IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v45y2010i3p266-275.html

Environmental strategy and exports in medium, small and micro-enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Martín-Tapia, Inmaculada
  • Aragón-Correa, J. Alberto
  • Rueda-Manzanares, Antonio

Abstract

Growing corporate internationalization and the emergence of environmental concerns are two of the main trends in the business world. This paper analyzes whether strategies for environmental protection can help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they internationalize their activities through exports. Personal interviews were conducted with 123 general managers of exporting SMEs from the Spanish food industry. The results show a relationship between advanced environmental strategies and export intensity for the sampled firms. However, the size of firm plays a role in this relationship, as the relationship between advanced environmental strategies and exports is stronger with an increase in the size of the SMEs. Authors discuss implications of these results for practitioners and future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Martín-Tapia, Inmaculada & Aragón-Correa, J. Alberto & Rueda-Manzanares, Antonio, 2010. "Environmental strategy and exports in medium, small and micro-enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 266-275, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:45:y:2010:i:3:p:266-275
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951609000704
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lohr, Luanne, 2001. "Factors Affecting International Demand And Trade In Organic Food Products," Faculty Series 16674, University of Georgia, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    2. David Williamson & Gary Lynch-Wood & John Ramsay, 2006. "Drivers of Environmental Behaviour in Manufacturing SMEs and the Implications for CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 317-330, September.
    3. Judith Petts, 1998. "Environmental Responsiveness, Individuals and Organizational Learning: SME Experience," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 711-730.
    4. Alfred A. Marcus & Marc H. Anderson, 2006. "A General Dynamic Capability: Does it Propagate Business and Social Competencies in the Retail Food Industry?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 19-46, January.
    5. Javalgi, Rajshekhar G. & White, D. Steven & Lee, Oscar, 2000. "Firm Characteristics Influencing Export Propensity: An Empirical Investigation by Industry Type," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 217-228, March.
    6. Leonidas C Leonidou & Constatine S Katsikeas, 1996. "The Export Development Process: An Integrative Review of Empirical Models," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(3), pages 517-551, September.
    7. Chih-Hai Yang & Jong-Rong Chen & Wen-Bin Chuang, 2004. "Technology and Export Decision," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 349-364, June.
    8. Mirjam Schiffer & Beatrice Weder, 2001. "Firm Size and the Business Environment : Worldwide Survey Results," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13988, April.
    9. Bianchi, Raffaella & Noci, Giuliano, 1998. ""Greening" SMEs' Competitiveness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 269-281, November.
    10. Sanjay Sharma, 2001. "Different strokes: regulatory styles and environmental strategy in the North‐American oil and gas industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(6), pages 344-364, November.
    11. Baldauf, Artur & Cravens, David W. & Wagner, Udo, 2000. "Examining determinants of export performance in small open economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 61-79, April.
    12. Nigel Roome, 1992. "Developing environmental management strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 11-24, March.
    13. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    14. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    15. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke, 2005. "Corporate Strategy and International Environmental Policy," Chapters, in: Analysis of Multinational Strategic Management, chapter 17, pages 286-300, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Leonardo Becchetti & Maria Santoro, 2001. "The determinants of small and medium-sized firm internationalization and its relationship with productive efficiency," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 137(2), pages 297-319, June.
    17. Pangarkar, Nitin, 2008. "Internationalization and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 475-485, October.
    18. Haahti, Antti & Madupu, Vivekananda & Yavas, Ugur & Babakus, Emin, 2005. "Cooperative strategy, knowledge intensity and export performance of small and medium sized enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 124-138, May.
    19. Petra Christmann & Glen Taylor, 2001. "Globalization and the Environment: Determinants of Firm Self-Regulation in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 439-458, September.
    20. Robert Salomon & J. Myles Shaver, 2005. "Export and domestic sales: their interrelationship and determinants," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(9), pages 855-871, September.
    21. Majocchi, Antonio & Bacchiocchi, Emanuele & Mayrhofer, Ulrike, 2005. "Firm size, business experience and export intensity in SMEs: A longitudinal approach to complex relationships," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 719-738, December.
    22. William Q. Judge & Thomas J. Douglas, 1998. "Performance Implications of Incorporating Natural Environmental Issues into the Strategic Planning Process: An Empirical Assessment," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 241-262, March.
    23. Kuivalainen, Olli & Sundqvist, Sanna & Servais, Per, 2007. "Firms' degree of born-globalness, international entrepreneurial orientation and export performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 253-267, September.
    24. Chandler, Gaylen N. & Hanks, Steven H., 1993. "Measuring the performance of emerging businesses: A validation study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(5), pages 391-408, September.
    25. Glen Dowell & Stuart Hart & Bernard Yeung, 2000. "Do Corporate Global Environmental Standards Create or Destroy Market Value?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(8), pages 1059-1074, August.
    26. Luo, Yadong, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities in international expansion," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 355-378, January.
    27. David Greenaway & Zhihong Yu, 2004. "Firm-level interactions between exporting and productivity: Industry-specific evidence," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 140(3), pages 376-392, September.
    28. Kiyohiko Ito & Vladimir Pucik, 1993. "Abstract," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 61-75, January.
    29. Paul Westhead & Mike Wright & Deniz Ucbasaran, 2004. "Internationalization of private firms: environmental turbulence and organizational strategies and resources," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(6), pages 501-522, November.
    30. V. Gimede, 2004. "Export Propensities and Intensities of Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises in South Africa," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 379-389, June.
    31. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    32. Westhead, Paul & Wright, Mike & Ucbasaran, Deniz, 2001. "The internationalization of new and small firms: A resource-based view," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 333-358, July.
    33. Andersen, Poul Houman, 2006. "Listening to the global grapevine: SME export managers' personal contacts as a vehicle for export information generation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 81-96, February.
    34. Lee, Seung-Hyun & Beamish, Paul W. & Lee, Ho-Uk & Park, Jong-Hun, 2009. "Strategic choice during economic crisis: Domestic market position, organizational capabilities and export flexibility," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 1-15, January.
    35. Sanjay Sharma & Irene Henriques, 2005. "Stakeholder influences on sustainability practices in the Canadian forest products industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 159-180, February.
    36. World Bank, 2009. "World Development Indicators 2009," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4367, April.
    37. John R. Baldwin & Guy Gellatly, 2003. "Innovation Strategies and Performance in Small Firms," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3062, June.
    38. Benjamin M Oviatt & Patricia Phillips McDougall, 1994. "Toward a Theory of International New ventures," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(1), pages 45-64, March.
    39. Ernst Verwaal & Bas Donkers, 2002. "Firm Size and Export Intensity: Solving an Empirical Puzzle," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(3), pages 603-613, September.
    40. Pratima Bansal, 2005. "Evolving sustainably: a longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 197-218, March.
    41. Bill McEvily & Alfred Marcus, 2005. "Embedded ties and the acquisition of competitive capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(11), pages 1033-1055, November.
    42. Céspedes-Lorente, José & Burgos-Jiménez, Jerónimo de & Álvarez-Gil, Maria José, 2003. "Stakeholders' environmental influence. An empirical analysis in the Spanish hotel industry," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 333-358, September.
    43. Pla-Barber, José & Alegre, Joaquín, 2007. "Analysing the link between export intensity, innovation and firm size in a science-based industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 275-293, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martin-Tapia, Inmaculada & Aragon-Correa, Juan Alberto & Senise-Barrio, Maria Eugenia, 2008. "Being green and export intensity of SMEs: The moderating influence of perceived uncertainty," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 56-67, December.
    2. Singh, Deeksha A., 2009. "Export performance of emerging market firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 321-330, August.
    3. Holtbrügge, Dirk & Dögl, Corinna, 2012. "How international is corporate environmental responsibility? A literature review," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 180-195.
    4. Jeremy Galbreath & Chia‐Yang Chang & Daniel Tisch, 2023. "The impact of a proactive environmental strategy on environmentally sustainable practices in service firms: The moderating effect of information use value," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5420-5434, December.
    5. Sharma, Revti Raman, 2025. "Environmental strategic role orientations of multinational enterprises: Different shades of green," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    6. Nuttaneeya Torugsa & Wayne O’Donohue & Rob Hecker, 2012. "Capabilities, Proactive CSR and Financial Performance in SMEs: Empirical Evidence from an Australian Manufacturing Industry Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 483-500, September.
    7. Garcés-Ayerbe, Concepción & Cañón-de-Francia, Joaquín, 2017. "The Relevance of Complementarities in the Study of the Economic Consequences of Environmental Proactivity: Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Innovation Efforts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 21-30.
    8. Tatoglu, Ekrem & Bayraktar, Erkan & Sahadev, Sunil & Demirbag, Mehmet & Glaister, Keith W., 2014. "Determinants of voluntary environmental management practices by MNE subsidiaries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 536-548.
    9. Javier Delgado-Ceballos & Juan Aragón-Correa & Natalia Ortiz-de-Mandojana & Antonio Rueda-Manzanares, 2012. "The Effect of Internal Barriers on the Connection Between Stakeholder Integration and Proactive Environmental Strategies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 281-293, May.
    10. Juan Felipe Reyes‐Rodríguez & John P. Ulhøi & Henning Madsen, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Sustainability in Danish SMEs: A Longitudinal Study of Motivators, Initiatives, and Strategic Effects," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 193-212, July.
    11. Wagner, Marcus, 2015. "The link of environmental and economic performance: Drivers and limitations of sustainability integration," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1306-1317.
    12. Yancy Vaillant & Esteban Lafuente & Manoj Chandra Bayon, 2019. "Early internationalization patterns and export market persistence: a pseudo-panel data analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 669-686, October.
    13. Chan, Ricky Y.K., 2010. "Corporate environmentalism pursuit by foreign firms competing in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 80-92, January.
    14. Manolopoulos, Dimitris & Chatzopoulou, Erifili & Kottaridi, Constantina, 2018. "Resources, home institutional context and SMEs’ exporting: Direct relationships and contingency effects," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 993-1006.
    15. Alfredo D’Angelo, 2012. "Innovation and export performance: a study of Italian high-tech SMEs," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(3), pages 393-423, August.
    16. Martineau, Charles & Pastoriza, David, 2016. "International involvement of established SMEs: A systematic review of antecedents, outcomes and moderators," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 458-470.
    17. Jie Wu & Zhenzhong Ma, 2016. "Export Intensity and MNE Customers’ Environmental Requirements: Effects on Local Chinese Suppliers’ Environment Strategies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 327-339, May.
    18. Günther, Finn & Möller, Klaus & Wenig, Philipp, 2015. "Erfolgswirkung einer proaktiven Unternehmensstrategie zur Integration natürlicher Ressourcen," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 69(1), pages 25-53.
    19. Jeremy Hall & Marcus Wagner, 2012. "Integrating Sustainability into Firms' Processes: Performance Effects and the Moderating Role of Business Models and Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 183-196, March.
    20. Leonidas C. Leonidou & Paul Christodoulides & Lida P. Kyrgidou & Daydanda Palihawadana, 2017. "Internal Drivers and Performance Consequences of Small Firm Green Business Strategy: The Moderating Role of External Forces," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 585-606, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:45:y:2010:i:3:p:266-275. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620401/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.