Regulating the environmental behavior of manufacturing SMEs: Interfirm alliance as a facilitator

Clustering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into eco-industrial parks is a promising way to abate environmental pollution from SMEs. However, to make this happen is a challenging task. The use of interfirm alliances to encourage SMEs to relocate into eco-industrial parks is a new phenomenon in China. In contrast with previous studies in this area, our study not only focuses on the “barriers” that an alliance needs to overcome when attempting to move into an eco-industrial park but also constructs a research framework using a Processes Analysis Method based on growth theory and resource-based theories, for answering the question: How do interfirm alliances help SMEs relocate into eco-industrial parks and help them to grow? The data sources are semi-structured interviews and a small-scale survey questionnaire conducted in southeast China. From the study, we argue that an alliance can create a new resource and assist its members to relocate into an industrial park, develop new competencies and promote their future growth. The paper argues that the alliance activities help SMEs to grow as well as assisting them to relocate into an industrial park. In summary, the identified processes may help researchers to develop further quantitative analysis. In practice, the study also helps entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors to improve their understanding of alliance functions, and aid their decision making.