Why and how to adopt green management into business organizations? The case study of Korean SMEs in manufacturing industry

The purpose of this paper is to explore and investigate the process of green management adoption in small and medium‐sized enterprises.

The study used the qualitative methods of case study, in‐depth interviews and document analysis to collect data from two companies, one in the acoustic equipment, the other in the electronics industry.

The paper finds that the extant literature in the field of business and management has largely ignored green management practices within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The study finds that SMEs can make themselves greener by making strategic and organizational changes. For greener management, the factors of organizational structure, innovation capability, human resources, cost savings and competitive advantage can influence organizational change. The outcomes of the case studies confirmed this. The paper argues that further research is needed in order to identify how management practice might reduce negative sustainability impacts. The paper argues that such research can benefit from the methodological and theoretical insights of other disciplines.

The paper is of benefit to academics and managers by providing a new way to consider green management and strategies of SMEs. Since green sustainability is obviously challenging to all companies, to increase understanding of how to cope with green management is necessary, but has been rarely researched in SMEs.