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Oxborrow, L. 
ORCID: 0000-0003-2795-8131 and Brindley, C.,
2013.
Adoption of "eco-advantage" by SMEs: emerging opportunities and constraints.
European Journal of Innovation Management, 16 (3), pp. 355-375.
ISSN 1460-1060
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213722_8418 Brindley Preprint PID213722.pdf - Pre-print Download (2MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Purpose: A recent study has asserted that businesses need to adopt “eco-advantage”. This paper aims to explore the viability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) achieving “eco-advantage” by exploring their understanding of sustainability issues, how they adopt and innovate in terms of sustainability and the benefits and obstacles they face.
Design/methodology/approach: The research approach is exploratory, comprised of 15 SME embedded cases based in the UK. The cases are participants in short interventions in sustainable product and process design as a part of a university knowledge transfer project, representing the overall case. Cases are based on interviews with company participants and collaborating academics, supplemented by documentary and observational evidence.
Findings: The results build on the work on “eco-advantage” found in a recent study, highlighting marketing, rather than compliance issues as a catalyst for change. The newly aware SME enters a development process which involves cumulative capabilities, gaining a nascent inner confidence, which includes espousing wider sustainable values.
Research limitations/implications: The results reveal the scope and challenges for SMEs to adopt more sustainable practices, encompassing innovations and a broad set of capabilities. Further research points to the need to monitor benefits as well as inputs in evaluating sustainability improvements and to consider longitudinal business sustainability issues.
Originality/value: The paper informs the emerging debate on sustainability in SMEs, providing a rich source of data to enhance the provision of business support and knowledge transfer activities, where a more holistic and customised approach is required to realise the real environmental and economic benefits accrued from implementing sustainable improvements.
| Item Type: | Journal article | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication Title: | European Journal of Innovation Management | ||||||
| Creators: | Oxborrow, L. and Brindley, C. | ||||||
| Publisher: | Emerald | ||||||
| Place of Publication: | Bingley | ||||||
| Date: | 2013 | ||||||
| Volume: | 16 | ||||||
| Number: | 3 | ||||||
| ISSN: | 1460-1060 | ||||||
| Identifiers: |
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| Rights: | © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited | ||||||
| Divisions: | Schools > Nottingham Business School | ||||||
| Record created by: | EPrints Services | ||||||
| Date Added: | 09 Oct 2015 11:00 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2019 09:07 | ||||||
| URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/21430 |
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