The Impact of Growth Mindset on Value Co-Creation with Digital Resilience and Collaborative Innovation for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Extended Abstract
 
Introduction: In the current era of accelerated digital transformation, heightened customer expectations, and intense global competition, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face increasing pressure to adapt, innovate, and co-create value collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. The concept of value co-creation, emerging from service-dominant logic (Vargo & Lusch, 2004), emphasizes interactive and participatory engagement between firms and their customers, employees, and partners. Unlike traditional models of unidirectional value delivery, co-creation involves mutual contribution to the value generation process, thereby fostering innovation, personalization, and shared ownership. Yet, the realization of co-creation potential in SMEs—particularly in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) contexts—requires more than operational strategies; it demands psychological and organizational capabilities that enable adaptability and resilience. Despite the growing body of research on value co-creation, the role of underlying psychological constructs such as organizational mindset remains underexplored, especially within resource-constrained environments like SMEs. A critical question emerges: how can SMEs, often limited in technological sophistication and financial capital, leverage intangible assets such as a growth-oriented mindset to facilitate sustained co-creation of value? Moreover, what organizational mechanisms mediate the relationship between psychological orientations and externally visible value outcomes?
Purpose of the Study: This study aims to investigate the influence of growth mindset—defined as the belief in the malleability of abilities through effort and learning—on value co-creation among SMEs, with particular focus on the mediating roles of digital resilience and collaborative innovation. Drawing upon implicit theory of intelligence (Dweck, 2000), organizational resilience theory, and collaborative innovation theory (Rachmad, 2022), the research proposes a structural model that integrates psychological, technological, and network-based enablers of value co-creation.
The proposed model conceptualizes growth mindset as a foundational psychological resource that fosters adaptive behaviors, learning orientation, and openness to collaboration. Digital resilience is framed as the capacity to withstand and recover from digital disruptions, encompassing both technical preparedness and cultural readiness. Collaborative innovation reflects the degree to which an organization co-develops ideas, processes, and solutions with internal and external actors. Together, these constructs are theorized to mediate the pathway from mindset to value co-creation.
Methodology:This is an applied, quantitative, and correlational research utilizing a cross-sectional survey design. The statistical population comprised senior and middle-level managers in SMEs located in Tehran Province who had implemented at least one digital process in their organizational operations (e.g., CRM, ERP, automated customer interfaces). A purposive sampling strategy was employed, and 110 valid responses were obtained using a researcher-designed 20-item questionnaire. Psychometric validation was conducted through expert panel assessment (content validity ratio) and pilot testing (Cronbach’s α > 0.7). Due to the non-normality of data (confirmed via Kolmogorov-Smirnov test), analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS.
Measurement validity was assessed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), and discriminant validity (HTMT). Model fit was evaluated using SRMR and NFI indices. The structural model included seven hypotheses testing both direct and indirect relationships between growth mindset, mediators, and value co-creation.
Discussion and Results: All hypothesized relationships were empirically supported. The results demonstrate:
Growth mindset has a significant positive effect on digital resilience (β = 0.766, t = 19.612, p < 0.001).
Growth mindset significantly enhances collaborative innovation (β = 0.741, t = 17.580, p < 0.001).
Digital resilience positively influences value co-creation (β = 0.192, t = 2.357, p < 0.05).
Collaborative innovation exerts the strongest direct effect on value co-creation (β = 0.268, t = 3.149, p < 0.01).
Growth mindset directly contributes to value co-creation (β = 0.471, t = 12.084, p < 0.001).
Mediation analysis (bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples) confirmed that both digital resilience (indirect effect = 0.147, p < 0.05) and collaborative innovation (indirect effect = 0.199, p < 0.01) partially mediate the relationship between growth mindset and value co-creation
Conclusion: The findings underscore the multifaceted role of growth mindset as a psychological enabler that catalyzes both internal transformation (e.g., digital agility) and external relational capabilities (e.g., open innovation). In environments where SMEs struggle with resource constraints and digital volatility, growth mindset serves as a low-cost, high-impact asset that can be embedded into organizational culture to enhance adaptability, learning, and co-creation dynamics.
Notably, collaborative innovation emerged as a more potent mediator than digital resilience, suggesting that social and cognitive openness may play a more pivotal role in value co-creation than technical infrastructure alone. This aligns with theories positing innovation as a distributed, collective process that thrives on shared meaning and diverse contributions.