Hello Manvendra,

The of the management strategies are formulated based on the goals. The small business must have clear goals, and based on the goals; they will be able to formulate sustainable management strategies. Yes, green innovation is part of the sustainable management strategy. The reporting is a burden for small businesses. The focus of the small business should be mostly on achieving the business goals through sustainable management strategies. The reporting requires time and money. Please find the attached short working paper for your review.

Regards,

Mohammed 

Working Paper Sustainability is the Way of Life

@Mohammed R Ahmed. Thanks Sir

Dear Manvendra,

Strategy and strategic goals are not the same concept. I think that first and foremost you should identify the strategic objectives of small business. And then consider strategies to achieve them.

Regards,

Pavel

Literature review does help, at the same time speaking with a small business owner is much more enlightening. I am trying to respond based on my research and my own experience of being an entrepreneur earlier.

1. Most important is managing the cash flow. Day to day cash management has to be proper, otherwise the firm does not survive. 

2. Looking out for resources or resource combinations (without much innovation) which reduce cost. If we notice the resources used by small business are always cheaper (ex: they pay less to human resources, Buy from remote unknown good suppliers at cheaper price) 

3. Scale up as quickly as possible, otherwise the competition from the bottom catches up.

4. Since Small business cant afford complex reporting process or structure, have trusted people in key areas, and closely monitor them.

All other strategies can be used by small or large organizations, immaterial of sizes. 

Thank you.

@Pavel Mikhnenko, Strategic goals for MSMEs are application of sustainability practices.

What are the sustainable management strategies for small firms in developing economies

Agreed with other scholars' comments that management strategies of a firm are dependent on its corporate / strategic goals / objectives.  There should be an alignment / strategic fit between the two.

On ICT front, perhaps the small firms can start off or migrate to use cloud computing which is based on on-demand usage, chargeback to each business units, pay per use Opex etc.  Opex is important especially for small firms as they can enjoy high end ICT infra & apps in day 1 but pay as they go without incurring out front one-off high Capex.

Secondly, by leveraging on ICT & smaller organizational size, small firms can make their organizational structure becomes flatter so that there is lesser distortion & faster speed of top-down communications as well as actions being taken by the entire firm more synchronously.  This can make the firm becomes more nimble, agile & faster speed to market & more responsive to market changes.

Last but not least, smaller firms might not have the huge resources as their larger counterparts, hence, they need develop & offer low cost or differentiated products / services for certain niche market.

Dear Manvendra,

unfortunately I could not understand the matter of your last answer to me.

What do you mean at "Strategic goals for MSMEs are application of sustainability practices"? I agree with you. But I mean that Strategic goals and Strategies are not the same. So management must choose realistic goals and elaborate adequate Strategies.

Regards,

Pavel.

Sustainability is a concept, where a symbiotic relationship is built up among human being, machine and environment. The prerequisite for this is synchronization of  economic, social and environmental aspects. Green supply chain, green manufacturing, green products and circular economy are certainly part of  corporate sustainability strategy.

Hello Manvendra pratap Singh

please check resources apart from above

There is a need for proper understanding of the term sustainable development and there are differing views of what constitutes sustainable development. If we adopt the view below for arguments sake, then strategies can be formulated that answers to today’s problems while making room for tomorrow’s issues:

“…..adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future” (World Commission on Environment and Development).

That being said, it is important to stress that a single enterprise cannot achieve sustainable development (in isolation). Sustainable development rather is a pervasive philosophy to which every participant in the global economy- consumers and government alike- need to subscribe to, if today’s needs must be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.

Therefore management needs to incorporate the concept of sustainable development into their policies and processes and adhere to sustainable development principles. This does not require the invention of new management methods. Rather, it requires a new cultural orientation and extensive refinements of systems, practices and procedures in two main areas of the management system:

• A greater accountability to non-traditional stakeholders;

• Continuous improvement of reporting practices.

See the following links and I hope you will find them useful:

http://www.oecd.org/cfe/smes/31919278.pdf

https://www.kit.nl/sed/wp-content/uploads/publications/5631def334290_SEED-policy-report-final.pdf

Thanks and have a great day

A small business owner can build on what he starts with. An interesting contemporary perspective for a small business owner is as a co-creator of opportunities, and thus creating value for the business venture. The effectuation theory (S. Sarasvathy) of entrepreneurship is based on this principle: Who-I-am; What-I-know; Whom-I-know.

For a developing economy, as the venture owner creates business value, this circle of "Who-I-am; What-I-know; Whom-I-know" will expand, and contribute to venture performance. 

You could go through the following paper:

Read, S., Song, M. & Smit, W. (2009). A meta-analytic review of effectuation and venture performance. Journal of Business Venturing, 24, 573-587.

Explore papers on social, ethical and legal responsibility practices of SMEs. 

Note that sustainable management strategies are not only by looking inward and exploring internal organisational capabilities in production and marketing as your items seem, they include having in place good external organisational capabilities that may be tied to being socially responsible to the community, ethically responsible by taking actions to reduce your negative impact on the community and legally responsible by ensuring you pay your rate/taxes where applicable.

I find Hart & Milstein (2003) a good place to start. They argue that sustainable development (or sustainability in general) are multifaceted, involving economic, social, and environmental concerns unfortunately most practitioners tend to approach it s a one-dimensional nuisance. They assert that a number of managers, view it as a moral mandate while for others is it merely a legal requirement and a third group view it as a cost of doing business, to maintain legitimacy and right to operate. More progressive managers frame it as a business opportunity. I find their two by two matrix of ‘The Many faces of Shareholders’ Value’ or see Hart & Milstein (2003: 58) figure 1 ‘Key Dimensions of Shareholders’ Value’ particularly helpful in terms of exploring the question of the sustainable management strategies for small firms in developing economies. Some of the broad topics suggested are clean technology, BOP, Pollution prevention and product stewardship.

Reference:

Hart, S. L., & Milstein, M. B. (2003). Creating sustainable value. The Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), 56-67.

You may find their presentation on the link below insightful.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30254014/creating_sustainable_value.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1479016397&Signature=gCc%2BSPMRMLexVx3QfqJHLFT6KD8%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DCreating_sustainable_value.pdf

Hi,

Sustainable management strategies are to be focused on the economy, environment, society and good governance. All these strategies need to be well developed on a short, medium and long term basis. Moreover, for the successful implementation of sustainable management strategies, it is essential that there are on-going and timely evaluation and monitoring. Also, the monitoring exercises have to be based on well defined indicators that would indicate progress being made. It is also important that the strategies be reviewed and continually improved so as to be able to fully have positive impacts on the economy, environment, society and governance. Depending on the nature of the SMEs, a number of strategies may be easily implemented, for instance, the most easiest and common being the use of renewable energies to produce goods.

Hi,

there is a report coming up soon. Check the sneak peak under the following link.

Good luck,

http://nbs.net/knowledge/nbs-sa-research-on-innovative-business-models/

@Maya @Yashna @Harshvardhan @Norma @Mita @Pavel  @Dr. Bridget @Jaharkanti @Han Ping Fung Thanks you all for wonderful suggestions and research material.

Attached please find a paper on business plans suitable for SMEs.

I agree with Norma Juma. Additionally, please refer to the links below.

Regards

SM Najim

http://www.oecd.org/cfe/smes/31919278.pdf

https://www.iisd.org/business/pdf/business_strategy.pdf

https://www.unido.org/uploads/tx_templavoila/Effective_policies_for_small_business.pdf

http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/295/sustainability-is-it-a-good-choice-for-small-companies

http://www.cerfe.org/public/UNIDO-CSR.pdf

https://medium.com/@sskohnng/sustainable-management-strategies-for-small-firms-in-developing-economies-16fb600f5eed