Navigating sustainable manufacturing practices in small and medium‐sized enterprises: Empirical evidence from an emerging economy

Abstract

AbstractSustainable manufacturing practices (SMPs) aim to minimize environmental effects throughout the manufacturing process by employing measures such as waste reduction, resource optimization, pollution prevention, energy‐efficient manufacturing processes and effective management of products at the end of their lifecycle. Although SMPs are widely studied in developed countries, their advocation and implementation are still in the early stages of development in emerging economies. Consequently, this article aims to identify SMPs among small and medium‐sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Data were collected based on a quantitative research method using online and offline mail. A total of 189 manufacturing SMEs were selected based on judgmental sampling techniques, and structural equation modelling AMOS was used to analyse the data. The results indicated a high positive correlation between perceived environmental performance, perceived quality performance, product innovation and process innovation. In addition, the perceived quality performance positively and directly affects process and product innovation. Thus, perceived environmental performance plays a role in directly and positively impacting product and process innovation. However, despite this, the perceived quality performance also affects SMPs directly and positively, with process innovation directly and positively impacting product innovation. The study's findings and recommendations can help Malaysian manufacturing SMEs to integrate and assist in understanding the current body of knowledge on the challenges of implementing SMPs in SMEs.