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A review of the sustainable business practices services industry

This paper is concerned with the Sustainable Business Practices (SBP) services industry, also known as the environmental goods and services industry. To reduce their “environmental footprint”, companies have looked for external help, and this has given rise to an industry with an estimated World market value of $484 billion in 1998. The problem in characterizing this industry is that it is very diverse, spanning numerous industrial classifications. Legislation, both national and EU, is set to play an important role to promote industry demand. Regulations need to be supported by a matching economic policy. This paper proposes a simplified segmentation model of the industry consisting of five broad segments: Environmental engineering sector; Waste collection, disposal and processing sector; Pollution equipment sector; Renewable energy sector; and Services, Training and Consulting sector. The university sector has a unique role in the research and development of new sustainable processes, technologies and products, either through developing new technologies autonomously and then “spinning them off” by setting up new businesses or developing them in collaboration with businesses. Costs are a constraint to the diffusion of renewable energy technologies; these are not competitive in respect to conventional technologies. Renewable energy sources need to be made viable by the government‘s introduction of taxation and carbon tariffs, which will put the burden of the damage carbon does on the polluters. The sector is further hindered by weaknesses such as a poor ability to seek international opportunities, poor adaptability of their business strategies to changes in the market, lack of managerial skills and poor ability to attract and retain high level human resources. This paper recommends that the Engineering and technological schools seek opportunities for collaboration with the private sector to jointly develop green technologies; Specialist environmental departments target the private sector for specialist training on best environmental practice; and the Business School seeks opportunities for collaborations with companies to support them in researching and exploiting international opportunities, as well as helping them to develop integrate offering of environmental services and business strategies by supplying these companies with management and strategic skills, and supporting them in attracting human resources. Comments are invited and welcomed, and should be addressed to: Maurizio Catulli, m.catulli@herts.ac.uk