Exploring corporate sustainability in small and medium enterprises.

• Main Authors: Lau, Seo Wang., Ng, Tin Yau., Goh, Kendrick Tat Ming.
• Other Authors: Arthur Lee Gilbert
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::Management::Social responsibility
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/48390
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Corporate Sustainability is gaining prominence globally and therefore it is important for us to evaluate the state of sustainability in Singapore corporations. This paper aims to analyse, through an exploratory research, how much and why Singapore businesses may lag in the adoption of sustainability management practices. We use a statistical approach to determine that Singapore listed corporations adopt sustainable practices less comprehensively than global sustainability leaders do, and that Singapore small and medium enterprises lag Singapore listed corporations in sustainable practices. We use a qualitative approach to identify possible major drivers towards and barriers to the adoption of sustainable practices by small and medium enterprises. We identify the major driver as customer requirements. We identify major challenges across all businesses as a narrow definition of sustainability, low prioritisation of sustainability, a lack of awareness and perceived inadequacy of incentives provided by the Singapore Government, and insufficient resources. Two other barriers specific to the retail industry are the perceived unwillingness of consumers to pay a premium for ethical products and the low margins in some businesses.