scholarly journals SWOT Analysis of the Application of International Standard ISO 14001 in the Chinese Context. A Case Study of Guangdong Province

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Pesce ◽  
Chenyi Shi ◽  
Andrea Critto ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
Antonio Marcomini

Industry has long been one of the most important drivers of Chinese economic growth. In order to improve the environmental footprint of industrial areas, Chinese authorities have established mechanisms of environmental control in the internal management processes of companies. In this regard, the international standard ISO 14001 for environmental management systems is the management tool that has had widest adoption among Chinese companies since its creation in 1996. The main purposes of the paper are to investigate the available international and national statistics on the adoptionof ISO 14001 in China, and present opinions on ISO 14001 of the 72 representatives of small and medium enterprises and multinational companies of Guangdong province that participated to the workshop “New tools and standards to advance and measure corporate sustainability”, held in Guangzhou on 26 January 2018. The analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) was adopted as the research method to collect opinions on the ISO 14001 standard. Participants were asked to discuss strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities considering four business aspects: sustainability, internal processes, stakeholder engagement, and resource management. Our findings indicate that companies fully embraced ISO 14001 and recognized the necessity of a standardized approach to identify environmental aspects. On the other hand, they also expressed concern about aspects such as the certification cost, the focus on certification itself and not on the improvement of environmental performance, and the lack of integration with sustainability tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) and other sustainability paradigms such as circular economy and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

2019 ◽  

This Issue begins with a paper by Kirchmayer, Remišová and Lašáková on ethical leadership in public and private organisations in Slovakia. Authentic leadership and interpersonal conflicts in Poland are further taken up by Sypniewska and Gigol. Perceptions of the ethical climate in Serbian tourism industry are explored by Dragin, Jovanović, Mijatov, Majstorović and Dragin. Prus takes us to the promotion of sustainable agriculture through the focused higher education on agriculture in Poland. Saveanu, Abrudan, Saveanu and Matei call for finding out predictors of CSR in small and medium enterprises operating in Romania. Potocan, Mulej and Nedelko at-tempt empirical investigation of employees’ attitudes towards natural, social and economic aspects of CSR in Slovenian organisations during two periods – economic crisis and recovery for a post-transition context. Rybnikova and Toleikienė turn to formal and informal elements of ethics management infrastructure in Lithuanian local government. This Issue concludes with a research note on the development towards corporate sustainability (morality and responsibility) in Estonian business by Kooskora and Cundiff.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (62) ◽  
pp. 3-19
Author(s):  
Guillen León ◽  
Sergio Afcha

This article analyses the perception and application of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in a sample of 499 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the city of Santa Marta (Colombia) following the theory of Stakeholders. Specifically, the interdependence technique of exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the most influential Stakeholders in the execution of CSR practices. It was found that Stakeholders related to the value chain, the environment and corporate management favour social responsibility actions in local MSMEs. In contrast, community and government have less influence on the development of social responsibility practices in MSMEs. Additionally, it was found that the size of the business acts as an important moderator of the development of the CSR. Given that there is a distinctive influence of Stakeholders in the development of responsible practices in the MSMEs of Santa Marta, it is suggested that comprehensive training programs on social responsibility be promoted in smaller companies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zengming Zou ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Naveed Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Safdar Sial ◽  
Alina Badulescu ◽  
...  

The topic of corporate social responsibility (henceforth referred to as CSR) has been a central topic during the last decade, but the majority of the existing literature discusses CSR relationship with large organizations. Whereas, its contribution in small and medium enterprises (henceforth referred to as SME) sector has received little attention. There have been some studies that focused on CSR activities in SME sector quantitatively in the context of developing economies like Pakistan, but the fact is, to date, SME sector of Pakistan is not participating actively in CSR-related activities due to some constraints. The present study is a pioneer attempt, to explore CSR barriers that restrict SME sector of Pakistan from practicing CSR initiatives. For this reason, the present study explores these barriers qualitatively in order to gain in-depth knowledge of different CSR barriers. In doing so, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews from 9 SMEs in Lahore city of Pakistan. We performed thematic analysis, which produced five relevant themes of CSR barriers, including: Lack of resources, lack of regulations, lack of top management commitment, lack of CSR knowledge, and passive customer behavior. Our analysis further showed that lack of resources is the most related barrier that hinder SMEs to be engaged in CSR activities. This paper contributes to CSR literature in emerging economies’ context. Through an increased awareness of barriers, policy makers and practitioners may take necessary steps to improve CSR practices in SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3824
Author(s):  
Carla Curado ◽  
António Mota

In this study, we explore the research published from 2015 to 2020 on the importance of family firms (FFs) to sustainability. Our results come from a content analysis of 28 studies on this topic. Further, they deal with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry in Italy and Spain. These studies mainly follow a quantitative approach with data from a survey. This study’s main contribution regards the identification of three sorts of aspects associated to sustainability in FFs which match the three pillars of the triple bottom line approach that supports sustainable business development: social inclusion, economic development, and environmental protection. Our findings show that the family’s religiosity, reputation, and image play relevant roles in the FFs’ adoption of sustainable practices. Moreover, the CEO and their successor’s choices also have consequences for sustainability. These studies demonstrate how the family’s control, its values, and the industry influence the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. FFs go green by adopting eco-innovation to adapt to the constantly changing environment and market pressures. We acknowledge the limitations of the study. We offer advice to colleagues when developing future futures studies to address the influence of cultural differences between FFs and non-FFs and suggest they perform comparative analyses. This research could lead to further investigation of the effects of other variables that may influence sustainability in the context of FFs.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristiana Sri Utami ◽  
Nany Noor Kurniyati

Creative industries including its subsector handicraft, is very potential to be developed, because Indonesia is rich in culture heritage. Creative industries is largely related to a group of micro , small and medium enterprises which are mostly located in rural areas . Industry has entered the era of globalization which is rapidly developed, so that the role of UKM (small&medium enterprises) in handicraft as a part of the creative industries to achieve welfare society should be developed. The appropriate strategic planning will spur the development of this industry. Mendong craft is one of the creative industry subsector that exists in Sleman. Methods of analysis is using value chain and SWOT analysis. From the data, it is found that mendong craft is a cultured asset that deserve to be developed. Mendong, as the material for the weaved craft is an abundant local natural asset, but a lack of interest from the local community to develop this industry brings less quantity of product that is produced. This craft is still less touched so that it has limitation in creation/ design, production,commerlialization, and distribution. The reality is that the entrepreneurs are afraid to enter the global marked caused by anxiousness about the inability to fulfill demanded quantity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Feriha Özdemir

As a powerful driver, small and medium enterprises (SME) has a huge contribution to the German economy. The shortage of skilled workers underlines an emerging and resilient German economy. However, the future prospects of SME depend on creative employees as key actors. Nevertheless, demographic change is perceptible so that the labour integration of resident immigrants becomes more important. But several studies investigated inequalities especially discrimination in the labour market intensifying brain drain. Social discrimination has great impact on the capabilities of people, particularly in labour. Disadvantages are exposed to a lack of opportunities with the result of a capability gap. Diversity management offers competitive advantages but is mostly a management tool of bigger enterprise performances. This paper will present a process of enabling and empowering management process of capabilities. It is presented by the example of the solution cycle which will be called a participatory process design contributing to the lack in the classic management of diversity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linh-Chi Vo ◽  
Karen Delchet-Cochet ◽  
Hakim Akeb

<p>Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has become an important and substantial area of study for quite a few years. In this literature, while so much research has shed light on what makes SMEs integrate CSR into their business strategy, the existing results regarding their economic, social, and environmental motives are contradictory. In this article, we aim at making a contribution by conducting an integrative study. More specifically, we compare the roles of economic, social, and environmental motives in driving SMEs to make CSR become an integral part of their strategic planning and routine operational performance. Our sample includes 155 French SMEs.</p>


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