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The aim of this paper is to study the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation and the effect of two mediating variables, debt terms and human capital. Based on a sample of 2825 Spanish SMEs and applying a structural equations modeling, the results demonstrate that the effect of CSR on innovation is mediated by debt terms and by good human resource practices. Part of the positive effect of CSR on innovation occurs through these two variables, which, alone, positively and significantly affect innovation in SMEs. Consequently, the positive effect of CSR practices on debt terms through a decrease in asymmetric information goes further, also having repercussions on innovation. Additionally, the suitable development of human resource practices based on strategies oriented toward CSR allow companies to carry out greater and more efficient innovative activities. This paper contributes to the CSR literature considering the human resource management and the debt access in the relationship between CSR and innovation. The findings reveal important implications for policy makers and managers. For the former, the results show that it would be interesting to carry out actions aimed at assisting SMEs, especially those with fewer resources available, to implement a suitable CSR strategy, supporting sustainable development in SMEs.And, for the latter, CSR-oriented innovation has proven to be a valuable strategy for more efficient SMEs management because of the multiple competitive advantages it generates.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on performance through the mediating role of job satisfaction and innovation in a sample of 503 Spanish SMEs construction. Developing a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test our hypotheses, the results provide evidence that performance is influenced by CSR, job satisfaction, and innovation. These effects are not only direct and positive but, indirect effects which allow the positive effects of CSR to be enhanced are also obtained. This research by empirically examining the relationship between CSR, job satisfaction, innovation and performance provides an essential contribution to the literature by filling a gap related to the direct effect of CSR on performance, and the indirect effect by the mediation of job satisfaction and innovation. The findings show significant implications for policy makers and managers. The findings can help managers to invest in CSR, which, by improving the well-being of their employees and the innovative capacity of their company, will lead to better performance and the capacity to adapt to the current changing environment. In addition, our results provide evidence that SMEs with fewer resources should be able to count on public support to carry out CSR practices.

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Although in recent decades corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been subjected to numerous studies in management and marketing literature about its impact on business results, the mechanism by which it affects performance has not been established. There is a lack of consensus when it comes to explaining how CSR actions are related to firm performance. Our research helps to understand this relationship through mediating effects such as CSR-oriented human resource management and customer satisfaction because employees and customers are critical stakeholders of companies and contribute directly to the determination of the corporate results. Through a study on a sample of small and medium-sized Spanish food and beverage manufacturing companies, and by using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), we found that CSR does indeed impact business performance when CSR actions are mainly oriented towards more efficient management of human resources and customer satisfaction. In this way, the results lead us to conclude that depending on the stakeholder to which these actions are oriented, a specific orientation of the company’s CSR policy can be more efficient in corporate performance.