Building SME Innovation Model on Triple Bottom-line Responsibility: An Approach to Sustainability as a Profitable Strategic Value Driver

Building SME Innovation Model on Triple Bottom-line Responsibility: An Approach to Sustainability as a Profitable Strategic Value Driver

Nuñez Rodriguez, B.

Van Beers, C.P. (mentor)
Scholten, V.E. (mentor)
Quist, J.N. (mentor)

Technology, Policy and Management

Technology, Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development

2013-06-28

Governments and public opinion have widely recognized that SMEs are ahead in the list of organizations harshly affected by the dynamics of globalization, as the financial recession has severely influenced credit flows to SMEs, who are critically dependent on credit, and dispose of limited access to financial markets. This is of transcendent relevance to the worldwide community, as SMEs are the backbone of the global economy, accounting for up to 97% of global enterprises, 40-60 % of global GDP, and up to 70 % of employment in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) (European Commission, 2011). Given their size and lower market profile (smaller dimensions involves lower negotiating power and leverage on market forces), SMEs have an inclination to avoid the supervision and collaboration of public administrations and donors, developing a propensity to cultivate knowledge in implicit ways. In this context, the present research aims to address the strategic adoption of responsible governance culture to identify, monitor and assess responsible innovation engagement and practice to overcome SMEs' lack of involvement in triple bottom-line responsible agendas, as a result of its higher requirements in terms of learning and mindset changes by addressing the following interrogations: - Why SMEs should engage triple bottom-line responsible innovation as an alternative approach to profitable value creation? - What benefits from responsible innovation are adequate to be appropriated by SMEs? - What methodology and criteria can be implemented in SMEs in order to identify, monitor and evaluate the impact of their responsible innovation strategies?

SME Tripple Bottom-line Responsibility

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b0f3d519-e91c-4e2b-9c33-07f38585527a

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2013 Nuñez Rodriguez, B.