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Description
While conventional Business Models focus on monetary value creation for companies’ shareholders, Sustainable Business Models (SBMs) focus on creating social, environmental, and economic value, as well as on minimising businesses’ impact. Sustainable Business Models Innovation (SBMI) is considered a process of transition from conventional Business Models to the implementation of SBMs. This process aims at positive or reduced negative impacts for the environment, society and at long-term prosperity of the organisation and its stakeholders.
In Greece, SMEs (which account for 99.9% of businesses, 64.4% of employment and 51.8% of total value added) have suffered from the prolonged recession of 2010-2018 as well as subsequent COVID-19 related impacts. The adverse economic environment has affected all aspects of entrepreneurship in the country, especially for small and micro-SMEs, including access to low-cost capital, R&I and investment capabilities, employment, and overall competitiveness. As a result, only 18% of Greek firms have taken measures against climate change, compared to 45% in the EU. The lack of environmental investment is even more stark amongst Greek SMEs with 11% investing in climate change measures and energy efficient investments making up only 3% of total investment.
As SBMs and CEBMs are, and will be more so in the future, an important competitiveness factor for businesses, there is a widening competitiveness gap between Greek SMEs and large or multi-national enterprises. This gap results in a vicious circle for small and micro-SMEs, whereby limited competitiveness and profitability, narrows available resources for transition into SBMs and CEBMs, resulting to further widening of the competitiveness gap, to further loss of profitability, and so on.
This project aims exactly at narrowing this gap, by improving the conditions for the adoption of Sustainable and Circular Economy Business Models by Greek Small and Micro-SMEs.