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EM into SME won't go? Attitudes, awareness and practices in the London Borough of Croydon

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  • J. Quentin Merritt

Abstract

This paper provides an account of a questionnaire‐based survey of businesses (all except one being SMEs) in the London Borough of Croydon. The main findings reported are that (i) most managers profess a high level of environmental concern, but (ii) they have little knowledge of developments in the field of environmental management and (iii) they have not introduced formal practices to manage the environmental performance of their businesses. The research also indicates that market forces (as supply chain pressure) and intervention strategies (the provision of environmental management services) have, as yet, had little or no significant impact on SME behaviour. It is suggested that both of these potential ‘drivers’ are limited in the extent to which they are likely to influence future practice in SMEs. Following from this, it is also suggested that attempts to promote environmental management in SMEs are only likely to succeed if they are grounded in a thorough understanding of the heterogeneous natures of SMEs and the diverse socio‐economic contexts within which they operate. Relating to this, a number of areas for further research are proposed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

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  • J. Quentin Merritt, 1998. "EM into SME won't go? Attitudes, awareness and practices in the London Borough of Croydon," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(2), pages 90-100, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:7:y:1998:i:2:p:90-100
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0836(199805)7:23.0.CO;2-F
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrew Hutchinson & Ian Chaston, 1994. "Environmental management in Devon and Cornwall's small and medium sized enterprise sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(1), pages 15-22.
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    3. Jaryn Bradford & Evan D. G. Fraser, 2008. "Local authorities, climate change and small and medium enterprises: identifying effective policy instruments to reduce energy use and carbon emissions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 156-172, May.
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    7. Warisha Waheed & Danish Ahmed Siddiqui, 2019. "The Profiling of Awareness of Access and Use of Finance: A Case Study of SMEs In Karachi," Asian Development Policy Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(3), pages 133-164, September.
    8. Sudath Weerasiri, 2012. "Attitudes and Awareness towards Environmental Management and its Impact on Environmental Management Practices (EMPs) of SMEs in Sri Lanka," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 3(1), pages 16-23.
    9. Banjo Roxas & Val Lindsay, 2012. "Social Desirability Bias in Survey Research on Sustainable Development in Small Firms: an Exploratory Analysis of Survey Mode Effect," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 223-235, May.
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    11. Jan Lepoutre & Aimé Heene, 2006. "Investigating the Impact of Firm Size on Small Business Social Responsibility: A Critical Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 257-273, September.
    12. Peter A. Strachan & Ivor McKay Sinclair & David Lal, 2003. "Managing ISO 14001 implementation in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS)," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 50-63, March.
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    14. Antonio Chamorro & Tomás M. Bañegil, 2006. "Green marketing philosophy: a study of Spanish firms with ecolabels," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 11-24, February.
    15. Neelam C. Poudyal & Jacek P. Siry & J. M. Bowker, 2012. "Stakeholders' Engagement in Promoting Sustainable Development: Businesses and Urban Forest Carbon," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 157-169, March.
    16. Gary Lynch-Wood & David Williamson, 2014. "Civil Regulation, the Environment and the Compliance Orientations of SMEs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 467-480, December.
    17. Stephen Brammer & Stefan Hoejmose & Kerry Marchant, 2012. "Environmental Management in SMEs in the UK: Practices, Pressures and Perceived Benefits," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 423-434, November.
    18. Jon Vernon & Stephen Essex & David Pinder & Kaja Curry, 2003. "The ‘greening’ of tourism micro‐businesses: outcomes of focus group investigations in South East Cornwall," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 49-69, January.
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    20. D. Perez‐Sanchez & J. R. Barton & D. Bower, 2003. "Implementing environmental management in SMEs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 67-77, June.

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