Managing Environmental Risk in Small Business: an Agenda for Research

In recent times the call for corporate social responsibility has become louder and protecting the environment is one aspect for organisations to address if they are to behave in a socially responsible manner. Environmental management is a continuous process but those businesses that develop and implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) reap long-term sustainable competitive advantage. ISO 14001, the international standard that specifies the requirements for a firm's environmental management system, is examined in this paper and in particular the research on the costs and benefits of this standard for small business is addressed. The lack of available Australian research on this issue in relation to small business leads to a recommendation for research and an agenda for pursuing that research.