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

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  • Joseph Bakos
  • Michele Siu
  • Adalberto Orengo
  • Narges Kasiri

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Bakos & Michele Siu & Adalberto Orengo & Narges Kasiri, 2020. "An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1285-1296, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:29:y:2020:i:3:p:1285-1296
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2433
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