Sustainability of positive relationship between environmental performance and profitability of SMEs: A case study in the UK
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN: 1750-6204
Article publication date: 9 May 2016
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conduct an in-depth study of any changes that small medium enterprises (SMEs) environmental performance face, in the retailing and manufacturing sector, as well as to identify their main drivers. Furthermore, it seeks to investigate SMEs’ perspectives regarding the environmental management systems and more specifically International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14001 on the one side, whether it is a positive relationship between the implementation of “ISO 14001” by SMEs and their profitability of business on the other.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is a qualitative research, which combines secondary data enriched with daily articles and primary data using in-depth interviews with experts from the SME sectors, which attempts to build a sufficient “theory” by answering the research questions.
Findings
The business world has started to get widely involved with the environmental issues and even if this, in some cases, happened only for marketing purposes, it is difficult now to be changed. The SMEs have started to realise their responsibilities and act accordingly, but there is a long way to cover until their actions will be actually beneficial for the environment. However, the improvement or stability of SMEs’ environmental performance, meaning the implementation of more environmental activities, depends on the impact that those changes will have in every SME, due to the unique idiosyncrasy that each of it consists.
Originality/value
This paper reveals proper method for documenting monetary rewards to entrepreneurship through maintaining environmental issues accurately using information about profitability of SME’s. After maintaining environmental factors, the premia illustrates about the entrepreneurs concentrating not only profitability but also environmental concern.
Keywords
Citation
Shahedul Quader, M., Kamal, M.M. and Hassan, A.B.M.E. (2016), "Sustainability of positive relationship between environmental performance and profitability of SMEs: A case study in the UK", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 138-163. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-05-2014-0008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited