Abstract—Construction organisations (SMEs in particular) are now taking a responsible attitude, going beyond the minimum legal requirements. In line with the UK Government’s innovation objectives under The Strategy for Sustainable Construction, organisations are looking to develop and implement management systems to address the corporate responsibility (CR) aspects of the business. This paper investigates the initiation, development and practice of CR in construction organisations, and presents a case for possible adoption for construction SMEs. By combining key indicators of CR and achieving business success and competitive advantage, the pervasiveness of CR for construction SMEs is determined.

Index Terms—Corporate responsibility, construction, small and medium enterprise, SME, UK.

Eric C.W. Lou is with Create Construction Ltd, 1 Neptune Court, Hallam Way, Blackpool FY4 5LZ, UK and the School of Built Environment, University of Salford, Greater Manchester M5 4WT, UK (e-mail: eric.lou@createconstriction.co.uk, e.c.w.lou@salford.ac.uk).
Angela Lee is with the School of Built Environment, University of Salford, Greater Manchester M5 4WT, UK (e-mail: a.lee@salford.ac.uk).
Gill Mathison is with Create Construction Ltd, 1 Neptune Court, Hallam Way, Blackpool FY4 5LZ, UK (e-mail: gill.mathison@createconstriction.co.uk).

Cite: Eric C.W. Lou, Angela Lee, and Gill Mathison, "Corporate Responsibility Application–UK Construction SME," International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 436-442, 2012.