Sustainability Practices, Performance and Competitiveness in the Export Furniture Industry Management

Abstract

Stakeholders’ increasing concern with sustainability has been encouraging firms to adopt practices aimed at minimizing their negative externalities. The aim of the current article is to investigate the impact of adopting sustainability practices on the performance and competitiveness of the Brazilian furniture industry. Environmental management variables, operational practices, social practices focused on both the employees and the community were herein considered sustainability practices. Results have indicated the positive association of operational and social practices with sustainability performance and competitiveness. However, such behavior was not observed in environmental practices. The current study has shown the way each sustainability dimension influences performance by encouraging managers to invest in social and environmental practices, and by contributing to systemic changes on behalf of sustainability. Evidence has confirmed that investing in sustainability practices helps improving companies’ performance and competitiveness.