Sustainable Practices in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ecuador

Paúl Sarango-Lalangui, José Álvarez-García and María De la Cruz Del Río-Rama
Additional contact information
Paúl Sarango-Lalangui: Department of Business Science, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Loja 11-01-608, Ecuador
José Álvarez-García: Financial Economy and Accounting Department, Faculty of Finance, Business and Tourism, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
María De la Cruz Del Río-Rama: Business Organisation and Marketing Department, Faculty of Business Administration and Tourism, University of Vigo, 32004 Ourense, Spain
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Paul Sarango_Lalangui ()

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: sustainability; Triple Bottom Line; ethos indicators; SMEs; Ecuador (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2105/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2105/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:2105-:d:153491

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().