TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring the potential of SMEs to build individual, organizational, and community resilience through sustainability-oriented business practices

AU - DiBella, Jose

AU - Forrest, Nigel

AU - Burch, Sarah

AU - Rao-Williams, Jennifer

AU - Ninomiya, Scott Morton

AU - Hermelingmeier, Verena

AU - Chisholm, Kyra

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

N2 - Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can have significant resources, capacities, and influence in their communities, suggesting they have the potential to be agents for transformative sustainability. However, SMEs will need to move beyond firm-centered sustainable business practices towards strategic approaches that encompass and contribute to resilience-building processes. Amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, we explored what types of sustainable business practices of SMEs can contribute to individual, organizational, and community resilience. We identified six clusters of practice that are important in this regard. The clusters are not solely technical or “environmental” but rather illustrative of deeper sustainable values shaped by organizational structure, culture, and behavior. This paper suggests that SMEs can pursue transformative approaches to sustainability that are more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable and better able to withstand shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and can be significant contributors to community resilience. We conclude with a series of future research priorities critical to examine a largely unexplored nexus in the private sector, the linkages and dynamics between sustainability practice, resilience building, and broader community pathways.

AB - Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can have significant resources, capacities, and influence in their communities, suggesting they have the potential to be agents for transformative sustainability. However, SMEs will need to move beyond firm-centered sustainable business practices towards strategic approaches that encompass and contribute to resilience-building processes. Amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, we explored what types of sustainable business practices of SMEs can contribute to individual, organizational, and community resilience. We identified six clusters of practice that are important in this regard. The clusters are not solely technical or “environmental” but rather illustrative of deeper sustainable values shaped by organizational structure, culture, and behavior. This paper suggests that SMEs can pursue transformative approaches to sustainability that are more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable and better able to withstand shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and can be significant contributors to community resilience. We conclude with a series of future research priorities critical to examine a largely unexplored nexus in the private sector, the linkages and dynamics between sustainability practice, resilience building, and broader community pathways.

KW - business practices

KW - community

KW - organizational

KW - resilience

KW - SMEs

KW - strategy

KW - sustainability

KW - Transdisciplinary studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132136752&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8abfee15-1e59-3805-a0ce-f097466be19f/

U2 - 10.1002/bse.3171

DO - 10.1002/bse.3171

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85132136752

VL - 32

SP - 721

EP - 735

JO - Business Strategy and the Environment

JF - Business Strategy and the Environment

SN - 0964-4733

IS - 1

ER -