Η εφαρμογή πρακτικών βιώσιμης ανάπτυξης στη λειτουργία των μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων στον ελληνικό τουριστικό κλάδο

Καρβουνίδη, Μαρία

Doctoral Thesis

Author

Καρβουνίδη, Μαρία

Date

2026

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation explores the extent to which small- and medium-sized accommodation businesses in Greece adopt sustainability practices, the internal organizational factors associated with their adoption, and how such adoption is associated with competitive advantage and business performance. The study focuses on a significant part of the Greek tourism sector, as small and medium-sized accommodation businesses are a fundamental part of tourism activity. However, they often operate with limited financial, human, and organizational resources while they are increasingly expected to meet institutional, market, and social demands for sustainable tourism development. Sustainability is particularly important in tourism, as its implications extend beyond individual businesses to destinations, the broader tourism system and the economy as a whole. However, for individual businesses, the main challenge is how to translate these broader principles into concrete actions in their everyday operations. In this sense, sustainability is viewed not only as a general policy goal or an external requirement but as a business process that needs to be integrated into the firm’s operations to support competitiveness, efficiency and long-term resilience. Much of the existing literature has examined external pressures for sustainability, such as institutional requirements, customer expectations, social demands and regulatory frameworks. Although these pressures are important, they have already received considerable attention in previous research. The present research, therefore, shifts the focus to the internal business environment and investigates the organizational factors that facilitate or hinder the adoption of sustainability practices. Sustainability is analyzed through the triple bottom line framework, which includes environmental, social and economic dimensions. The analysis extends beyond environmental practices, such as energy and water saving or waste management, to encompass practices related to employees, visitors, the local community, and the sustainable development of the destination. This broader view considers sustainability as a business process that needs to be integrated into everyday operations rather than merely as a matter of environmental compliance. Moreover, this study differs from existing research that focuses mainly on perceptions, attitudes, or intentions regarding sustainability. Instead, it emphasizes specific business practices that have either been adopted or have yet to be integrated into daily operations. This approach offers a more direct and empirical way to evaluate the extent of sustainability implementation and its relationship with internal organizational factors, competitive advantage, and business performance. The research framework was developed by combining theoretical approaches with a scoping review of the literature. Specifically, the study draws on institutional theory, stakeholder theory, the resource-based view of the firm and dynamic capabilities theory. The combination of these theories makes it possible to understand the adoption of sustainable development practices both as a response to external pressures and as an internal organizational process that depends on the resources, capabilities and strategic choices of the enterprise. To systematically identify the internal factors associated with the adoption of sustainability practices, a scoping review of the literature was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The review included empirical studies based on primary data, allowing the analytical framework to be grounded in previous empirical research rather than solely in theoretical or secondary approaches. Through this process, the main internal factors examined in the empirical study were identified: strategic commitment, resource availability, knowledge and implementation capability, orientation towards technological innovation and employee involvement. The empirical study adopted a quantitative research design and used a structured questionnaire addressed to small and medium-sized accommodation enterprises in Greece. The final usable sample consisted of 176 enterprises after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data were used to examine the degree of adoption of sustainability practices, the internal factors associated with their adoption, and the relationship between these practices, competitive advantage and business performance. The findings showed that the enterprises in the sample are more likely to adopt practices related to the local community, the destination, and the visitor experience. By contrast, lower adoption rates were recorded for environmental practices, particularly for more advanced technological and circular solutions. This pattern is consistent with the higher financial and technical requirements that often characterize such practices. Additionally, firm size and mode of operation were significantly associated with differences in the level of adoption. Regarding the internal organizational factors, technological and innovation orientation and employee involvement were the only factors that retained a statistically significant independent association with the adoption of sustainable development practices in the full model. In contrast, strategic commitment, resource availability, and knowledge and implementation capability were positively related to adoption when examined individually, but did not maintain a statistically significant unique effect in the full model. This suggests that sustainability relies not only on intent or resource availability but primarily on the enterprise's capacity to absorb and translate sustainability into practical procedures and daily practices. Furthermore, the adoption of sustainability practices was found to be positively associated with a low-cost competitive position, competitive advantage based on uniqueness and service superiority, and business performance. The mediation analyses showed that the relationship between the adoption of sustainable development practices and business performance operated primarily through the low-cost competitive position. The indirect effect through competitive advantage based on uniqueness and service superiority was statistically significant when examined separately, but did not remain statistically significant in the parallel mediation model. Finally, a positive association was also observed in the reverse direction, from business performance to the adoption of sustainable development practices. This finding is consistent with the possibility that enterprises reporting more positive changes in performance have greater capacity to adopt additional sustainable practices, although the cross-sectional design does not permit causal conclusions. The dissertation contributes to the literature by presenting sustainability as a process through which organizational resources and capabilities are translated into concrete sustainability practices and, subsequently, into competitive and business value. On a practical level, the findings emphasize the need to enhance technological readiness, employee involvement, targeted support for smaller enterprises, and the connection between sustainable practices and tangible operational and competitive benefits. Overall, the dissertation shows that sustainability in micro, small and medium-sized accommodation enterprises is not merely a matter of environmental compliance but a strategic process that can enhance the competitiveness, efficiency, and long-term resilience of the Greek tourism sector.

Department

Σχολή Οικονομικών, Επιχειρηματικών και Διεθνών Σπουδών. Τμήμα Οργάνωσης και Διοίκησης Επιχειρήσεων

Number of pages

292

Language

Greek

URI

https://dione.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/handle/unipi/19585

Collections

Τμήμα Οργάνωσης και Διοίκησης Επιχειρήσεων

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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as
Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση-Όχι Παράγωγα Έργα 3.0 Ελλάδα