Research

Small Business Innovation and Transformation (SBIT) Research Group

This group is led by Dr Albert Amanollahnejad.

This research group brings together academics, practitioners, policymakers, doctoral researchers, and industry partners interested in understanding and supporting the development, growth, and transformation of small businesses, SMEs, startups, and entrepreneurial ventures.

The group provides a collaborative platform for research, knowledge exchange, and external engagement, with a particular focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, sustainability, healthcare innovation, business resilience, leadership, and organisational change within SMEs and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Our research investigates the opportunities and challenges facing small businesses in rapidly evolving economic, technological, and societal environments. Current areas of interest include entrepreneurship, innovation management, digital transformation, AI adoption, sustainability, responsible business practices, leadership and decision-making, financial sustainability, digital marketing, healthcare innovation, technology adoption, and SME competitiveness. Through rigorous and impactful research, the group seeks to generate insights that inform theory, influence policy, support business growth, and contribute to regional, national, and international economic development.

SBIT adopts a multidisciplinary approach and welcomes a wide range of research methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, case study, action research, design science, and collaborative industry-based research. The group supports both critical and applied research perspectives and encourages methodological diversity to address complex challenges facing SMEs, entrepreneurial organisations, and wider society.

The group meets regularly through research seminars, workshops, guest speaker events, and collaborative project discussions. These meetings provide opportunities to discuss the latest developments in the field, share emerging ideas, define future research priorities, identify resource requirements, and explore new avenues for interdisciplinary collaboration. Members are encouraged to present work-in-progress, receive peer feedback on draft manuscripts and funding proposals, practise conference presentations, and engage in constructive scholarly discussion within a supportive academic environment.

A key feature of the group is its commitment to research excellence, mentoring, and professional development. The group provides opportunities for doctoral researchers, early career academics, and established scholars to receive advice, guidance, and constructive feedback from colleagues and external experts. Through regular engagement with visiting researchers, industry specialists, policymakers, professional associations, research support services, School Research and Knowledge Transfer Leads, and other University research groups, members benefit from diverse perspectives and collaborative learning opportunities.

The group is strongly committed to research impact and knowledge exchange. Members actively explore pathways for generating, evidencing, and recording research impact through engagement with SMEs, startup founders, industry associations, policymakers, and innovation support organisations. The group regularly scans future funding horizons, identifies potential funding opportunities, develops collaborative research projects, and supports the preparation of competitive funding applications addressing contemporary business and societal challenges.

The SBIT Research Group was established to strengthen research culture, collaboration, and external engagement related to small business development and transformation. It builds upon extensive networks of SME owners, managing directors, startup founders, professional associations, and industry stakeholders, creating opportunities for collaborative research, consultancy, student engagement, live projects, and knowledge exchange. Through its activities, the group contributes to the School’s wider research and knowledge exchange agenda and supports the University’s ambitions for research excellence, impact generation, employability, civic engagement, and sustainable economic development.

Get in touch

We welcome prospective PhD students and new members with interests in small business management, entrepreneurship, innovation, digital transformation, the adoption of emerging technologies (including artificial intelligence), sustainability, digital marketing, healthcare innovation, SME development, and competitiveness. Interdisciplinary projects that address contemporary challenges and opportunities facing SMEs, startups, and entrepreneurial ecosystems are particularly encouraged.

Research activity

Amanollahnejad, A., Bourke, J., Izadi, J., & Weerawardane, D. (2026). Practicing strategic financial sustainability in small cultural nonprofits: Evidence from London museums. Business Strategy and the Environment, 1–16.

Amanollahnejad, A., Fosso-Wamba, S., Shabbir, M., & Pakseresht, A. (2026). Aligning socio-technical systems: Rethinking AI adoption and digital transformation in SMEs. Information Systems Management, 43(2), 103–117.

Amanollahnejad, A., Izadi, J., & Zaghmout, B. (2026). Exploring blockchain for green logistics: How institutional forces and process innovation shape sustainability in SMEs. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 1–27.

Wei, M., Gupta, S., Yang, X., & Wang, Y. (2026). Sustainable consumption of wearable healthcare devices and its relevance to the net-zero agenda: Evidence from senior citizens. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 225, 124509.

Sun, Y., Shi, J., Wei, M., & Rees, C. (2026). Shaping strategic human resource management through the lens of corporate social responsibility. In A. K. Sahai & N. Rath (Eds.), Sustainable Human Resource Management: Psychological Perspectives. Apple Academic Press.

Amanollahnejad, A., Izadi, J., & Hosseinnezhad Nedaei, B. (2025). From pressure to potential: How SMEs leverage blockchain for sustainability under institutional, paradoxical, and resource constraints. International Journal of Environmental Sciences, 11(11s), 45–53.

Amanollahnejad, A., & Hosseinnezhad Nedaei, B. (2025). Strategic leadership at the upper echelons: Developing a conceptual framework for understanding SME directors’ influence on AI adoption. Paper presented at the International Conference on AI and Machine Learning in Finance and Technology, Rome, Italy.

Agyapong, A., Appiah, F. A., Osei, H. V., & Aidoo, S. (2025). When and how does creativity influence performance? An examination of SMEs in an emerging economy. Africa Journal of Management, 11(2), 176–202.

Twum, K. K., & Yalley, A. A. (2025). Marketing analytics acceptance: Using the UTAUT, perceived trust, personal innovativeness in information technology and user attitude. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 16(7), 1271–1295.

Shamim, N., Wei, M., Gupta, S., Verma, D. S., Abdollahi, S., & Shin, M. M. (2025). Metaverse for digital health solutions. International Journal of Information Management, 83.

Agyapong, A., Klyton, A. V., Aidoo, S., & Osabutey, E. (2024). Green synergy: Unleashing creativity, innovation, dynamic capability, and performance of small and medium firms. International Journal of Innovation Management, 28(7–8).

Nyantakyi, S. Y. D., & Farooq, M. U. (2024). Generative AI in digital marketing for SMEs in London: Capabilities, limitations and future implications. In 2024 GBATA Readings Book (pp. 551–559). Global Business and Technology Association.

Amanollahnejad, A., & Hosseinnezhad Nedaei, B. (2024). Factors and challenges influencing blockchain adoption in SMEs and the potential impact on performance. Paper presented at the Innovation and Digital Transformation Global Conference 2024.

Amanollahnejad, A., & Hosseinnezhad Nedaei, B. (2024). Influence of leadership and dynamic capabilities on blockchain adoption in SMEs. Paper presented at the International Conference on Business and Industrial Statistics (ICBIS 2024).

Amanollahnejad, A., & Hosseinnezhad Nedaei, B. (2024). Exploring the impact of digital social innovations on enhancing healthcare accessibility and quality: The role of emerging technologies. Paper presented at the Towards Relational Public Services Conference 2024, Northumbria University, United Kingdom.

Akinpelu, A., & Farooq, M. U. (2024). The impact of sustainable lean practice on project timelines and performance on construction sites in the UK: A review of existing literature to decipher broader dimensions. In 2024 GBATA Readings Book (pp. 1–11). Global Business and Technology Association.

Jayaweera, A., & Farooq, M. U. (2023). Leveraging AI-driven digital marketing strategies to automate the lead generation mechanism of the real estate industry in the United States. In N. Delener & C. Schweikert (Eds.), 2023 GBATA Readings Book. Global Business and Technology Association.

Akingbotolu, D. O., Farooq, M., & Bowen, G. (2023). Enhancing agile productivity: Research objectives for exploring the relationship between team motivation and agile methodologies in Nigeria-based software development projects. In 2023 GBATA Readings Book. Global Business and Technology Association.

Agyapong, A., Aidoo, S., & Akomea, S. Y. (2022). Does managerial capability always drive performance? Empirical examinations of small and medium firms (SMEs) in a developing economy. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 71(6), 2337–2360.

Aidoo, S., Agyapong, A., Acquaah, M., & Akomea, S. Y. (2021). The performance implications of strategic responses of SMEs to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from an African economy. Africa Journal of Management, 7(1), 74–103.

Comanoiu, A.-M.-B., & Farooq, M. U. (2021). AI-driven digital marketing: Samsung’s strategic approach to dominating the tech market. Journal of Innovation and Business Management, 2(1).

Comanoiu, A.-M.-B., & Farooq, M. U. (2021). Strategic synergy: Leveraging big data and information systems for competitive advantage in the digital age. Journal of Innovation and Business Management, 2(1).

Yalley, A. A. (2021). Customer readiness to co-production of mobile banking services: A customer-only co-production perspective. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 27(2), 81.

Farooq, M. U., & Bowen, G. (2020). Impact of social media marketing on SME restaurants in the UK. In N. Delener & C. Schweikert (Eds.), Global Business and Technology Association Readings Book (pp. 24–29). Global Business and Technology Association.

Aidoo, S., Agyapong, A., & Mensah, H. K. (2020). Social capital and performance of SMEs: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and managerial capability. Africa Journal of Management, 6(4), 377–406.

Amanollahnejad, A., Hosseinnezhad Nedaei, B., & Rasid, S. Z. A. (2017). An exploratory investigation of an integrated model of costing practices in small and medium-sized enterprises. International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 9(4), 338–360.