Supportive tactics for innovative and sustainability performance in emerging SMEs

Abstract

For this research, we examined the influence of access to domestic and international financing on sustainability performance with a mediating role of innovative performance and a moderating role of access to government support. Data were collected from 317 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through structured questionnaires. The results indicated that access to domestic and international financing significantly contributes to sustainability and innovative performances. Accordingly, we found a partial mediating role of innovative performance between access to domestic financing and sustainability performance as well as between access to international financing and sustainability performance. Access to government support significantly moderates the relationship between access to domestic finances and innovative performance as well as between access to international finances and innovative performance. Practitioners and policymakers should encourage national and international financial institutions and banks to facilitate SMEs by lending them funds for innovative activities and sustainability performance. Moreover, the government should support SMEs, so that they can contribute to economic growth and the gross domestic product. The implications from these matters will be further discussed in this paper.

Innovative Business Strategies in the Face of COVID-19: An Approach to Open Innovation of SMEs in the Sonora Region of Mexico

“…These findings are similar and consistent with studies developed by [21,122,158]. In this same direction, the study carried out by Nofiani et al [159] shows that SMEs are currently in a state plagued by uncertainty and must adapt to market situations and internal needs. To this end, they develop multiple balanced and combined ambidextrous strategies focused on innovation to sustain appropriate financial performance and survive in highly competitive markets [160,161].…”

The role of Fintech in circular economy practices to improve sustainability performance: a two-staged SEM-ANN approach

“…Firms with greater access to credit can invest the gathered funds in lowering energy usage, business waste, resource consumption, and the cost of waste treatment, therefore enhancing the organization’s environmental and sustainability performance. This finding is analogous to that of Ullah et al ( 2021 ), who argue that access to internal and external financing leads to superior sustainability performance in SMEs. Prior research suggests that a crucial impediment to the effective implementation of green and sustainable business practices in lean SMEs is a financial constraint, given the absence of immediate quantifiable benefits, high operating costs, and declining sales because of the premium price of green products (Caldera et al 2019 ; Kahupi et al 2021 ).…”

“…In a similar vein, Caldera et al ( 2019 ) argue that one of the greatest challenges to the effective implementation of green and sustainable business practices in lean SMEs is financial constraint due to the absence of immediate quantifiable benefits, high capital costs, and declining sales resulting from the premium price integrated in green products. Ullah et al ( 2021 ) contend that greater access to internal and external financing strongly influences different dimensions of a firm’s sustainability performance. Likewise, this study also proposes that access to finance has a positive linkage with SMEs’ sustainability performance and hypothesizes that: H3b : Access to finance is positively related to firms’ sustainability performance.…”

The impact of carbon emission trading policy on firms’ green innovation in China

“…These enterprises have higher market values, which indicates better future prospects (Ding et al 2020) and more sources of green innovation resources from the market. Models ( 17) and ( 18) show that the policy has a green innovation effect on companies with low financing constraints, which pose a challenge of external financing for companies (Ullah et al 2021). Companies with low financing constraints can obtain more green innovation resources from the market, which is consistent with reality.…”