Being pro-environmentally oriented SMEs: Understanding the entrepreneur's explicit and implicit power motives

The increased number of environmental problems caused by business activities put higher pressures on entrepreneurs to implement pro-environmental policies within their businesses. However, studies show that SMEs are less engaged with sustainable and pro-environmental policies. Hence, it is important to understand the barriers and drivers of implementing a pro-environmental strategy in SMEs from an entrepreneur's perspective. In a study with Indonesian SME owners, we find that environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) is driven by an entrepreneur's explicit and implicit power motives. Using polynomial regression with surface analysis, we also reveal that a high level of SME's ESO is affected by power motive discrepancy. We discuss implementations for policymakers, entrepreneurs, and educational programs in entrepreneurship.     

Driving the electric bandwagon: The dynamics of incumbents' sustainable innovation

Given that entire industries face sustainability challenges, it is important to understand the dynamics that lead “firms‐in‐an‐industry” to engage in sustainable product innovation. To provide more insight into the question of how innovation activities spread from individual firm action to an industry‐wide engagement, this paper examines the automobile industry and the development of electric vehicles (EVs). The analysis covers automobile incumbents over a crucial decade for EV development in the industry, focusing on the different strategic motives that especially the so‐called “first movers” used to justify their earlier engagement. We find that EVs became a core pillar of the incumbents' technology strategies through a combination of coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures. Yet, the strategic motives to engage in EVs stayed poles apart between different companies. The insights from our study are relevant for those interested in the diffusion of sustainable product innovation and in incumbent behaviour in sustainability transitions.     

Organizational characteristics explaining participation in sustainable business models in the sharing economy: Evidence from the fashion industry using conjoint analysis

Environmental and social challenges require new sustainable business models, like sharing platforms. However, sharing platforms differ widely in their contribution to a more sustainable society. Whereas idealistic sharing platforms have dominant social goals, other sharing platforms are, or became, commercial. We explore the attractiveness of the typical organizational characteristics of idealistic sharing platforms in the fashion industry context, an industry with negative environmental and social impacts. Based on a literature review and exploratory focus groups, we conduct an online survey using conjoint analysis, completed by 1,512 respondents. Our results reveal that potential users prefer clothes sharing platforms to be small, to not partner with large clothing retailers, to have the possibility to participate in decision‐making, but to not require shareholding.     

Explanatory Factors of Integrated Sustainability and Financial Reporting

The complexity of the business world has led to growing demands being made of companies regarding the information provided on their financial performance, corporate governance and contribution to developing sustainability. In response, some leading companies have begun to publish integrated reporting, in the form of a document providing a coherent summary of this information, thus facilitating stakeholder engagement. This paper examines the validity of the hypotheses of the theories of agency and of signalling, and analyses the political costs and those borne by owners in voluntarily developing this new type of business document. More specifically, in order to determine their prevalence among the suggested reasons for these paradigms, we analyse the effect of industry concentration, together with other factors, in the development of integrated reporting. The analysis of a non‐balanced sample of 1590 international companies for the years 2008–2010, in which a logistic regression methodology is applied to panel data, reveals the negative impact of industry concentration on the development of a more pluralist report, simultaneously taking into account stakeholders, sustainability and the long‐term viewpoint, as well as questions of responsible investment, business ethics and transparency. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Measuring the Choice of Environmental Sustainability Strategies in Creating a Competitive Advantage

Environmental sustainability has often been claimed as a means to providing a competitive advantage by encouraging efficiencies, attracting customers and obtaining business. This work critically considers this idea in the context of the hotel industry by comparing the strategic intent and implementation of sustainability initiatives in hotels across North America. Environmental sustainability strategies can employ a low cost, a differentiated or a hybrid (a combination of the two) approach to creating a competitive advantage. Controlling for the type and age of hotel we find that the hotels sampled in this study used a combination of all three approaches but tended to rely on their need to create environmental sustainability legitimacy by placing an emphasis on differentiation through environmental sustainability branding. A lack of recognition by management of the contribution to their future economic success that low cost strategies can provide has implications for hotel owners. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

The ‘greening’ of tourism micro‐businesses: outcomes of focus group investigations in South East Cornwall

The response of micro‐businesses to sustainability issues, and their use of environmental management tools and systems, are often presented as simply scaled‐down versions of those of larger businesses in the small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) sector as a whole. This paper presents the findings of a series of focus groups with the owners of tourism micro‐businesses in South East Cornwall about their awareness, understanding and adoption of sustainable tourism practices. The results reveal a complex and diverse response to the concept that resists such generalizations. A genuine need for measures to increase awareness and integrate sustainability issues within business practice is highlighted. Initiatives that do not account for the heterogeneity of the sector are likely to have only limited success. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.     

Dynamic business modeling for sustainability: Exploring a system dynamics perspective to develop sustainable business models

In the last decade, business models for sustainability have gained increasing attraction by corporate sustainability scholars with international conferences and scientific journals encouraging the development of the debate on their design, use and innovation processes. Capitalizing on the basic principles, requirements, and methodological limitations found in the literature on sustainability‐oriented business model design, this paper aims to conceptualize a dynamic business modeling for sustainability approach, which combines an adapted sustainable business model canvas and system dynamics modeling. To this end, the paper also illustrates the key operating principles of the proposed approach through an exemplary application to Patagonia's business model. Findings suggest that dynamic business modeling for sustainability may contribute to sustainable business model research and practice by introducing a systemic design tool, which frames environmental, social, and economic drivers of value generation into a dynamic business model causal feedback structure, thus overcoming methodological gaps of the extant business model design tools.     

Sustainability concerns in luxury supply chains: European brand strategies and French consumer expectations

Sustainability in supply chain management has become a concern in both research and practice. Although consumption and purchasing have been significantly explored in the luxury sector, a gap in supply chain studies is still evident. Therefore, the aim of this article is to examine how industry bodies and supply chain partners address sustainability concerns in the European luxury sector and how they respond to consumer expectations. In an explanatory study, we have collected data about sustainable supply chain practices in 11 European luxury good companies, by interviewing and surveying 13 managers. In a first consumer study, we held interviews with French luxury consumers in Bordeaux about their sustainability expectations (N = 170). The results show that while the distribution of attention is dependent on the respective supply chain activities, luxury goods companies address sustainability concerns and aim to take responsibility for their activities. However, the emphasis is on the dimension of economic sustainability. A comparison with sustainability expectations of French luxury goods consumers suggests that business practices are not perfectly well aligned with these expectations. Consumers put more emphasis on social and environmental sustainability dimensions. On the other hand, business activities concerning waste reduction and raw material management rather well match consumer expectations.     

How to serve sustainability performance in businesses? An appetizing recipe to link practices to performance in business sustainability research

Recent critiques claim that business sustainability scholarship offers little evidence on how to effectively address business unsustainability. In this article, we demonstrate why this problem exists. Specifically, we argue that the literatures on internal practices of business sustainability, and on the sustainability performance of businesses, do not speak to each other and that explanatory models also fail to bridge a corresponding gap in the field. We argue for the development of a subfield of sustainability performance in businesses and explain the types of inquiries that should be developed. Finally, we suggest how scholars in the business sustainability field could contribute to the development of better understanding of sustainability performance in businesses.     

Systemic circular business model application at the company,supply chain and society levels—A view into circular economy native and adopter companies

This study contributes to the conceptualization of a sustainable circular business model (CBM), the application of the circular economy (CE) by companies. The study utilized a three-level framework adapted from the CE literature with company (micro), supply chain (meso) and society (macro) levels. This multiple-case study in the textile industry included two types of companies operating in the CE: companies founded on the sustainable principles of a CE (natives) and companies transitioning to a CE from the linear economy (adopters). The findings show that the adopters emphasized long-term economic sustainability on a company level and implemented CE elements to varying degrees on all three levels. The natives pursued business decisions from environmental and social sustainability standpoints, and the three levels were integral in their systemic approach to a CE. The study highlights two key claims: established operational structures and economic volition hindered adopters in their systemic CE implementation, and an integral part of the CBM for natives was a proactive approach towards the society level.     

Organizational sustainability identity: Constructing oneself as sustainable

In the literature, organizational sustainability identity tends to be treated as something that is ‘engineered’ within business organizations through control, reporting, target setting, strategic communication, and other instruments. Through a case study of a company mainly active within the recycling industry, an alternative understanding is given. A distinct organizational sustainability identity is, rather, a social construct based on perceptions of the core operations as “sustainable in themselves” and collaborative work with customers that is perceived as entailing sustainable solutions. Understood in this way, organizational sustainability identity has relatively little to do with formal controls such as codes, policies, reports used by management to position the company as sustainable. Rather, for organizational members, the process of constructing oneself as sustainable builds on convictions about the core operations and the possession of specific capabilities manifested in customer relations. The article adds to current literature through its constructivistic approach and through identifying underlying beliefs that condition the process of forming an organizational sustainability identity.     

Sustainable entrepreneurship,innovation, and business models: Integrative framework and propositions for future research

This article introduces the business models for sustainability innovation (BMfSI) framework to study how business models mediate between sustainability innovations and business cases for sustainability. The BMfSI framework integrates two major perspectives (implicitly) found in the sustainable business model literature. The first is the agency perspective. It takes into consideration that some form of agency is needed, that is, “someone” who takes decisions and acts. Sustainable entrepreneurs are discussed as those agents who align their new or existing business models with sustainability innovations in order to be successful in business and to create value with and for stakeholders. The second perspective is the systems perspective, which acknowledges that business models are always embedded within sociotechnical contexts through which, for example, public policies, private financing, or stakeholder interests influence whether and how business models can be developed. The agency and systems perspectives are integrated in the so‐called business model mediation space. This theoretical notion embraces the decisions and activities pursued by sustainable entrepreneurs as they align their business models with sustainability innovations on the one hand and the influence of environmental contingencies, barriers, and stakeholders from the sociotechnical context on the other hand. The paper concludes with propositions for future research derived from the BMfSI framework.     

The business case for sustainability? An examination of small firms in the UK's construction and restaurant sectors

Studies show that despite a concerted attempt by UK policy‐makers to portray ‘eco‐efficiency’ measures as cost reducing, most owner‐managers of small firms view environmental measures as expensive to undertake. As a result, owner‐managers tend to be highly resistant to voluntarily improving their environmental performance. Given that SMEs are such a vast sector of the economy, this perceived discord between profits and environmental protection is clearly a major barrier to the ‘greening’ of industry. This ESRC‐funded study has sought to unearth the underlying motivations for why SME owner‐managers in the UK resist or accept the idea that there are business benefits for improving their environmental performance. The findings from 40 in‐depth interviews with SME owners in the UK's construction and restaurant sectors and 12 ‘key informants’ from industry and government are presented, followed by a discussion of SME perspectives on the ‘business case’ for sustainability and its implications for policy‐makers. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures

With increasing attention being paid to corporate sustainability, pressure from stakeholders, especially customers, is forcing companies to implement sustainability strategies and practices that express their commitment to sustainable development, and engage with stakeholders through voluntary sustainability disclosure. To better understand the sustainability disclosure mechanisms from a business strategy perspective, this study investigates the influence of business strategy, formulated by customer groups, on online sustainability disclosure. It provides empirical observation of Malaysian public‐listed companies based on the combined lens of stakeholder and legitimacy theory. Despite the comparatively low level of corporate sustainability disclosure in Malaysia, this content analysis of online sustainability information disclosure reveals that the companies with more diversified product lines disclose more sustainability information, and that the corporate sustainability effort is significantly related to brand name. Hence, companies should be encouraged to proactively improve their sustainability performance and disclose more sustainability information in order to strengthen their brand names. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Stakeholder management and sustainability strategies in the French nuclear industry

This paper describes how a nuclear power corporation integrates sustainability into corporate strategies and practices. The case study focuses on one of the world's largest nuclear power generators and describes the corporate capture of sustainable development in its strategic efforts to promote a growth strategy. The paper shows how corporate strategies to address sustainability concerns involve managing different stakeholders, enabling the corporation to sustain its economic growth strategy. Three types of stakeholder management strategy are identified: reinforcement strategies for supportive stakeholders, containment strategies for obstructive stakeholders and stabilization strategies for passive stakeholders. The paper argues that, despite claims of sustainable development in the nuclear industry, there is no significant shift in the ‘business as usual’ approach and that sustainable development is merely reframed as sustainable growth. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

柳州市服装批零业经营模式与发展战略

文中通过对柳州服装批零业现状分析,指出存在的主要问题,分析其发展的优势所在,并提出通过提高服装批零市场的整体规划水平;创建前店后厂模式;将服装批零业由目前的业内竞争转变竞合;提升服装批零市场的现代化程度等措施来提高柳州市服装批零业在区域经济中的吸纳辐射作用,为实施柳州＂三大一新＂商贸发展战略作出贡献。     

Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium-sized enterprises

The aim of this paper is to identify and gain insights into small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) rationales (why) for engaging in sustainable social and environmental practices (SEPs) that influence social and environmental policy and sustainability changes. Specifically, we depart from the predominately quantitative-orientated SEPs literature by conducting in-depth interviews and analysis of owners and managers of SMEs in the United Kingdom within a legitimacy theoretical framework. Our findings from a comprehensive number of interviewees show that SMEs employ a complex mix of both symbolic and substantive SEPs with the aim of enhancing the legitimacy and sustainability of their operations. The results emphasise the strengths of social engagement, reputation and image, environmental embeddedness, industry differentiation and education facilitators. In particular, the paper shows that legitimating strategies can have a dual purpose of being symbolic in nature but also inferring a substantive legitimacy claim. Evidence of SMEs maintaining their legitimacy position stretches further via either a moral and/or a pragmatic standpoint.     

Corporate sustainability and innovation in SMEs: Evidence of themes and activities in practice

Recently, innovation processes towards sustainable development have received increasing attention in academic literature. This research introduces the combination of insights from innovation theory, sustainable development practice and small business characteristics to unlock new knowledge on factors that influence the translation of sustainable innovation within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) into practice. The sustainability themes and activities as described for large companies (i.e. in the sustainability reporting and management literature) were used as starting point in this study. It presents empiric results of the PRIMA Project conducted within the rubber and plastics industry (RPI) on sustainable innovation activities. It will show that many sustainable innovations are directed at the improvement of technological processes (eco‐efficiency) and to lower costs of production. These innovations can be seen as incremental. Companies with sustainability integrated in their orientation and innovation processes show value creation: the development of products new to the market (radical innovations) and cooperation with stakeholders. The PRIMA project shows that more insight in SME innovative characteristics and (e)valuation of sustainable innovation efforts provides opportunities to improve the sustainability performance of SMEs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Sustainable Development and Business Models of Entrepreneurs in the Organic Food Industry

The business case for a sustainable firm, in particular the business case for new entrepreneurial initiatives responding to environmental demands, is increasingly receiving attention from practitioners and scholars. This article contributes to existing literature on business models, sustainable development and entrepreneurship, by applying components of business models to the practices of entrepreneurs that have a goal of environmental sustainability and a focus on the mass market (i.e. ecopreneurs). We define the ecopreneurial business model and specify four varieties of this business model, which consist of different combinations of environmental scope and a focus on the mass market and profitability. The distinguishing factor of the ecopreneurial business model is that it transforms disvalue into value, thereby creating greater customer value for environmentally concerned consumers. The results are based on a substantial set of interviews among ecopreneurs in the organic food and beverage industry in the Netherlands. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Exploring the potential of SMEs to build individual,organizational, and community resilience through sustainability-oriented business practices

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can have significant resources, capacities, and influence in their communities, suggesting they have the potential to be agents for transformative sustainability. However, SMEs will need to move beyond firm-centered sustainable business practices towards strategic approaches that encompass and contribute to resilience-building processes. Amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, we explored what types of sustainable business practices of SMEs can contribute to individual, organizational, and community resilience. We identified six clusters of practice that are important in this regard. The clusters are not solely technical or “environmental” but rather illustrative of deeper sustainable values shaped by organizational structure, culture, and behavior. This paper suggests that SMEs can pursue transformative approaches to sustainability that are more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable and better able to withstand shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and can be significant contributors to community resilience. We conclude with a series of future research priorities critical to examine a largely unexplored nexus in the private sector, the linkages and dynamics between sustainability practice, resilience building, and broader community pathways.