Managers' Values and the Adoption of Environmentally Sustainable Practices Among Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: A Configurational Approach

Abstract

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in sustainability transitions, yet the mechanisms through which managers' values shape environmentally sustainable practices (ESP) remain insufficiently understood. Existing research often treats managerial values as independent predictors and pays limited attention to their interaction with organizational and contextual conditions. Drawing on values theory, paradox theory, institutional theory, and a configurational perspective, this study examines how combinations of managerial values, organizational capabilities, and organizational field conditions influence the adoption of ESP among SMEs. Using data from 409 Canadian SMEs and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the study investigates the interplay between self‐transcendence values (STV), self‐enhancement values (SEV), entrepreneurial orientation, firm size, network participation, sector membership, and export activity. The findings identify four configurations associated with the adoption of ESP and four configurations linked to their absence, highlighting both equifinality and causal asymmetry. While STV frequently support environmental engagement, they are not necessary across all sustainability pathways. Likewise, SEV appear in both sustainability and non‐sustainability configurations, indicating that their influence depends on broader organizational and contextual conditions. Notably, one sustainability pathway combines STV and SEV, suggesting that environmental responsibility and performance‐oriented aspirations can be mutually reinforcing rather than contradictory. By uncovering multiple pathways to environmental sustainability, the study advances configurational understandings of SME sustainability and offers implications for managers and policymakers.