ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a perspective of the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in our national and global economies and explores the characteristics of SMEs and the way they differ from MNEs. It introduces the concept of corporate social responsibility and a roadmap to sustainable business. The specific process may well deliver some insights about the SME business and how to progress along the sustainability journey. For SMEs, leadership, ethics and governance may be more implicit rather than explicit. A focus of US government policy is to assist SMEs to grow their exports. In the Asia-Pacific region, where SMEs form 90% of total companies and 60% of the workforce, SMEs have been noted as a 'key to building state of the art economies' and support is targeted at removing barriers to trade and encouraging start-ups. In China alone, there are million small- and medium-sized businesses.
