SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SMES): A COMPARISON BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

摘要

The past two decades have seen an increase in response to environmental factors as being part of a company's strategy. The move towards environmentally friendly operations has been due to various factors including legislation, community, management, social awareness, and non-governmental organizations. SMEs are often slow to adapt to the changes and are still moving towards better environmental practices. This paper reviews available literature on the problems and the corresponding strategies as regards to SMEs. An important observation made is that there is substantial literature on sustainable practices followed in Europe. These works reflect results of case studies and observations made in SMEs that have implemented sustainable practices. The little literature that is available for the United States discusses only the theoretical framework related to implementing sustainable practices. This paper tries to research the reasons for lack of literature in the United States. Sustainability, SMEs, Environmental Practice, Europe, United States