People management for sustainable SMEs

Abstract

© 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The study identifies people management practices among sustainable SMEs that adopt the Thai philosophy of sufficiency economy. The study adopts multi-data collection methods. 'Grounded theory' is adopted as the approach for data analysis. Emerging people management practices are: 1) identifying core competencies consistent to Thai values; 2) being genuinely concerned for employees; 3) offering life skills training for employees; 4) providing opportunities for employees to suggest ideas and encourage them to take part in decision makings; 5) growing own managers; 6) encouraging employees to contribute to the society and environment. This paper is among the first that explore the relationships between people management practices and corporate sustainability in Thai SMEs and propose theoretical assertions between them for future theory building.