In this paper, we investigate the effect of organisational values/culture, and owners’/managers’ positive attitude and ethical orientation, on firms’ adoption of sustainable environmental and social practices based on a survey of Indian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For environmental practices, we have considered product and process design, and waste disposal and recycling; and for social practices, we have considered employee- and community-related practices. Results of the study indicate that organisational values/culture, and owners’/managers’ vision, values, beliefs, leadership, and ethical orientation positively affect waste disposal and recycling, and employee-related social practices. It is also observed that employee-related social practices positively impact environmental practices and community-related social practices, playing the role of a mediating variable between organisational values/culture, and owners’/managers’ attitude and ethical orientation, and firms’ environmental practices and community-related social practices. We also examine the moderating role of family influence on the hypothesised relationships. We observe that for family SMEs, the effects of organisational values/culture, and owners’/managers’ attitude and ethical orientation, on waste disposal and recycling, and employee-related social practices are stronger than those for non-family SMEs. However, the effects of employee-related social practices on waste disposal and recycling, and community-related social practices are found to be non-significant for family SMEs while they are significant for non-family SMEs, indicating that family SMEs need to have a re-look at and improve their current employee practices. With respect to community-related social practices, for both family and non-family SMEs, it is found that the responses are low compared to those for other practices, which indicates that there is scope for improvement in SMEs’ engagement with their local communities. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications and limitations of the study, and possible directions for future research.
