A new survey to gauge how committed the region's small businesses are to their communities has been launched by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The study by the chamber's Business Development Group, in partnership with Aston University Business School, aims to discover if corporate social responsibility is the preserve of larger firms.
Michael Mott, head of the BDG, said: "After much hype from government and leading business support organisations the idea that CSR could benefit companies took off.
"Many larger companies now second staff to various projects and initiatives.
"But we have found that smaller companies do not embrace the idea because it is felt too much time and resource is needed. What we want to find out is how deeply that thinking goes and whether directors of SMEs are aware of the full benefit of CSR to their businesses."
Firms that complete the questionnaire at www.bciskills.com/csr will get access to the findings.
They can be used to benchmark themselves against other companies across the West Midlands region.
