Abstract
AbstractThe global economy's transition toward more sustainable development models is undoubtedly grounded on small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). However, SMEs, individual entrepreneurs, and microenterprises have always encountered barriers to implementing social responsibility and sustainability concepts. The paper investigates the enabling role of formalized corporate networks to drive SMEs toward sustainable behaviors. A quantitative nonlinear regression approach is applied to a content analysis of a sample of network contracts coded. The content analysis is applied to analyze the declared objectives, the purpose of the contract, and sustainability areas. An ordered logistic regression is applied on variables related to the behavior of SMEs before entering in the contract and post‐adhesion phases. Data demonstrates how networks of SMEs can be used as enabling factors to boost sustainability among them. Specifically, the study is based on a sample of 96 formalized network contracts (FNCs), including 1486 Italian SMEs in that sustainability‐oriented networks. It offers an evidence‐based perspective on how networks of companies can play a fundamental role in the development of policies aimed at bringing small companies closer to the concept of sustainability (such as eco‐innovations, eco‐efficiency, environmental performance, and social innovations, among others) and its practical implementation. This paper has two significant strengths. The first is that it uses as a sample a set of 1486 companies, including individual entrepreneurs and microenterprises, whose data are usually difficult to collect. The second is that it demonstrates the efficacy of a contractual form that could be scalable to different countries.
Highlights
The ecological transition of the European economy will not be successful without a deep engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
The study here presented has been designed to test the potential role of corporate networks to enable SMEs approaching sustainability by encompassing their functional barriers
Pointed out as being unsustainable, SMEs declare to be poorly oriented toward the development of sustainability-oriented products and processes or to be unwilling to adopt sustainable business models, as too costly, difficult to manage and for which they lack the skills and knowledge
Summary
The ecological transition of the European economy will not be successful without a deep engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On the pragmatic side, small entrepreneurs identify a plethora of barriers in adopting socially responsible behaviors, among which there are lack of knowledge, limited resources (time and financial and human capital ones) and practical suitability of the tools (Spence, 2014; Vázquez-Carrasco & Lopez-Pérez, 2012). A positive contribution comes from Spence (2014) who affirms that not all is lost, as small entrepreneurs prefer to be proactively involved in sustainability, applying an ethic of care. This is demonstrated recently in the paper of Handrito et al (2021)
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