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Ethics and sustainability within SMEs
Painter-Moreland, Mollie Dobie, Kris
Painter-Moreland, Mollie
Dobie, Kris
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Abstract
In this paper, we seek to investigate the role ethics plays in the functioning of SMEs in the African context. We go beyond corporate social responsibility to probe some broader ethical concerns relating to business ethics, corporate governance and corruption prevention. This study of ethics in the context of SMEs seemed to underscore the intricate and intimate relationships that exist between business ethics and corporate social responsibility. This seems self-evident, as both these “disciplines” relate to building sustainable relationships with stakeholders, yet these areas remain quite distinct academic fields in most countries. This study of SMEs in Africa provided us with an opportunity to make the intricate relationships between these areas more visible. We argue that it is the relationships between SMEs, employees, customers, communities, competitors, government and the broader business sector that either enable or foreclose the possibility of ethical business practices in SMEs. Our research also revealed that ethical practices, or the lack thereof, have a strong impact on the sustainability of SMEs. Certain relationships, such as those between SMEs, local suppliers, employees and local communities, can be described as enabling. Other relationships, such as those that have to be entered into with corrupt governments, are contaminating, and therefore distinctly debilitating. What seems to be needed, is to expand on and strengthen certain conditioning relationships, such as those that exist between peers within a certain industry, professional associations, and civil society. What these conditioning relationships could bring about, is the sharing of best practices, peer-to-peer interactions, relational checks and balances, story-telling, networking, and skills transfer opportunities.
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With permission of the license/copyright holder