Many scholars have emphasized the importance of sustainability management in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Although various publications discuss different approaches and potential barriers of implementation, a review of the existing research on sustainability management tools for SMEs is nonetheless missing. Based on a systematic review of the academic literature, this paper discusses reasons why SMEs should implement sustainability management tools. A further analysis reveals that most such tools are perceived to have little to no implementation in SMEs. The main implementation barriers and facilitating criteria are discussed. In addition, implications for future research, SME management, and public policy are drawn.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the academic literature on sustainability performance measurement for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) published over the past 20 years. The development and current state of instruments, concepts and systems to measure and manage sustainability performance are examined and research gaps are identified. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review is conducted spanning two decades of publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. The publications are analyzed with regard to frequency and bibliometrical metrics and research content. Findings – The research examines the development of the field over 20 years, which has witnessed a steep rise in related publications only for the past five years, indicating a late interest in the area compared to other sustainability topics. Social performance measures entered the discussion particularly late, whereas economic and environmental measurement almost exclusively dominated the field for the first few years. Research limitations/implications – The authors identify research gaps and discuss future directions for research. The analysis shows how the research area develops from a topic dealt with by a small group of interested researchers into a broader research field acknowledged in the scientific community. Practical implications – Findings underline the importance of measuring performance for sustainability management of supply chains. The review identifies what measurement and management tools are discussed in the literature over time. Originality/value – This is the first literature review on sustainability performance measurement for SSCM summarizing the development over the time span of 20 years.

With the intention of integrating environmental and social practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a growing body of research proposes the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental management tools. Collectively referred to as sustainability management tools in this paper, voluntary management approaches range from environmental and social audits, indicators, and management systems, to reporting schemes and stakeholder dialogues. While the adoption of such management tools in SMEs has been increasingly anticipated in the academic literature, the rates of awareness and implementation for these management tools are missing. Furthermore, the connections between awareness and implementation remain underresearched. Using a framework for innovation diffusion, the results from a web-based survey with 176 German SME managers investigate these connections. Rogers' model is particularly useful to identify managerial and organizational characteristics that might explain why particular SMEs are more likely to adopt sustainability management tools.The survey produced 176 completed questionnaires from the original 1000 surveys e-mailed. From the total sample, 68 responding managers (38.6%) are employed in small enterprises and 108 managers (61.4%) belong to mediumsized enterprises. The response rate of 17.6% is comparable with other quantitative surveys with similar research objectives in SMEs (Graafland et al., 2003;Gadenne et al., 2009;Brammer et al., 2012). It provides a solid basis 276M. Johnson

Implementing corporate sustainability strategies requires knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. While much progress has been made in developing such tools in both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies, the literature claims company size positively affects application. However, the role of knowledge as a mediating factor has not yet been investigated. Using the knowledge-based view as a theoretical underpinning, this paper draws on empirical survey data from SMEs and large companies in Germany. It analyzes how company size affects the degree of knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. Even though the results reaffirm that SMEs know and apply significantly less tools, company size does not influence the share of tools applied once they are known. Thus, knowledge is identified as a key difference between SMEs and large companies as well as an important mediator to promote sustainability management.sector-specific tools for both large enterprises and SMEs seems appropriate. Further developments should consider the applicability and access to information concering tools in SMEs. Such tools tailored to small businesses are relatively scarce and only little SME-specific information is available to support implementation of sustainability management. 776J. Hörisch et al.

Entrepreneurship for sustainable development is a multilevel phenomenon connecting social, environmental and economic dimensions between entrepreneurial processes, market transformations, as well as large-scale societal developments. While previous articles on social, environmental, and sustainable entrepreneurship have advanced our understanding on processes of discovery, creation, and exploitation of sustainability-oriented opportunities, the links between contextual influences on venture development and transformational outcomes at multiple levels are only partially captured in extant frameworks. Drawing out causal mechanisms with a systematic review, this article proposes a multilevel framework for linking mechanisms in existing literature and proposing future research on entrepreneurship for sustainable development.

Corporate carbon performance (CCP) has become a central topic in political, financial, and academic domains. At the same time, several characteristics of CCP data, including comparability and consistency, remain unresolved. The literature has extensively covered issues regarding the comparability of CCP data from a firm‐internal perspective. However, it has not yet examined the consistency of CCP data between third‐party data providers. This article investigates the degree of CCP data consistency between third‐party providers according to three dimensions: scope (i.e., direct and indirect emissions), scheme (i.e., mandatory and voluntary reporting schemes), and source (i.e., data stemming from corporate reports and from third‐party estimation methods). The results reveal that data on direct emissions are more consistent than data on indirect emissions, and they are especially inconsistent for Scope 3. Second, mandatory and voluntary reporting schemes do not substantially improve the consistency of CCP data, which is surprising. Third, third‐party estimations are less consistent as compared to data stemming directly from corporate reports; however, the combination of Scopes 1 and 2 third‐party estimated data raises consistency levels. On the basis of these results, we conclude the following key implications: academic researchers must be mindful of the consistency of CCP data, because it can significantly affect empirical results, corporate management should avoid situations where different CCP data are communicated externally, investors should engage firms to follow a standardized approach, data providers should increase the transparency about their estimation methods, and policy makers need to be aware of the importance of a sound and standardized methodology to determine CCP.

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