Educational Pathways in CSR and the SDGs : building resilience and sustainability in the Maltese small and medium business industry

Abstract

In all EU countries the enterprises employing fewer than 250 persons make up over 99 % of all enterprises, in Malta it is 99.8%. The small and medium-sized (SMEs) in Malta generate 85% of turnover and 79.7% of employment (Eurostat, 2018). However, according to research conducted in Malta, only one in every three of the SMEs are aware of what Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are (MISCO, 2017) and just over half of the Maltese businesses are not aware of the full concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (MISCO, 2018). These findings are a matter of concern and warrant further research. Business leaders (BLs) need to clearly understand the link between sustainability issues and their business and how they can change their way of doing business to be sustainable, but still be economically viable. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is central to achieving the SDGs. However, it does not feature as a top priority in training programmes for business leaders since ESD is still a new area for most business and management schools (Lourenço, 2013). This study was meant to assess the level of awareness of the BLs of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainable Development (SD) and the SDGs and explore educational pathways, based on ESD, to build knowledge about the interrelationship of sustainability with strategic business planning and resilience. A qualitative methods approach was deemed the most appropriate to elicit in-depth data from the BLs. Interviews were used as qualitative tools for reflection and to delve into their world view to reveal the thoughts and perceptions on the four themes being studied being, CSR, SD, business strategy and business resilience. The findings from this study revealed a lack of awareness of the BLs of CSR and SD. Moreover, they do not link sustainable measures with business resilience and do not perceive benefits from aligning their business strategy to the SDGs. The BLs rely on external stakeholders such as the Government to take the first steps towards sustainable practices. Further to these findings some recommendations for further research were proposed.