Antecedents of environmentally friendly manufacturing practices among SMEs in Africa: evidence from Uganda

Abstract

Environmental management is increasingly becoming an important topic of discussion in the business world today. Stakeholders as well as policymakers are demanding more accountability from companies in relation to their effects on the environment. In fact, putting the environment at the heart of a company’s marketing drive has become a popular strategy as companies search for ways to achieve competitive advantages in the currently dynamic business landscape. This paper addresses these issues in a rarely studied context. Specifically, it documents empirical evidence on the nature of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopting environmentally friendly manufacturing practices in a developing-country context where firms have a weak resource base and operate in a poor regulatory regime. By focusing on SMEs as opposed to the conventional focus on large corporations, and using a developing-country context, this paper attempts to contribute to extant literature by uncovering additional facets of the current topic with potential significant implications for business practice and public policy.