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Barriers to sustainability for small and medium enterprises in the framework of sustainable development—Literature review

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  • Juanita Álvarez Jaramillo
  • Jhon Wilder Zartha Sossa
  • Gina Lía Orozco Mendoza

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze the barriers faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) when implementing initiatives for sustainable development. For this purpose, a search equation was designed, and the 50 highest cited articles from the search results in Scopus between years 2013 and 2017 were reviewed. The selected criteria for the article analysis were article name, article year, country, continent, journal, Scimago Journal Rank, Scimago Quartiles, Affiliated Universities, abstract, and keywords. Among the main results, 175 barriers to sustainability for SMEs were identified. The barriers that appeared most frequently were lack of resources, the high initial capital cost of implementing sustainability measures, and lack of expertise. At the end of the article, a proposal is included which shows the 175 identified barriers, classified by “sector,” “sustainability tool,” and “internal/external” which can aid in new qualitative and quantitative studies of barriers to sustainability in SMEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Juanita Álvarez Jaramillo & Jhon Wilder Zartha Sossa & Gina Lía Orozco Mendoza, 2019. "Barriers to sustainability for small and medium enterprises in the framework of sustainable development—Literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 512-524, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:28:y:2019:i:4:p:512-524
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2261
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    References listed on IDEAS

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