The role of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) on small enterprises performance in Tanzania: a case of SMES operating in Dar es salaam

The study sought to examine the role of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) on small enterprises performance in Tanzania. More specifically, the study examined the extent to which adherence to economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities relate to small enterprises performance. The study took place in Dar es Salaam involving five Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The stakeholder theory of CSR was used. Quantitative technique was used whereby 40 respondents were randomly chosen to fill in the questionnaires. In addition to that, qualitative technique was employed to capture in-depth information on the area under study. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) tool was used to analyse the quantitative data, where frequency, mean and standard deviation were computed. The study found that, all the four independent variables influence to SMEs performance. Moreover, findings reveal that conforming to ethical responsibilities followed by engagement to philanthropic responsibilities are the most ranked variables which relate to SMEs performance. The study found out further that adherence to economic responsibilities, followed by abiding to legal responsibilities, is also related to SMEs performance. The study recommends that despite of their size, SMEs should also engage to CSR activities in order to improve their performance. CSR activities include the four components which are; conforming to ethical responsibilities, engaging to philanthropic responsibilities, adherence to economic responsibilities, and abiding to legal responsibilities.