Sustainable Business Models of SMEs: Challenges in Yacht Tourism Sector

Abstract

Despite the high number of active small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in all sectors, current studies have barely developed investigations on the sustainability of their business models so far. The aim of this study was thus to bridge the gap between sustainable business models of SMEs in the service industry, to uncover the challenges that SMEs face when seeking business model reconfiguration toward sustainability. More specifically, the empirical investigation adopted a case study research design in the context of yacht tourism, as one business form among many within the tourism industry and thus within the broader category of the service industry. Interviews were conducted with seven European SMEs, whose business models were analyzed through the lens of the triple bottom line and sustainability challenges in their business models. The results display a varied typology of case studies, where business model components reveal diverse expressions of facing sustainability challenges. The work discusses reported findings with a cross-case comparison among detected business models and outlines a list of propositions for sustainable business models of SMEs. The paper contributes in continuing the discourse on sustainable business models, adopting the perspective of the challenges for SMEs and offers food for thought for managers of SMEs in comparing their own business with the identified business model types.

Firm Size and the Business Model for Sustainable Innovation

“…We have derived hypotheses from their propositions and the results have revealed differences due to the size effect. Up to now, empirical studies describing sustainable business models are case studies [22]. Our study provides the quantitative demonstration which serves to generalize the results.…”

“…Second, we use quantitative content analysis to translate the theoretical assumptions into statistical analysis. Up to now, empirical studies describing sustainable business models are case studies [22]. Our study provides the quantitative demonstration which serves to generalize the results.…”

Drivers and Outcomes of Business Model Innovation—Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Perspective

“…Recent BMI research has shifted towards industry-specific and interdisciplinary research. Authors have investigated strategic agility and BMI [31][32][33] and BMI and sustainability from the triple bottom line perspective [34][35][36][37][38] or the single perspective of sustainability, e.g., environmental performance [39]. Furthermore, recent research has focused towards sustainable BMI [40] and encouraged new studies on shared or polycentric BMI [41], circular BMs [42,43], platform BMs, or product-service systems [44][45][46].…”

“…However, most of the research has mainly focused on the investigation of BMI in large enterprises; only recently have several studies focused on small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [1,14,31,35,47,48]. As SMEs represent a key driving force of the European economy, more attention is needed in the understanding of their practices, innovativeness, and competitiveness in the global market [14,[47][48][49].…”

The tourism industry in Russia: Problems of public administration

“…Многочисленные экономические исследования говорят о том, что туристская отрасль способна оказать значительное влияние на экономику как всей страны [Бочарова, Орлова, Мельник, 2015], так и ее регионов [Болдырева, Бадаев, 2015; Ивушкина и др., 2016]. Развитие отрасли может стимулировать десятки смежных отраслей, создавать новые рабочие места, содействовать развитию территорий [Маркова, 2010;, малого и среднего бизнеса [Battistella et al, 2018] и повышению качества жизни местного населения .…”