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Introduction
Environmental sustainability has become one of the widely discussed issues in the literature on corporate responsibility and business ethics in recent years. A popular view is that business firms are expected to have a triple bottom line approach ([28] Elkington, 1994) in the conduct of business ([45] Kleine and Hauff, 2009; [86] Zwetsloot and van Marrewijk, 2004; [52] Luken and Stares, 2005) in order to become sustainable in the long run. While sustainability in business has many forms, the current study focuses on one important aspect of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability which is the firm's responsibility towards the ecological or natural environment. The triple bottom line approach suggests that firms need to incorporate into their overall strategic agenda not just the economic gains but also the environmental dimensions of business ([55] Masurel, 2007; [86] Zwetsloot and van Marrewijk, 2004).
Nowadays, firms are either mandated by law or encouraged to adapt measures that can either reduce the negative impact of their economic activities on the natural environment or contribute to environmental preservation or re-generation ([31] Fraj-Andres et al. , 2009; [54] Martin-Tapia et al. , 2010; [46] Kuckertz and Wagner, 2010). Firms are therefore, encouraged to develop and nurture their environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) which in this study is being referred to as the firm's overall proactive strategic stance towards the integration of sustainable natural environmental management practices into their core business operations. The firm's ESO propels the firm in adopting and implementing business practices that avoid or minimise the firm's negative impact on the natural environment and proactively contribute to natural environmental management.
While there is a plethora of studies on how large and multinational firms demonstrate their commitment towards the triple bottom line approach to sustainability in business, little is known about how small firms demonstrate their strategic orientation towards natural environmental sustainability ([25] Dangelico and Pujari, 2010; [54] Martin-Tapia et al. , 2010; [46] Kuckertz and Wagner, 2010; [48] Lee and Klassen, 2008; [65] Perrini et al. , 2007). Previous studies tend to be conceptual or theoretical in their investigation of how and why small firms develop and demonstrate their ESO ([46] Kuckertz and Wagner, 2010; [51] Linnenluecke and Griffiths, 2010; [79] van Marrewijk and Werre, 2003). There...