Abstract
In the context of growing concerns regarding the deterioration of the environment and the increase in social inequalities, the concept of sustainability emerged as a response of companies, in order to contribute to community goodwill. The drivers and obstacles for the businesses engaging in sustainable policies have been explored at large by scientific literature. However, research gaps were observed, namely regarding SMEs, that tend to have a less formal and more fragmented approach to sustainability. The goal of our study is to determine the main barriers and facilitators for sustainability that Romanian SMEs face, and the connections between them and with the firms’ characteristics. Our study identifies the main barriers and facilitators for adopting sustainable practices in SMEs located in Romania, based on a study on a panel of 71 firms. The association rule method of data mining and quantitative statistic methods were used to explore barrier–facilitator relationships and how they vary depending on the firms’ or managers’ characteristics. The results show a wide range of drivers and obstacles for implementing sustainability in SMEs, while identifying connections between different barriers and facilitators and correlations with the firms’ characteristics. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of factors that impact sustainable behavior in SMEs and identify further aspects to be explored.
Highlights
Our work wishes to investigate the different facilitators and barriers to sustainability in the context of SMEs—firms with less than 250 employees—operating in Romania, the connections between them and the characteristics of the firm and managers
The quantitative methods used for the study are the descriptive analysis, contingency tables, the Chi-square test or the Fischer test to identify the connections between the barriers or facilitators and the firms’ characteristics, association rule mining and network analysis to determine the links between the factors
The rules with higher support confirm that managers who consider limited financial resources (B1) and/or other barriers (B9) as barriers of sustainable development consider positive image among employees, customers, suppliers (F1) as facilitator of sustainable development; the facilitator personal conviction that everyone is responsible for protecting the environment and the community (F4) co-occurs frequently with the barrier we already pay taxes, this is our government’s responsibility (B8) or others barriers (B9)
Summary
Our work wishes to investigate the different facilitators and barriers to sustainability in the context of SMEs—firms with less than 250 employees—operating in Romania, the connections between them and the characteristics of the firm and managers. We explain the concept of sustainability and its reflection within the business sector, the corporate social responsibility. We present the specificities regarding the sustainable practices for SMEs, and the obstacles and drivers for a firm to integrate responsible practices. The quantitative methods used for the study are the descriptive analysis, contingency tables, the Chi-square test or the Fischer test to identify the connections between the barriers or facilitators and the firms’ characteristics, association rule mining and network analysis to determine the links between the factors. Sustainability is illustrated as a paradigm [1] in which the environmental, social and economic dimensions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
