Walking the Tightrope of Sustainability Reporting Standardization: Insights From Italian Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

This study investigates the challenges and support needs of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting standardized sustainability reporting, taking the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as an empirical case of formal standardization. Based on qualitative data from semi‐structured interviews with senior managers from Italian SMEs, the findings identify persistent structural limitations, including insufficient internal resources, lack of technical expertise, and high reliance on external consultants. The results highlight divergent motivations for reporting, ranging from the trickle‐down effect to intrinsic strategic commitment, as well as concerns about reputational risks such as greenwashing. Despite emerging regulatory attention, SMEs have historically played a limited role in standard‐setting processes, and existing sustainability reporting frameworks often lack guidance suited to their organizational scale and complexity. Our study suggests the need for inclusive, context‐sensitive approaches to standardization and targeted capacity‐building initiatives. It offers practical recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders seeking to enhance SMEs' participation and improve the effectiveness of sustainability reporting frameworks across diverse business environments.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management

• Publication date

  2026-01-09

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/csr.70401
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Different shades of green deception. Greenwashing’s adverse effects on corporate image and credibility

  2025cited by this paper
• Fostering convergence in SME sustainability reporting

  2025cited by this paper
• Sustainability and Bank Credit Access: New evidence from Italian SMEs

  2024cited by this paper
• Sustainability and SMEs: Opening the black box

  2024cited by this paper
• Are listed SMEs ready for the corporate sustainability reporting directive? Evidence from Italy

  2024cited by this paper
• Double Materiality Disclosure as an Emerging Practice: The Assessment Process, Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities

  2024cited by this paper
• Startups’ contribution to SDGs: A tailored framework for assessing social impact

  2024cited by this paper
• Motivations for social and environmental reporting in Spanish SMEs: An inductive content analysis

  2024cited by this paper
• Do SMEs have an ESG communication strategy? Exploring the quality and influencing factors of voluntary ESG disclosures using web‐based and annual report channels

  2024cited by this paper
• Non-financial reporting and SMEs: A systematic review, research agenda, and novel conceptualization

  2023cited by this paper
• The business case for sustainability reporting in SMEs : consultants' and academics' perceptions

  2023cited by this paper
• A Step-by-Step Process of Thematic Analysis to Develop a Conceptual Model in Qualitative Research

  2023cited by this paper
• Exploring the potential of SMEs to build individual, organizational, and community resilience through sustainability‐oriented business practices

  2022cited by this paper
• Sustainability in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

  2022cited by this paper
• European SMEs and non-financial information on sustainability

  2021cited by this paper
• Connecting the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and calls for ‘harmonisation’ of sustainability reporting

  2021cited by this paper
• The challenge of engaging with and reporting against the SDGs for SMEs such as Sydney Theatre Company

  2020cited by this paper
• Battle for dominant design: A decision-making model

  2019cited by this paper
• OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Outlook 2019

  2019cited by this paper
• Signalling Responsibility? Applying Signalling Theory to the ISO 26000 Standard for Social Responsibility

  2018cited by this paper
• Firm resources and the development of environmental sustainability among small and medium-sized enterprises: Evidence from the Australian wine industry

  2018cited by this paper
• Thematic Analysis

  2017cited by this paper
• Clarifying the Meaning of Sustainable Business

  2016cited by this paper
• Innovation and de facto standardization: The influence of dominant design on innovative performance, radical innovation, and process innovation ☆

  2016cited by this paper
• Governing and accelerating transformative entrepreneurship: exploring the potential for small business innovation on urban sustainability transitions

  2016cited by this paper
• Organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reporting

  2015cited by this paper
• Determinants of Sustainability Reporting: A Review of Results, Trends, Theory, and Opportunities in an Expanding Field of Research

  2013cited by this paper
• Social responsibility practices and evaluation of corporate social performance

  2012cited by this paper
• Research on technology standards: Accomplishment and challenges

  2012cited by this paper
• Sustainability Report in Small Enterprises:Case Studies in Italian Furniture Companies

  2009cited by this paper
• Resource Dependence Theory: A Review

  2009cited by this paper
• WORDS NOT ACTIONS! THE IDEOLOGICAL ROLE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORTING

  2009cited by this paper
• Technology standards-setting in the US wireless telecommunications industry: A study of three generations of digital standards development

  2009cited by this paper
• Explanatory factors for participation in formal standardisation processes: Empirical evidence at firm level

  2006cited by this paper
• Private voluntary standards in the food system: The perspective of major food retailers in OECD countries

  2006cited by this paper
• Toward a Systematic Framework for Research on Dominant Designs, Technological Innovations, and Industrial Change

  2006cited by this paper
• The Impact of Materiality: Accounting's Best Kept Secret

  2005cited by this paper
• Beyond Social Capital in Poverty Research

  2003cited by this paper
• Compatibility, Standardization, and Network Effects: Some Policy Implications

  2002cited by this paper
• Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches

  1995cited by this paper
• STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO INSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES

  1991cited by this paper
• Technology Adoption in the Presence of Network Externalities

  1986cited by this paper
• Clio and the Economics of QWERTY

  1985cited by this paper
• Standardization, Compatibility, and Innovation

  1985cited by this paper
• Patterns of Industrial Innovation

  1978cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.