SME Strategic Leadership and Grouping as Core Levers for Sustainable Transition—New Wine Typology
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Key Constructs and Conceptual Definitions
2.1. Sustainable Leadership
2.2. Entrepreneurial Strategic Leadership
2.3. Innovation Leadership
2.4. Strategic Grouping
2.5. Sustainable Transition
2.6. Resource Dependence Theory
2.7. Effectuation Theory
2.8. Integrated Theoretical Perspective
2.9. Industry Context: The Wine Sector
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Research Design
- Economic Sustainability: Emphasizing cost reduction and stable profitability under varied environmental conditions.
- Ecological Sustainability: Involving reduced pesticide use, improved biodiversity, and enhanced soil health.
3.2. Survey Instrument Development
- “Our winery is satisfied with the quality improvements associated with FRV adoption.”
- “Customer response to our sustainable product lines has been positive.”
3.3. Sampling Strategy and Participants
3.4. Statistical Analyses
3.5. Limitations
4. Results
4.1. Implementation of FRV
4.2. Pioneering Ambition
4.3. Strategic Grouping and Innovativeness
4.4. Strategic Grouping and FRV Relevance
4.5. Sustainable Leadership Impact on Performance of SME
5. Discussion
- ▪
- Evaluate the innovation profile of your business (pioneer, early adopter, conservative, skeptic) utilizing the new wine typology to recognize strategic priorities and fine-tune with your strategic grouping assessment. Thereon, clarify your sustainability ambitions, limitations, actions and develop a communication basis. Leapfrog innovations (e.g., FRV) can be a pillar therein if it fits strategically and serves in positioning and to communicate uniqueness and value-generation.
- ▪
- Develop partnerships with pioneering wineries to acquire knowledge and use innovation, and offer components as a strategic way to differentiate in the overcrowded market.
- ▪
- Make investments towards leadership training programs that incorporate sustainability values with strategic entrepreneurial skills.
- ▪
- Provide tiered financial subsidies and incentives to stimulate progressive adoption of innovation and sustainable practices (e.g., FRV planting).
- ▪
- Launch campaigns to create public awareness to augment market demand and willingness to pay for products and services that are sustainably produced.
- ▪
- Extend initiatives for leadership development with the intention to equip winery managers with skills to drive innovation and sustainability transitions.
- ▪
- Focus on the transformation champions in sustainability (e.g., using hereby presented New Wine Typology Framework) and promote them (i.e., in the case of FRV, motivating niche players presents a more promising means to reach Green Deal ambitions than premium providers).
6. Conclusions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
ET | Effectuation Theory |
EU | European Union |
FRV | Fungus-resistant grape varieties |
GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation |
LOHAS | Life Of Health And Sustainability |
RDT | Resource Dependency Theory |
SME | Small and medium-sized enterprises |
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Leadership Type | Core Definition | Primary Focus | Key Characteristics | Role in Sustainability Transitions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sustainable Leadership | Oriented at a meta-level, with emphasis on social, ecological, and economic resilience in the long-term. | Presents a normative vision and direction for sustainability. | Ethical stewardship, values-driven, long-term perspective, stakeholder inclusivity. | Functions as a guiding framework, establishing sustainability goals, while ensuring alignment with environmental and societal requirements |
Entrepreneurial Strategic Leadership | Capable of identifying opportunities and strategically positioning an organization during change and uncertainty. | Aligns sustainability with competitive advantage and market positioning. | Risk-taking, opportunity identification, adaptability, strategic foresight. | Converts sustainability values into strategic pathways and places SMEs competitively within sustainability transitions. |
Innovation Leadership | Drives creation, implementation, and scales new ideas. | Focus on operationalization of newness and innovation; sustainability can profit therefrom. | Collaboration, creativity, and experimentation | Transforms visions and strategies of sustainability into practical innovation. |
Typology Archetype | Strategic Leadership Style | Grouping Strategy | Innovation Approach | Sustainability Role |
---|---|---|---|---|
Traditionalist | Operational/ Defensive | Minimal or individualized | Low or No Innovation | Compliance-focused; risk-averse change |
Adaptive Collaborator | Entrepreneurial /Pragmatic | Regional clusters, alliances | Incremental eco-innovation (e.g., FRV trials) | Responsive to transition pressures |
Innovation- Driven Leader | Visionary/Proactive | Cross-sector networks, consortia | Advanced sustainability innovation (e.g., FRV, digitalization, circularity) | Pioneer in sustainable transformation |
Less Than 100 | 100 to 500 | 500 to 1000 | 1000 to 2000 | 2000 up to 100,000 |
---|---|---|---|---|
21% | 30% | 22% | 11% | 15% |
Innovation Cluster | Customer Benefit/ Market Innovation | Internal/Process Innovation |
---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | ||
Pioneer | 4.12 ± 0.92 | 3.83 ± 0.94 |
Early adopters | 3.53 ± 0.73 | 3.63 ± 0.13 |
Pragmatist | 3.26 ± 0.71 | 3.17 ± 0.72 |
Conservatives | 3.06 ± 0.86 | 2.92 ± 0.94 |
Skeptics | 2.60 ± 0.14 | 2.40 ± 0.55 |
F-value | 15.313 | 13.444 |
p-value | 0.000 *** | 0.000 *** |
Eta | 0.400 | 0.379 |
Eta-Squared | 0.160 | 0.144 |
Innovation Cluster | Ecological Sustainability | Social Sustainability | Economic Sustainability |
---|---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | |||
Pioneer | 4.36 ± 0.82 | 4.30 ± 0.88 | 4.06 ± 0.87 |
Early adopters | 4.21 ± 0.81 | 4.13 ± 0.74 | 4.22 ± 0.73 |
Conservatives | 4.10 ± 0.91 | 3.97 ± 0.90 | 3.72 ± 0.92 |
Pragmatist | 3.97 ± 0.90 | 3.96 ± 0.77 | 3.99 ± 0.73 |
Skeptics | 3.80 ± 0.84 | 2.80 ± 1.30 | 2.80 ± 1.30 |
F-value | 1.932 | 4.727 | 6.456 |
p-value | 0.105 (n.s) | 0.001 *** | 0.000 *** |
Eta | 0.163 | 0.251 | 0.290 |
Eta-Squared | 0.027 | 0.063 | 0.084 |
Strategic Positioning | Ecological Sustainability | Social Sustainability | Economic Sustainability |
---|---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | |||
Cost leadership | 4.00 ± 0.63 | 3.67 ± 1.21 | 4.33 ± 0.82 |
Price-performance strategy | 3.86 ± 0.84 | 3.95 ± 0.79 | 4.07 ± 0.91 |
Quality leadership | 4.03 ± 0.86 | 4.00 ± 0.88 | 3.99 ± 0.74 |
Premium strategy | 4.61 ± 0.58 | 4.34 ± 0.68 | 4.23 ± 0.71 |
Niche strategy | 4.36 ± 0.86 | 4.15 ± 0.85 | 3.94 ± 0.82 |
F-value | 8.151 | 2.397 | 1.120 |
p-value | 0.000 *** | 0.051 * | 0.347 |
Eta | 0.322 | 0.182 | 0.125 |
Eta-Squared | 0.104 | 0.033 | 0.016 |
Innovation Type | Strategic Positioning | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cost Leadership | Price-Performance Strategy | Quality Leadership | Premium | Niche Strategy | |
Skeptics | 0 (0.0) | 3 (60.0) | 1 (20.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (20.0) |
Conservatives | 2 (5.1) | 13 (33.3) | 10 (25.6) | 5 (12.8) | 9 (23.1) |
Pragmatist | 1 (1.4) | 28 (40.0) | 15 (21.4) | 6 (8.6) | 20 (28.6) |
Early adopters | 2 (1.6) | 42 (33.3) | 30 (23.8) | 24 (19.0) | 28 (22.2) |
Pioneer | 1 (2.2) | 10 (22.2) | 11 (24.4) | 9 (20.0) | 14 (31.1) |
Total | 6 (2.1) | 96 (33.7) | 67 (23.5) | 44 (15.4) | 72 (25.3) |
Innovation Cluster | FRV Relevance | ||
---|---|---|---|
No New Grape Varieties | New Grape Varieties Planned | New Grape Varieties Realized | |
Skeptics | 3 (75.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (25.0) |
Conservatives | 21 (51.2) | 10 (24.4) | 10 (24.4) |
Pragmatist | 29 (40.3) | 19 (26.4) | 24 (33.3) |
Early adopters | 50 (38.8) | 21 (16.3) | 58 (45.0) |
Pioneer | 17 (34.0) | 11 (22.0) | 22 (44.0) |
Total | 120 (40.5) | 61 (20.6) | 115 (38.9) |
Strategic Positioning | FRV Relevance | Likely Leadership Orientation | Association Measure | Value | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No New Grape Varieties | New Grape Varieties Planned | New Grape Varieties Realized | |||||
Cost leadership | 2 (33.3) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (66.7) | Cautious Implementer | Lambda (FRV Relevance Dependent) | 0.118 | 0.052 * |
Price-performance strategy | 28 (30.1) | 26 (28.0) | 39 (41.9) | Pragmatic Adopter | Goodman & Kruskal tau | 0.050 | 0.018 * |
Quality leadership | 25 (36.8) | 21 (30.9) | 22 (32.4) | Discerning Innovator | Uncertainty Coefficient | 0.049 | 0.017 * |
Premium strategy | 28 (66.7) | 3 (7.1) | 11 (26.2) | Tradition-Centric Strategist | Cramer’s V | 0.225 | 0.000 *** |
Niche strategy | 26 (36.1) | 10 (13.9) | 36 (50.0) | Opportunity-Driven Leader | Phi Coefficient | 0.318 | 0.000 *** |
Innovation Cluster | Innovation Score | Business Performance | Sustainability Score |
---|---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | |||
Skeptics | 2.82 ± 0.43 | 2.60 ± 0.79 | 3.13 ± 0.90 |
Conservatives | 2.44 ± 0.38 | 2.49 ± 0.65 | 3.93 ± 0.61 |
Pragmatist | 2.56 ± 0.40 | 2.32 ± 0.46 | 3.97 ± 0.59 |
Early adapters | 2.42 ± 0.40 | 2.18 ± 0.47 | 4.19 ± 0.53 |
Pioneer | 2.47 ± 0.31 | 1.97 ± 0.51 | 4.24 ± 0.65 |
F-value | 2.756 | 7.379 | 6.514 |
p-value | 0.028 * | 0.000 *** | 0.000 *** |
Eta | 0.182 | 0.308 | 0.291 |
Eta-Squared | 0.033 | 0.095 | 0.085 |
Business Model | Strategic Positioning | FRV Relevance | Associated Innovation Type | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | ||||
No planned measures | Cost leadership | 2.33 ± 1.16 | Reactive/Risk-Averse Innovation | 0.040 * |
Price-performance strategy | 2.11 ± 0.86 | Functional/Incremental Innovation | ||
Quality leadership | 1.91 ± 0.91 | Process-Oriented Innovation | ||
Premium strategy | 1.75 ± 0.97 | Customer-Centric Innovation | ||
Niche strategy | 2.28 ± 0.92 | Focused/Micro-Market Innovation | ||
Planned, but not realized | Price-performance strategy | 2.11 ± 0.76 | Latent/Emerging Innovation | 0.066 |
Quality leadership | 1.94 ± 0.83 | Capability-Building Innovation | ||
Premium strategy | 1.44 ± 0.88 | Resource-Constrained Innovation | ||
Niche strategy | 2.06 ± 0.94 | Unexploited Potential Innovation | ||
Planned and realized | Cost leadership | 2.00 ± 1.41 | Operational Efficiency Innovation | 0.055 |
Price-performance strategy | 2.10 ± 0.90 | Adoptive/Practical Innovation | ||
Quality leadership | 2.06 ± 0.73 | Quality-Driven Innovation | ||
Premium strategy | 1.50 ± 0.80 | Selective Innovation | ||
Niche strategy | 2.08 ± 0.93 | Market-Responsive Innovation |
Strategic Positioning | Innovation Score | Business Performance | Sustainability Score |
---|---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | |||
Cost leadership | 2.31 ± 0.24 | 2.45 ± 0.75 | 4.00 ± 0.70 |
Price-performance strategy | 2.45 ± 0.36 | 2.26 ± 0.49 | 3.96 ± 0.58 |
Quality leadership | 2.42 ± 0.30 | 2.20 ± 0.45 | 4.00 ± 0.59 |
Premium strategy | 2.40 ± 0.33 | 2.05 ± 0.48 | 4.39 ± 0.48 |
Niche strategy | 2.38 ± 0.32 | 2.31 ± 0.62 | 4.15 ± 0.64 |
F-value | 0.687 | 2.140 | 4.660 |
p-value | 0.601 | 0.076 | 0.001 *** |
Eta | 0.098 | 0.172 | 0.249 |
Eta-Squared | 0.010 | 0.030 | 0.062 |
FRV Relevance | Innovation Score | Business Performance |
---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | ||
Planned, but not realized | 2.20 ± 0.25 | 2.31 ± 0.49 |
Planned and realized | 2.40 ± 0.27 | 2.09 ± 0.48 |
F-value | 22.728 | 7.563 |
p-value | 0.000 *** | 0.007 ** |
Eta | 0.358 | 0.221 |
Eta-Squared | 0.128 | 0.049 |
Customer Benefit/Market Innovation | 0.400 | 0.160 |
Internal/Process Innovation | 0.379 | 0.144 |
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Dressler, M. SME Strategic Leadership and Grouping as Core Levers for Sustainable Transition—New Wine Typology. Sustainability 2025, 17, 9073. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17209073
Dressler M. SME Strategic Leadership and Grouping as Core Levers for Sustainable Transition—New Wine Typology. Sustainability. 2025; 17(20):9073. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17209073
Chicago/Turabian StyleDressler, Marc. 2025. "SME Strategic Leadership and Grouping as Core Levers for Sustainable Transition—New Wine Typology" Sustainability 17, no. 20: 9073. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17209073
APA StyleDressler, M. (2025). SME Strategic Leadership and Grouping as Core Levers for Sustainable Transition—New Wine Typology. Sustainability, 17(20), 9073. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17209073