Is sustainability a competitive advantage for small businesses? An empirical analysis of possible mediators in the sustainability–financial performance relationship

Cantele, Silvia; Zardini, Alessandro

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.016

Cited by 314 publications

(249 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Social, economic, and formal practices dimensions of sustainability positively affected competitive advantage, mediated by corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, and organizational commitment (Madsen & Ulhøi, ). Cantele and Zardini () surveyed 348 Italian manufacturing SMEs and demonstrated that a competitive advantage acts as a second‐stage mediator that positively contributes to financial performance. Whether it is a corporate social responsibility (O'connor, Parcha, & Tulibaski, ; Spence, ; Stoian & Gilman, ), economic advantage, or legal compliance, drivers serve as a motivation to achieve sustainable environmentally friendly practices in SMEs.…”

Section: Drivers and Barriers To Smes' Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends

et al. 2020

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One of the greatest challenges facing the world today is climate change. The need to consistently advance with environmentally sustainable practices in today's businesses is crucial, and businesses are demanded to be more environmentally sustainable every day. This study conducts an analysis of the literature on small and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs) environmental sustainability by carefully examining 122 studies from 58 journals published from 2013 to 2019. We investigate the trends in drivers and barriers of sustainability adoption to inform both SMEs managers and policymakers. Our results also classify the reviewed studies on the basis of their methodologies and show the distribution of studies across industry sectors and locations in order to set directions for future research on sustainability practices of SMEs.

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Section: Drivers and Barriers To Smes' Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends

et al. 2020

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“…Cantele and Zardini [107]; Dubruc et al [108]; Tok et al [109]; Allet [110]; Carrigan [111]; Corazza [112]; Warren [113]; Goddard et al [114]; Graafland [115]; North [116]; Chang [117]; Panwar et al [118]; Vo et al [119]; Doukas et al [120]; Etoundi Eloundou [121]; Jenkins and Karanikola [122]; Ayuso et al [123]; Ciasullo and Troisi [124]; Musa et al [125]; Torugsa et al [126]; Battisti and Perry [127]; Gliedt and Parker [128]; Gallucci et al [129]; Vancheswaran and Gautam [130]; Redmond et al [131]; Shetty et al [132]; Burke and Gaughran [133], among others.…”

Section: Sustainable Development Management and Environmental Awarementioning

confidence: 97%

Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance in SMEs: Scientific Coverage

et al. 2020

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The objective of this research is to analyze the scientific production indexed in the international Scopus database on the subject of "corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance" in small and medium-sized enterprises. In the literature, it is currently possible to observe how large corporations undertake social responsibility actions as a usual practice. However, in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, the reality is different due to their high heterogeneity.To fulfil the proposed objective, a bibliometric analysis is carried out, identifying 277 articles on the subject. It is observed that scientific production is concentrated in a period of 18 years (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018), the majority being qualitative studies.

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“…For example, recently some scholars have concluded that an effective way to generate wealth for investors, is improving the working conditions of employees, improve quality processes and care for the environment, this through the so-called circular economy (McCormick & Kautto, 2013;Witjes & Lozano, 2016). The issue of sustainability and social responsibility in the last decade has been a business strategy aimed at improving innovation, reputation, image and contributes to the business leadership of the business (Cantele & Zardini, 2018;Abagail et al, 2016;Salim et al, 2018). A large number of studies in Europe and North America have concluded that SMEs have a serious problem when implementing environmental management systems, this has caused disinterest and a null value added (Heras & Arana, 2010;Hillary, 2004;Valdez-Juárez et al, 2018).…”

Section: Iso 14001 and 26001 Standards In The Business Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, scholars in the subject have exposed that the SMEs that carry out these practices and/or business strategies manage to improve their processes, manage to efficiently manage logistics, and standardize products and services. These actions lead them to more competitive markets and to the total satisfaction of their customers (Cantele & Zardini, 2018;Graafland, 2018). In addition, with strategies aimed at environmental sustainability and commitment to stakeholders, companies achieve the improvement of the business image, innovation is increased, they manage to penetrate new markets with greater force, they manage to increase the level of customers, they increase their sales, competitiveness increases and consequently the financial and economic profitability increases (Ageron & Spalanzani, 2012;Dey et al, 2018;Gianni, Gotzamani, & Tsiotras, 2017;Torugsa, O'Donohue, & Hecker, 2012).…”

Section: The Norms Iso 14001 and 26001 In The Business Profitabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

ISO 14001 and 26001, Agents of Change in the SME

Valdez-Juárez¹,

Gallardo‐Vázquez²,

Ramos-Escobar³

et al. 2019

JMS

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At present, business strategies in SMEs (Small and medium enterprises) are crucial for consolidation in highly competitive markets, in achieving a better image and in business profitability. One of the strategies that are currently being used and that have a high level of success are the practices focused on sustainability and social responsibility, through standardized standards such as: ISO 14001 and ISO 26001. The literature related to sustainable business is based mainly on the theory of resources and capabilities, and in theory based on Stakeholders. These currents state that companies should focus on profitable strategies to ensure significant and long-term results, in order to achieve organizational and financial results for stakeholders. In this work, the sample consists of 215 companies from the commerce, services and industry sectors, located in the southern region of the State of Sonora in Mexico.The objective of the work is to analyze the influence of ISO 14001 and 26001 standards on the image and profitability of SMEs. The statistical analysis of the data has been carried out through the linear regression technique by OLS (Ordinary Least Squares). The findings prove that the ISO 14001 standard is the one that most influences the improvement of the business image and the level of profitability of the SME. In addition, we discovered that ISO 26001 has a partial influence on the image and profitability of the SME.

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Is sustainability a competitive advantage for small businesses? An empirical analysis of possible mediators in the sustainability–financial performance relationship

Cited by 314 publications

References 80 publications

An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends

An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends

Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance in SMEs: Scientific Coverage

ISO 14001 and 26001, Agents of Change in the SME

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