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Stakeholders pressure, SMEs characteristics and environmental management in Ghana

Stakeholders pressure, SMEs characteristics and environmental management in Ghana
Stakeholders pressure, SMEs characteristics and environmental management in Ghana

We investigate the role of stakeholders and SMEs characteristics on the extent of environmental management (EM) (natural environment) and their effect on different dimensions of environmental management practices (EMPs) (energy, water, waste, materials, pollution, and biodiversity) in Ghana. Studies examining the simultaneous effect of firm-specific characteristics and external motivators on EM and across different dimensions of EMPs are limited particularly among SMEs. We analyzed a sample of 238 manufacturing and services sector SMEs. The results suggest that primary stakeholder pressure, industry and size are significantly associated with the extent of EM. However, secondary stakeholders' pressure, firm age, and ownership type are not significant. When we dis-entangled EM into different EMPs, the results suggest that stakeholders and SMEs characteristics have different impact depending on the EMPs. The study contributes by providing evidence that the two main theoretical frameworks we relied upon in this study (stakeholder and legitimacy) can only explain why some stakeholders and SMEs characteristics are associated with EM and certain EMPs. The findings also have policy implications for equipping secondary stakeholders to have the desired influence on SMEs environmental management.

Environmental management practices, Firm-specific characteristics and external factors, Ghana, Legitimacy and stakeholder theories, SMEs
0827-6331
Ahinful, Gabriel Sam
a589cb32-b6e2-4d47-b539-5a4fa3ccd32f
Tauringana, Ven
27634458-b041-4bc1-94da-3e031d777e4f
Essuman, Dominic
3fcbb1ad-2f78-4da2-9f78-0a71f9ac9e75
Boakye, Jeff Danquah
b8ecffd1-45c4-4be9-8589-d8d1effc03c8
Sha'ven, Widin Bongasu
971403a4-399f-4f93-ae6d-1e8a0b7522c3
Ahinful, Gabriel Sam
a589cb32-b6e2-4d47-b539-5a4fa3ccd32f
Tauringana, Ven
27634458-b041-4bc1-94da-3e031d777e4f
Essuman, Dominic
3fcbb1ad-2f78-4da2-9f78-0a71f9ac9e75
Boakye, Jeff Danquah
b8ecffd1-45c4-4be9-8589-d8d1effc03c8
Sha'ven, Widin Bongasu
971403a4-399f-4f93-ae6d-1e8a0b7522c3

Ahinful, Gabriel Sam, Tauringana, Ven, Essuman, Dominic, Boakye, Jeff Danquah and Sha'ven, Widin Bongasu (2019) Stakeholders pressure, SMEs characteristics and environmental management in Ghana. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (doi:10.1080/08276331.2018.1545890).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We investigate the role of stakeholders and SMEs characteristics on the extent of environmental management (EM) (natural environment) and their effect on different dimensions of environmental management practices (EMPs) (energy, water, waste, materials, pollution, and biodiversity) in Ghana. Studies examining the simultaneous effect of firm-specific characteristics and external motivators on EM and across different dimensions of EMPs are limited particularly among SMEs. We analyzed a sample of 238 manufacturing and services sector SMEs. The results suggest that primary stakeholder pressure, industry and size are significantly associated with the extent of EM. However, secondary stakeholders' pressure, firm age, and ownership type are not significant. When we dis-entangled EM into different EMPs, the results suggest that stakeholders and SMEs characteristics have different impact depending on the EMPs. The study contributes by providing evidence that the two main theoretical frameworks we relied upon in this study (stakeholder and legitimacy) can only explain why some stakeholders and SMEs characteristics are associated with EM and certain EMPs. The findings also have policy implications for equipping secondary stakeholders to have the desired influence on SMEs environmental management.

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Ahinful et al 2018 - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 11 October 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 January 2019
Keywords: Environmental management practices, Firm-specific characteristics and external factors, Ghana, Legitimacy and stakeholder theories, SMEs

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 428447
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428447
ISSN: 0827-6331
PURE UUID: 4f2fb489-2a70-4512-9185-a7f86cd37969
ORCID for Ven Tauringana: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1433-324X

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Date deposited: 27 Feb 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:37

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Contributors

Author: Gabriel Sam Ahinful
Author: Ven Tauringana ORCID iD
Author: Dominic Essuman
Author: Jeff Danquah Boakye
Author: Widin Bongasu Sha'ven

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