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Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises

Richard M. Crossley, Mohamed Elmagrhi Orcid Logo, Collins G. Ntim

Business Strategy and the Environment, Volume: 30, Issue: 8, Pages: 1 - 45

Swansea University Author: Mohamed Elmagrhi Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/bse.2837

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify and gain insights into small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) rationales (‘why’) for engaging in sustainable social and environmental practices (SEPs) that influence social and environmental policy and sustainability changes. Specifically, we depart from the...

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Published in: Business Strategy and the Environment
ISSN: 0964-4733 1099-0836
Published: Wiley 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56886
first_indexed 2021-05-17T14:24:40Z
last_indexed 2022-01-05T04:24:02Z
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spelling 2022-01-04T15:11:00.4276967 v2 56886 2021-05-17 Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises 4def956b7e2d996ad0bfbfcb710b7ef6 0000-0003-3803-8496 Mohamed Elmagrhi Mohamed Elmagrhi true false 2021-05-17 CBAE The aim of this paper is to identify and gain insights into small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) rationales (‘why’) for engaging in sustainable social and environmental practices (SEPs) that influence social and environmental policy and sustainability changes. Specifically, we depart from the predominately quantitative-orientated SEPs literature by conducting in-depth interviews and analysis of owners and managers of SMEs in the UK within a legitimacy theoretical framework. Our findings from a comprehensive number of interviewees show that SMEs employ a complex mix of both symbolic and substantive SEPs with the aim of enhancing the legitimacy and sustainability of their operations. The results emphasise the strengths of social engagement, reputation and image, environmental embeddedness, industry differentiation and education facilitators. In particular, the paper shows that legitimating strategies can have a dual purpose of being symbolic in nature, but also inferring a substantive legitimacy claim. Evidence of SMEs maintaining their legitimacy position stretches further via either a moral and/or a pragmatic standpoint. Journal Article Business Strategy and the Environment 30 8 1 45 Wiley 0964-4733 1099-0836 SMEs, social and environmental practices, environmental policy and sustainability, environmental performance, legitimacy theory, substantive and symbolic legitimation, UK. 28 5 2021 2021-05-28 10.1002/bse.2837 COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University 2022-01-04T15:11:00.4276967 2021-05-17T15:18:13.8115171 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Accounting and Finance Richard M. Crossley 1 Mohamed Elmagrhi 0000-0003-3803-8496 2 Collins G. Ntim 3 56886__20151__b293e20089994463874359881b5e647d.pdf 56886.pdf 2021-06-14T14:54:43.2880588 Output 4811331 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
spellingShingle Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
Mohamed Elmagrhi
title_short Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
title_full Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
title_fullStr Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
title_full_unstemmed Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
title_sort Sustainability and legitimacy theory: The case of sustainable social and environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises
author_id_str_mv 4def956b7e2d996ad0bfbfcb710b7ef6
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4def956b7e2d996ad0bfbfcb710b7ef6_***_Mohamed Elmagrhi
author Mohamed Elmagrhi
author2 Richard M. Crossley
Mohamed Elmagrhi
Collins G. Ntim
format Journal article
container_title Business Strategy and the Environment
container_volume 30
container_issue 8
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 0964-4733
1099-0836
doi_str_mv 10.1002/bse.2837
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Management - Accounting and Finance{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Accounting and Finance
document_store_str 1
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description The aim of this paper is to identify and gain insights into small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) rationales (‘why’) for engaging in sustainable social and environmental practices (SEPs) that influence social and environmental policy and sustainability changes. Specifically, we depart from the predominately quantitative-orientated SEPs literature by conducting in-depth interviews and analysis of owners and managers of SMEs in the UK within a legitimacy theoretical framework. Our findings from a comprehensive number of interviewees show that SMEs employ a complex mix of both symbolic and substantive SEPs with the aim of enhancing the legitimacy and sustainability of their operations. The results emphasise the strengths of social engagement, reputation and image, environmental embeddedness, industry differentiation and education facilitators. In particular, the paper shows that legitimating strategies can have a dual purpose of being symbolic in nature, but also inferring a substantive legitimacy claim. Evidence of SMEs maintaining their legitimacy position stretches further via either a moral and/or a pragmatic standpoint.
published_date 2021-05-28T20:01:52Z
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