ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out to explore the potential of small firm participation in macro-institutional CSR-structures to manage multiple stakeholder demands, i.e. to large corporations, customers and employees. After delineating the distinctive SME characteristics that indicate why stakeholder relations are so paramount to smaller firms, the contribution sheds light on the nature and salience of those relationships. It is argued that the mental models or frames that underlie the social identity of the SME uniquely structure the way those stakeholder relationships are perceived. Hereby, the national culture of SME can substantially impact the cognition of CSR and thus the potential utility of institutional CSR-structures to meet those stakeholder relationships. The chapter concludes that institutional CSR-structures may provide a suitable frame of reference that guides SME stakeholder management on different levels. However, the use of those settings for actively managing stakeholder relationships may take on very different forms and corresponds with both the unique intentions of institutional utility and its perception. Ultimately, the author suggests practical implications to enhance SME engagement within those macro-institutional settings for CSR such as the UN Global Compact.
