What would be the advantages if only SMEs existed in our planet?
Lets try to imagine a world where big companies were not available but only small and medium enterprises.
Here are the possible facts of this scenario:
The predominant SMEs in this case would hold: an extensive local knowledge of resources, supply and customer purchasing patterns, due their closer link.
They would be able to attend market niches widely, be highly adaptable and fast changers. Most importantly we could assume that these SMEs would not cause the environment negative externalities that large corporation, as we know, cause because of the extension of their operations and impacts are smaller.
However we do not have to wonder about this hypothesis, because this is the reality. Small Medium Enterprises account in fact for over 90% of firms in the world, for an instance in OECD countries this figure reaches 95% of economic activity being generated by small and medium companies.
Nevertheless the assumption that SMEs could cause less externality is totally wrong. It came to my surprise to know that SMEs collectively accounts for 80% of pollution generated by business activities worldwide. But at individual level small and medium enterprises, in most cases, does not take into consideration socio, economic and environment impact it creates neither have sustainability operational strategy incorporated into the business model for the short and long term.
But from realising the dimension and importance that SMEs have on the sustainability of our planet and its role as economic driver in most countries, can make us to conclude that, having incorporated responsible values and accountable actions towards the planet triple bottom line sustainability on small and medium enterprises, extreme necessary.
Nonetheless, SMEs usual characteristics of being highly adaptable, flexible and closer to its suppliers and customers equip them with an excellent ability to think out of the box and integrate sustainability into their business beliefs and consequently inside its products and services.
But, one important question that may take a while to be answer is “How long it will take for this shift to happen broadly for SMEs on worldwide scale?”
Will customer supply chain compliance standards requirement and some society pressure be enough to make it happen in the near future…?
1 comentario /
30 Apr 2012
por
Patricia Perez Costa
IMSD /
.png)
].gif)
.png){kind=logo}
].png)
].png)
].png)
].png)
.png){kind=logo}
].png)
.png){kind=logo}
