Sustainable innovation in craft-based SMEs: a mixed-method study of Indonesian batik communities

IF 5.9 1区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS

Small Business Economics Pub Date : 2026-03-16 DOI:10.1007/s11187-026-01201-y

Budi Harsanto, Yulistyne Kasumaningrum, Asep Mulyana, Yudi Ahmad Faisal, Elias Hadjielias

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Abstract

Drawing on institutional theory, this study explores underexamined factors that shape sustainable innovation in craft-based SMEs. It focuses on batik craft communities in Indonesia, which represent a constrained institutional environment for innovation. Batik – a traditional Indonesian textile art known for its intricate patterns and dye-resist techniques – holds significant cultural and economic value. Three focal factors – digitalisation, the institutional environment, and sustainability orientation – are identified from the literature and investigated using a convergent mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase comprises 22 semi-structured interviews across nine batik SMEs in prominent batik communities on Java, offering diverse perspectives and rich contextual depth. The quantitative phase applies Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC), with input from ten experts, to assess the salience and interrelationships among these factors. We find that cultural values shape digitalisation in craft-based SMEs: batik SMEs widely adopt digital tools for market-facing activities, yet remain cautious about advanced production technologies that may threaten craft authenticity. Our analysis reveals that association- and community-led support, as well as normative expectations, exert greater influence on sustainable innovation than limited government incentives. At the same time, while sustainability awareness is rising, it is not yet matched by consistent practices across the value chain. Our study offers new theoretical insights into SME sustainable innovation within craft communities and contributes a relational, normative, and dynamic process-oriented understanding of rural entrepreneurship that transcends static geographic boundaries. Additionally, it operationalises a multilevel lens for understanding how sustainable innovation unfolds in culturally rooted, craft-based SMEs.

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手工艺型中小企业的可持续创新：印尼蜡染社区的混合方法研究

利用制度理论，本研究探讨了影响工艺型中小企业可持续创新的未被充分考虑的因素。它的重点是印度尼西亚的蜡染工艺社区，这代表了一个限制创新的制度环境。蜡染是印尼传统的纺织艺术，以其复杂的图案和抗染技术而闻名，具有重要的文化和经济价值。从文献中确定了三个焦点因素——数字化、制度环境和可持续性取向，并使用融合混合方法设计进行了调查。定性阶段包括22个半结构化访谈，涉及Java上著名蜡染社区的9家蜡染中小企业，提供了不同的观点和丰富的背景深度。定量阶段采用解释结构模型（ISM）和交叉影响矩阵乘法应用于分类（MICMAC），并有10位专家的输入，以评估这些因素之间的显著性和相互关系。我们发现，文化价值观塑造了工艺中小企业的数字化：蜡染中小企业广泛采用数字化工具进行面向市场的活动，但对可能威胁工艺真实性的先进生产技术仍持谨慎态度。我们的分析表明，与有限的政府激励相比，协会和社区主导的支持以及规范性期望对可持续创新的影响更大。与此同时，虽然可持续发展意识正在提高，但整个价值链的一致实践尚未与之相匹配。我们的研究为手工艺社区中的中小企业可持续创新提供了新的理论见解，并有助于超越静态地理边界的农村创业关系，规范和动态过程导向的理解。此外，它还提供了一个多层次的视角，以了解根植于文化、以工艺为基础的中小企业如何开展可持续创新。

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来源期刊

Small Business Economics Multiple-

CiteScore

14.10

自引率

9.40%

发文量

124

期刊介绍： Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal (SBEJ) publishes original, rigorous theoretical and empirical research addressing all aspects of entrepreneurship and small business economics, with a special emphasis on the economic and societal relevance of research findings for scholars, practitioners and policy makers. SBEJ covers a broad scope of topics, ranging from the core themes of the entrepreneurial process and new venture creation to other topics like self-employment, family firms, small and medium-sized enterprises, innovative start-ups, and entrepreneurial finance. SBEJ welcomes scientific studies at different levels of analysis, including individuals (e.g. entrepreneurs'' characteristics and occupational choice), firms (e.g., firms’ life courses and performance, innovation, and global issues like digitization), macro level (e.g., institutions and public policies within local, regional, national and international contexts), as well as cross-level dynamics. As a leading entrepreneurship journal, SBEJ welcomes cross-disciplinary research. Officially cited as: Small Bus Econ