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Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises’ Sustainability-Oriented Innovation for COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Weilun Huang

    (School of Finance and Trade, Wenzhou Business College, Wenzhou 325035, China)

  • Hengbin Yin

    (School of Finance and Trade, Wenzhou Business College, Wenzhou 325035, China)

  • Seongjin Choi

    (School of Business, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea)

  • Mohsin Muhammad

    (College of International Finance and Trade, Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages, Shaoxing 312000, China)

Abstract

The economic impact of a public emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is often reduced by micro and small businesses (MSEs) undertaking sustainability-oriented innovation for public emergencies (SOIPE), which includes production and service innovation, information innovation, marketing innovation, and labor innovation. The originality of this study lies in its prediction and evaluation of COVID-19′s challenges and SOIPE’s requirements to have a keen observation and discovery ability. In this paper, we combined nominal group technique, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, least squares, and a case study to investigate governance, economic, financial, sociocultural, and environmental sustainability and demonstrate the MSEs’ sustainability evaluation model. In a qualitative study and literature review, MSEs were found to use SOIPE in a variety of ways. Some studies focused on marketing innovation, while others were hampered by their limited understanding. From both a theoretical and empirical perspective, this study suggests that MSEs should identify their optimal SOIPE based on the impact and volatility of a public emergency. In addition, this study presents an assessment of the impact and environmental volatility of a public emergency, as well as MSEs’ SOIPE, which is more helpful for enterprises. Finally, this study creatively introduces the SOIPE of MSEs, which has important policy ramifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Weilun Huang & Hengbin Yin & Seongjin Choi & Mohsin Muhammad, 2022. "Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises’ Sustainability-Oriented Innovation for COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:7521-:d:843481
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    References listed on IDEAS

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