Special Issue "Innovation in SMEs and Sustainable Development: The Current Situation and the Way Forward"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Demetris Vrontis
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marketing, School of Business, University of Nicosia, 2417, Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: international business, strategic planning, branding, wine marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship
Dr. Antonino Galati
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: agribusiness, marketing, and management strategies in the agri-food industry; green marketing and sustainability; logistics; sustainable business models
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Evangelia Siachou
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, Master Degree in Business Administration, Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: knowledge acquisition from external sources; knowledge sharing in various contexts; business model innovation, critical failure factors (CFFs); digital transformation of traditional organizations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Small-and-Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), despite their heterogeneity and diversity, have been found to be the backbone of the economic growth and development of the ecosystems of their operations (Muñoz-Pascual et al., 2019; Singh et al., 2009; Valaei et al., 2016). Although in the last decade SMEs have been interlaced with traditional markets, SMEs now also direct their businesses to emerging markets (Malik and JasiÅ„ska-Biliczak, 2018). A considerable number of SMEs across the world have gradually become innovative-driven actors (Vrontis et al., 2020; Widya-Hasuti et al., 2018). However, little is known about whether SMEs’ innovative actions are a response to the resource constraints they often face, leading them to seek more effective ways to operate and/or produce (e.g., Widya-Hasuti); how they innovate; and to what extent their innovative actions are sustainability related or sustainability driven (Kleine and Von Hauff, 2009; Kron et al., 2013).

Although, current research is evidenced and based on technology innovation, SMEs innovate beyond technology (Vrontis et al., 2020). There is no clear understanding, however, about the sectors of innovative-driven SMEs, the factors of the external environment affecting their innovative actions, the antecedents to SMEs’ sustainable development, or their ability to innovate by themselves. We seek contributions to expand current knowledge of SMEs’ innovation by exploring various types of innovation and their impact on sustainable development. To shed light in SMEs’ innovation, this Special Issue focuses on innovative-driven SMEs operating in various national and international regions and contexts.

For this Special Issue, we welcome empirical and conceptual studies that have a solid conceptualization, analysis, and synthesis in order to contribute to a better understanding of how innovative-driven SMEs achieve sustainable development, with particular reference to the types of innovation and sustainability behavior.

Studies might focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Types of innovation and SMEs’ sustainable development;
  • Business model innovation and SMEs’ sustainability;
  • Factors affecting innovative-driven SMEs’ sustainability beyond regional contexts;
  • Antecedents to SMEs’ sustainable innovation;
  • Stakeholder engagement and SMEs’ innovation;
  • Effects of public policies on SMEs’ innovation and sustainable development;
  • The impact of national culture on SMEs’ innovation and sustainable development;
  • Knowledge acquisition and SMEs’ innovation;
  • Strategic partnerships and SMEs’ sustained innovative outcomes;
  • Effects of organizational and individual factors on innovation-driven SMEs’ sustainable development.

References

Kiron, D., Kruschwitz, N., Reeves, M., and Goh, E. (2013). The benefits of sustainability-driven innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54(2), 69.

Kleine, A. and Von Hauff, M. (2009). Sustainability-driven implementation of corporate social responsibility: application of the integrative sustainability triangle. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(3), 517.

Klewitz, J. and Hansen, E. G. (2014). Sustainability-oriented innovation of SMEs: a systematic review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 65, 57–75.

Malik, K. and Jasińska-Biliczak, A. (2018). Innovations and other processes as identifiers of contemporary trends in the sustainable development of SMEs: the case of emerging regional economies. Sustainability, 10(5), 1361.

Muñoz-Pascual, L., Curado, C., and Galende, J. (2019). The triple bottom line on sustainable product innovation performance in SMEs: a mixed methods approach. Sustainability, 11(6), 16–89.

Singh, R. K., Garg, S. K., and Deshmukh, S. G. (2009). The competitiveness of SMEs in a globalized economy. Management Research Review, 33(1), 54–65.

Valaei, N., Rezaei, S., and Ismail, W. K. W. (2017). Examining learning strategies, creativity, and innovation at SMEs using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis and PLS path modeling. Journal of Business Research, 70, 224–233.

Vrontis, D., Basile, G., Andreano, M. S., Mazzitelli, A., and Papasolomou, I. (2020). The profile of innovation driven Italian SMEs and the relationship between the firms’ networking abilities and dynamic capabilities. Journal of Business Research, 114, 313–324.

Widya-Hasuti, A., Mardani, A., Streimikiene, D., Sharifara, A., and Fausto Cavallaro, F. (2018). The role of process innovation between firm-specific capabilities and sustainable innovation in SMEs: empirical evidence from Indonesia. Sustainability, 10(7), 22–44.

Prof. Dr. Demetris Vrontis
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antonino Galati
Dr. Evangelia Siachou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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 1900 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.

Keywords

  • innovative-driven SMEs
  • sustainable development
  • business model innovation
  • open innovation
  • stakeholder engagement
  • knowledge management

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises’ Business Vulnerability Cluster in Indonesia: An Analysis Using Optimized Fuzzy Geodemographic Clustering
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7807; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147807 - 13 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 699
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused effects in many sectors, including in businesses and enterprises. The most vulnerable businesses to COVID-19 are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the business vulnerability of MSMEs in Indonesia using the fuzzy [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused effects in many sectors, including in businesses and enterprises. The most vulnerable businesses to COVID-19 are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the business vulnerability of MSMEs in Indonesia using the fuzzy spatial clustering approach. The fuzzy spatial clustering approach had been implemented to analyze the social vulnerability to natural hazards in Indonesia. Moreover, this study proposes the Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) to optimize the Fuzzy Geographically Weighted Clustering (FGWC) in order to cluster the business vulnerability in Indonesia. We performed the data analysis with the dataset from Indonesia’s national socioeconomic and labor force survey (SUSENAS and SAKERNAS). We first compared the performance of FPA with traditional FGWC, as well as several known optimization algorithms in FGWC such as Artificial Bee Colony, Intelligent Firefly Algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization, and Gravitational Search Algorithm. Our results showed that FPAFGWC has the best performance in optimizing the FGWC clustering result in the business vulnerability context. We found that almost all of the regions in Indonesia outside Java Island have vulnerable businesses. Meanwhile, in most of Java Island, particularly the JABODETABEK area that is the national economic backbone, businesses are not vulnerable. Based on the results of the study, we provide the recommendation to handle the gap between the number of micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia. Full article
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Article
Linking Green and Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions and Social Networking Sites; The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Risk Propensity
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7050; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137050 - 23 Jun 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 409
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of the use of social networking sites on university graduate students’ green sustainable entrepreneurial intentions by developing a mediating effect. This study provided a research framework using Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and Shapero’s model to illustrate the [...] Read more.
This study investigated the impact of the use of social networking sites on university graduate students’ green sustainable entrepreneurial intentions by developing a mediating effect. This study provided a research framework using Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and Shapero’s model to illustrate the relationship between self-efficacy and risk propensity towards green and sustainable entrepreneurial intentions. This research model posited a relationship between the use of social networking sites and green and sustainable entrepreneurship intentions with a mediating role of risk propensity and self-efficacy. The structural questionnaire was adopted, validated, and disseminated to the 300 respondents of university students. This study’s findings confirmed that there was a significant positive effect of the use of social networking sites on green and sustainable entrepreneurship intentions with the indirect impact of risk propensity and self-efficacy. These substantial outcomes have essential practices and academic implications for representatives, policy makers, and entrepreneurial institutes, such as how to direct the use of such relative niche technologies for communication and the role of the internet to promote green and sustainable entrepreneurial practices among young people. Full article
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Article
A Study on Developing a Communicative Rational Action Scale
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6317; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116317 - 02 Jun 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 634
Abstract
The aim of this study is to develop a Communicative Rational Action Scale and analyze its validity and reliability. The scale has been prepared for all administrators and especially for firm administrators based on Max Weber’s rationalizing theory and Jürgen Habermas’ communicative action [...] Read more.
The aim of this study is to develop a Communicative Rational Action Scale and analyze its validity and reliability. The scale has been prepared for all administrators and especially for firm administrators based on Max Weber’s rationalizing theory and Jürgen Habermas’ communicative action theory. The scale reveals to what extent administrators’ behaviors are communicatively rational while deciding or acting. In total, 282 participants joined this study. The sample group consisted of senior administrators of 87 firms acting in Turkey’s different Organized Industrial Zones or Free Zones. Data were analyzed by the SPSS 21 and AMOS 22 programs. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to the obtained data. In order to test item discrimination, total item correlations were calculated and items under the value of 0.40 were removed from the scale. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 21 articles and five factors. The correlation coefficient of the 21-article scale with a similar scale is 0.979 (p < 0.001). The Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.945 and the test–retest correlation parameter is r = 0.793 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, it was determined by confirmatory factor analysis that the Communicative Rational Action Scale has a good cohesion criterion, and it is a valid and reliable assessment instrument. Full article
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