Special issue on innovation management in small and medium-sized enterprises: Practice, strategies, and impacts

In today's fast-paced business environment, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in economic growth. The focus of this special issue is to explore the latest trends, techniques, and application areas in innovation management specifically tailored to SMEs. Studying innovation in SMEs not only enriches understanding of small business dynamics but also offers valuable insights for innovation actors supporting entrepreneurship. Conversely, lessons from these innovation actors supporting businesses can guide SMEs in their innovation strategies. We invite contributions that present real-world cases, identify best practices, and offer insights crucial for both academic discourse and practical approaches. The focus will also encompass innovation management strategies employed by SMEs, as well as those implemented by innovation actors supporting businesses with potential applications for enhancing innovation within SMEs. This special issue aims to bring together researchers from academia and industry as well as practitioners to share ideas, problems, and solutions relating to innovation management in the context of SMEs.

This special issue will also disseminate the extended versions of accepted and presented papers from the “International Conference on Innovation Management in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Practice, Strategies, and Impacts (IMSMEs-2025)”. Additionally, we welcome submissions from researchers who were unable to participate in the conference but whose research papers align with the scope of this issue.

Topics covered

• Innovation Management practices in SMEs
• Innovation ecosystem support for SMEs
• Strategic Innovation Management in SMEs
• Innovation Impacts and measurement in SMEs
• Innovation Management during Pandemic
• Technology Adoption in SMEs
• Open Innovation Ecosystem for SMEs
• Tools to manage Innovation
• Strategic Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Business Model Innovation
• Entrepreneurial innovation
• Technology markets
• Social Impact of Innovations
• Sustainable Innovation
• Emerging Technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains for Innovation Management

Important deadlines

• Submission deadline: Submissions are open until 31 December 2026.
• Publication date: Will be assessed on a rolling basis as they are received.

Submission instructions

Please read the [Guide for Authors] before submitting. All articles should be [submitted online ], please select [SI: Innovations in SMEs] on submission.

The special issue welcomes all types of articles accepted by the journal. However, submissions must align with the scope of the special issue and demonstrate a practical orientation, offering valuable solutions for SMEs.

Guest editor

• Prof. Dr. Dr. Varun Gupta, Multidisciplinary Research Centre for Innovations in SMEs (MrciS), Gisma University of Applied Sciences, 14469 Potsdam, Germany.Email: varun.iit13@gmail.com