Hybrid working and management innovation in the SME: insights and implications for management team practice

Purpose Focusing on the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) context, the paper aims to examine the emergence of new management practices in management teams under hybrid working. Drawing from contributions in the management innovation domain, a framework for management practice in supporting hybrid working in the SME context is proposed. Design/methodology/approach An integrative review of literature in the domains of management innovation, SME, and hybrid working is conducted. Future nuanced empirical research is posited. Findings The conceptual framework proposes that five management innovations emerge in the context of SME hybrid working: strategic management innovations, network relationship management innovations, control and evaluation management innovations, sense-making and sense-giving management innovations and organising innovations, and that these drive SME management practices. Research limitations/implications Building on the management innovation literature, this study articulates the unique context of hybrid working in the SME as a space for management innovation and develops a framework which proposes relevant management team practices. Practical implications The practical relevance of management innovation occurs both in negotiating the change to hybrid work and in cultivating an organisational culture where management innovations become an ongoing response to feedback from a changing and dynamic environment, as indicated in the conceptual model. Where executives are open to opportunities and changes emerging from this environment, as opposed to taking more constrained approaches, for instance, as framed by resource conservation theory, a management innovation perspective can help reframe hybrid working in context as a strategic opportunity. Social implications It is argued that the lens of management innovation at the level of the SME management team gives policymakers an opportunity to view hybrid working as an opportunity for both improved social and economic outcomes and also as that such outcomes can be developed through management innovation. Policies supporting such development might include modifications to existing training supports for SMEs. Specific modifications can support management teams and executives in both reflective learning and intervening so as to support the development of future management innovations in their businesses. Originality/value The conceptual framework of the emergence of management innovations and practices for management teams reflects a unique theoretical approach to hybrid organising. Future empirical research is necessary to progress the framework’s development.