The Place of Sustainability Marketing Activities among the Objectives of SMEs

Abstract

The contemporary business world has been facing mounting criticism for quite a long time. The accusations relate to the short-sightedness of business decisions, strategies oriented solely to profit-making, hostile takeovers, a focus on cost reduction, employee redundancies, etc. This has led to a decline in trust towards business executives, as shown, for example, by the 2016 GfK Trust Index based on research conducted in 27 countries, including 13 European ones. According to the survey, managers and entrepreneurs are ranked 22nd out of 32 professions analysed (Trust in Professions, 2016). This relatively low level of trust in business managers, coupled with the new challenges created by a changing business environment which managers must cope with in order to stay in the market, means that contemporary companies have to change. Corporations are increasingly being challenged as to their function in society. Entrepreneurs must face the challenges connected not only with increasing competition or the development of new technologies, but also growing social expectations. This means that companies today must be managed not only effectively, but also responsibly. This chapter will present the findings of research on the place of sustainability marketing activities in the system of goals for contemporary organizations. To begin with, market trends will be discussed, which in today’s world to the greatest extent influence the marketing strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises in the food and drink sector, as well as the challenges such companies face nowadays. Next, a change in the significance of the strategic goals that these companies set for themselves will be discussed. The final part of the chapter will focus on sustainability aspects in the strategies adopted by SMEs.

Citation

Rudawska, E. and Renko, S. (2018), "The Place of Sustainability Marketing Activities among the Objectives of SMEs", Rudawska, E. (Ed.) The Sustainable Marketing Concept in European SMEs, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 187-215. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78754-038-520180009