life balance of employees. Initiatives like “to open a daycare-nursery or establish fair compensation” (E8) have been launched.

Differences with Morocco also exist for environmental performance. French SMEs are indeed deeply involved in reducing pollution, preserving natural resources, and implementing management systems and certifications/labels. This behavior is explained by the interviewed managers as the influence of two combined factors: the national institutional context and the requirements of their supply chain. E3’s manager states “our environmental commitment has gained in importance in the last few years. Regulations on the environment are increasing every year and in particular after the initiatives taken by the “Grenelle de l’environnement.” We have to follow the legislation regarding pollution reduction and the use of resources, as well as in more complex areas like biodiversity protection. But our main driver remains our clients. We are working for big clients that are directly impacted by the new regulations. Most of them are engaged in substantial CSR policies and they have asked us, their suppliers, to demonstrate how we manage social and environmental issues.”

French SMEs in the food-processing industry are thus conforming to the rules of the game in their supply chain. They respond to the pressures of their clients but also, by 13

repercussion, impose their own standards on their suppliers (if relevant). SMEs operating as intermediaries between large companies and small producers are not only involved in the training of their suppliers regarding CSR issues, but also in the implementation of measures devoted to the improvement of suppliers’ compensation and working conditions. In this regard, French SMEs have significantly integrated how to be involved in local communities (nationally or worldwide) in order to respect their CSR engagements and sustain their activity in the long run. E1’s manager explains “we are increasingly working with our suppliers. Purchases in the food-processing industry take on a considerable importance because of their impacts on society. We have implemented many actions to support local communities, like building schools or developing microcredit, or we are helping them to improve the efficiency of their production practices. By doing so, we guarantee the quality of our products but also the sustainability of our activity in the long run. Creating trust with our partners, especially our suppliers, is the best weapon to insure their cooperation and avoid disputes. This is extremely important in a global world when, sometimes, legal appeals are not possible. It works as an insurance mechanism for us but also for our clients who also benefit indirectly from our actions.”

Respecting quality standards is also becoming a priority as norms and laws regarding health and safety are increasing for the food-processing industry in European countries. Some top managers even deplore this evolution, which was presented as a significant constraint for their activity. E6’s manager explains “we are always impacted by new norms or regulations. I don’t know what they will invent tomorrow and we really need more stability in the quality standards. We never had that much security around food but I really think that this is sometimes exaggerated. And now, we even have the obligation to produce environmental and social indicators. I have the feeling that I spend most of my time with new norms and standards. But we don’t have a choice! Avoiding these requirements could be strongly counter-productive.” However, constraints around food are also often transformed by companies into opportunities. As E2’s manager says, “to gain market shares, we decided to play the game of organic food and fair trade. This implies a lot of renewed constraints and requires thinking in terms of financial investments more fully than for traditional ways of production. However, we don’t regret this choice, as norms and standards are being reinforced, even for traditional food production. Moreover, this orientation is clearly helping us to access new markets. Our true commitment to CSR began with the identification of valuable market opportunities through CSR, in Germany essentially. We thus chose to keep a 14

traditional business model for three segments of production and to develop a new business model based on a coherent and global CSR policy for one segment. By doing so, we are progressively discovering this new market by spreading risks.” Discovering opportunities through CSR appears in our interviews to be significantly linked with the CEO’s commitment. In this regard, the CEO’s values or personal characteristics are of crucial importance not only to identify CSR opportunities, but also to boost a strategic change dedicated to exploiting them. In addition to economic value creation, CSR initiatives can even serve a CEO’s ambition for global performance. In this case, CEOs are pursuing multiple objectives in the midst of stakeholder expectations and are looking for shared value creation. E7’s CEO explains “I always thought that a company has a strong role in society beyond financial value production. I created my company with this idea and I never stopped thinking this way. As a CEO, every day I feel my responsibility toward my employees and our local communities. We have to prioritize our economic performance but not at any price. Our tradeoffs always include ethical considerations. That is why we created a small, but active, local committee for Sustainable Development within our company.”

Some French SMEs are, however, encountering difficulties in their CSR commitment. A lack of financial resources was widely noted, especially in these times of financial crisis. Although governmental help is often beneficial for SMEs, it remains insufficient for some food production segments characterized by a low-price market. In this context, the whole supply chain is governed by price requirements and SMEs can’t avoid this constraint. E10’s manager is quite clear on this subject when he says that “of course we have implemented some environmental actions, we don’t have the choice. They, however, remain limited as we are always constrained by the price imposed by the distributors. Potatoes are seen as low-price products and we can’t change it”. Two managers, however, explain that this issue could be limited by better cooperation with partners at different levels of the supply chain (E4 and E5). They present this as “the main challenge for the future of the food-processing industry” (E4).

DISCUSSION The analysis of the managers’ responses revealed four key profiles characterizing SMEs (see Figure 2). Thus, almost all Moroccan SMEs (80%) present a profile where CSR is considered as an “economic constraint” (Profile C). They adopt a defensive approach in which CSR primarily responds to economic pressures. Indeed, by developing CSR practices 15

aimed essentially at improving working conditions and product quality, Moroccan SMEs seek to maximize profits and maintain their competitiveness through risk reduction and brand improvement strategies. In this profile, CSR is implemented from an instrumental and constraint perspective. The company does not change its main purpose, which remains profits, but adds ethical principles to its activities in an effort to prevent any gain erosion. Furthermore, several authors (e.g., Hanna et al., 2000; Lally, 1998; Reynaud, 2006; Zutshi & Sohal, 2004) point out that competition leads SMEs to satisfy market requirements and customer demands, particularly in terms of product quality, in order to survive. Moreover, our work emphasizes that Moroccan SMEs give little importance to environmental issues. Indeed, the family structure of Moroccan SMEs is a significant barrier to CSR as social and environmental issues are less important than the family. Our findings confirm those of Labaronne and Oueslati (2011) who explained that Moroccan managers are less concerned about social and environmental considerations and more by the survival of their business. Furthermore, Moroccan SMEs are not prominent in the global food supply chain. Thus, our results are in line with those of Morsing and Perrini (2009), who stressed that SME participation in the global supply chain is a problem as MNCs regulate SME behaviors beyond any legal regulation and counter to the interests of the SMEs. Last, Moroccan SMEs complain of the lack of practical standards to conduct their CSR efforts. In fact, they would like to see the State and professional associations take more responsibility, particularly by training managers in CSR. Indeed, SME managers are usually the company owners and are often too busy dealing with the daily challenges of keeping the business running (Gherib, 2009; Spence et al., 2007). Our conclusions confirm those of Berger-Douce (2006), who explained that the absence or weakness of professional standards hamper CSR implementation. Labaronne and Oueslati (2011) added that, in Maghreb, SMEs face an oral business culture and a lack of both written commitments and rigorous accounting. These factors affect productivity, competitiveness and the sustainability of organizations. Twenty percent of Moroccan companies have also shifted from a constraint-view of CSR to an opportunity-view (Profile D). In this case, companies have managed to transform CSR requirements into market opportunities, especially to access new markets worldwide.

French SMEs have also significantly adopted this perspective. For 40% of them, CSR is defined as a means to a profit target; that is, “an economic opportunity.” The CSR approach proposed by Porter and Cramer (2006) and by theorists of the resource-based view is consistent with this perspective (Hart, 1995; Husted & Allen, 2001). These authors 16

emphasized that CSR is a strategic tool for creating economic value. Indeed, CSR policy is considered as a win-win strategy by which companies reach profit maximization by responding to stakeholders’ expectations (e.g., “customers”, Elkington, 1994). CSR is thus a new resource/skill for creating a competitive advantage. Thus, by developing an environmental policy and operating in compliance with professional standards for quality, French SMEs meet both regulatory requirements (institutional level) and global supply chain expectations (sector level), while developing opportunities for value creation. Our findings agree with those of Grayson and Hodges (2004), who stressed that an important aspect of Corporate Social Opportunities (CSOs) is identifying key stakeholders and prioritizing key areas where the company can really make a difference. Stakeholders can be critical to business performance and engaging with them is crucial for capitalizing on specific business strategies designed to exploit possible CSOs. Furthermore, we confirm the conclusions of Spence and Lozano (2000) and Murillo and Lozano (2006), who noted that CSR in SMEs reflects an attention to employee health and safety, work climate and productivity in order to provide a source of differentiation and visibility in increasingly complex and dynamic markets. Dupriez and Pitch (2009) underlined that improved working conditions serve as a signal to attract qualified personnel or display a certain corporate culture of CSR. Thirty percent of French SMEs also adopt a CSR policy to reconcile financial and social/environmental performances by viewing CSR as “a global opportunity” (Profile B). Profits are not abandoned but are now part of a set of organizational goals. This profile represents the stereotype of a socially responsible company with an organizational identity rooted in the willingness to act according to CSR principles and values (strong axiological and normative dimension). This corporate positioning is defended by the theorists of a “sustainable paradigm,” such as Carroll (1979), Jones (1980) or Martinet and Reynaud (2004). Thus, by innovating in social conduct and by working with different supply chain partners, these French SMEs achieve global performance. Our conclusions are similar to those of Jenkins (2009), who found that SMEs discover new opportunities through the implementation of a CSR culture. Furthermore, Rosenfeld (1996) stated that SME competitiveness is strongly influenced by how companies collaborate with their partners within networks: “hard” networks imply that SMEs co-produce, co-market, co-purchase or co-operate in new product or service development; “soft” networks involve sharing information or new skills acquisition. This network-approach appears of crucial importance to stimulate French SME CSR policies. In contrast, twenty percent of French SMEs view CSR as an economic constraint (Profile C), as previously described for Moroccan companies, 17

mainly because of their limited financial resources or because of the price-reduction constraints imposed by their clients. Last, a final profile where CSR is considered as an “ethical constraint” (Profile A, 10%) emerges for French SMEs. This profile is based on a contradiction. Indeed, in this case, companies would like to reach goals of global performance but limited resources don’t allow them to pursue this vision (financial resources, time, etc.). Most of the time, CSR values are defended by corporate top managers and integrated within corporate culture. A true vision in response to societal challenges is promoted. Actions dedicated to meet this goal are, however, limited and often disconnected from the corporate business model. In some cases, the adoption of CSR actions is even seen as a constraint if the economic situation of the company doesn’t allow it to behave in a socially responsible way. Top managers, however, manage to create a socially responsible climate within the company, not especially aimed at reducing costs but at creating or maintaining a set of shared values with employees. In the long run, this profile is likely to evolve toward one of the other profiles, as the dissonance between the CSR means and goals makes this profile risky and utopian. To summarize, we propose a theoretical model to classify SMEs according to the CSR profile. This requires determining the approach to CSR (defensive or active) and the approach to performance (financial or global).

Global Performance Profile A: CSR, an ethical constraint France: E8 (10%)

Profile B: CSR, a global opportunity France: E3/E7/E1 (30%)

Defensive CSR

Active CSR

Profile C: CSR, an economic constraint France: E6/E10 (20%) Morocco: E12/E13/E14/E15/E17/E18/ E19/E20 (80%)

Profile D: CSR, an economic opportunity France: E2/E4/E5/E9 (40%) Morocco: E11/E16 (20%)

Financial Performance Figure 2. SME CSR profiles in France and Morocco 18

CONCLUSION Our paper compared CSR practices between France and Morocco for SMEs embedded in the food-processing industry.

We show that most Moroccan companies are engaged in CSR in order to avoid additional financial costs and to preserve their competitiveness on their existing markets. To reach these objectives, they mainly implement better working conditions for employees and guarantee the quality of products and services. Only SMEs structurally linked to MNCs or big enough to leverage resources are likely to adapt to CSR standards or discover opportunities through CSR. On the contrary, we show that the French SMEs of our sample mainly see CSR as an opportunity. Although some of them remain penalized by limited resources, the others seem to be aware of and prepared for the global CSR challenges. They are especially careful on how CSR may help preserve their existing markets or create new market opportunities in Europe (especially in niche markets like organic food) and in developing countries. This opportunity-seeking behavior is sometimes even embedded within corporate culture and values. A vision of global performance based on the respect for both financial and social/environmental objectives is expressed by French managers, in particular by those having created their company. This profile is particularly interesting to examine how a global CSR vision may help maintain consistency in a CSR policy and enhance/sustain corporate performance, especially in times of crisis.

Our results thus show four profiles of CSR based on both the nature of the corporate performance (financial versus global) and the CSR approach (defensive versus active). Although these profiles may be similar to those of MNCs, our research adds to the literature by focusing on how SMEs operationalize a CSR vision. This paper also underlines the importance of considering a multi-level governance framework to understand which factors impact SME CSR practices. In this regard, the cultural, institutional and economic contexts seem of crucial importance. Moroccan companies are indeed significantly influenced by their position within the global supply chain and the lack of institutional incentives and practical CSR standards, as well as by their own national CSR issues (e.g., protection of human rights, corruption, tribal interests, etc.). French companies are more impacted by legal requirements and the valuable CSR opportunities in the more mature European food-processing market. Our results also underline the importance of industry characteristics. Indeed, the food industry

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is impacted by a multi-level supply chain, which requires that companies cooperate with all involved actors. Thus, if the survival of SMEs depends on MNCs engaged in CSR, they will be more likely to adopt similar CSR practices. The danger, however, may be that they adopt CSR practices that are not relevant to the local cultural and institutional context. On the contrary, if their survival depends on MNCs focused essentially on price reduction, the SMEs won’t adopt substantial CSR practices. In this case, their competitiveness may be threatened as they don’t have the opportunity to anticipate the evolving global CSR standards and adapt their practices.

Future research could focus on operationalizing our CSR profiles to evaluate their reciprocal importance within diverse developed and developing countries. Another direction for study would be to examine how SME CSR practices vary across industries. Last, a longitudinal study might be useful to explore how SME relationships with all actors in a given supply chain impact their CSR practices over time.

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