Irán
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility and gaining competitive advantage and financial performance of small and medium-sized businesses in Gachsaran city. This is an applied research in terms of purpose a descriptive-correlational research in terms of nature and method of research, and a cross-sectional research in terms of time. The study population consists of the managers and experts of small and medium-sized businesses in Gachsaran city in 2016, with a total number of 145 people. Due to the limited number of the population, all of the 145 people were selected as sample size using the complete enumeration method. The tool used in this study for data collection was a questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which were confirmed in a preliminary study. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data were also processed using SPSS software. The results showed that all dimensions of corporate social responsibility are associated with gaining competitive advantage and financial performance of small and medium sized businesses in Gachsaran city. According to the results of this research, it can be said that further development of corporate social responsibility in the small and medium-sized enterprises of Gachsaran city will help these businesses gain more competitive advantage and improve their financial performance. Moreover, the regression analysis showed that philanthropic responsibility, with a beta of (0.375) has had the greatest role in the competitive advantage of small and medium-sized businesses in Gachsaran city.