DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-820-7-0064

ARE SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES REALLY INTERESTED IN IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABILITY ORIENTED INNOVATION?

Monika ZAJKOWSKA

Purpose: In view of the ongoing economic transformations and growing environmental threats, one of the directions of innovation development is sustainability. In this approach, the focus is shifted from understanding innovation not only as an economic benefit, but also to increase social welfare and protect the environment. Innovations taking into account economic, social and environmental factors are referred to as Sustainability-oriented Innovation (SOI). The development of SOI for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is of particular importance, as they play a key role in economic development mainly due to quantitative dominance, employment and contribution to GDP. SMEs are entities with a weaker market position than large companies, because they are not only more susceptible, but above all more exposed to changes in the environment. Literature highlights SMEs’limitations e.g. resource constraints, lack of formalized planning, difficulty to attract finance, which may prevent them from engaging proactively in the innovation process. Due to the necessity to quickly adapt to the changes taking place, these organizations are highly mobile and flexible. SMEs are not simply smaller versions of their larger counterparts (Tilley, 2000) and they will innovate differently for sustainability (Moore & Manring, 2009). The view that sustainable development is becoming one of the competitive priorities for smaller enterprises is more and more communicated. The purpose of the study was an attempt to answer the question of whether SMEs are really interested in implementing SOI into their innovative activity strategies and to identify the selected opportunities and challenges related to this process. The theoretical aspects of SOI were discussed, taking into account economic, social and environmental dimension.
Design/methodology/approach: To develop the conclusions presented in the article, data from a study conducted by the Polish Agency for Regional Development (PARP) in December 2020 using the Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) method on a group of 370 enterprises from the SME sector (start-ups), which operated not longer than 5 years, was used. The study concerned the adaptation and identification of the surveyed enterprises with trends in various time perspectives. In addition, the study uses the results of research conducted by Longitude, a division of The Financial Times commissioned by Smurfit Kappa in January 2020 among 200 British business leaders and senior managers. The premise of the study was to assess attitudes and approaches to sustainable development in the FMCG, retail, e-commerce and consumer products sectors.
Findings: Innovations turned out to be a response to the identified trends and progressive civilization changes. Environmental and social changes made consumers change their habits and take advantage of new opportunities. In the face of exhausting resources, many entities are inclined to implement innovative solutions which, in the face of economic changes, turn out to be a necessity. Sustainable development is an increasingly growing area in which the development of new products and services is focused. The adaptation of enterprises to the identified trends in the shorter and longer term allows for the perception of new economic needs, which in turn creates new areas for the development of SOI.

Keywords: sustainability-oriented Innovation, Small and Medium Enterprises, sustainable development, innovation

pages: 64-70, Published: 2021, online: 2021