Business Model Innovation for Sustainability in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Dear Colleagues,

Small and medium-sized enterprises are crucial for economic development, employment generation and innovation globally. Simultaneously, regulators, consumers and other stakeholders are increasingly compelling them to conduct business in a manner that is more beneficial for the environment and society. Innovation in business models has emerged as a crucial strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises to address these challenges, harmonize their sustainability objectives with competitive advantages and generate enduring value (Boons & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013). Despite increased academic interest in sustainable business models, the majority of existing research has focused on large corporations. This indicates that critical inquiries regarding the particular conditions, constraints and prospects encountered by small and medium-sized enterprises remain inadequately addressed.

Focus, Scope and Purpose of the Special Issue

This Special Issue focuses on developing innovative business models to support the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. This study aims to examine how small and medium-sized enterprises develop, adapt and transform their business models to integrate environmental, social and economic sustainability objectives. Particular emphasis is placed on innovation processes, managerial practices, organizational skills and external factors that facilitate or impede sustainable business model innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (Stubbs & Cocklin, 2008; Pieroni et al., 2019).

The Special Issue aims to encompass a wide range of disciplines. It invites submissions that are conceptual, empirical, or methodological, addressing sustainability-focused business model innovation across various industries, locations and institutional contexts. Our interests encompass, but are not restricted to, sustainable value creation and capture, circular and regenerative business models, digitalization facilitating sustainability, stakeholder engagement, governance mechanisms and policy frameworks impacting small and medium-sized enterprises. We advocate for both qualitative and quantitative research, including studies employing a combination of both methodologies.

This Special Issue has three primary objectives. Initially, it seeks to improve the theoretical understanding of how sustainability elements influence business model innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises. Secondly, it aims to provide significant empirical evidence concerning the behaviours, outcomes and issues associated with sustainable business models in smaller firms (Schaltegger et al., 2016). Third, it seeks to generate practical insights for entrepreneurs, managers, policymakers and support groups endeavouring to foster sustainable development through small and medium-sized enterprises.

Relationship to Existing Literature

This Special Issue will augment the current literature by explicitly tackling shortcomings related to company size, resource constraints and contextual embeddedness. Prior research on sustainable business models has produced valuable frameworks and classifications; however, these are often derived from evaluations of large businesses and may not be easily transferable to small and medium-sized enterprises. This Special Issue offers detailed insights into the dynamics of sustainability-focused business model innovation inside small and medium-sized enterprises marked by resource constraints, informalit and increased stakeholder proximity (Bocken et al., 2014; Geissdoerfer et al., 2018).

Furthermore, the problem connects and integrates research on sustainability, entrepreneurship, innovation management and studies pertaining to small and medium-sized enterprises. This expands upon existing dialogues by examining how ecosystems, networks and institutions facilitate sustainable business model creation via dynamic processes of testing, learning and adaptation (Geissdoerfer et al., 2017). The objective of the Special Issue is to advance the literature beyond static descriptions and enhance our understanding of how small and medium-sized enterprises can achieve growth and sustain innovation driven by sustainability throughout time (Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2020).

Submission Process

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 300–500 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors (bahman.peyravi@ism.lt) or to Administrative Sciences editorial office (admsci@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

References

Boons, F., & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2013). Business models for sustainable innovation: State-of-the-art and steps towards a research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, 9–19.

Bocken, N. M. P., Short, S. W., Rana, P., & Evans, S. (2014). A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes. Journal of Cleaner Production, 65, 42–56.

Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N. M. P., & Hultink, E. J. (2017). The circular economy – A new sustainability paradigm? Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 757–768.

Geissdoerfer, M., Vladimirova, D., & Evans, S. (2018). Sustainable business model innovation: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, 401–416.

Lüdeke-Freund, F., Carroux, S., Joyce, A., Massa, L., & Breuer, H. (2020). The sustainable business model pattern taxonomy—45 patterns to support sustainability-oriented business model innovation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 245, 118849.

Pieroni, M. P. P., McAloone, T. C., & Pigosso, D. C. A. (2019). Business model innovation for circular economy and sustainability: A review of approaches. Journal of Cleaner Production, 215, 198–216.

Schaltegger, S., Hansen, E. G., & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (2016). Business models for sustainability: Origins, present research, and future avenues. Organization & Environment, 29(1), 3–10.

Stubbs, W., & Cocklin, C. (2008). Conceptualizing a “sustainability business model”. Organization & Environment, 21(2), 103–127.

Dr. Bahman Peyravi
Dr. Mehmet Recai Uygur
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Administrative Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• sustainability
• innovation
• business model
• SMEs
• innovation management