Knowledge acquisition and environmental commitment in SMEs

Abstract

This article presents the results of an empirical study that investigated the relationship between a firm's knowledge acquisition activities and its environmental commitment. The study focuses on both regular knowledge acquisition activities and those specific to environmental issues. Statistical analyses of the data obtained from a sample of 136 Canadian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were conducted. Study results first revealed that regular knowledge acquisition activities and those specific to environmental issues are positively related to environmental commitment. Results also suggest that SMEs use different knowledge sources when acquiring environmental knowledge and that trade associations and suppliers play a significant role in this process.

Implementing sustainability in small and medium-sized construction firms

“…Existing literature makes a clear connection between knowledge acquisition activities and TA (Roy and Thérin, 2008) and networks (Christopher and Gaudenzi, 2009). Klewitz and Hansen (2014) propose that external interaction, such as participation in TA events, can increase innovative capacity within the SME.…”

The Spread of Knowledge Management in SMEs: A Scenario in Evolution

“…From the nine papers regarding the Contingency Factors, it clearly emerges that KM processes are influenced by a variety of factors that may be grouped into three main categories: Industrial organization, which includes the agglomeration economies [34][35][36] and industrial characteristics [37]; Environmental factors, i.e., social context [38,39], environmental commitment [40], geographic proximity to the knowledge sources [41], and Firm specific factors, namely international interactions and organizational proximity [39,41], and organization size [42]. The 28 papers concerning Critical Success Factors offer a comprehensive framework of the factors that affect KM adoption and show that they may be classified into three main categories: Human and cultural factors, which includes human resources, people skill, motivation, training and education, a culture of collaboration and trust [23,24,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58], Technical factors, namely the degree of IT applications, the information system, infrastructure, degree of KM adoption, Total Quality Management practices [23,24,47,[49][50][51][52]54,56,59], and Managerial factors, i.e., cultivating trust, KM strategy, i...…”

A Review of Interventions to Encourage SMEs to Make Environmental Improvements

“…(Bradford and Fraser, 2008;Pimenova and van der Vorst, 2004;Studer et al, 2006;Williamson et al, 2006), and whether these regulations are enforced fully among all SMEs by authorities (Mir and Feitelson, 2007;Revell and Blackburn, 2007). Environmental commitment Extent to which SME owner-managers or employees believe they have a responsibility to engage in environmental improvement (Collins et al, 2007;Masurel, 2007;Pimenova and van der Vorst, 2004;Simpson et al, 2004), proactively undertake environmental improvement actions (AragonCorrea and Cordon-Pozo, 2005;Roy and Therin, 2008) and believe their business has an environmental impact (Bradford and Fraser, 2008;Drake et al, 2004;Mir and Feitelson, 2007). Business performance commitment Extent to which the direct and indirect costs of and resources needed for environmental improvement are exceeded by the short-term economic benefits of and competitive advantage for the business from such actions (Bradford and Fraser, 2008;Clement and Hansen, 2003;Collins et al, 2007;Drake et al, 2004;Revell and Blackburn, 2007;Simpson et al, 2004;Studer et al, 2006).…”

“…This in turn influences the perception by SME owner-managers of potential image enhancement (Borga et al, 2008;Collins et al, 2007;Pimenova and van der Vorst, 2004;Studer et al, 2006), competitive advantage (Borga et al, 2008;Clement and Hansen, 2003;Drake et al, 2004;Pimenova and van der Vorst, 2004;Revell and Blackburn, 2007;Studer et al, 2006) and new business opportunities (Simpson et al, 2004) from environmental improvement. SME environmental knowledge Extent to which SME owner-managers or employees have knowledge about how to engage in environmental improvement and the time to acquire this knowledge (Bradford and Fraser, 2008;Collins et al, 2007;Hoevenagel and Wolters, 2000;Masurel, 2007;Pimenova and van der Vorst, 2004;Roy and Therin, 2008;Tilley, 1999). Assistance / education Extent to which SMEs have easy access to assistance and education programmes on how to engage in environmental improvement (Bradford and Fraser, 2008;Pimenova and van der Vorst, 2004;Simpson et al, 2004;Studer et al, 2006).…”

“…Collins et al, 2007;Masurel, 2007); or (2) the proactive, voluntary actions taken by SMEs to make environmental improvements (e.g. Aragon-Correa and Cordon-Pozo, 2005;Roy and Therin, 2008). The problem with environmental commitment being defined based on duty/moral obligation is that research has shown an SME owner-manager's desire to engage in environmental improvement does not always result in associated action (e.g.…”