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This investigation focusses on the environment of socialisation needed to mitigate internal environmental knowledge barriers. The research instrument is a questionnaire distributed to 87 Spanish Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (commonly known as KIBS). Within the SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) sector, KIBS are playing an increasingly important role due to the reliance these types of businesses have on company founders and their professional knowledge about service and business operations. The results show that both the direct and indirect effects of socialisation on environmental performance caused by environmental knowledge barriers are statistically significant. The findings therefore pave the way to dealing with sustainable development and overcoming difficult environmental barriers, such as resistance to change or lack of financial resources, through knowledge socialisation. The findings also complement organisational theories of management by providing a clearer definition of environmental knowledge and guidance for managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]