Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in Italian SMEs: towards a 'territorial' model based on small 'champions' of CSR?

Does a positive relationship between the adhesion to a culture of\udsocial responsibility and evolved systems of governance exist? And is such\udcorrelation more or less significant for small- and medium-sized firms with\udrespect to large-sized firms? This paper winds itself around these questions and\uddescribes the principle findings that have emerged from the qualitative\udinvestigation focused on a selected group of ‘cohesive’ Italian small- and\udmedium-sized businesses (SMEs), in which the nexus between the evolution of\udcorporate governance and socially responsible management practices were\udexamined. The concluding reflections trace the features of a territorial model of\udsocially responsible orientation centred on the best practices of SMEs,\ud‘convivial enterprises’ who are excellent examples of ‘spirited businesses’.\ud\udINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE SOCIEY, IJSSO