Clusters Go Green: Drivers of Environmental Sustainability in Local Networks of SMEs

Coupling Economic And Environmental Sustainability: The Role Of Eco-Clusters

Literature on green strategies emphasizes the relevance of enlarging the green approach beyond firms’ boundaries to include other economic players, such as the supply chain (e.g., Seuring & Müller, 2008). Since sustainability strategy usually requires a transformation in the inputs used for products or processes, as well as reorganization of the way the firm approaches manufacturing and sales processes, firms have also to develop a new “green” approach to supply chain management (SCM). In this perspective, research emphasizes how the management of environmental-related processes cannot be limited to the firms’ boundaries. Rather, it has also to include suppliers as key partners in the achievement of sustainability. Crucial SCM activities, such as supplier selection and monitoring, become even more important whenever the environment is concerned. Another related stream of studies focuses on value chains, which are able to include multiple players in the process of value creation based on green options in an industry-based framework (Jeppesen & Hansen, 2004).