Sustainability Footprints in SMEs: Strategy and Case Studies for Entrepreneurs and Small Business

Foreword

Sustainability is the single most important issue facing business and society today. In the 1980s and 1990s, the hot topic for discussion was sustainable competitive advantage. Today, the focus is on creating businesses that are both sustainably competitive and sustainable in an environmental context.

Most organizations have recognized that the two concepts are not, as many assumed, incompatible. The customer is increasingly environmentally aware and is signaling to producers that they would prefer to consume goods and services that are produced and supplied by means that protect the environment. In other words, it is becoming simply good business to produce in a way that is environmentally sustainable.

If we add to this the increasing number of government policies and pieces of legislation that are forcing businesses to behave in a way that is environmentally friendly so as to stem the tide of global warming, which is now scientifically undeniable, then the pressure to operate in an environmentally friendly manner is unstoppable.

In these circumstances, the main question becomes not one of should we operate our business in an environmentally friendly way but how do we develop environmentally friendly business practices? This book, grounded in extensive research, seeks to provide some of the answers to the question of “how.”

The research underpinning the book sought to identify best practice among SMEs, which could be regarded as environmental champions, and then produce practical ...