A frequently expressed assumption is that digitalization can make a significant contribution to sustainability in the future. This study examines how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are positioning themselves in the public sphere on the topic of sustainability within the company:
- An analysis of 7,277 LinkedIn company profiles was conducted to determine the positioning of companies on the topic of sustainability.
- From the analysis of the company profiles, it can be concluded that both SMEs and large companies still place little emphasis on establishing themselves as sustainable companies in their self-presentation on LinkedIn. Only a few of the companies investigated (14%) even mention words that can be assigned to the context of sustainability. The most frequently mentioned expressions, "sustainable" for SMEs and "responsibility" for large companies, are also rather unspecific.
On the other hand, current digitalization solutions for more sustainability in SMEs were identified and processed in a structured way for the study:
- Current practical examples were collected and analyzed descriptively; in these examples, a reference to the topics of sustainability and digitalization is crucial.
- Overall, there are comparatively just a few well-documented practical examples showing digitalization solutions for more sustainability in SMEs.
The descriptive analysis reveals a focus on the areas of production, marketing and sales. Preferred technologies include AI and data analysis.
