Dissemination of a CSR label within a cluster of SMEs
Over the last ten years, promotion of corporate CSR actions has become a major global issue as the number of certification schemes (ISO 26000, SD 21000...) proposed by private and public organisations has increased year by year. However, we cannot but notice that these certification schemes are very often inadapted to the specific needs of SMEs, even though they account for the bulk of private organisations. What is at issue here is to understand the objectives of CSR certification schemes’ designers but also the needs of the organisations that take part in labelling process, in order to accompany SMEs towards global performance. This paper investigates the dissemination of a CSR label for SMEs (ENR) within a digital media network of clusters, by mobilizing the actor-network theory. The mobilised theoretical approach allows to analyse how the label evolves and develops but also to understand the relative success of the label in so far as its examines the relationship between the actors. The main conclusions lead first to distinguish three different stages in the diffusion of the CSR labelling, fostering the development of the network but also the sustainability. Then, the authors propose a classification of engagement in favor of the CSR labelling, depending on interest and enrolment mechanisms identified within the network.