SMEs in the reputation literature: a review of the state-of-the-art

Abstract

Reputation plays a crucial role in all types of company; however, the literature on corporate reputation specifically focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is limited and fragmented, leaving important themes unaddressed. In this study, we review the existing literature on SMEs' reputation and identify the main research streams. We examine a final sample of 262 articles retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases, applying the PRISMA methodology for the search strategy, study selection, and extraction. Overall, we observe a rise in the number of research papers on reputation management published in recent years, underscoring its growing significance for SMEs, and indicating that this field of study may have reached a mature stage. The systematic literature review conducted reveals five main streams of research on SME reputation: “Creation and consolidation of competitive advantage and its influence on reputation”, “Recurring Theories in SME reputation research”, “Closely-related terms, CSR and SME reputation”, “Effects of reputation on financial performance” and “Stakeholders’ engagement and SME reputation”. The primary academic contribution of this study is the individual analysis of each theme, coupled with an agenda for future research drawn from those themes and analyzed under the TMC (Theory, Method and Context) approach. In addition, this study has valuable managerial implications as it highlights the main advantages of management reputation, the key dimensions to be analyzed, the importance of stakeholder engagement in reputation management, and other relevant insights to help guide SME managers.