Abstract
Kelliher and Reinl discuss the links between economy and environment, before expanding on the concept of sustainable business development in the emerging green economy. The authors go on to focus on regional small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the approaches that can be taken by business, state, semi-state, education and community stakeholders to engage SMEs in the green economy. The chapter debates the value of green innovativeness, before offering an overview of an incumbent regional stakeholder engagement development programme. This green innovation and future technology (GIFT) programme pursues the potential up-skilling of regional SMEs’ green innovativeness via multidisciplinary cross-regional/national support structures and in doing so, assists in the development of the green economy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Cai, W., Wang, C., Chen, J. and Wang, S. 2011. Green economy and green jobs: myth or reality? The case of China’s power generation sector, Energy, 36, 5994–6003.
Cooke, P. and Leydesdorff, L. 2006. Regional development in the knowledge-based economy: the construction of advantage, Journal of Technology Transfer, 31, 5–15.
Cox, D., Gagliardi, D., Monfardini, E., Cuvelier, S., Vidal, D., Laibarra, B., Probst L., Schiersch, A. and Mattes, A. (Editors) 2013. A recovery on the horizon? Annual Report on European SMEs 2012/2013. European Commission, October.
Da Graça Carvalho, M., Bonifacio, M. and Dechamps, P. 2011. Building a low carbon society, Energy, 36, 1842–1847.
Döring, T. and Schnellenbach, J. 2006. What do we know about geographical knowledge spillovers and regional growth? A survey of the literature, Regional Studies, 40(3), 375–395.
Drda-Kȕhn, K. and Wiegand, D. 2010. From culture to cultural economic power: rural regional development in small German communities, Creative Industries Journal, 3(1), 89–96.
Dutta S, Narasimhan, O. and Rajiv S. 2005. Conceptualizing and measuring capabilities: methodology and empirical application, Strategic Management Journal, 26(3), 277–285.
European Commission, 2011 Observatory of European SMEs. [Internet] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figuresanalysis/index_en.html [Accessed 12 March 2014].
European Environment Agency. 2013. Towards a green economy in Europe: EU environmental policy targets and objectives 2010–2050. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, EEA Report No. 8/2013 [Accessed 12 March 2014].
Freel, M.S. 1999. Where are the skills gaps in innovative small firms? International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, 5(3), 144–154.
Ireland. 2011. A Framework for Sustainable Development for Ireland. Dublin: Department of the Environment, Community and Local Development, pp. 1–91. [Internet] Available at: http://www.environle/en/Publications/Environment/Miscellaneous/FileDownLoad,29081,en.pdf [Accessed 12 March 2014].
Kaufmann, A. and Tödtling, F. 2002. How effective is innovation support for SMEs? An analysis of the region of upper Austria, Technovation, 22(3), 147–159.
Kelliher, F. and Reinl, L. 2009. A resource-based view of micro-firm management practice, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 16(3), 521–532.
Kelliher, F., Aylward, E., Lynch, P., 2014, Exploring rural enterprise: the impact of regional stakeholder engagement on collaborative rural networks. C. Henry & G. McElwee (eds) Exploring Rural Enterprise: New Perspectives on research, policy and practice, London: Routledge.
Kucera, D. 2009. Green economy and green jobs: myth or reality? Sustainable Development: A Challenge for European Research Conference Proceedings, 26–28 May, Brussels.
Lado, A.A. and Wilson, M.C. 1994. Human resource systems and sustained competitive advantage: a competency-based perspective, Academy of Management Review, 19(4), 699–727
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. 1991. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
OECD. 2009. Sustainable Manufacturing and Eco-Innovation: Towards a Green Economy, Policy Brief, June.
Pearce, D., Markandya, A. and Barbier, E. 1989. Blueprint for A Green Economy. London: Earthscan Publications.
Renner, M., Sweeney, S. and Kubit, J. 2008. Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low Carbon World, Digest of Green Reports and Studies, United Nations Environment Programme.
Rice, G.H. and Hamilton, R.E. 1979. Decision theory and the small businessman, American Journal of Small Business, 6(4), 1–9.
Santoro, M.D. and Chakrabarti, A.K. 2002. Firm size and technology centrality in industry-university interactions, Research Policy, 31( ), 1163–1180.
Storey, D. and Cressy, R. 1996. Small business risk — a firm bank perspective, working paper: the Centre for Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (CSME), Vol. 39, Warwick Business School, Coventry, pp. 1–16.
Trippl, M. 2010. Developing cross-border regional innovation systems: key factors and challenges, Journal of Economic and Social Geography, 101(2), 150–160.
UNEP. 2011. Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, A Synthesis for Policy Makers (pp. 1–52), [Internet] Available at: http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/documents/ger/GER_synthesis_en.pdf [Accessed 12 March 2014].
Wales. 2009. Capturing the Potential: A Green Jobs Strategy for Wales, Wales: Crown Publishers.
Walsh, M., Kelliher, F., Harrington, D. and Lynch, P. 2012. Moving Towards a Green Economy: Capitalising on Organisational Innovation Capability to Leverage the Reservoir of Knowledge in Learning Organisations — An Irish Perspective, IFASM Conference Proceedings, University of Limerick, 25–27 June.
Wang, C.L. and Ahmed, P.K. 2007. Dynamic capabilities: A review and research agenda, International Journal of Management Reviews, 9(1), 31–51.
Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wickham, P. 2001. Strategic Entrepreneurship. London: Pitman.
Zander, I. and Sölvell, O. 2000. Cross-border innovation in the multinational corporation: a research agenda, Journal of International Studies of Management and Organization, 30(2), 44–67.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 F. Kelliher and L. Reinl
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kelliher, F., Reinl, L. (2015). Introduction. In: Kelliher, F., Reinl, L. (eds) Green Innovation and Future Technology: Engaging Regional SMEs in the Green Economy. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137479822_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137479822_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50255-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47982-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)