The collaborative roles of stakeholders in supporting the adoption of sustainability in SMEs

There is growing concern among governments around the world about the need to enhance the social and environmental performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), seen as key actors in efforts to achieve national sustainability goals. However, despite efforts made to promote their role in this area, SMEs still struggle to integrate social and environmental concerns into their business practices. Barriers that impede the integration of sustainable development in SMEs include a limited awareness of the impacts and benefits associated with sustainability, a lack of time and resources, and a lack of skills and expertise. The aims of this study are to examine the key collaborative roles that a range of stakeholders can play to support sustainability adoption in SMEs and to understand how these roles contribute to overcoming barriers to adoption. Building on thirteen case studies, this study found that stakeholders play five different and complementary collaborative roles in supporting sustainability practices within SMEs, namely that of trainer, analyst, coordinator, specialist, and financial provider. The study shows that these five roles can be performed by a wide range of local stakeholders and can contribute to overcoming different barriers to the integration of sustainability practices within SMEs. These findings demonstrate that one key way for governments to improve the sustainability performance of SMEs may be to facilitate and shape the development of stakeholder networks capable of performing these five critical roles as part of efforts to promote sustainability adoption within firms.