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Ÿ Appoint an ethics committee or office Ÿ Provide ethics training programmes for new and existing employees Ÿ Whistle-blowing procedures to report misconduct Ÿ Compliance to all legal and regulated requirements
Social responsibility was described as demonstrating the inclusion of social and environmental concerns in business operations and in interaction with stakeholders. In an emerging and developing economy, the practices of social responsibility could contribute to the well-being and the image of SMEs. SMEs should be among other be concerned with engaging in the following social responsibility activities:
Ÿ Reducing environmental footprint (e.g. pollution reduction programmes) Ÿ Conducting environmental audits Ÿ Development of internal environmental policies Ÿ Recycling and re-use schemes Ÿ Increasing energy efficiency and treatment of waste
Ÿ Fair employee treatment (e.g. good work-life balance and family-friendly employment, training and development and mentoring programmes
Ÿ Employing older and disabled people
Ÿ Improving the working conditions of employees through fair working hours, proper ergonomics and safety precautions
Ÿ Supply chain activities (e.g. practicing quality management and setting up codes of conduct pertaining to the environment
Ÿ Addressing community and society-related problems (e.g. working with local schools on projects and making donations to charity or providing funding for other good causes and employing people from the local community.
The general perceptions of SMEs regarding social responsibility and ethical practices were empirically tested to view how SMEs in Nelson Mandela Bay perceive social responsibility and ethics. The results showed that the majority of SMEs understood that ethics and social responsibility could be beneficial and conducting their business should be based on the expectations of stakeholders. Trust relationships could be built by being more open and transparent to shareholders and by supporting actions aimed at stopping corruption. Some of the respondents also believed that it is not necessary to be committed to triple bottom line reporting as well as conducting periodic audits of labour practices in order to access conformity with regulatory and other requirements. Majority of the respondents also affirmed that they regularly provide financial support to local communities and projects and they encourage their employees to participate in local community activities. Some respondents however were not interested in having a corporate social investment programme or taking actions to solve social problems.
Table 6 indicates some managerial implications regarding the implementation of ethical and social responsibility practices within SME's.
PERCEPTIONS REGARDING ETHICAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PRACTICES: AN SME PERSPECTIVE 148