In an era that capitalist paradigm has shifted from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism and social sustainability is challenged, ESGhas emerged as the main agenda in the economic sector. ESG investment from an investor's point of view, ESG consumption from the perspective of consumers and ESG management from the perspective of enterprises are becoming essential factors in realizing sustainability of Seoul’s economy. Despite theoretical and practical significance of ESG management, there are many restrictions when introducing ESG management to SMEs. This study aimed to seek policy measures necessary for SMEs in such difficult practical conditions to revitalise ESG management.

In this study, SMEs in Seoul were surveyed on their consciousness and status of ESG. Various facts were confirmed as a result. In ESG management, there are some differences depending on the size of the company. However, there is no significant difference by business model. While showing a limited level of cognition of ESG, active and passive views coexist in ESG management. As the reason for introducing ESG management, it was found to be mainly based on ESG’s approach as a regulatory environment of management among two approaches classified in this study. In addition, the survey confirmed that there were various difficulties in introducing ESG management and that there were various policy demands in revitalizing ESG management.
Based on this survey and analysis results, this study set three policy directions:

① enhancement of social awareness and spread of practice to promote ESG management,

② creation of an institutional support environment to create a ESG management ecosystem for SMEs and

③ establishment of policy governance of Seoul Metropolitan Government to lead the ESG policy.

Under these policy directions, various support measures were sought to induce and promote ESG management of companies. In particular, this study focused on establishing institutional incentives to implement ESG based on management strategic perspectives and considering conditions of SMEs in Seoul.