Jul 2026· Business Strategy and the Environment· 0 citations· 64 references
Abstract
Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) face growing pressure to integrate sustainable development in response to evolving environmental regulations, stakeholder expectations, and market demands. However, they often lack the financial, technological, and organizational resources and capabilities needed to successfully navigate their transitions to sustainable development. In this context, open innovation (OI) increasingly appears as a mechanism through which SMEs may access external knowledge, mobilize collaborative networks, and operationalize sustainability‐oriented transformations. Although prior research acknowledges the potential of OI to support sustainability, limited understanding exists regarding the organizational and relational mechanisms through which SMEs translate openness into environmental and social sustainability outcomes. This study addresses this gap by analyzing seven French SMEs across diverse sectors through a multiple‐case study approach. We investigate the motivations, mechanisms, and outcomes of OI adoption for sustainability. The findings reveal that sustainable open innovation (SOI) in SMEs is structured around four recurring motivational patterns: growth‐oriented, customer‐oriented, research‐oriented, and social sustainability‐oriented, each associated with distinct collaborative configurations and sustainability trajectories. The study shows that these patterns rely on different mechanisms, including strategic alliances, co‐creation practices, research collaborations, and stakeholder networks, which enable SMEs to access external knowledge, strengthen relational capital, develop eco‐designed products, support circular economy practices, and reinforce social inclusion initiatives. This research advances the SOI literature by showing how distinct collaborative configurations enable SMEs to convert openness into different sustainability trajectories. The findings provide guidance for managers and policymakers seeking to foster SME‐oriented sustainable innovation ecosystems.
This study aims to examine the mediating role of sustainable‐oriented innovation (SOI) in the relationship between knowledge management practices (KMP), corporate social responsibility (CSR), organizational green creativity (OGC), and government financial incentives (GFI) with the financial and environmental performance of SMEs in Pakistan. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected through a self‐administered survey distributed to SME owners and top managers. Partial least square SEM (PLS‐SEM) employed to test the relationship between hypotheses. The findings reveal that CSR, KMP, and OGC significantly influence SMEs' performance, while GFI primarily affects environmental outcomes, with limited direct financial impact. Notably, the findings recognized SOI as a robust mediator, translating internal resources and external incentives into measurable sustainability outcomes. The results validate the Resource‐Based View (RBV) by highlighting the importance of intangible assets and dynamic capabilities in sustaining competitiveness, while also reinforcing Stakeholder Theory by acknowledging the role of external institutional pressures. The study offers novel insights into the integrated role of SOI in driving dual performance outcomes and contributes to the limited empirical literature in emerging markets. Practically, it provides SME managers and policymakers with actionable directions for leveraging innovation to align financial objectives with environmental sustainability. The study is limited by its cross‐sectional design, geographic focus on Pakistan, and reliance on self‐reported data, which should be considered when generalizing the findings.
Yasir Aziz, Z. Ullah, Said Wali· Knowledge and Process Manage...· 0 citations
Advancing sustainable development requires organisations to align digital capabilities with social and environmental objectives, yet the mechanisms by which digital maturity and sustainability practices drive innovation remain poorly understood across organisational contexts. Drawing on dynamic capabilities, the Resource‐Based View and institutional perspectives on hybrid organisations, this study examines how the technological dimension of digital maturity and sustainability practices—social and environmental—influence social and environmental innovation (SEI), and how innovation barriers moderate these effects when comparing social economy enterprises (SEE) and non‐social economy enterprises (NSEE). Using microdata from the Flash Eurobarometer 486 covering 27 EU Member States and 12 additional countries, we estimate PLS‐SEM models and conduct multigroup analysis. The findings show that digital maturity significantly strengthens SEI in both organisational types, with a stronger effect in SEE than in NSEE. Social practices foster both SEI and the adoption of environmental practices, but environmental practices follow different innovation pathways across organisational contexts: they operate as a more stable direct driver in NSEE, whereas in SEE their contribution becomes stronger under high levels of innovation barriers. Crucially, barriers to innovation do not act as a uniform constraint. They dampen the translation of environmental practices into innovation in NSEE, but stimulate this relationship in SEE, suggesting that institutional friction can operate either as a barrier or as an enabling condition depending on the organisational context. The study advances an integrative, context‐dependent framework showing that the conversion of digital and sustainability‐oriented capabilities into social and environmental innovation varies across SEE and NSEE, organisational contexts characterised by different purpose and governance logics, and depends on the institutional frictions firms face.
A. M. Ciruela-Lorenzo, Juan Herrera‐Ballesteros, Pedro Mota Veiga et al.· Business Strategy and the En...· 0 citations
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly need to reconfigure how they create, deliver, and capture value in response to digitalisation, sustainability demands, and environmental uncertainty. This study systematically reviews 162 English-language articles published in SSCI-indexed journals to integrate fragmented research on business model innovation (BMI) in SMEs. Descriptive analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and article-level qualitative content analysis are combined. The findings identify four broad knowledge domains and show that 41 studies treat BMI primarily as an outcome, 44 as an organisational process, 17 as an antecedent of subsequent outcomes, and 36 as part of a combined causal relationship; a further 24 studies are descriptive or typological. Across these roles, the literature explains BMI through resource mobilisation, entrepreneurial action logics, absorptive and dynamic capabilities, experimentation, and network mobilisation. Its effects on performance, growth, resilience, internationalisation, and sustainability depend on complementary resources, implementation capabilities, stakeholder alignment, and environmental conditions. The evidence supports an adaptive and iterative interpretation of SME BMI, but direct evidence of recursive feedback remains limited. Resource constraints also have conditional effects, stimulating bricolage and focused experimentation in some circumstances while inhibiting substantive change when shortages become severe. The review provides an integrative synthesis specific to SMEs and advances digital business model innovation research by explaining how digital pressures are translated into changes in value proposition, value creation and delivery, and value capture through organisational and relational mechanisms.
Bi Zhang, Nurul Atasha Jamaludin, Shanshan Yue et al.· Future Business Journal· 0 citations
This study examines how collaborative open innovation (OI) supports sustainable diversification in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the circular economy (CE). While prior research has widely discussed open innovation and circular transition, less attention has been paid to how SMEs use collaboration to develop new products, services, markets, or partnership configurations under circular constraints. Using a qualitative multiple-case design, the study draws on 36 semi-structured interviews with SME managers in renewable energy, waste management, and sustainable manufacturing across Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, complemented by documentary and policy analysis. The findings identify four recurring collaborative OI practices: cross-sectoral knowledge alliances, supplier-customer co-creation networks, academic-industry research partnerships, and digital platform-based collaboration. These practices support sustainable diversification through four linked mechanisms: improved resource efficiency, product and service innovation, expanded market reach, and stronger institutional legitimacy. These mechanisms do not operate in isolation: legitimacy often serves as a gatekeeper for market expansion, resource efficiency enables product innovation, and pursuing them in the wrong order can reverse diversification gains. The analysis further shows that absorptive capacity and policy support condition whether externally sourced knowledge can be converted into viable circular offerings. The study further identifies four failure patterns (partner misalignment, internal conversion failure, legitimacy deficit, and policy dependency trap) and shows that power asymmetry can lead to knowledge leakage or greenwashing by stronger partners. The article contributes an integrated framework that explains how collaborative OI practices, enabling mechanisms, and contextual conditions failure patterns, and power asymmetries jointly shape whether SMEs translate circular opportunities into resilient diversification or fall into collaborative traps.
Shuyun Wang· Journal of Sustainable Manag...· 0 citations
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly required to adopt sustainable business practices; however, many SMEs still face challenges in integrating environmental strategies into their operational activities due to limited resources and adaptive capabilities. This study examines the effects of green innovation, dynamic capabilities, and organizational culture on business sustainability among SMEs in Denpasar City, Indonesia, while investigating the moderating role of managerial environmental awareness in these relationships. A quantitative research approach was employed using probability sampling. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to SMEs in Denpasar City, resulting in 400 valid responses from 500 distributed questionnaires. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that green innovation, dynamic capabilities, and organizational culture positively and significantly influence business sustainability. These results indicate that environmentally oriented innovation, organizational adaptability, and sustainability-supportive culture contribute to enhancing SMEs’ economic, social, and environmental performance. Furthermore, managerial environmental awareness strengthens the relationship between green innovation and business sustainability. However, managerial environmental awareness weakens the effect of dynamic capabilities on business sustainability and does not significantly moderate the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability.
Gede Aryawan, Eka Ardhani Sisdyani· International Journal of Bus...· 0 citations
Sustainability for small and medium-sized enterprises involves the balanced integration of economic, social, environmental and governance objectives into their daily activity. For SMEs, sustainable development does not only mean reducing negative environmental impact, but also using resources efficiently, strengthening responsibility toward employees and the community, respecting ethical principles and maintaining stable economic performance in the long term. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main sustainability principles applicable to SMEs and to highlight their role in increasing competitiveness and resilience. The research methodology is based on qualitative analysis, comparative analysis and the examination of specialized literature and sustainability frameworks. The findings emphasize that the adoption of ESG principles contributes to improved operational efficiency, stronger stakeholder trust, better access to financing and long-term business stability. At the same time, SMEs face challenges related to limited financial resources, managerial expertise and access to green technologies. Therefore, sustainability should be integrated into the strategic development of SMEs and supported through institutional initiatives and simplified sustainability reporting frameworks.
Svetlana Vrabie, Alina Suslenco· Development Through Research...· 0 citations
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