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Due to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on businesses, this study investigates how dynamic capabilities could influence SME performance through digitalization as a moderator in an emerging market.

A quantitative research approach was adopted, where a cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect the data from 400 SME managers and supervisors in Ghana. Using Statistical Package for Social Science, the data was analyzed through descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression techniques.

The results reveal that the dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing and transforming) distinctly positively affect SME performance. Furthermore, digitalization significantly augments the relationship between the three dynamic capabilities and SME performance. However, digitalization could only significantly moderate the relationship between transforming capability and SME performance.

The findings imply that digitalization strategies (such as constant inclusion of digital analytics, digital operations, digital marketing and sales, digital ecosystem, and digital products and services) must be part of the transforming process to enhance the impact of the dynamic capabilities on SMEs performance.

This study contributes to the extant literature by establishing the effectiveness of digitalization as a moderator on the relationship between transforming capability and SME performance in the new world of COVID-19.

This paper aims to examine the influence of the dynamic capabilities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on organizational performance, and the interaction between dynamic capabilities and organizational inertia in a volatile environment.

A quantitative survey was carried out in Lithuania's SME sector. In order to achieve the aim of this empirical research, a sample of 360 SMEs was analyzed.

This exploratory study offers a conceptual model for dynamic capabilities and organizational inertia in a volatile environment. The findings suggest that dynamic capabilities have positive effects on non-financial relative organizational performance, though no impact on financial relative organizational performance has been revealed. The authors argue that organizational inertia moderates dynamic capabilities and relative organizational performance.

One suggestion for further research is to investigate the interaction between dynamic capabilities and organizational inertia in a stable environment and to perform longitudinal research embracing a broader sample of organizations.

The study addresses a gap in strategic management literature and practice, examining the interaction between SME dynamic capabilities and organizational inertia in a volatile environment during an economic crisis.

Although small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play major roles in most economies in terms of job creation, innovation and contribution to national income, they are often underrepresented in public procurement markets. This paper aims to explore how the dynamic capabilities theory can improve SME participation in public procurement.

Through a systematic literature review, the paper identifies common barriers to the effective participation of SMEs in public procurement and explores the applicability of the dynamic capabilities theory in addressing these barriers.

A theoretical analysis was conducted to identify possible relationships between the factors reported in the literature as barriers to SME participation in public procurement and different components of the dynamic capabilities of firms (i.e. sensing, seizing, reconfiguring and learning). Seven key propositions were generated to guide future research.

Despite its contributions, this paper is based solely on a systematic literature review and theoretical analysis. Future studies could use meta-analysis to review multiple studies relating to the nexus between SMEs and public procurement, hence improving methodological rigour.

The paper contributes to the ongoing debate about whether and how SMEs can leverage their resources and capabilities to develop self-help strategies to improve participation in public procurement, an area yet underexplored in the literature.

This is one of the few studies examining the implications of firm-level capabilities of SME activity in public procurement markets. The findings may be beneficial to SME managers/owners, particularly regarding firms' ability to leverage resources and capabilities to participate effectively in public procurement.

Striving for growth since their early stages, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly adopting an entrepreneurial behavior based on a rapid and early international expansion. Although some extant research have been done on the dynamic capabilities of SMEs’ accelerated internationalization–born global (BG) SMEs, no study was, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, carried on the microfoundations underlying this phenomenon. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature and contribute to the growing theory development of SME’s microfoundations.

This paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework to better identify the microfoundations that influence born global SMEs internationalization by integrating individual, structural and processual – the microfoundations approach within the dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing and reconfiguring.

Our propositions argue that born global SMEs are characterized by dynamic capabilities based on a combination of some individual (manager’s human and social capital, such as its personal orientation, experiences, cognition and intuition), process (market learning, technology development) and structural (agility, communication/coordination) factors that helps a lot in the acceleration of the internationalization process.

Empirical study should be done to enrich the conceptual material.

To identify some international opportunities, companies should rely on the entrepreneurial orientation of its managers, its experience and network as well as the market-related learning and technological processes. The managerial cognition is important to seize opportunities while the manager’s human capital is needed to reconfigure resources while internationalizing rapidly.

This research shows that individual attributes are important but insufficient to accelerate the internationalization process. Some individual characteristics are more useful in sensing international opportunities rapidly, such as manager’s international entrepreneurial, past experience and network, However, the managerial cognition is important to seize opportunities, whereas the manager’s human capital is needed to reconfigure resources while internationalizing rapidly.

Born global firms must develop several dynamic capabilities to foster their accelerated early international development. This paper gives insights about the individual, structural and processual of sensing international opportunities, seizing and reconfiguring resources and competencies for born globals.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role throughout the global economy, spurring innovation and job creation. This study investigates the effect of strategic leadership practices on SME performance.

The authors conducted a quantitative survey of leaders from 290 SMEs to examine their strategic leadership and how it affects SME performance. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the dependent relationships in this paper.

The results suggest that the strategic leadership effect on firm performance is fully mediated by employee empowerment dynamic capability (EEDC) as well as resilient dynamic capability (RDC).

Strategic leadership is traditionally analyzed in large organizations. The authors evaluate the role of strategic leadership in SMEs which is an underexplored context for leadership studies. In this process, the authors also analyze the mediating role of EEDC and RDC.

The business landscapes in Asia and Africa are predominantly characterized by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) facing significant resource constraints. Understanding the capability dynamics of these enterprises in such contexts carries significant implications for theory and practice. This paper aims to addresses a crucial question of whether increasing customer involvement capability consistently yields the necessary rent for enterprises operating under resource constraints in emerging markets in Asia and Africa. By investigating this question, the paper offers SMEs a more nuanced approach to capability development, enabling them to achieve better returns on their investments.

To ensure the robustness of the findings, data were collected from SME service firms operating in two emerging economies: India (Asia) and Ghana (Africa). Data were collected in two waves to allow for catering to specific environmental conditions not accounted for in the study. Two-stage data analysis was then conducted to test the hypothesized relationships across the two countries.

The findings reveal that customer involvement capability does not always lead to an increase in firm-level competitiveness, and the effect follows an inverted U-shaped pattern. However, the nature of this relationship varies under different market conditions in both contexts. Specifically, in periods of low customer demand and intense competition, the relationship is linear and positive. On the other hand, in periods of high demand and competition, the relationship becomes inverted U-shaped, returning to a direct relationship with firm-level competitiveness.

This paper provides a resolution to the critical issue of whether customer involvement capability consistently delivers firm performance benefits, particularly for resource-constrained SMEs in emerging markets. By explaining how SMEs in emerging markets can fully capitalize on their capability development to optimize their resources, this paper makes a distinctive contribution. Moreover, it sheds light on the importance of aligning involvement capabilities with prevailing market conditions for SMEs to reap the maximum benefits.

A global pandemic, broken supply chains, workforce constraints, technological advancements in artificial intelligence, etc. illustrate the continual threats that SMEs face. Extending the dynamic capability concepts of sensing, seizing and transforming, this research investigates practices by which SMEs successfully adapt over time.

A comparative case study method was employed using a purposive sample of SMEs, consisting of three American firms and one Canadian firm.

Three sets of organizational practices, termed adaptive practices, that underlie dynamic capabilities for successful adaptation were identified: (1) continuous learning and process improvement, (2) leveraging reciprocal relationships and (3) communicating effectively.

The selected cases are from two countries in North America. Using a qualitative, inductive process, the authors are able to identify patterns of actions within various organizations; however, they are not able to establish causality.

This study provides practical guidance for leaders to take action to improve their SME's dynamic capabilities for adaptation through creating coherent bundles of specified adaptive practices.

Better understanding of how SMEs successfully adapt to high uncertainty and business viability threats can result in multidimensional (e.g. financial, emotional) and multi-level (individual, family, community), positive outcomes for societal stakeholders.

The findings of this study build on the literature of dynamic capabilities and organizational practices and provide a practical foundation for effective adaptation, labeled as adaptive practices.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development process of dynamic capabilities.

The paper adopts a qualitative, longitudinal participant-observation research design. A single case study firm was observed over a ten-year period of active researcher engagement allowing for the collection of rich data on the development and deployment of dynamic capabilities as they evolved.

Dynamic capabilities can be identified as sensing, seizing and transforming. They are capable of intentional development by managers through strategic decision making and deliberative learning, within a path-dependent evolution.

A longitudinal single case study allowed for a close look at the development of dynamic capabilities, exploring the context and conditions that facilitated change and tracing the evolution of the organization’s processes. However, this study remains subject to the limits of a single case approach. Future cross-sectional research would be able to test the conceptual model and allow for generalization of the findings to other populations of firms.

The dynamic capability concept has been criticized for being of little practical use to managers. This research shows the process of intentional dynamic capability development, offering insights to practicing managers.

This research adds to the relatively scant base of empirical work on dynamic capabilities and offers a conceptual model of dynamic capability development. The paper contributes to the neglected area of dynamic capabilities in SME’s, showing that the dynamic capability concept is relevant to this sector. The paper provides insight for practitioners by showing that intentional dynamic capability development is achievable.

The purpose of this research is to explicate the role of dynamic capabilities in the ability of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to create value and also investigate the relationship among different dynamic capabilities, competitive strategy and SMEs’ value sources.

Empirical evidence based on a survey conducted on a sample of 441 UK-based SMEs was used to test the research hypotheses.

The findings illustrate that sensing, learning, integrating and coordinating capabilities play a significant role in SMEs’ value creation, and competitive strategy mediates the impact of dynamic capabilities on value creation.

This study demonstrates the benefits of understanding the relationship among the four types of dynamic capabilities, competitive strategy and value creation. Moreover, this study contributes to the notion of the contingency nature of dynamic capabilities.

It offers managers insight into the aspects on which to focus their efforts to enhance their firm’s capacity of value creation.

While much of the prior studies have conceptually/qualitatively investigated the financial return of uni-dimensional dynamic capabilities of large firms in the manufacturing sector, this study made a significant effort to quantitatively examine the non-financial value potential of SMEs in service sector through four processes of dynamic capabilities.

This study aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities, i.e. sensing, learning, integrating and coordinating trigger sustainable innovation performance. It also examines the direct and moderating role of environmental turbulence towards the sustainable innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 169 SMEs in Oman and analysed through structural equation modelling using SmartPLS software.

Findings of this study reveal that the sustainable innovation performance of SMEs is greatly influenced by the synergy of learning, integrating and coordinating capabilities. Notably, among these capabilities, coordinating capability emerges as the most important capability for SMEs with a primary emphasis on fostering both human and organizational well-being. However, this research reveals that building dynamic capabilities alone might not be sufficient to address social, ecological and economic sustainability criteria, and SMEs may need to extend their view beyond internal processes and integrate various environmental contingencies into their approaches while focusing on sustainable innovation performance.

This research is useful for business managers while allocating resources in their business efficiently and effectively to achieve sustainable innovation performance. It also highlights that SMEs need to integrate various environmental contingencies into their approaches while focusing on sustainable innovation performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to contribute to SME scholarship by mainly investigating the effect of specific four types of dynamic capabilities on sustainable innovation performance in a turbulent environment. This study is likely to contribute to the SMEs addressing sustainability innovation performance and develop capabilities to be sustainable in a turbulent environment.