Institutional Barriers and Facilitators of Sustainability for Indonesian Batik SMEs: A Policy Agenda

Arien Arianti Gunawan, Jose Bloemer, Allard Van Riel and Caroline Essers
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Arien Arianti Gunawan: Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Jose Bloemer: Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Caroline Essers: Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-25

Abstract: The implementation of sustainability-oriented practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been discussed frequently over the years. Recent studies on sustainability have focused mainly on links between ecological and economic sustainability. This exploratory study aims to explore institutional barriers and facilitators regarding the implementation of sustainability-oriented practices in the Indonesian batik industry and to provide policy recommendations. The Indonesian batik industry is well-known for its cultural heritage and for being part of the Indonesian identity. Batik products are mostly hand-crafted by women crafters. The study used in-depth insights from two focus groups conducted with entrepreneurs active in the batik industry, while also building on earlier empirical insights. The lack of customer knowledge and socio-cultural and regulatory factors were found to be barriers to sustainability in batik SMEs. Ecological, technological, socio-cultural, and political factors were found to facilitate achieving sustainability objectives. This study contributes to the sustainable entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship literature by considering facilitators and barriers as they are experienced by batik entrepreneurs and by furthering the conceptualization of sustainable entrepreneurs as either “committed” or “followers”.

Keywords: batik industry; policy recommendations; sustainable entrepreneurship; female entrepreneurs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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