SMEs that grow have a considerable positive impact on employment creation, innovation, productivity growth and competitiveness. Digital technologies and global value chains offer new opportunities for SMEs to participate in the global economy, innovate and strengthen productivity. Yet SMEs are lagging behind in the digital transition and are disproportionately affected by market failures, trade barriers, policy inefficiencies and the quality of institutions. A cross-cutting approach to SME policy can enhance SME innovation and scale-up, as well as their contributions to inclusive growth. This includes a business environment conducive to risk-taking and experimentation by entrepreneurs, as well as access to entrepreneurship competencies, management and workforce skills, technology, innovation, and networks.

This book analyses the determining factors behind productivity and innovation amongst Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, and within the context of South East Asia, in order to offer recommendations for increasing productivity and aiding economic growth. SME firms are an influential driver of economic growth in advanced world economies like the USA, Germany, Japan and South Korea. Throughout the 2000s, Singapore experienced a decline in economic growth which was linked to decreasing productivity in its SMEs. The decline triggered a transformational policy by a Government intent on forging a ‘high skill–high productivity’ future. Given substantial evidence that low productivity growth occurred in sectors where immigrants dominated the workforce, the seeds of recovery focused on improving productivity and innovation amongst SMEs in those sectors. Hence, this book investigates the factors determining productivity amongst SMEs across the manufacturing sector. It utilises personal interviews with global experts and CEOs, combined with primary data collected from a major international Delphi survey, and interviews with 215 SME owners and managers in Singapore. This data helps us to better understand how these productivity-enhancing factors can be used to increase performance amongst SMEs. By investigating the nature and process of total factor productivity in Singapore’s SMEs, this book tells the policy story behind the revolution. To provide a comparative analysis, Singapore’s story is placed within a South East Asian context. The unfolding narrative contains important lessons for policy makers and industry globally, as they assess the strategic choices available to them for improving productivity and innovation. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of innovation and productivity, as well as economic development officers, government policy advisors, SME business managers and sustainable businesses.

A multidimensional approach to entrepreneurship, especially in the post-COVID-19 era, will have an important influence on the state of business and government, especially when considering the effects of technological development, innovation, glocalization, and nationalization policies that need to be adopted for inclusive sustainable growth, as well as the enhanced and efficient utilization of global resources. That means there is likely to be a shift in how entrepreneurship development and entrepreneurial opportunities will be perceived, developed, and resourced. The question is how to sustain SMEs and entrepreneurial innovation in the post-COVID-19 era. Thus, comprehensive research and knowledge on designing policies and approaches to ensure the sustainability of SMEs and entrepreneurial innovation in post-pandemic times are essential to sustain, stimulate, and foster SMEs, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial innovations. The Handbook of Research on Sustaining SMEs and Entrepreneurial Innovation in the Post-COVID-19 Era provides research dedicated to entrepreneurship with a special emphasis on the sustainability of SMEs and entrepreneurial innovations in the post-COVID-19 era. It provides discussion and the exchange of information on principles, strategies, models, techniques, methodologies, and applications of entrepreneurship in the post-COVID-19 era in the field of public and private organizations. The chapters communicate the latest developments and thinking on the entrepreneurship subject worldwide by drawing on the latest developments, ideas, research, and best practice to examine the implications of the changes taking place due to COVID-19. This book is ideally intended for entrepreneurs, global organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises, managers, executives, government officials, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in learning about, designing, or implementing policies that are more effective in the post-pandemic era.

Despite its economic impact, understanding what shaped emerging economies’ success seems to be a mystery. These complexities are compounded by fast moving technologies, such as the increased usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). These new technologies have a social impact, but it is how these impacts are developed and managed by people and companies that is significant. Similarly, it is important to investigate how the uncertainties and intangible factors are dealt with and how businesses can utilize innovative approaches to become adaptive in emerging market economies. Research is needed to determine how actors or businesses interact to shape and define either new institutions, new industries, or new innovation to meet the need of potential customers in emerging economies. Innovation Management and Growth in Emerging Economies explores how innovation from emerging economies is being developed through strategic choices and presents the benefits and the drawbacks, the processes, and the characteristics and management practices of both private and/or public organizations. The chapters identify the trends and approaches to innovation development as well as the strategies of adapting and converting threats and challenges into opportunities. The target audience of this book is composed of practitioners, policy influencers, course instructors, professionals, academicians, students, and researchers in the fields of business, administrative sciences, management, and economics.

What do vehicle manufacturers like Rosenbauer, logistics companies like DB Schenker, a compressor manufacturer such as Bauer, an elevator manufacturer such as ThyssenKrupp, and a hygiene goods manufacturer like Hagleitner all have in common? They all use the potential of digitization to offer smarter and faster services to customers and to actively shape the digital transformation of their business models. This book provides valuable insights with concise and established guidelines for the successful digital transformation of business models. Professionals in management, strategic planning, business development, as well as researchers and students from the fields of innovation/technology management, strategic management, and entrepreneurship would particularly benefit from this book.

This book focuses on workplace innovation, which is a key element in ensuring that organizations and the people within them can adapt to and engage in healthy, sustainable change. It features a collection of multi-level, multi-disciplinary contributions that combine theory, research and practical perspectives. In addition, the book presents new perspectives from a number of nations on policies with novel theoretical approaches to workplace innovation, as well as international case studies on the subject. These cases highlight the role of leadership, the relation between workplace innovation and well-being, as well as the do’s and don’ts of workplace innovation implementation. Whether you are an experienced workplace practitioner, manager, a policy-maker, unionist, or a student of workplace innovation, this book contains a range of tips, tools and international case studies to help the reader understand and implement workplace innovation.

Countries have been competing against each other in order to attract financial investment and human capital for decades. However, emerging economies have a long way to go before they achieve the same levels of competitiveness as a developed economy. Lack of firm institutions, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of trust in the legal system are urgent and unavoidable factors that emerging economies must address. The Handbook of Research on Increasing the Competitiveness of SMEs provides innovative insights on integrating, adapting, and building models and strategies compatible with the development of competitiveness in small and medium enterprises in emerging countries. The content within this publication examines quality management, organizational leadership, and digital security. It is designed for policymakers, entrepreneurs, managers, executives, business professionals, academicians, researchers, and students.