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The business case for sustainability? An examination of small firms in the UK's construction and restaurant sectors
Author(s) -
Revell Andrea,
Blackburn Robert
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.499
Subject(s) - sustainability , business , government (linguistics) , marketing , industrial organization , public relations , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , biology , political science
Studies show that despite a concerted attempt by UK policy‐makers to portray ‘eco‐efficiency’ measures as cost reducing, most owner‐managers of small firms view environmental measures as expensive to undertake. As a result, owner‐managers tend to be highly resistant to voluntarily improving their environmental performance. Given that SMEs are such a vast sector of the economy, this perceived discord between profits and environmental protection is clearly a major barrier to the ‘greening’ of industry. This ESRC‐funded study has sought to unearth the underlying motivations for why SME owner‐managers in the UK resist or accept the idea that there are business benefits for improving their environmental performance. The findings from 40 in‐depth interviews with SME owners in the UK's construction and restaurant sectors and 12 ‘key informants’ from industry and government are presented, followed by a discussion of SME perspectives on the ‘business case’ for sustainability and its implications for policy‐makers. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.