Sustainability incubators : A coordinated collaborative approach towards sustainable manufacturing amongst small and medium-sized enterprises

Part of: Seliger, Günther (Ed.): Innovative solutions : proceedings / 11th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 23rd - 25th September, 2013. - Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013. - ISBN 978-3-7983-2609-5 (online). - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-40276. - pp. 19–24.Small and medium-sized enterprises constitute a major share of the manufacturing sector in many countries and are known for their dynamic structure and innovative strength. Despite the potential for sustainability performance the economic impact of environmental regulations may impede many business ventures. Business incubators foster entrepreneurship by offering infrastructural facilities and legal support. The central management of environmental impact reduction and cross-application technologies can in some cases be profitable. The entrepreneurial framework may initiate progress towards the application of sustainability principles. Benchmarking as a powerful management tool can induce best practice transfer and the conceivable collaborations may generate eco-innovations, social and creatively beneficial environments as well as economic advantages. The induced performance measurement, comparison and exchange of experiences is directed towards collective sustainability performance