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Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 33491

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jeoung Yul Lee

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Guest Editor

Department of Global Management, School of Business Management, Hongik University, Sejong 30016, Korea
Interests: international business; emerging market MNEs; MNE innovation; corporate social responsibility; business ethics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Dilek Zamantili Nayir

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Turkish German University, 34820 Istanbul, Turkey
Interests: international business/management; entrereneurship and small business management, emerging market MNEs; business ethics

Prof. Dr. Charles Chen

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Guest Editor

School of Business and Information Technology, University of Phoenix, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Interests: international management; MNE innovation; subtainable development; internationalization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have undertaken foreign direct investments across the globe, so they have to face diverse and differential sustainability agendas since they have to deal with homogeneous and heterogeneous sustainability issues and policies from both home and host countries. In this vein, MNEs need to find better ways of sustainable development and innovation-based solutions in both sides of home and host countries. Furthermore, there have been a rapidly increasing number of studies on sustainable international business and innovative practices by MNEs in developed markets, providing shareholder values, environmental agendas, and managing macroeconomic instability. There has even been a stream of literature on sustainability-oriented innovation relating to both the environmental as well as social aspects of sustainability. Of these two, especially the environmental aspect has been driven by market demand for cleaner products and increasing environmental regulations and cost savings. Nevertheless, unfortunately, there has been lack of studies on sustainable international business and innovative practices by MNEs in emerging and frontier markets, although Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) have obviously progressed in terms of sustainable development and innovation-based solutions from the MNEs in and out of their home countries. Additionally, innovation has assumed a rather different form in the case of emerging market MNEs (EMNEs). As research and development possibilities are limited, learning by doing and using and organizational capabilities have a greater weight in EMNEs. The innovation of these firms is scientifically less refined than those of developed countries and has not generally involved frontier technologies. The different type of innovation pursued by EMNEs, especially considering sustainability issues, thus requires a deeper investigation that looks at technology creation more broadly than the sphere of research and patenting activity. Thus, the goal of this Special Issue is to overcome the limitations of existing studies, which have mostly focused on developed markets, and to expand our relevant themes to international business sustainability and innovative solutions by emerging and frontier market MNEs.

We invite both conceptual and (qualitative and quantitative) empirical articles, as well as literature review and meta-analysis articles from various fields, including not only business and management but also sociology, political science, psychology, economics, economic geography, and so on. Examples of relevant topics include but are not limited to:

How do EMNEs shape sustainable development and related innovations in home and host countries through sustainability and innovative solutions? What are their similarities and/or differences from advanced market MNEs?
What are the challenges versus opportunities of these EMNEs to deal with the unique political, cultural, religious, and commercial environments in their home and host countries for achieving their sustainability and innovation goals?
What are the repercussions for the contextual effects on these EMNEs’ sustainability and innovative solutions, especially for country of origin and domicile pressures in home and host countries?
How do recent environmental disruptions, such as the global financial crisis in 2008 and the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis, affect sustainable international business practices and innovative solutions based on corporate social and environmental responsibility in emerging and advanced markets?
How do developed versus emerging/frontier market MNEs enhance their sustainability and innovation based on their human resources, transnational, or virtual teams when they face the challenges for the enhancement of their sustainability and innovative solutions?
Can high-level internationalization of EMNEs lead to superior corporate sustainability, which encompasses various social issues such as stakeholder wellbeing and environmental protection?
The legal guarantee for the sustainable development of green economy;
MNEs, political stability, and the risk of emerging capital markets;

Foreign executives, R&D innovation, and corporate social responsibility;
Green innovation efficiency;
Path innovation of labor security of flexible employment.

Prof. Dr. Jeoung Yul Lee
Prof. Dr. Dilek Zamantili Nayir
Prof. Dr. Charles Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

multinational enterprise
foreign direct investment
sustainability
innovation
sustainable innovation
sustainable international business practices
corporate social and environmental responsibility
human resources
emerging and frontier markets
advanced markets/countries

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 203 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation

by Jeoung-Yul Lee, Dilek Zamantili Nayir and Charles Chen

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2524; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15032524 - 31 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1876

Abstract

In recent decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly endeavored to establish foreign direct investments (FDIs) across the globe [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

Research

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19 pages, 1495 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Digital Competency, Innovative Medical Research, and Institutional Environment: A Global Context

by Whan Shin and Byungchul Choi

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16887; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416887 - 16 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1064

Abstract

The use of digital technology accelerates the progress of medical research through improving the quality of clinical trials and medical education. However, empirical evidence on how digital competency contributes to the innovativeness of medical research and influence of institutional environment has received scant attention. Based on the data of 63 nations, this study explores the question of how national-level digital competency impacts the innovativeness of medical research reflected in research publications and examines the moderating effect of government and the economic environment. We find that national digital competency positively impacts the innovativeness of medical research in the focal nation. However, this relationship is positively or negatively modulated by diverse institutional environments. Our study contributes to innovation and institutional perspective literature in the context of digital technologies for medical research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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17 pages, 654 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Reverse Technology Spillover of Outward Foreign Direct Investment on Green Total Factor Productivity in China’s Manufacturing Industry

by Yan Li, Xiaohan Zhang, Chenxin Jin and Qingbo Huang

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16496; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416496 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1421

Abstract

Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is an important channel for China to obtain advanced technology spillover to promote green production upgrading. As a pillar of the national economy and also a large-scale pollution emission industry, can the manufacturing industry benefit from the reverse technology spillover of OFDI and improve its green total factor productivity (GTFP)? Based on the provincial data of China from 2005 to 2019, this paper analyzes the effect and moderating mechanism of reverse technology spillover of OFDI on domestic manufacturing GTFP theoretically and empirically. The results show that the reverse technology spillover of OFDI cannot significantly promote the growth of manufacturing GTFP in the sample period. The heterogeneity analysis further proves that the inhibition effect similar to that of the whole sample appears in the eastern region, but in the central and western regions, the reverse technology spillover of OFDI can significantly improve the manufacturing GTFP, and this positive effect in the central region is greater. Additionally, absorptive capacity characterized by human capital, economic development and financial development can actively adjust the impact of reverse technology spillover of OFDI on manufacturing GTFP, of which the positive moderating effect of financial development is the most significant. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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22 pages, 776 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Corporate Social Responsibility of Chinese Multinational Enterprises: A Review and Future Research Agenda

by Shu-Yun Du, Xiao-Chen Shao, Alfredo Jiménez and Jeoung Yul Lee

Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16199; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142316199 - 05 Dec 2022

Viewed by 4037

Abstract

This study analyzes papers on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of Chinese multinational enterprises (CMNEs) published in top-tier management and international business journals. We extracted six key constructs from these studies, examined their interconnections, and identified five themes. These themes are (1) the relationship between corporate governance and CSR practice, (2) the relationship between institutional environments and CSR practice, (3) the relationship between resources and capabilities and CSR practice, (4) the relationship between strategy/activity and CSR practice, and (5) the relationship between corporate performance and CSR practice. Our study aim is to reveal research gaps that have not been identified in other previous review articles. Thus, based on the research gaps identified through a review of previous studies, we identified that there is a strong relationship between CSR and national cultural contexts; however, most current research on CSR has focused on Western cultural contexts. Thus, to further explore how CSR of CMNEs may differ from other countries (e.g., Western countries) that is our review aim, we provide five directions for future CSR research on CMNEs. Finally, we theoretically and conceptually analyze recent studies on the impacts of corporate governance, resources, and capabilities on CMNEs’ CSR practices in relation to corporate performance through a theoretical framework and identify future research directions on Chinese MNEs’ CSR by reviewing various theories and perspectives over the last 13 years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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22 pages, 1571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Industrial Poverty Alleviation, Digital Innovation and Regional Economically Sustainable Growth: Empirical Evidence Based on Local State-Owned Enterprises in China

by Chuan Lin, Haomiao Zhai and Yanqiu Zhao

Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 15571; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142315571 - 23 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1651

Abstract

This paper takes the industrial poverty alleviation of local state-owned enterprises in China as the research object, and takes the local state-owned enterprises listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen A shares in China from 2016 to 2020 as the sample to empirically test the impact of industrial poverty alleviation on the sustainable economic growth of the region and consider the regulatory effect of digital innovation. This study found that China’s local industrial poverty reduction behavior in state-owned enterprises can effectively promote regional economic growth. Moreover, the digital innovation produced a regulating effect; that is, if enterprises carry out digital innovation and have a higher degree of digital innovation, their industrial poverty alleviation behavior will have a stronger role in promoting regional economic growth. This conclusion still holds even after controlling for factors of robustness and endogeneity. In addition, the study of influence mechanisms found that the proportion of primary industry in GDP was the mediating effect of industrial poverty alleviation on regional economic growth, and the proportion of primary industry in GDP had a partial mediating effect. Further heterogeneous group testing shows that the impact of industrial poverty alleviation on regional economically sustainable growth is more obvious in agriculture-related, local state-owned enterprises; non-high-tech, local state-owned enterprises; and local state-owned enterprises with subsequent poverty alleviation plans. The empirical evidence in this paper verifies the role of local state-owned enterprises’ participation in industrial poverty alleviation in promoting regional economic growth. It is a useful supplement to the research literature on the economic consequences of Chinese enterprises’ participation in targeted poverty alleviation, which helps to better understand such a phenomenon and also provides a powerful explanation for China’s poverty alleviation achievements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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15 pages, 284 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Emergence of Resources Seeking Chinese Firms’ Specific Advantages in Emerging Market

by Ojo Olukayode Iwaloye, Hong Kei Im, Adeniyi Damilola Olarewaju, Ayantunji Gbadamosi, Jose Alves and Michael Trimarchi

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8345; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148345 - 07 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1653

Abstract

It is argued that the role of the Chinese government to support the cross-border operations of Chinese firms is to assist these firms in overcoming their limited established brands, and their disadvantages in technology and managerial resources, which were also the reasons why such firms decided to enter emerging markets instead of developed markets. This strategic choice is preferred to avoid direct confrontation with established firms from developed countries endowed with superior ownership advantages. Therefore, Chinese resources seeking firms innovate by increasing investment in developing and emerging markets to develop unique ownership advantages for sustainable market development and competitive advantage. This research investigates the ownership advantages of resources seeking Chinese firms in these markets using the OLI theory. The paper contributes to explaining the specific advantages of Chinese MNEs when entering emerging markets. The study applied a two-stage qualitative methodology to examine Chinese firms operating in Nigeria. The first stage included an exploratory study based on interviews with key informants and experts while the second stage included a case study methodology. The study focused on resources seeking Chinese MNEs operating in Nigeria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

19 pages, 636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Digital Transformation, Corporate Innovation, and International Strategy: Empirical Evidence from Listed Companies in China

by Fuxia Gao, Chuan Lin and Haomiao Zhai

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 8137; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14138137 - 04 Jul 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3827

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the impact of digital transformation on corporate international strategy. With a dataset of the Chinese stock market from 2014 to 2020, our empirical results reveal that digital transformation has a positive impact on the international strategy of Chinese enterprises. More specifically, firms with digital transformation are more likely to implement international strategy, and firms with a higher degree of digital transformation are associated with a higher level of internationalization. In addition, our empirical results reveal that corporate innovation exhibits the mediation effect. Moreover, our findings show that the impact of digital transformation is more pronounced for private firms and non-high-tech enterprises, and this impact is also moderated by high institutional development in eastern China. Our findings survive numerous robustness checks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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22 pages, 504 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Corporate Nature, Financial Technology, and Corporate Innovation in China

by Yuying Gao and Shanyue Jin

Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7162; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14127162 - 10 Jun 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2607

Abstract

Corporate innovation has become the main driving force for the long-term development of enterprises, but the characteristics of high risk, long cycle, and high capital demand of corporate innovation activities expose enterprises to high financial rejection. Financial technology, formed by combining digital technology with traditional financial services, is gradually changing the financial service model and providing new ideas for corporate investment and financing. In this study, using the data of non-financial and non-real estate listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, A-shares from 2015 to 2020, we examine the effect of financial technology on corporate innovation through a fixed-effects model and investigate the influence of corporate characteristics on the relationship between financial technology and innovation through a moderating-effects model. The results show that financial technology enhances the ability to serve real enterprises by reshaping financial services, which in turn effectively drives an increase in corporate innovation, and the mechanism is conditionally heterogeneous. In addition, the moderating effect of the firm’s nature is found to be more significant in non-state-owned firms, high-technology firms, and firms in the growth and maturity stages by life cycle. The policy implications of this study are to continuously promote theoretical research, to guide the development of fintech, and to improve the construction of financial technology infrastructure. Additionally, to deepen the integration of financial technology with real enterprises and establish differentiated financial technology support tools, so as to improve the precision of promoting enterprise innovation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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11 pages, 807 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Mexican Ecological Conscience: A Predictive Model

by Jessica Müller-Pérez, Ángel Acevedo-Duque, Gonzalo R. Llanos-Herrera, Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas, Luiz Vicente Ovalles-Toledo, Lidyeth Azucena Sandoval Barraza and Rina Álvarez-Becerra

Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7050; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14127050 - 09 Jun 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2144

Abstract

Recently, the number of Mexicans who buy sustainable products has been increasing, which has led to sustainable trade. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine which variables have a greater effect on Mexicans’ intention to buy green products, their ecological awareness, or moral obligation, and, in turn, to determine the degree to which moral obligation is affected by ecological awareness. A sample of 690 Mexicans was obtained, and a PLS–SEM model was applied for data analysis. The results confirmed that both a moral obligation and ecological awareness explain the intention to purchase green products, with ecological awareness contributing the most to the intention. Furthermore, the findings showed that moral obligation is affected by ecological awareness. The originality of the article is that it contributes to the consumer behavior literature by providing an insight for companies that manufacture sustainable products to understand and promote environmentally conscious consumer behavior. However, there are some limitations that can be addressed in future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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14 pages, 1079 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Environmental Cost of Attracting FDI: An Empirical Investigation in Brazil

by Eduardo Polloni-Silva, Guilherme Augusto Roiz, Enzo Barberio Mariano, Herick Fernando Moralles and Daisy Aparecida Nascimento Rebelatto

Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4490; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14084490 - 09 Apr 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2378

Abstract

Many emerging economies seek to increase their Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to achieve some promised benefits, such as economic growth and advanced technologies. Nevertheless, FDI does not represent a random investment decision, and international literature demonstrates that foreign investors are mostly interested in fast-growing regions. Therefore, this study uses traditional panel data econometrics coupled with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to investigate the environmental impact in regions with great potential to attract foreign investments (e.g., more advanced regions with growing infrastructure), therefore analyzing the environmental cost of attracting FDI. Additionally, this study employs regional data from the ‘Atlas of FDI in the State of São Paulo’ to investigate the environmental effects of FDI in the periphery, where attractiveness levels are low. The results indicate that regions with higher attractiveness levels prepare a pollutant development strategy and that FDI in less-developed regions is harmful to the environment. The results point to new perspectives on the FDI–environment debate and suggest that attracting FDI is environmentally costly. Also, FDI is heterogeneous, with its presence in peripheral areas being harmful to the environment. To conclude, we discuss these results and present an agenda for future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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14 pages, 489 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Examining Whether Government Environmental Regulation Promotes Green Innovation Efficiency—Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt

by Feng Wu, Xiaopeng Fu, Ting Zhang, Dan Wu and Stavros Sindakis

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1827; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031827 - 05 Feb 2022

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 2101

Abstract

Based on the panel data of 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2005 to 2018, this paper uses the SBM-DEA efficiency model with undesired output to measure the green innovation efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The panel Tobit empirical analysis model was used to quantitatively analyze the impact of three different forms of government environmental regulations on the efficiency of green innovation. The research results show that the government’s mandatory environmental regulations and government financial subsidies for green innovation technology are two regulatory methods that positively promote the efficiency of regional green innovation, but government investment in environmental governance has a negative impact on the efficiency of regional green innovation. Then the study found that this negative impact has a significant inflection point effect: when it exceeds a certain threshold, the negative impact turns into a positive effect. At the same time, the impact of environmental regulations on the efficiency of green innovation has significant regional heterogeneity, and the three environmental regulations have a greater impact on downstream provinces and cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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17 pages, 577 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Foreign Shareholders’ Social Responsibility, R&D Innovation, and International Competitiveness of Chinese SOEs

by Yuying Zhou, Chu Lei and Alfredo Jiménez

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1746; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031746 - 02 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1584

Abstract

Despite the increasing use of mixed ownership (domestic and foreign shareholders) in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the role and performance of foreign ownership is still a controversial topic. In this paper we empirically examine the effects of foreign shareholders’ social responsibility on the international competitiveness of SOEs and the moderating effect of R&D innovation. Drawing on a sample of Chinese listed SOEs with international market operations over the period 2011–2019, we find empirical evidence supporting that foreign shareholders’ social responsibility is effective in enhancing the international competitiveness of Chinese SOEs. We also find that R&D innovation strengthens the effect between foreign shareholders’ social responsibility and enterprises’ international competitiveness. These findings are valid after controlling for robustness and endogeneity factors. Furthermore, we find that the promoting effect of foreign shareholders’ social responsibility on Chinese SOEs’ international competitiveness, as well as the moderating effect of R&D innovation, is more pronounced among Chinese local SOEs, business SOEs, and manufacturing SOEs. The research in this paper contributes to the current debate and deepens our understanding regarding the role and performance of foreign shareholders in the process of mixed-ownership reform. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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16 pages, 836 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determinants of Staff Localization in Headquarters-Subsidiary-Subsidiary Relationships

by Chan Bok Kim, Seong-Jin Choi and Luyao Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 249; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14010249 - 27 Dec 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2781

Abstract

This paper investigates how cultural distance, the local experience of a foreign subsidiary, and the intensity of local competition jointly affect the staff localization of MNEs’ subsidiaries. While previous studies on the effects of cultural distance have mainly focused on the gap between home and host countries, we extend the existing “home-host” country perspective to the home-intermediary-host country relationship. This study regards Korea as an intermediary country and utilizes 520 observations from a unique survey conducted by the Export-Import Bank of Korea from 2006 to 2013. The results suggest that the impact of cultural distance on staff localization is a function of local experience and competitive environment in the home-intermediate-host relationship structure. This paper makes a theoretical contribution to our understanding of the behavior of multinational corporations by expanding the cultural distance perspective between the home and host countries explored in previous research to the home-subsidiary-subsidiary structure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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Review

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22 pages, 1856 KiB

Open AccessReview

Managerial Dilemmas and Entrepreneurial Challenges in the Ambidexterity of SMEs: A Systematic Review for Execution System

by Gayoung Kim, Woo Jin Lee and Hoshik Shim

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16550; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416550 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1718

Abstract

According to the organizational learning theory, there are two types of corporate activities, exploitation and exploration, for enhancing and improving corporate performance. However, organizations are continually faced with choosing between these two conflicting activities that require different organizational structures, strategies, and environments, respectively. This study’s objective is to use a systematic review methodology to investigate how implementing organizational ambidexterity affects managerial performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although there is a general consensus about the relationship between ambidexterity and firm performance, few studies have probed into the mechanism of how it is applied to management process and what antecedents affect the implementation of OA in SMEs. The qualitative method was conducted to investigate the influence of the ambidexterity strategy of SMEs on firm performance. According to the findings, organizational ambidexterity in SMEs has a positive impact on the firm’s managerial performance. SMEs must make decisions that consider environmental factors. Making practical decisions based on accurate formation, considering organizational human resources for implementing ambidexterity, and sharing specific performance goals are all important considerations. This study is also important for SMEs’ top management teams to make proper decisions for the firm’s sustainable growth via OA, and shed new light on the literature of organization theory that operates in a more turbulent environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multinational Enterprises, Sustainability and Innovation)

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