Orientation towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence on SMEs

[eng] In the last decade, entrepreneurship has been seen as a solution to social inequality and environmental degradation rather than a possible cause. This fact called academics' attention to develop a connection between traditional entrepreneurship, society, and the environment. They established a new type of entrepreneurial activity called sustainable entrepreneurship (SE). The (SE) basis is to preserve nature, sustain life, and the community is searching for perceived opportunities to create future products, processes, and services. According to the literature, SE is an emerging research trend that can be defined as the realisation of sustainable innovations aimed at the mass market and benefit most society. Therefore, (SE) makes a significant contribution to the transition to a sustainable economy. There are indications that a shift towards sustainable business strategies in which economic profit is essentially linked to social and ecological value is essential. For these reasons, the (SE) has received increasing importance from different actors, such as international institutions, companies and universities. A clear example was the development of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, approved in 2015 by the United Nations (UN), which provides a framework for collaboration at a global level to implement (SE) initiatives. This type of entrepreneur starts a business to serve both their interests and those of the community, addressing unmet social and environmental needs. Therefore, this phenomenon can be seen as a unique perspective that combines economic, social and environmental value with a general concern for the well-being of future generations. In this way, (SE) differs from conventional entrepreneurship in aspects related to the creation of value, highlighting among them the search for the following three aspects (1) economic value, (2) social value and (3) environmental value. Three academic contributions have been proposed to achieve the established aims, which constitute the relevant chapters of this doctoral thesis. This research is presented as a compendium of three contributions, each focused on achieving specific proposed aims under different methodological strategies. In the first contribution, an in-depth analysis was carried out using bibliometric techniques and instruments that made it possible to map the central (SE) academic literature and analyse the most substantial contributions to research in this field. The chronological analysis of the literature in the Web of Science-Social Sciences Citation Index (WoS-SSCI) database-up to January 2018- provides new knowledge, such as the most influential journals, authors and articles so far. This research reviews one of the most recognised databases, the Web of Science-Social Sciences Citation Index, having a chronological distribution of the publications that allows a systematic review of the scientific literature in the timeline. The study also shows the most outstanding journals and papers in the field. The largest number of articles published in (SE) are published in top journals such as the Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability, Business Strategy and the Environment Journal of Business Venturing. The second contribution is to analyse the influence that SMEs' sustainability competencies have on their social entrepreneurial orientation and the influence of this strategy on the company's performance (social and economic). This research focuses on measuring how the leader's sustainable competencies influence the social entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs and their outcomes. It is observed that the key competencies that leaders must form or develop in order for SMEs to have a social entrepreneurial orientation are focused on environmental and social practices based on four dimensions: System and thinking competence, normative competence, interpersonal competence and action competence. The third contribution is to find out whether small and medium enterprises in this country are involved in the adoption of sustainable practices and see whether there are significant differences in adoption according to size, sector, and age. Through an exploratory-descriptive study, the research made it possible to analyse the sustainability practices that SMEs in Ecuador include in their business management. Among the most important findings is that managers have an extremely positive and favourable attitude towards sustainability. Practices in economic sustainability have a medium-high implementation level. The main strengths are related to SMEs' social image and human rights; SMEs analysed show concern that their supplier enterprises should also act responsibly to convey the image of a responsible and reliable company. Finally, Ecuador's sustainability is quite relevant at the Government, the University and the Enterprises, which seek to involve, raise awareness. Support enterprises to manage their SMEs in a socially responsible way and become mobilisers of a more just and equitable society. For this reason, this research focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises in Ecuador which face immense sustainability problems and challenges. There is a clear need to build and monitor public policies that are based on evidence, such as indicators designed to monitor environmental dynamics and their interrelationships with social and productive dynamics

The development of sustainable entrepreneurship research field

Sustainable entrepreneurship has received substantial recognition from academics and practitioners in the last decade, with a noticeable and rapidly increases of publications on the topic. Through bibliometric techniques and tools, this study allows mapping the main academic literature on sustainable entrepreneurship and analyzes the most substantial contributions to the advances of research in this field. The chronological analysis of literature from the Web of Science-Social Sciences Citation Index (WoS-SSCI) database until January 2018 provides new insights not previously reviewed, such as the journals, authors and articles more influential so far. As a result, 282 articles were retrieved, which were published in 140 journals and written by 663 authors affiliated to 413 institutions, from 50 countries. The analysis allowed identifying publication evolution over time, and provides clues about the opportunities for future researc

Sustainable practices in small and medium-sized enterprises in Ecuador

Las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYME), así como las grandes empresas, generan impactos económicos, sociales y ambientales en su medio ambiente. Sin embargo, en el caso de este tipo de empresas, la acumulación de estos impactos es muy significativa en el entorno inmediato donde ofrecen sus productos y servicios. Esta discusión es particularmente relevante en Ecuador, donde el 99% de todas las empresas son PYME. El objetivo de esta investigación es descubrir si las pequeñas y medianas empresas de este país están involucradas en la adopción de prácticas sostenibles, así como ver si existen diferencias significativas en la adopción en función del tamaño, el sector y la edad. La metodología utilizada es la realización de un análisis descriptivo y la regresión de los datos obtenidos a través de un cuestionario estructurado (indicadores del Instituto Ethos de Brasil). Anteriormente, la fiabilidad del cuestionario se validaba mediante un análisis factorial exploratorio. La población objetivo consiste en 9843 empresas, obteniendo un tamaño de muestra de 188 encuestas válidas, lo que implica una tasa de respuesta del 2%, lo que representa un error de muestreo de ±7.08%. Los resultados obtenidos nos permitieron realizar un diagnóstico de sostenibilidad de las PYME en Ecuador, identificando las fortalezas y debilidades. Los gerentes tienen una actitud positiva y favorable hacia la sostenibilidad. Las prácticas consideradas muestran un nivel de implementación medio-alto de 79.71% en sostenibilidad económica, 82.28% en sostenibilidad social y 78.14% en sostenibilidad ambiental en las empresas consideradas en la muestra. Aunque estos porcentajes son significativos, hay muchas posibilidades de mejora.Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as larger enterprises, generate economic, social, and environmental impacts on their environment. However, in the case of these types of enterprises, the accumulation of these impacts is very significant in the immediate surroundings where they offer their products and services. This discussion is particularly relevant in Ecuador, where 99% of all enterprises are SMEs. The objective of this research is to find out if small and medium-sized enterprises in this country are involved in the adoption of sustainable practices as well as see if there are significant differences in adoption based on size, sector, and age. The methodology used is the performance of a descriptive analysis and regression of the data obtained through a structured questionnaire (indicators of the Ethos Institute of Brazil). Previously, the reliability of the questionnaire was validated through an exploratory factor analysis. The target population consists of 9843 enterprises, obtaining a sample size of 188 valid surveys, which implies a response rate of 2%, representing a sampling error of ±7.08%. The results obtained enabled us to perform a sustainability diagnosis of SMEs in Ecuador, identifying the strengths and weaknesses. The managers have a positive and favourable attitude towards sustainability. The practices considered show a medium-high implementation level of 79.71% in economic sustainability, 82.28% in social sustainability, and 78.14% in environmental sustainability in the enterprises considered in the sample. Although these percentages are significant, there is plenty of scope for improvement.peerReviewe

Leaders' sustainability competences and small and medium‐sized enterprises outcomes: the role of social entrepreneurial orientation

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGThe market for socially conscious products and services has grown exponentially in the last years. Consequently, adding social value is among the great challenges that companies have to face nowadays. In view of this, companies need leaders with a set of specific skills that prepares them to act and compete in this new environment. This is especially true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are even more dependent on their leaders' competences. The aim of this article is to analyse the influence of leaders' sustainability competences on the social entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs of the tourism sector, as well as the influence of this strategy on the firm's performance. The methodology used to validate the measurement scales is exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and the structural equation modelling technique is applied to analyse the causal relationships proposed in the model. The results show that sustainability competences positively affect social entrepreneurial orientation; specifically, the social risk-taking and proactivity competence has a positive influence on the economic and social performance of SMEs, and in particular, on their green innovation performance. These results highlight the key role that leaders' competences have in SMEs' social orientation and thus, the importance of training in competences for sustainable development

The development of sustainable entrepreneurship research field

Sustainable entrepreneurship has received substantial recognition from academics and practitioners in the last decade, with a noticeable and rapidly increases of publications on the topic. Through bibliometric techniques and tools, this study allows mapping the main academic literature on sustainable entrepreneurship and analyzes the most substantial contributions to the advances of research in this field. The chronological analysis of literature from the Web of Science-Social Sciences Citation Index (WoS-SSCI) database until January 2018 provides new insights not previously reviewed, such as the journals, authors and articles more influential so far. As a result, 282 articles were retrieved, which were published in 140 journals and written by 663 authors affiliated to 413 institutions, from 50 countries. The analysis allowed identifying publication evolution over time, and provides clues about the opportunities for future researc