UK small firms and their response to environmental issues

Researchers
Professor Robert Blachburn (PhD)
Andrea Revell

Institution
The Small Business Research Centre
Kingston University

Summary of Project
Project Update
Researcher Profiles
Researcher Contact Details
Publications
Annual progress report - 2003 (pdf format)

Summary

This research explores the significance of scale in understanding the environmental behaviour of business. The study seeks to explore small firm responses to growing environmental pressures from markets and state regulations. The relevance of 'ecological modernisation' (EM) theory as an analytical framework for understanding the environmental practices of UK small firms will be examined. Data collection will mainly involve face to face interviews with key stakeholders and 40 small firms in two sectors and in two geographical locations.

The study will make a timely conceptual contribution to the business and environment literature by providing a broad theoretical understanding of environmental reform amongst small firms, an area that has attracted little attention from scholars despite the sector's pivotal role in the UK economy. In doing so it will generate a rich agenda for further enquiry. The findings will inform policy makers of the kinds of policy approaches that might persuade small business owners to change their environmental behaviour and contribute to the sustainable development of society.

Background
A central tenet of EM theory is that we have entered a new industrial era, one of radical restructuring of industrial processes along ecological lines. The 'greening' of industry is seen to be encouraged by a market economy and is facilitated by an enabling, decentralised and participatory state which seeks to create partnerships with industry to protect the environment as well as ensure economic growth. Due to certain kinds of reform (entailing a heavy emphasis on technological innovations and market-based incentives), it is argued that both economic and environmental gains have been made in some industrialised nations, providing evidence that economic growth can be de-linked from environmental degradation.

If ecological restructuring of the UK market place is indeed taking place as EM theory suggests, theoretically this should be reflected in the practices of small firm owners given that they make up over 99% of enterprises (SBS, 2002).

The following core tenets of EM theory (as described by Mol, 1998) are of particular interest in relation to UK small firms:

• The increasing importance of market dynamics and economic agents in ecological restructuring. Can UK small firms be considered key economic agents in processes of ecological restructuring?
• Changing discursive practices and emerging ideologies. Are owner-managers increasingly seeing economic and environmental interests as harmonious?
• Transformations in the role of the state. Do environmental policy networks in the UK include small firms as part of a more participatory, enabling approach to policy making? Regrettably, the environmental behaviour of small firms continues to be an under-researched area of inquiry, heightening the importance of this research. Key research questions The research aims to explore whether:

1. Owner-managers of small firms perceive themselves to be ecologically restructuring, such as increasing resource/energy efficiency, minimising waste and pollution
2. Small firms perceive market pressures (eg supply chain, competitive pressures, consumer demand) and/or environmental regulations to be encouraging ecological restructuring within their sectors
3. The ideologies of small firm owners are increasingly exhibiting the view that economic and environmental interests are harmonious
4. Environmental policy networks are becoming increasingly participatory with regards to the small firm sector.
5. There are sectoral differences amongst SMEs with regard to the above issues

Research Approach
A two stage methodology will be conducted:

Stage 1
10 in-depth interviews with 'key informants' drawn from government, chambers of commerce and industry, trade associations and other representative bodies.

Stage 2
40 in-depth interviews with small firm owner-managers from the construction and retail sectors in London and Leeds.

A qualitative methodology has been chosen so that the perceptions of respondents can be discussed in depth, enabling a richer understanding of the issues.

Key informant interviews in Stage 1 will help to build a detailed picture of the environmental policy context in the UK and how it relates to small firms in the construction and retail sectors. The findings from this stage will also inform the interview schedule of the next stage.

London and Leeds are the chosen catchment areas in order to highlight any regional differences that might exist within the small firm sector. It is assumed that the environmental practices of small firms are heavily conditioned by the industry sub-culture in which they operate, in line with other inter-industry differences between small firms (Curran and Blackburn, 1994). As key sectors of the economy, the construction and retail industries have been selected because they both have potentially large 'ecological footprints' and because of the focus on recent sustainability initiatives within these sectors by government. Both industries also have a predominance of smaller enterprises which provide a suitable basis for the development of industry case studies.

Intended Outcomes
The outcomes of this research will be of interest to both academic and practitioner audiences. The research will:

1. Contribute to the academic literature with a focus on both ecological modernisation theory and small firm management
2. Provide recommendations and key issues for policy attention on the environmental behaviour of small firms
3. Suggest appropriate channels for policy to reach small firm audiences
4. Present results to government lead bodies, industry organisations in the small firm, construction and retail sectors, as well as to environmental interest groups
5. Provide a platform for subsequent research on changing the environmental behaviour of business

References
Curran, J and Blackburn, R (1994) Small Firms and Local Economic Networks, Paul Chapman, London

Mol, P. J (1998) 'Ecological Modernisation Theory in debate: a review', paper presented at the 14th World Congress of Sociology, Montreal, July

Small Business Service, (2002) Press release: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Statistics for 2001 in the UK, http://www.sbs.gov.uk

Project Update

The Project Update is available as a pdf.

Researchers

Professor Robert Blackburn (PhD)
Professor Robert Blackburn (PhD) is Director of Research of Kingston Business School, HSBC Professor of Small Business Studies and Director of the Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University. His academic interests span the social sciences including sociological, regional and economic analyses of small firms. His academic output is prolific and he is editor of the International Small Business Journal (Sage publications). His latest book (with co-author James Curran) is entitled Researching the Small Enterprise (Sage, 2001). An edited book, based on research from the ESRC's Intellectual Property Initiative, Intellectual Property and Innovation Management in Small Firms (Routledge) is due for publication in 2003.

Contact Details

For further information about this project please contact Andrea Revell.

Professor Robert Blackburn
Director

Andrea Revell
Researcher

The Small Business Research Centre
Kingston University
Kingston Hill
Kingston Upon Thames
Surrey KT2 7LB

Publications

SMEs and Their Response to Environmental Issues in the UK (pdf)
July 2004

SMEs and Their Response to Environmental Issues in the UK (executive summary) (pdf)
July 2004

Progress Report (pdf)
September 2003

The Ecological Modernisation of Small Firms in the UK (pdf)
September 2003