Customers have power over firms – in highly competitive markets sector, customers have the option to switch supplier. This is the primary reason why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can help safeguard growth and business development within businesses. Clients are consumers, and consumers value responsible behaviour by companies and reward such behaviour with loyalty to their products and services.

Your organization is unique, no other business will have your approach to products, services, internal interactions or strategy for growth. How you communicate your uniqueness from the rest of the market helps define your brand, values and customer relationship. The culture and working practices of family and small organisations are typically influenced by its leading players -the owner, patriarch or managing director. Through their very visible presence, their personal attitudes and behaviours they set the tone for the business and have the potential to signal to employees how seriously corporate social and environmental responsibilities are to be taken.

This 1-day course explores what CSR is, what it means for small to medium-sized business enterprises and how they can introduce and support high standards of family and business practice through a stakeholder approach. Five Common Strategies for SME and Family led businesses are outlined for further examination helping participants clarify why they exist as a business; the values they believe in and how they want their business to behave. In addition, it will examine your vision of what the business could be, and your competitive strategy on how you will get there. Many first steps in CSR activities incur no costs at all, and can create significant savings, and, as a result, increase customer return and profits. Many organisations subsequently argues that CSR costs are more than offset in the long run by an improved company image and increased community goodwill.