Who Influence the Environmental Adaptation Process of Small and Medium Sized Textile and Garment Companies in Vietnam?

Abstract

The pressure on Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies to adapt their production and management systems to meet global industrial environmental standards is enormous. Yet an effective way to help SMEs overcome these challenges is not reported. This chapter argues that identifying key stakeholders involved in the adaptation process is a first important step to fill this gap in knowledge. It uses the Stakeholder Theory to analyse interviews with government officials, non-government organizations and enterprises to answer the fundamental question of “who are the key actors influencing the environmental adaptation process at textile and garment SMEs in Vietnam”. Customers and company managers are found to be the most important actors, of which customers have more influence over the decision-making and managers have more influence over the implementation. These findings have important implications for the development of environmental adaptation strategies for the textile and garment sector in Vietnam in particular, and in developing countries in general.