University|10-25-2025

Sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Sustainability in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) – a topic that has gained remarkable momentum over the past two decades. Our latest review, published in Sustainable Development (IF: 8.2, CS: 14.5), provides an integrative overview of the academic literature on sustainability in SMEs. Using co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling, we identify key thematic clusters, determinants, applied theories, and research gaps shaping this growing field. With this paper, we hope to bring clarity to an increasingly fragmented research landscape and offer valuable insights for both practice and future research.

A big thank you to the great team: Kerem Dalgali & Alexander Brem!

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the concept of sustainability in the context of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SME) has gained significant attention within both business practice and academic research. This has resulted in a rapid and multidisciplinary proliferation of scholarly literature, which has led to an increasing fragmentation of the research field, calling for an integrative overview. Against this background, this paper aims to identify the main thematic clusters of the literature on sustainability in SMEs, using two science mapping techniques (co‐citation analysis and bibliographic coupling), and a cluster‐wise review identifying major determinants and antecedents of SME’s sustainability, SME’s sustainability efforts, and their outcomes, as well as contextual factors, applied theories, and research methods. Additionally, it seeks to reveal nascent subfields and research gaps. This research contributes to the literature by complementing and extending existing literature reviews in a quantitative approach and proposing an integrative overview. Moreover, implications for SMEs and future research directions are suggested.

Reference

Dalgali, K., Tiberius, V., & Brem, A. (2025). Sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME): integrated research framework and future research agenda. Sustainable Development, in press, doi:10.1002/sd.70326.