Business Sustainability, Marketing and Innovation Management Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability and sustainable development are young and evolving fields that determine firms’ long-term strategic development (Hall, Daneke and Lenox, 2010). The World Commission on Economic Development (WCED) integrated sustainability into business practice, defining sustainability as ‘the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987, p.43). Sustainability has been implemented in various business activities, such as reduction in scarce resource consumption, pursuing a sustainable supply chain management, reducing climate impact and protection to the natural environment (Crittenden et al., 2011). In the domains of business and marketing research, the topic is often investigated from a large business perspective. Research concerning small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is still somewhat limited (Kraus et al., 2020).

The relative paucity of research in the area is surprising, given that SMEs play a significant role in achieving global sustainability development. SMEs are large in number, make up over 90% of worldwide businesses, and often are considered the major cause of environmental pollution (Bakos et al., 2020; Journeault, Perron and Vallieres, 2021). They form a significant proportion of economic activity and play an important role in creating employment, accounting for over 99% of businesses and three-fifths of the employment in developed economies, such as the U.K. (FSB, 2021). Despite the important role that SMEs play in the economic, social and environment aspects, scholarly research on how SMEs balance sustainability and business development is scarce (Azmat and Samaratunge, 2009; Eikelenboom and de Jong, 2019). The extant studies are yet to develop a comprehensive perspective of the implication of sustainability in the SME context (Johnson and Schaltegger, 2016). The nature and characteristics of SMEs suggest that the majority lacks strategic commitment to sustainability practices. Given the increasing emphasis and growing awareness on sustainable business practices, how SMEs comprehend and implement sustainable practices is an important area that merits robust research in business in general and marketing in particular.

This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research on sustainable business and marketing practices in SMEs. There are several areas of research that merit further research in the domain. For instance, what does sustainability mean to SMEs? How do SMEs implement sustainability in their business practice? What are the barriers and facilitators of implementing sustainability in business activity and marketing communications? What are the management and marketing challenges facing SMEs? How do SMEs market themselves as sustainable businesses? What are the marketing and innovation management strategies adopted by SMEs to practice sustainability?

In this Special Issue, we aim to encapsulate timely and original perspectives to the body of knowledge on SMEs, on the intersections of marketing, business management and sustainability. We welcome original research articles and reviews that explore topics relevant to sustainability development, sustainable marketing, sustainable business management, and sustainable innovation management through the lens of SMEs. Studies encompassing empirical research, involving quantitative and/or qualitative data, theoretical studies, systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses, big data-based and other novel types of studies will be considered. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Defining and exploring the sustainability development in SME business practices
• The impact of sustainability in SME business operation
• Ethical and sustainable marketing in SMEs
• Marketing and innovation management strategies for sustainability in SMEs
• Marketing technology in SMEs
• Barriers and drivers of sustainability in the SMEs
• The role of digitalization in SME sustainability adoption
• The application of sustainability, ethical business practice and CSR by SMEs
• Sustainable innovation in SMEs
• Psychological and sociological perspectives on business practices in SMEs
• The role of managerial mindset in the implementation of SMEs’ sustainable business practices
• Consumer responses to SMEs’ adoption of sustainable practices
• The role of supply chain management in fostering sustainable business practices in the SMEs
• The role of government policy and intervention in sustainable business practices in the SMEs
• Ethical and moral issues in sustainability adoption for the SMEs

Dr. Fenfang Lin
Dr Philip Alford
Prof. Dr. Jaywant Singh
Guest Editors

References

Azmat, F., and Samaratunge, R. (2009). Responsible entrepreneurship in developing countries: Understanding the realities and complexities. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(3), 437–452.

Bakos, J., Siu, M., Orengo, A., and Kasiri, N. (2020). An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium sized enterprises: patterns and trends. Business Strategy and the Environment. 29(3), 1285–1296.

Crittenden, V.L., Crittenden, W.F., Ferrell, L.K., Ferrell, O.C., and Pinney, C.C. (2011). Market-oriented sustainability: a conceptual framework and propositions. Journal of the Academy Marketing Science, 39: 71–85.

Eikelenboom, M., and de Jong, G. (2019). The impact of dynamic capabilities on the sustainability performance of SMEs. Journal of Cleaner Production, 235: 1360–1370.

FSB (2021). UK Small Business Statistics—Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions in 2021. Available: https://www.fsb.org.uk/uk-small-business-statistics.html.

Hall, J.K., Daneke, G.A., and Lenox, M.J. (2010). Sustainable development and entrepreneurship: past contributions and future directions. Journal of Business Venturing, 25, 439–448.

Johnson, M.P., and Schaltegger, S. (2016) Two Decades of Sustainability Management Tools for SMEs: How Far Have We Come?, Journal of Small Business Management, 54:2, 481–505.

Journeault, M., Perron, A., and Vallieres, L. (2021). The collaborative roles of stakeholders in supporting the adoption of sustainability in SMEs. Journal of Environmental Management, 287, 112349.

Kraus, P., Stokes, P., Cooper, S.C., Liu, Y., Moore, N., Britzelmaier, B., and Tarba, S. (2020). Cultural Antecedents of Sustainability and Regional Economic Development—A Study of SME ‘Mittelstand’ Firms in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 32(7–8), 629–653.

WCED. (1987). The World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA.

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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 single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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
• sustainable development
• SMEs
• sustainable marketing
• marketing strategies
• innovation