The Role of Sustainable Management in Small and Medium Enterprises, with Reference to Interior Design Firms in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Abstract

As Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) grow and expand, certain issues and social demands come up with this growth including the firms’ responsibility towards ethical and social benefits, environmental issues and economic prosperity. SMEs go through these challenges while they experience financing difficulties and profitability priorities. The literature review, both internationally and locally, shows insufficient knowledge and information in relation to the implementation of sustainable management in SMEs. The basic attention was directed towards the production of sustainable products but not the sustainable management of these firms and hence the latter being the general problem area of this research. The research started with exploring the availability of sustainable management practices in the Kingdom of Bahrain (KOB). Through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) it was clearly stated that SMEs play a huge role in the KOB since 99% of registered businesses are SMEs, which, drove the Ministry to develop an SME toolkit reassuring the importance of starting SMEs in the KOB and moving towards developing a business. The research focuses on the practices of sustainable management in the KOB and the aim is to investigate and assess the implementation and effectiveness of sustainable management in SMEs. The research ends up with a proposed model that would hopefully contribute to more effective integration of sustainability practices into the management of interior design SMEs in the KOB.