Search Results (1,557)

As micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) compete with limited resources, lightweight systems are needed to secure their digital assets. Fuzzy vaults (FVs) are useful for protecting secrets and, when applied to biometric systems, provide error-tolerance and privacy to enrolled biometric features. Combining multiple biometric traits also improves performance against attacks like spoofing in multimodal (MM) authentication systems. However, the design of the FV and the biometric-fusion method applied can limit the system’s effectiveness. This study systematically evaluates recent studies on FVs and MM systems and presents an up-to-date review to identify gaps, give directions for future studies, and, ultimately, improve the design of these systems. The research targeting MSMEs was carried out in two parts, with the first search focused on MM systems and the second on FVs, following the PRISMA guidelines. The main findings include the need to optimise the resource intensity of FV systems for the authentication of large numbers of individuals. It also found the need to make the model compatible with other biometric modalities as greater focus is on minutiae features. By reviewing these systems, we aim to foster the development of lightweight MM FV models to provide privacy and security in MSMEs. Full article

Climate change is a global pressing concern that has affected all sectors, including the operations of Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs) in developing countries, including Malawi. This has negatively affected their economies of scale and exacerbated the SMEs’ growth constraints. Nonetheless, renewable efficient energy (REE) systems, including solar and biogas, could help in building resilience to sustain their performance. In line with this, the study examined the factors that enhance the adoption of renewable efficient energies and constructed their resilience indices. Our study was grounded in the Diffusion of Innovation Theory and the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. These theories contextualised the study and guided the selection of variables to estimate an Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) econometric model, alongside estimating the absorptive, adaptive and transformative individual indices for 699 SMEs, using the 2019 Malawi Household Integrated Survey data. The results initially suggests that factors such as access to credit, being male, access to education, access to capital sources, a large profit share, bridging social capital and location among others, have a positive effect in influencing the adoption of renewable efficient systems. We simulated the adoption results and found that SMEs that adopts REE increase their resilience with an Average Treatment Effect of 0.117 and through the subsidy policy effect vulnerable SMEs that later adopt REE would shift their resilience by 0.169. Furthermore, the study found that transformative capacity plays the most important role in building long-term resilience for the SMEs. The study calls for policies, including establishing urban centres where SMEs can access information regarding REE and improving access to formal safety nets and capital sources beyond loan provisions. Full article

The advent of digital technologies, increasing competition, market globalization, and the fourth industrial revolution compel organizations to rethink their operating models to sustain competitive advantage. At the same time, increasingly informed consumers expect higher levels of personalization, responsiveness, and cost efficiency. In this context, mass customization has emerged as a strategic response enabling firms to deliver tailored products while maintaining acceptable levels of cost, lead time, and operational efficiency. However, operationalizing mass customization remains particularly challenging for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially within normative environments characterized by regulatory and compliance requirements affecting product architectures and manufacturing processes. Although the literature highlights modular product design and product configuration as key enablers, it lacks a structured strategy for their implementation in such contexts. This article aims to develop and validate an operational strategy for mass customization based on these two levers. The methodology adopts an action research approach structured through a hybrid Agile–Stage-Gate framework and validated through its application to a representative portion of the product architecture within a case study. The results highlight the structured integration of variability analysis, modular product design, and configuration logic into an operational process, supporting the management of complexity and the implementation of mass customization in manufacturing SMEs. Full article

Digital small and medium-sized enterprises (digital SMEs) in emerging market economies operate in disruption-biased environments where interruptions can quickly deteriorate operational reliability and long-term performance. Existing studies insufficiently integrate business continuity management (BCM) into capability-based performance models in the digital SME context, especially when focusing on operational rather than strategic perspectives in emerging market economies. Moreover, empirical evidence on how multiple organisational capabilities interact under disruption remains fragmented. This study therefore aims to prioritise the most influential capability-based determinants of sustainable performance in Thai digital SMEs using expert consensuses analysed via Fuzzy TOPSIS. This study adopted the following two-stage research design. Stage 1: A three-round e-Delphi panel (n = 21) refined and prioritised the most influential determinant; the expert group included SME business owners (with more than 20 years of SME management experience) and relevant specialists. The consensuses were then analysed using Fuzzy TOPSIS to rank the determinants by relative importance. Stage 2: Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using survey data from 817 Thai digital SMEs was utilised to validate the proposed capability transmission pathways, and a strong fit was demonstrated (χ²/df = 1.672, CFI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.029). The study findings highlight continuity-oriented routines as a practical leverage point for SME leaders and policymakers seeking resilient and sustainable performance in digital markets, and positions BCM as an actionable strategy toward achieving these goals. Full article

Aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which emphasizes sustainability, innovation, and economic diversification, this study investigates how green innovation (GI), organizational learning (OL), and regulatory pressure (RP) influence sustainability performance (SP) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, addressing a key theoretical gap, this study examines OL as a mediating mechanism and RP as a moderating factor in the GI–SP relationship, an area rarely explored in emerging economies. Grounded in the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory. Methodology: This study adopts a quantitative, cross-sectional design and gathers data from 386 SME employees across Saudi Arabia using validated survey instruments. SPSS analysis revealed that GI significantly improved SP both directly and indirectly via OL, highlighting the critical role of internal learning capabilities. Furthermore, RP positively moderates the effect of GI on SP, indicating that supportive regulatory environments can amplify the benefits of innovation for sustainability outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by integrating internal capabilities and external pressures into a cohesive framework for understanding sustainability. Empirically, it offers fresh insights into the under-researched SME sector in Saudi Arabia. Practically, the findings provide valuable guidance for managers and policymakers to promote sustainability through enhanced learning culture and well-structured regulatory frameworks. Full article

Open innovation has become a central framework for explaining how firms access, integrate, and exploit knowledge beyond organizational boundaries. However, the conditions shaping its adoption by small- and medium-sized enterprises remain insufficiently understood, particularly in Latin American contexts. This study examines the determinants of open innovation adoption in Colombian SMEs and develops an analytical model that integrates six explanatory dimensions: external partnership and cooperation, government support, rules and regulatory factors, market and customer factors, organizational and human resource factors, and technological factors. Empirically, the study combines an exploratory qualitative phase, based on semi-structured interviews with SME managers in Bogotá, D.C., with a quantitative phase using survey data from 319 SMEs operating in ISIC 6201 and 6202. The hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that technological factors have the strongest direct association with open innovation adoption, followed by government support and external partnership and cooperation. Market and customer factors, as well as organizational and human resource factors, also exert positive and significant effects, whereas rules and regulatory factors do not show a significant direct effect. Additional analyses indicate that organizational and human resource factors partially mediate the relationship between technological factors and open innovation adoption, while a complementary moderation test does not support an interaction-based effect. These findings suggest that open innovation adoption in SMEs is technologically enabled, partially translated through organizational and human resource capabilities, and shaped by a configuration of relational, institutional, market-based, and internal conditions rather than by any single determinant. Full article

Capital structure theory remains a central concern within corporate finance, despite more than six decades of sustained scholarly inquiry. The seminal contributions of Modigliani and Miller established the analytical foundations from which subsequent frameworks emerged, notably the static trade-off theory and its later evolution into dynamic adjustment models. Although competing theoretical perspectives have advanced the debate, their respective limitations have increasingly encouraged a more integrative understanding of firms’ financing behaviour. This study critically examines the limitations of the dynamic trade-off model in explaining the financing decisions of Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the period 2015–2024. The article contributes to the literature by proposing an original comparative methodological framework and introducing an empirical indicator designed to assess the divergence between the model’s theoretical assumptions and observed financing practices. Using dynamic panel estimations based on the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), the findings reveal that, although SMEs exhibit partial adjustment behaviour towards target leverage rations, several core determinants predicted by the dynamic trade-off framework lose explanatory power when confronted with observed data. In particular, profitability displays patterns more consistent with pecking order behaviour, while variables traditionally associated with debt optimization and collateral effects become statistically weak or inconsistent. These results suggest that the financing behaviour of Portuguese SMEs cannot be fully explained by a single theoretical framework and is strongly shaped by institutional constraints, internal financing preferences, and contextual factors. The study therefore highlights both the continuing relevance and the empirical limitations of the dynamic trade-off model, while reinforcing the need for more pluralistic approaches to capital structure analysis. From a practical perspective, the findings indicate that SME financing decisions should not be interpreted solely through leverage optimization logic, carrying implications for managers, financial institutions, and policymakers involved in SME financing and fiscal policy design. Full article

In the digital economy, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face growing pressure to align digital transformation with sustainability-oriented value creation. Yet, it remains unclear how and through which mechanisms digital leadership is associated with sustainable digital innovation in resource-constrained and turbulent contexts. This study investigates whether digital leadership is associated with sustainable digital innovation directly and indirectly through digital capabilities and digital orientation, and whether strategic agility strengthens these relationships. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT), the study develops an integrated framework that explains sustainable digital innovation as a strategically managed outcome of digital economy transformation rather than a simple result of technology adoption. Using survey data from 423 employees in Lebanese SMEs, the hypotheses were tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that digital leadership is positively associated with sustainable digital innovation both directly and indirectly, with digital orientation emerging as the stronger mediating pathway compared to digital capabilities. In addition, strategic agility strengthens the association between digital orientation and sustainable digital innovation, while its moderating role on the digital capabilities path is not significant. These findings contribute to the literature by identifying dual transformation mechanisms and revealing an asymmetric boundary role of agility in sustainability-oriented digital transformation. The study also offers practical implications for SME leaders seeking to align digital strategy with long-term environmental, social, and economic value creation. Full article

Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) anchor employment and output across Sub-Saharan Africa, their uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) lags global benchmarks, and prevailing explanations dwell on capital, infrastructure, and institutional voids while overlooking the leadership competencies that determine whether available resources are mobilised at all. Addressing this gap, the present study asks how the digital leadership capabilities of SME owner-managers shape their intention to adopt AI in Nigeria, and through what organisational mechanisms and under what boundary conditions this influence operates. Anchored in the Diffusion of Innovation Theory and the Tigre–Henriques–Curado model of digital leadership, a cross-sectional survey was administered to owner-managers of registered SMEs drawn from six states; a sample of 390 was derived from a population of 23,290 firms using the Taro Yamane formula with proportionate allocation, and 306 valid responses were retained. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (WarpPLS 8.0) was applied after confirming reliability (Cronbach’s $\alpha$: 0.69–0.84; composite reliability: 0.83–0.88), convergent validity (AVE: 0.56–0.67), and common method bias control. Strategic ($\beta$ = 0.298), interpersonal ($\beta$ = 0.245), and personal attribute ($\beta$ = 0.129) capabilities each significantly raised AI adoption intention. In contrast, delivery-related capabilities ($\beta$ = 0.090, p = 0.057) did not, indicating that pre-adoption intention is governed by cognitive-strategic and relational competencies rather than execution skills. Organisational innovation climate partially transmitted the effects of strategic and interpersonal capabilities, and firm size amplified the interpersonal pathway in medium-sized firms. The study contributes a leadership-centred account of AI adoption in an under-researched African setting and, by estimating mediation and moderation within a single framework, clarifies both why and when digital leadership translates into AI readiness, yielding capability-specific guidance for owner-managers and SME support policy. Full article

This paper investigates the impact of a regional innovation-driven platform (Qinchuangyuan Innovation-driven Platform) on entrepreneurial confidence, particularly in technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (TSMEs) during their start-up period. By analyzing data collected from 132 TSMEs, this study explores how regional innovation-driven platforms influence entrepreneurial confidence. The main findings are as follows: First, the results of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression reveal that the innovation-driven platform significantly improves entrepreneurial confidence, and the results of propensity score matching (PSM) remain still positive. Second, we conduct instrumental variable (IV) estimation as supplementary robustness evidence for potential endogeneity concerns, using whether an enterprise participates in market expansion activities and whether an enterprise uses government support services as two instrumental variables. Third, the innovation-driven platform is mediated by entrepreneurial satisfaction with the business environment and entrepreneurial satisfaction with the government, thereby enhancing entrepreneurial confidence. This paper provides a new perspective for assessing business development through entrepreneurial confidence rather than traditional performance metrics and provides a valuable reference for the development and optimization of innovation-driven platforms in similar regional contexts, especially in supporting sustained entrepreneurial activity, technology transformation, and regional economic resilience. Full article

Despite the proliferation of digital integration initiatives, many Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) remain trapped in a persistent “Conversion Gap,” where digital adoption fails to manifest as tangible financial performance. Grounded in Resource Conversion Theory, this study anatomizes the structural bottlenecks of this process through a multi-stage Causal AI architecture. Utilizing time-lagged data from 649 SMEs to control for endogeneity, I integrate Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM), Tiered Grand-DAG algorithms, and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) to decode the non-linear trajectories of value realization. The findings identify a “Low Integration” cohort (34.2%) that fails to translate digital usage into realized outcomes due to a severe deficit in Absorptive Capacity (ACAP). Crucially, NCA diagnostics reveal that ‘perceived usefulness’ serves merely as a necessary baseline condition, whereas ‘user satisfaction’ functions as the primary catalyst for value conversion. Furthermore, multi-group analysis (MGA) confirms that for the most vulnerable SMEs, the causal pathway to revenue is structurally severed (β = 0.000), rendering traditional, linear training interventions ineffective. I propose a fundamental shift toward data-driven, targeted interventions to address these specific structural barriers and facilitate sustainable digital value creation in the SME ecosystem. Full article

Corporate debt crises constitute a critical source of instability in modern financial distress, rendering their early prediction essential for market regulators and investors. However, corporate debt crisis prediction is severely hindered by extreme class imbalance, as actual crisis samples are far fewer than normal ones. This issue greatly undermines the robustness and generalization ability of conventional forecasting models. To address this issue, we propose an adaptive meta weighting learning (named AMetaW) for corporate debt crisis prediction. Specifically, the model incorporates an adaptive meta weighting mechanism to alleviate class imbalance, ensuring that rare crisis samples receive sufficient attention during training. Moreover, AMetaW integrates multiple financial characteristics into a unified framework, while employing explainable machine learning techniques to reveal the heterogeneous importance of indicators across regions. Empirical analysis using firm-level data across multiple provinces in China demonstrates that: (1) AMetaW achieves superior predictive performance compared with state-of-the-art baselines under imbalanced conditions; (2) our analysis reveals that short-term benchmark interest rate, equity concentration degree, and operating profit margin are consistently the strongest predictors of debt crises; and (3) the relative importance of indicators varies across regions, with eastern firms more sensitive to equity concentration degree and cash ratio, while western firms are more exposed to risks from short-term benchmark interest rate and operating profit margin. These findings provide both methodological contributions to Corporate Debt Crises forecast model and practical insights for region-specific debt crisis prevention and offering practical guidance for group enterprises and regulators. Full article

Mass customization is widely recognized as a strategic lever enabling manufacturing firms to respond to increasing diversity in customer needs. However, its operationalization remains particularly challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially in regulatory environments characterized by stringent compliance requirements affecting product design, configuration, and commercialization. Although the literature identifies product modular design and product configuration as key enablers of mass customization, their applicability and limitations in such contexts remain insufficiently documented. This article aims to structure and qualify, through expert consensus, the concepts associated with product modular design and product configuration within regulatory contexts relevant to manufacturing SMEs. To this end, a Delphi–Régnier study was conducted with experts from manufacturing, academic, and consulting backgrounds. Two rounds of questionnaires assessed levels of agreement on propositions derived from the literature, complemented by qualitative feedback. The results reveal differentiated levels of convergence across the concepts examined and highlight regulation as a central factor influencing their scope and application. This study contributes to the literature by providing a consensus-based structuring of these concepts and identifying key conditions for their implementation in manufacturing SMEs. Full article

This study examines how Ukrainian enterprises of different size classes adapted their trade activity under the compounded shocks of COVID-19 and the full-scale war. The article addresses national economic resilience and sustainable recovery by examining how export and import dynamics changed among micro-, small-, medium-, and large-sized firms during 2015–2023. The methodology combines the logarithmic decomposition of intensive and extensive trade margins with a strategic positioning matrix based on labour productivity and the net-export coefficient. The results reveal marked size-based differences in aggregate trade-adaptation patterns. During the pandemic, microbusinesses shifted toward a quantity-led compensatory pattern, whereas during the war, medium-sized and large enterprises showed a stronger efficiency-led export pattern. Micro- and small firms displayed characteristics associated with technology-oriented adaptation, combining rapid labour productivity growth with negative trade balances, whereas large enterprises were positioned closer to the niche-exporter profile, supporting the balance of payments but showing signs of slower productivity growth. Medium-sized firms occupied a transformation zone, indicating unresolved adjustment pressure and continued dependence on trade restructuring. These findings suggest that enterprise-size heterogeneity can serve as an analytical basis for differentiated recovery policy. The results are relevant for trade-dependent sectors, including agri-food and food-processing systems, where recovery depends on technological upgrading, export capacity building, and the more effective conversion of imports into future export potential. Full article

The global leather and hide industry faces increasing sustainability pressures and growing competition from synthetic and bio-based alternatives. This study presents a strategic case analysis of the U.S. leather and hide industry, examining the competitive and sustainability challenges facing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their strategic pathways for long-term viability. Drawing on sustainability transitions theory, the study employs a qualitative case-study approach based on semi-structured interviews with five senior industry experts. Data were analyzed thematically and interpreted through PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, and SWOT frameworks. Four interconnected themes emerged: (1) trade pressures and supply-chain fragmentation; (2) sustainability as compliance, cost, and communication challenge; (3) leather under pressure: the rise of alternative materials; and (4) repositioning for survival: premiumization, technology, and regulatory adaptation. The findings indicate that sustainability is not primarily a production-level technical challenge; rather, key barriers lie in upstream operations and sustainability communication. The industry remains export-oriented for raw hides, while wet-blue and finished leather compete in specialized niche markets where differentiation is essential. Externally, the sector is most strongly shaped by substitute materials, increasing demand for credible sustainability data, and animal welfare concerns. Internally, most notably, it faces high capital intensity, elevated costs, and persistent supply-chain fragmentation. The study contributes to sustainability transitions and SME research while offering practical implications for industry and policy stakeholders. Full article