A recent survey has suggested that while 96% of FTSE100 companies see sustainability as essential to their business, the number drops to 56% when it comes to Small & Medium Sized Enterprises. Both figures came of something of a shock to me – impressed with the FTSE100 results and depressed by the SMEs.

In my experience many SMEs compete for work in a B2B environment where the big corporations and the public sector are pushing sustainability down into their supply chains. So the SMEs have more to lose as the buyers generally have a choice.

Mulling on this lead me to another question: who is better placed to embrace sustainability? Here’s a simple comparison:

MegaCorps:

• Capital investment is easier come by;
• Resources can be brought to bear on issues with little impact on the rest of the organisation.
• Buying power gives corporations the opportunity to build the supply chain and/or technology they want/need.
• Lobbying power can help get things done in the wider business/political eco-system.

SMEs:

• Visibility – assessments can be done very quickly and large impacts are usually obvious.
• Agility – change can be implemented very quickly due to the size of the organisation, its smaller asset lists and short reporting chains.
• Responsiveness – a small change can have a large impact – e.g. upgrading the sole boiler in the company.
• Innovation – new ideas are less likely to get lost in internal politics and committees, but can tried, assessed and dropped if necessary.

I have particular scorn for those who assume SMEs struggle with sustainability – many of my favourite case studies feature forward thinking SMEs. Whether a business is big or small, fundamentally it comes down to the mentality of its leadership.