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Sustainability management of SMEs and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Author

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  • Hans Verboven

    (University of Antwerp)

  • Lise Vanherck

    (University of Antwerp)

Abstract

The SDG Compass is a method to translate the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals into management objectives. It was developed by UN Global Compact, GRI and WBCSD. The SDG Compass focusses on large corporations and offers them a framework and method to translate the SDGs to their business. The SDG framework, with the goals and the implementation method, only partially meets the criteria of a hands-on and actionable tool. Much attention is being paid to external motivators instead of focusing on tangible business impact. Currently, prioritization of themes that matter most for European SMEs is not possible. Tools to link the SDGs with the business processes of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises or SMEs do not exist. SMEs lack resources, experience and incentives to implement sustainability in their daily management but their potential contribution to sustainable development is large. In this article we show how the SDGs can be linked bottom-up to the Sustatool, a practical PDCA-based management tool that offers SMEs the opportunity to implement sustainability in their daily practices. We have prioritized the SDGs that SMEs can impact most. We make SDG targets material by linking them to concrete actions in the thematic catalogue.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Verboven & Lise Vanherck, 2016. "Sustainability management of SMEs and the UN Sustainable Development Goals," NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum | Sustainability Management Forum, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 165-178, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sumafo:v:24:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s00550-016-0407-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00550-016-0407-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Gerda Žigienė & Egidijus Rybakovas & Robertas Alzbutas, 2019. "Artificial Intelligence Based Commercial Risk Management Framework for SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-23, August.
    3. Michael Kühnen & Samanthi Silva & Janpeter Beckmann & Ulrike Eberle & Rüdiger Hahn & Christoph Hermann & Stefan Schaltegger & Marianne Schmid, 2019. "Contributions to the sustainable development goals in life cycle sustainability assessment: Insights from the Handprint research project," NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum | Sustainability Management Forum, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 65-82, March.
    4. Asif Mahmood & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Mohammad Adnan, 2021. "Unleashing the Barriers to CSR Implementation in the SME Sector of a Developing Economy: A Thematic Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    5. Alvaro Rojas & Daniel Lorenzo, 2021. "Environmental and Social Goals in Spanish SMEs: The Moderating Effect of Family Influence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Ralph Sonntag & Gerard J. Lewis & Andrzej Raszkowski, 2022. "The Importance of Implementing SDGs by Small and Medium Size Enterprises: Evidence from Germany and Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Ana T. Ejarque & Vanessa Campos, 2020. "Assessing the Economy for the Common Good Measurement Theory Ability to Integrate the SDGs into MSMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Jintao Lu & Mengshang Liang & Chong Zhang & Dan Rong & Hailing Guan & Kristina Mazeikaite & Justas Streimikis, 2021. "Assessment of corporate social responsibility by addressing sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 686-703, March.
    9. Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez & Lázaro Rodríguez‐Ariza & Beatriz Aibar‐Guzmán & Cristina Aibar‐Guzmán, 2020. "Do institutional investors drive corporate transparency regarding business contribution to the sustainable development goals?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 2019-2036, July.
    10. Eduardo Jiménez & Marta de la Cuesta-González & Montserrat Boronat-Navarro, 2021. "How Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Can Uptake the Sustainable Development Goals through a Cluster Management Organization: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-18, May.

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