Jul 2026· Journal of Sustainable Management and Social Progress· 0 citations· 33 references
Abstract
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.
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
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face increasing pressure to enhance service quality within market uncertainty, limited resources, and rapid digital transformation. However, many SMEs struggle to develop sustainable service excellence due to fragmented capabilities and the absence of structured cross-sector collaboration. This study aims to investigate how co-creation between SMEs, academic institutions, and the banking industry can jointly drive service excellence by adopting the principles of Service-Dominant Logic (SDL). A qualitative exploratory design was employed, using in-depth interviews, expert discussions, and document analysis to examine the interplay of knowledge exchange, resource integration, and collaborative service innovation across the three stakeholder groups. The findings reveal that service excellence emerges through co-created value rather than isolated organizational initiatives. Academic institutions contribute theoretical frameworks and analytical tools, while the banking sector provides financial expertise, risk management practices, and customer service models. SMEs, in turn, integrate these resources to build adaptive capabilities, elevate customer experience, and strengthen operational resilience. The study demonstrates that triadic collaboration enables SMEs to transition toward customer-centric service models, leverage digital technologies, and develop more robust financial and managerial competencies. These insights extend the SDL framework by highlighting the role of multi-actor ecosystems in shaping service innovation within resource-constrained contexts. The implications underscore the need for structured co-creation platforms, capacity-building initiatives, and long-term partnerships to scale SME service excellence. The study further recommends exploring broader ecosystem actors and mixed-method approaches to deepen theoretical and managerial understanding of co-creation-driven service transformation.
Denny Rakhmad Widi Ashari, Gautama Sastra Waskita, Nurani et al.· Adilla· 0 citations
This single case study examines how the H&M Group, a large fashion multinational, uses open innovation (OI) to support the transition towards a circular business model. Although collaborations are recognized as key to advancing circularity, limited empirical evidence exists on how co‐creative OI processes drive circular practices across the value chain. Using adaptive cycle theory (the panarchy model) and institutional theory, the study analyses H&M Group's involvement in circular and collaborative innovation from 2010 to 2025 through a mixed‐methods approach, including case study analysis, content analysis, financial data and market trends. The findings show that H&M Group's participation in circular OI initiatives targets seven main categories of collaborations in a nonlinear process shaped by recursive interactions between institutional factors and financial and competitive pressures. The research demonstrates the existence of a full adaptive cycle of circular OI participation, offering insights for researchers, industry actors and policymakers.
V. Dragomir, Sînziana-Maria Rîndașu· Systems research and behavio...· 0 citations
Digital innovation has become a key enabler of the circular economy, yet existing research on SMEs remains fragmented across technological, organizational, and institutional perspectives. This study addresses this gap through a bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review of 87 peer-reviewed articles published between 2017 and 2025. The review synthesizes the evolution of digital research, identifies its theoretical foundations, key barriers, enabling factors, and performance outcomes, and develops a multi-level conceptual framework linking micro-, meso-, macro-, and ecosystem-level perspectives. The findings suggest that successful digital innovation-enabled circular transformation depends on the interaction of digital capabilities, organizational resources, institutional support, and stakeholder collaboration. The study further reveals that financial constraints, limited digital capabilities, and weak institutional support remain major barriers, whereas Industry 4.0 technologies, leadership commitment, and ecosystem collaboration serve as critical enablers. By integrating fragmented theoretical perspectives into a coherent framework, this review advances the understanding of digital adoption in SMEs and provides a structured research agenda together with practical implications for managers and policymakers seeking to accelerate sustainable digital transformation.
Yi-Jun Cheng, Umar H. A. Kohar· Sustainability· 0 citations
Innovation adoption in the agro‐food sector is essential for enhancing productivity, sustainability, and maintaining competitiveness in the European Union. Both firms and farms in this sector face a complex landscape of drivers and barriers that influence their ability to adopt new technologies and practices. The paper employs a structured literature review approach to analyze existing studies on this topic. Focusing on separate analyses for farms and firms, our investigation began with a selection of 165 studies. After excluding book chapters, books, and conference papers, and including only those pertinent to member states, we reviewed abstracts to narrow our selection to a total of 56 papers. Several findings have emerged from this analysis. Public funding is a major driver, providing essential financial support, though it can be less accessible for micro and small to medium enterprises. Knowledge spillovers and collaboration along the supply chain are crucial for disseminating innovative practices. The role of the Internet of Things is increasingly significant, offering solutions for supply chain management. Investments in research and development are pivotal for technological advancements. Differences exist between the innovation drivers and barriers for farms and firms, indicating the need for tailored approaches to support innovation across the sector.
Ginevra Coletti, A. Pronti, Emy Zecca· Journal of economic surveys...· 0 citations
Horizontal coopetition—the collaboration between direct competitors operating at the same market level—has increasingly emerged as a critical interorganizational strategy for enabling digital coopetition and business model innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although prior research has examined the relationships between horizontal coopetition, digital coopetition, governance, and business model innovation, limited attention has been devoted to explaining the resource orchestration mechanisms through which these relationships create value and enhance innovation performance. This article addresses this gap by mobilising Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT; Sirmon et al., 2011). It argues that horizontal coopetition provides access to complementary resources, but these resources generate value only when they are effectively orchestrated—structured, bundled, and leveraged—through digital coopetition within governance arrangements comprising legal, transactional, and relational mechanisms that coordinate interfirm collaboration. The empirical analysis relies on secondary data collected from 143 French industrial SME clusters, with particular attention to the Vallée de l'Arve, and employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using XLSTAT. The findings demonstrate substantial explanatory power and confirm the complementary roles of horizontal coopetition, digital coopetition, and governance in enhancing business model innovation performance. By conceptualising digital coopetition as the mechanism through which complementary resources are orchestrated in competitive relationships, this study extends Resource Orchestration Theory beyond intra-organisational resource deployment to interorganizational competitive settings. It also opens promising avenues for future research by encouraging further investigation into the breadth and depth of digitalisation as orchestration mechanisms and the cognitive antecedents of coopetition, including managers' coopetition readiness and Coopetitive mindset.
Ayadi Sahar, Assil bouzouitina, Svitlana Ostapenko· International Journal of Man...· 0 citations
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