Small business leaders must become learning coaches to survive disruption
A new study shows that SME owner-managers who actively foster employee learning—through informal training and digital tools—significantly boost their company's ability to adapt during crises. As digital transformation disrupts every industry, this leadership approach is becoming critical for survival and competitive advantage.
Originaltitel: Learning-oriented leadership in SMEs in volatile and disruptive environments
<p>Purpose</p><p>This study aims to explore the role of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owner-manager as an enabler of employee learning and discuss how digital transformation, as a key form of disruption, poses challenges and opportunities for enacting learning-oriented leadership.</p><p>Design/methodology/approach</p><p>The study is conceptual, drawing on literature on workplace learning and SME leadership. It applies Tynjälä’s 3-P model (presage, process, product) of workplace learning and the organisational agility perspective to analyse learning-oriented leadership in SMEs.</p><p>Findings</p><p>Four themes are used to describe factors that simultaneously create challenges and opportunities for workplace learning in SMEs: resource availability, limited access to formal training, the condition of “smallness” and relational dynamics. By using learning-oriented leadership, emphasising informal learning, leveraging digital tools and encouraging developmental learning cultures, SME owner-managers enhance their firm’s agility amid disruption.</p><p>Research limitations/implications</p><p>The paper lays the foundation for future research examining how learning-oriented leadership affects SME innovation and survival in dynamic environments.</p><p>Practical implications</p><p>The findings suggest that SME owner-managers can strengthen organisational adaptability by embedding learning in daily work, leveraging low-cost digital resources and intentionally shaping relational conditions that support informal learning.</p><p>Originality/value</p><p>The paper advances research by conceptualising learning-oriented leadership in SMEs under volatile conditions. It integrates leadership, workplace learning and agility perspectives into a novel framework that highlights the distinctive conditions of small firms and positions learning-oriented leadership as a strategic response to disruption.</p>