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Changing the Environmental Behaviour of Small Business Owners: The Business Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2015

Beth Walker  and
Janice Redmond
Beth Walker
Affiliation:
Business School, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Janice Redmond*
Affiliation:
School of Business, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Janice Redmond, School of Business, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The importance of the environment is something of a cracked record to many small business owners, as historically any calls to business to change or improve their practices or behaviours were from the ‘environmental’ or ‘green’ perspective, rather than from a business perspective. As a consequence, many small businesses have simply tuned out. This research sought to identify the impact of an education intervention program that encouraged better environmental management practices and provided practical assistance to the businesses. The research was designed to test the effectiveness of the program and record any changes that occurred in the businesses over the duration of the project. To measure changes, it included a pre- and post-intervention survey. Overall, there was an increased awareness in most of the businesses in regard to environmental issues. Participants from many of the businesses also expressed positive changes to both behaviours and attitudes to environmental issues. This demonstrated the value of the program, and also highlighted the challenge to engage small business, even when a business case is apparent, given the cost of implementing this type of intensive and personalised assistance.

Keywords

environmental managementSMEsenergy auditsbehaviour changecost saving
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , December 2014 , pp. 254 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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