Fostering Environmental Performance Management within Indian SMEs

Research and discussions on environmental sustainability of businesses generally focus on large corporations. Their environmental impacts are more likely to be noticed while small and medium enterprises (SME) are largely ignored. With a small scale of operations, SMEs are generally perceived to have less environmental impacts. However, as larger corporations outsource their manufacturing to SMEs the environmental burden shifts within their supply chain. This research was conducted within manufacturing SMEs in industrial markets (B2B) in Pune, India. In depth interviews with large and small firms helped develop the conceptual model and the questionnaire. Responses from 60 SMEs were analysed. The research identified factors like owner awareness, barriers and influencers to green practices and categorized environmental practices within product life cycle. The results showed that owners with high awareness levels had advanced environmental activities. The strength of barriers and influencers was established and the author makes recommendations based on these findings.