Sustainable SME practice: A reflection on supply‐chain environmental management intervention

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to consider different interpretation(s) of small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME)‐environment behaviour and the potential implications for intervention and change in theory and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is primarily a reflection on a supply‐chain environmental management project and the specific and wider SME literature(s).

Findings

The proposal is that if/when embracing the internal SME dimension and sense‐making processes it is possible to conceive/describe a landscape of SME‐environment intervention and change. Recognition of this landscape is of use to interventionists involved with the facilitation of change(s) and may support improvements in the quality of outcome(s).

Research limitations/implications

The implication of the work is that there is a need to more effectively and appropriately consider the internal SME dimension and sense‐making processes when investigating and describing SME‐environment behaviour and interventions based on such descriptions.

Practical implications

The work will be of interest to interventionists, those who sponsor their work or develop policy and intervention(s) in this area.

Originality/value

This article identifies some of the impacts and implications for change that lead from the consideration of the internal SME dimension and related sense‐making processes; a dimension surfaced in the case project work but not fully engaged in that work or the SME‐environment and related literature.

Citation

Howarth, R. and Fredericks, J. (2012), "Sustainable SME practice: A reflection on supply‐chain environmental management intervention", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 673-685. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777831211262945