The state of play in disseminating LCM practices in the Western Balkan region: the attitude of Serbian SMEs

This paper aims to depict the current state of play in the use of life cycle management (LCM) in Serbia, as the largest Western Balkan economy, and to recognize suitable channels for distributing the concept among regional manufacturers and businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It tries to answer two principal research questions: What is the level of awareness/acceptance of life cycle thinking (LCT) among local industries and service providers? Is there any critical level of interest in the subject that could justify the transfer of knowledge regionwide at an institutional level?

The pilot study testing the state of play for broader LCM awareness is briefly presented and discussed. An internet-based questionnaire was designed to reveal the general acceptance of life cycle assessment (LCA)/LCM principles and distributed to 320 enterprises and public institutions throughout Serbia. The data obtained were categorized into clusters and subjected to descriptive, summary statistics by a standard statistical software package. Archival research data were analyzed upon a review of available literature and compared to the obtained results in order to support and/or explain the findings.

There is a dependence between membership in the Chamber of Commerce and the perceived significance of LCM for business development. Also, there is dependence between a company’s membership in Cluster House and willingness to be trained in LCM/LCA. Both tendencies should be attributed to the important educational role that those umbrella organizations have performed in recent years. Their networks should be further utilized in the dissemination of the LCM approach in the region. The survey revealed a significant lack of awareness about the subject among the representatives of different industrial sectors where SMEs operate. The results and conclusions presented in this paper to a fair extent support findings disclosed in other works related to the industrial and/or environmental performances of SMEs in the EU and elsewhere. LCA/LCM principles and procedures remain widely unknown, or at least seldom applied in Serbia. The vast majority of manufacturers do not fully recognize the potential of LCA practices for the substantial improvement of their products. The environmental consequences of growing consumerism threaten to hit the weak economies of the Western Balkans hard, unless some level of LCM awareness is achieved. The integration and mainstreaming of life cycle thinking by a wide range of local, national, and supranational bodies is obviously needed. Therefore, promotion of the LCT concept is of particular importance for all Western Balkan countries and their environment, endangered by prospective re-industrialization.

Serbian SMEs that do business with predominantly foreign (OECD) clients seem to be more prone to implementing environmental measures. The influence of corporate culture from developed nations is obviously a good impetus for environmental responsibility. Those that implement simple environmental measures seem to be more likely to perceive the importance of LCM for business development. Even simple environmentally friendly activities bring the company closer to environmental problems, and provoke a change in perspective toward the environmental burden. Dissemination of information on the benefits that LCT could bring to manufacturers, consumers, and the entire society is of great importance for both the environment and economy of the Western Balkans. Regional SMEs would certainly need a kind of hub to exchange their experience and compare the results of life cycle-based activities with other companies and academia. A very important factor for the successful dissemination of LCM practices could be a designated national and/or regional umbrella organization that would take advantage of the Chamber of Commerce network and its infrastructure to further spread the concept throughout the region.