Doing good to do well? Corporate social responsibility reasons, practices and impacts in small and medium accommodation enterprises

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility practices have been mostly analyzed in the large manufacturing business context, with little attention paid to the service sector and even less to small and medium-sized tourism enterprises. This study aims to fill this gap through analyzing how these enterprises take responsibility. A survey of nearly 400 enterprises showed that the main reason for acting responsibly is altruistic, arising from the managers and owners' values and lifestyle. Sustainability measures have a positive impact on the financial performance and vice versa. The resource-based view of the enterprise is validated through the impact of environmental cost-savings in financial performance, although other advanced social and economic sustainable actions also benefit financial wealth. Finally we conclude that further implementation of these practices is necessary to achieve new competitive advantages, and that the role of public administrations will be crucial to support and encourage these.