HRIA for small and medium enterprises

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not new to the business society. Large multinational corporations have been involved in the field for more than thirty years. What is relatively new is the growing awareness for CSR among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Since SMEs account for up to 90% of all registered firms in the global economy, they are an important actor in the field of corporate social responsibility.

Any enterprise between 1-250 employees can be characterized as a SME, which makes it a very heterogeneous group of companies. Depending on their different characteristics (like structure of ownership, sector of business activity, business size and export,- import orientation), SMEs are faced with different human rights challenges. Many SMEs have a long supply chain since their business practices are often limited to a part of the total production process. Many SMEs subcontract parts of their production or have business partners in countries where human rights violations occur. This means that apart from human rights challenges around their own business practices, SMEs are also faced with human rights challenges in their supply chain.

Implementing human rights norms is a matter of sustainable investment and gives your corporation substantial advantages. There is a business case for corporate social responsibility within small and medium enterprises. Advantages are amongst others: building up a good reputation, having a competitive advantage in the market, increased revenues (due to for example satisfied employees) and better access to credit.

Small and medium sized companies often lack the knowledge, time, or financial resources to implement human rights standards within their corporate practices and policies. The Human Rights Impact Resource Centre (HRIRC) creates a platform for small and medium enterprises to gain practical knowledge on human rights impact assessment and to learn from other SMEs.