Critical Analysis of Two Academic Journal Articles

Introduction

The first article, ” Sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises: A systematic literature review and future research agenda,” by Martins et al. (2022), is a quantitative research that aims to put forth a research agenda for the future by examining the crucial areas of research that have previously been conducted on the issue of sustainability in small and medium-sized companies (SME). The sustainability, future, and capacity of SMEs to contribute to sustainable development are heavily influenced by competitive advantage (Martins et al., 2022). The second article, “Strategies of competitive advantage for small businesses in the service industry,” by Gardner (2019), is a qualitative research that aims to evaluate the tactics adopted by small company owners to gain a competitive edge and ensure the sustainability of their firms over the first five years. According to Gardner (2019), developing new employment is an essential contribution of small business entrepreneurs to the American economy. On the other hand, small enterprises fail significantly; in fact, more than half of all small businesses fail within the first five years of existence.

Description of the Research Design and Strategies

In the first article, Martins et al. (2022) describe a systematic evaluation of the literature on sustainability in SMEs between 2000 and 2020. The researchers found 88 publications and removed irrelevant ones based on abstract analysis, resulting in 42 papers. They then conducted a cluster analysis using variables such as the number of publications per year and author distribution, resulting in four clusters. The process was carried out collaboratively, and the results are presented in a table. According to Martins et al. (2022), the researchers went through example papers in-depth to determine authors, article features and purposes, theoretical framework, paper type/research technique, and organization type. An in-depth study of each manuscript verified that clusters were well-defined, minimizing potential biases.

In contrast, Gardner (2019) uses a qualitative approach. In order to investigate the business strategies and competitive advantages that small businesses have, the author used a qualitative technique with a multiple-case study design. The study topic, which intended to explore the meaning people or groups attribute to an interest occurrence, led the author to reject quantitative and mixed-methods techniques (Gardner, 2019). The case study approach was chosen because it allowed researchers to interview fewer people in-depth in a natural setting and evaluates written records. It also allows for analyzing a current issue within a real-life context. According to Gardner (2019), the case study research approach was used to discover techniques for small company owners to gain a competitive edge and succeed for over five years. The author disregarded phenomenological and ethnographic designs since they did not answer the study issue.

Critique of the Research Design

The quantitative approach used by Martins et al. (2022) makes it possible to analyze enormous data sets and offers a consistent data-gathering technique; all of these features contribute to an improvement in the study’s dependability. However, the sample does not perfectly represent sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises. On the other hand, the qualitative method used by Gardner (2019) allows for a more in-depth gathering of data and analysis, making it possible to investigate the perspectives and experiences of the participants. However, the generalizability of the results cannot be used as a perfect basis to make perfect judgments on competitive advantage strategies for small businesses in the service industry.

Data Collection Methods

Martins et al. (2022) engage in the following activities: associating vital elements with the research questions, linking key ideas in the literature that need to be understood and explained to pertinent literature, merging pertinent data necessary to address the research questions and comparing the study findings. According to Martins et al. (2022), the research materials were created using the Thomson Reuters Web of Science core collection database (WoS), which contains a number of well-known journals and is often used in bibliometric research. The study focuses on peer-reviewed English-language papers published from 2000 to June 2020 in magazines with a WoS impact factor. The authors did not consider books, chapters, or conference papers.

On the other hand, Gardner (2019) uses semi-structured interviews, which enable participants to provide more thorough and open-ended comments. The interviews lasted up to an hour each and was conducted according to a set of guidelines known as an interview procedure. Gardner (2019) believes both the benefits of conducting interviews with open-ended questions are beneficial. The researcher used a hand-held audio recorder to capture the interviews while taking notes on what was said. After conducting the interviews, the researcher transcribed them and checked their correctness using a member-checking system. The interviews started with introduction questions and finished with closing questions (Gardner, 2019). Restating the information and asking the participant some follow-up questions helped improve the accuracy of the data.

Sampling

Martins et al. (2022) used 88 publications and removed 46 irrelevant ones based on abstract analysis. The specific content of the papers is provided in a table based on the categories listed in the previous section. Martins et al. (2022) use a table with the following elements: author names, publication year and country context, theoretical framework, paper type and research methodology, industry setting, and study purpose. The table comprises all of the articles that were selected using the review. Then, based on the descriptive statistics analysis, Martins et al. (2022) presented some findings in various categories, such as the number of publications per year, distribution across the entire journal, distribution of publications based on geographical dispersion, distribution of publications based on authors, and clusters based on SLR.

In contrast, Gardner (2019) employed purposive selection to choose a sample of six small company owners who might give information-rich instances for a more in-depth investigation. The sample was chosen from a larger pool of potential participants. When collecting data, the notion of data saturation was applied as a guiding principle. The requirement that participants be proprietors of small enterprises in the service sector and have been in continuous operation for at least five years was one of the prerequisites for participation (Gardner, 2019). In a setting that was both private and accommodating, one-on-one interviews were carried out. The goal of the researcher was to use the results of the study to help small company owners all around the world.

Analytical Methods

In the first article, Martins et al. (2022) used the grouping method to indicate that 76% of the 42 research were published between 2016 and 2020. There was insufficient interest in the subject between 2000 and 2015 (just ten publications were published over this period). These findings indicate that, during the previous five years, WoS-indexed articles have paid increasing emphasis and relevance to the issue of SMEs’ sustainability. The distribution of 42 sustainability-related publications across time shows increased academic interest in the issue from 2000 to 2020 (Martins et al., 2022). In the second article, Gardner (2019) used content analysis to analyze the data collected from the interviews and data organization to simplify the analysis, presentation, and reporting. Reflective notebooks helped the researcher communicate his thoughts. Gardner (2019) discovered that reflective writing helped researchers control their cognitive processes to prevent impacting study results.

Limitations

The first article had limitations. To begin with, Martins et al. (2022) argue that the search terms used may have resulted in the exclusion of articles that focused on specific aspects of corporate sustainability without explicitly connecting them to the broader topic of sustainability. It would be helpful to contribute to the literature corpus by doing more research that would broaden the analysis and give insights into such particular difficulties. Second, Martins et al. (2022) assert that since they only included papers published in the WoS, they could not incorporate data on the sustainability of SMEs presented at conferences, featured in books or book chapters, or published in journals indexed in other databases. In the second article, Gardner (2019) noted that the participant sample size and the possibility of researcher bias were the two primary limitations of this study. Participants in the research were Houston, Texas, small company owners who operate in the service sector. Since of the tiny sample size—six separate small businesses— Gardner (2019) believe that the results may be restricted since they may not accurately reflect the whole population of Houston, Texas, small business community. Because of the study’s limited scope, the results and conclusions might not have applied to a considerable population throughout the sector.

Conclusion

Martins et al. (2022) concluded that internal and external variables encourage SMEs to pursue sustainability-related objectives and efforts. According to Martins et al. (2022) results, there has been little study on the sustainability of SMEs. The lack of rigorous examination and contemporary literature assessments demonstrates this immature field of research. Instead, the researchers concentrated on the gaps and possibilities for future research that may have arisen due to the omission of relevant research strands. Therefore, Martins et al. (2022) insist that as part of their continuous research, the experts may examine literature translated into various languages to further evaluate the sustainability and competitive advantage of SMEs.

On the other hand, Gardner (2019) proves that small company entrepreneurs require competitive advantage strategies to keep their companies operating beyond the first five years, including financial capital plans, marketing strategies, and competitive advantage tactics. Small company operators need funding to launch and grow their enterprises. Gardner (2019) contends that it is possible that traditional funding sources are not always convenient to reach. Small company operators must exercise creativity and look for unconventional funding sources. Therefore, marketing will undoubtedly continue to play a role in the success of small businesses. Small company owners find it much simpler to sell their products more successfully because of social media and technology. According to Gardner (2019), social responsibility, social media savvy, and social networks should all be a part of a small company owner’s long-term sustainability plan. Small company entrepreneurs must provide excellent customer service and high-quality products to meet their customers’ standards and expectations. The contribution of this research is to provide entrepreneurs with more knowledge to support the growth of their businesses and the results of this research will benefit society and increase small firms’ chances of survival.

References

Gardner, L. (2019).Strategies of competitive advantage for small businesses in the service industry. Walden University Scholar Works. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7844&context=dissertations

Martins, A., Branco, M. C., Melo, P. N., & Machado, C. (2022). Sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises: A systematic literature review and future research agenda. Sustainability, 14(11), 6493. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/11/6493

Appendices

Article 1: Article Access Statistics

Article 2: Interview Questions

1. How long have you been in operation?
2. How do you carry out your business-sustaining strategies?
3. What major obstacles did you face in putting your company sustainability plans into practice?
4. How did you overcome the main obstacles to putting your business continuity plans into practice?
5. What difficulties did you overcome in creating your strategies?
6. If anything else, what else would you want to add to our discussion of the success elements and tactics connected to the longevity of your firm throughout the first five years?