Design Thinking for Business Process Optimization. Empirical Evidence from Ukrainian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Volatile Markets

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.57017/jaes.v21.4(94).13

Author(s):

Olena BULAVINA Pedagogy and Psychology Department, Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Ukraine
Oleh RUDYK Department of Public Management and Administration Odesа Polytechnic National University, Ukraine
Dmytro CHASOVNYKOV Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, Ukraine
Iryna MYNCHYNSKA Department of Business Economics Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
Alina LYTVYNENKO Department of International Economic Relations and Business Security Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukraine

Abstract:

The active spread of digital transformation forces small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine to look for innovative approaches to improving process efficiency. The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between the level of design thinking implementation, digitalization, innovative activity, and operational efficiency of enterprises.
The methodological framework is a panel-type econometric model with fixed effects based on secondary statistics for 2022–2024. The sample was formed from 252 Ukrainian enterprises representing five sectors of the economy: industry, trade, transport, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and professional services. The business Process Optimization Index (POI) was used as the dependent variable and the Design Thinking Index as the main influencing factor. The obtained results indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship between the implementation of design thinking and the business process efficiency (β=0.215, p<0.01The highest indicators were recorded in the ICTs (BPO=125.4) and trade (BPO=114.8) sectors, where design thinking is combined with a high level of digital maturity.

The conclusions confirm that the implementation of design thinking is an effective tool for increasing the productivity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises. The findings also indicate that design thinking contributes to the reduction of transaction costs, optimization of customer acquisition processes, and improvement of customer lifetime value through stronger customer orientation and more efficient business process design. The practical significance is the possibility of applying the obtained results to form state policies to support the innovative development of SMEs. The novelty of the study is the quantitative confirmation of the impact of design thinking on the efficiency of business processes using a composite index and panel econometric analysis.

Copyright© 2026 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article’s History: Received 4th of June, 2026; Revised 29th of July, 2026; Accepted 25th of August, 2026; Available online: 30th of September, 2026. Published as research article in the Volume XXI, Fall, Issue 4(94), 2026.

How to cite:

Bulavina, O., Rudyk, O., Chasovnykov, D., Mynchynska, I., & Lytvynenko, A. (2025). Design Thinking for Optimization of Business Processes in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Volume XXI, Fall, 4(94), 1359 – 1374. https://doi.org/10.57017/jaes.v21.4(94).13

CRediT Authorship Contribution Statement: Bulavina, O.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Rudyk, O.: Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Validation. Chasovnykov, D.: Investigation, Formal analysis, Visualization. Mynchynska, I.: Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Lytvynenko, A.: Investigation, Literature review, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Declaration of Competing Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments/Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this research and have no acknowledgments to declare.

Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this study.

Data Availability Statement: The study is based on secondary data obtained from publicly available official statistical databases and reports cited in the manuscript. The data sources used for the analysis are identified in the Methods section and References.

Ethical Approval Statement: Ethical approval was not required for this study, as the research was based exclusively on secondary, publicly available, and aggregated data and did not involve human participants, personal data, or experimental interventions.

References:

Amirkhizi, P. J., Zeyghami, F., & Pourmohamadi, M. (2026). Investigating the use of design thinking in identifying wicked problems of startups. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 15(1), Article 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-025-00513-9

Anatan, L., & Nur. (2023). Micro, small, and medium enterprises’ readiness for digital transformation in Indonesia. Economies, 11(6), 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11060156

Arabeche, Z., Soudani, A., Brahmi, M., Aldieri, L., Vinci, C. P., & Abdelli, M. E. A. (2022). Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational culture and business performance in SMEs: Evidence from emerging economy. Sustainability, 14, 5160. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095160

Ávila-Gutiérrez, M. J., Córdoba-Roldán, A., Morato-Huerta, P., & Lama-Ruiz, J. R. (2025). Modernizing small and medium-sized enterprises: A lean audit model for digital integration. Systems, 13(4), 304. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13040304

Bierwisch, A., Huter, L., Pattermann, J., & Som, O. (2021). Taking eco-innovation to the road - A design-based workshop concept for the development of eco-innovative business models. Sustainability, 13(16), 8811. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168811

Chu, K. M. (2024). Innovation practices of new technology adoption for the business survival strategy of online travel agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic: Two case studies in Taiwan. Journal of Knowledge Economy, 15, 9556–9575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01480-w

Demir, F., Saur-Amaral, I., & Polónia, D. F. (2025). Enabling innovation capabilities: A design thinking toolbox for SME strategic transformation. Administrative Sciences, 15(10), 384. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15100384

Dumanska, K., Chaikovska, I., Vahanova, L., & Kobets, D. (2021). Strategize company’s sustainable management of investment project evaluation based on the information support. Journal of Information Technology Management, 13(Special Issue: Role of ICT in Advancing Business and Management), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.22059/jitm.2021.80743

EBRD. (2023). Transition report 2023–2024: Business environment and digital transformation. https://www.ebrd.com

Erjavec, J., Indihar Štemberger, M., & Jaklič, J. (2024). How to develop organizational forms for a successful digital transformation? Findings from two case studies. Journal of Knowledge Economy, 15, 9576–9596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01479-3

Eurostat. (2024). Digital economy and society statistics – Enterprises. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

García-Vidal, G., Sánchez-Rodríguez, A., Guzmán-Vilar, L., Martínez-Vivar, R., & Pérez-Campdesuñer, R. (2025). Exploring MSME owners’ expectations of data-driven approaches to business process management. Systems, 13(4), 265. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13040265

Gorokhova, T., & Simanavičienė, Ž. (2026). Financing Post-War Circular Reconstruction: Digital Tools and Investment Pathways for Ukraine’s Industrial Regions. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 19(4), 293. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm19040293

Hartman, R., Kvasnička, R., Čejka, M., & Pilař, L. (2024). Design thinking in innovation processes: A market segmentation tool in social networks research. Systems, 12(10), 444. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12100444

Hokmabadi, H., Rezvani, S. M. H. S., & de Matos, C. A. (2024). Business resilience for small and medium enterprises and startups by digital transformation and the role of marketing capabilities - A systematic review. Systems, 12(6), 220. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12060220

Koldovskiy, A. (2024). Strategic infrastructure transformation: Revolutionizing financial sector management for enhanced success. Acta Academiae Beregsasiensis. Economics, 5(2024), 323–332. https://doi.org/10.58423/2786-6742/2024-5-323-332

Kurek, J., Brandli, L. L., Leite Frandoloso, M. A., Lange Salvia, A., & Mazutti, J. (2023). Sustainable business models innovation and design thinking: A bibliometric analysis and systematic review of literature. Sustainability, 15(2), 988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15020988

Lateef, M., & Keikhosrokiani, P. (2023). Predicting critical success factors of business intelligence implementation for improving SMEs’ performances: A case study of Lagos State, Nigeria. Journal of Knowledge Economy, 14, 2081–2106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-022-00961-8

Mesa, D., Renda, G., Gorkin III, R., Kuys, B., & Cook, S. M. (2022). Implementing a design thinking approach to de-risk the digitalisation of manufacturing SMEs. Sustainability, 14(21), 14358. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114358

Mikelsone, E., & Cīrule, I. (2024). Design thinking approach to create impact assessment tool: Cities 2030 case study. Sustainability, 16(21), 9593. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219593

Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. (2023). Innovation activity of industrial enterprises in Ukraine: Analytical report 2022–2023.https://www.me.gov.ua

Mironova, N., Koptieva, H., Liganenko, I., Sakun, A., & Chernyak, D. (2022). Modeling the selection of innovative strategy for development of industrial enterprises. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 19, 278-291. https://doi.org/10.37394/23207.2022.19.26

Niehaus, M., & Mocan, M. (2024). Cultivating design thinking for sustainable business transformation in a VUCA world: Insights from a German case study. Sustainability, 16(6), 2447. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062447

OECD & European Commission. (2023). Policy Index on SMEs: Eastern Partner countries 2023. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/5a4eb29f-en

OECD. (2023). SME and entrepreneurship outlook 2023. https://doi.org/10.1787/ee62b071-en

Opendatabot. (2026). Opendatabot: Open data about Ukrainian companies. https://opendatabot.ua/

Olivares Ugarte, J. E., & Bengtsson, L. (2024). Central characteristics and critical success factors of design thinking for product development in industrial SMEs - A bibliometric analysis. Businesses, 4(4), 843-864. https://doi.org/10.3390/businesses4040046

Omidvar, M., Confetto, M. G., & Palazzo, M. (2025). Business model innovation: A bridge between corporate social responsibility and successful performance for medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the digital era. Systems, 13(5), 378. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13050378

Orlov, O., Dumanska, K., Ponomaryova, N., & Kobets, D. (2020). Company’s strategic success as the basis of its potential sustainability. E3S Web of Conferences, 166, Article 12002. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202016612002

Philbin, S., Viswanathan, R., & Telukdarie, A. (2022). Understanding how digital transformation can enable SMEs to achieve sustainable development: A systematic literature review. Small Business International Review, 6(1), e473. https://doi.org/10.26784/sbir.v6i1.473

Pingilili, A., Letsie, N., Nzimande, G., Thango, B., & Matshaka, L. (2025). Guiding IT growth and sustaining performance in SMEs through enterprise architecture and information management: A systematic review. Businesses, 5(2), 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/businesses5020017

Prokopenko, O., Koldovskiy, A., Khalilova, M., Orazbayeva, A., & Machado, J. (2024). Development of blockchain technology in financial accounting. Computation, 12(12), 250. https://doi.org/10.3390/computation12120250

Shmeleva, N., Tolstykh, T., Guseva, T., Khoroshilova, T., & Lazarenko, D. (2026). Business Process Optimization for a Greener Future: The Russian Experience in Operational Management. Sustainability, 18(8), 3691. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18083691

State Statistics Service of Ukraine. (2024). Statistical yearbook of Ukraine 2023: Small and medium enterprises indicators. https://ukrstat.gov.ua

Štrukelj, T., & Dankova, P. (2025). Ethical leadership and management of small- and medium-sized enterprises: The role of AI in decision making. Administrative Sciences, 15(7), 274. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15070274

Sumets, A., Tyrkalo, Y., Popovych, N., Poliakova, J., & Krupin, V. (2022). Modeling of the environmental risk management system of agroholdings considering the sustainable development values. Agricultural and Resource Economics, 8(4), 244-265. https://doi.org/10.51599/are.2022.08.04.11

State Statistics Service of Ukraine. (2026). Financial results of enterprises (annual). https://stat.gov.ua/en/datasets/financial-results-enterprises-annual

Voronina, Y., Lopushynskyi, I., Grechanyk, B., Vahonova, O., Kondur, A., & Akimov, O. (2024). Economic and environmental component in the field of sustainable development management. Access to Success – General Management, 25(20), 7–18. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/25.201.02

Vrečko, I., Tominc, P., & Širec, K. (2023). Enhancing the performance of high-growth small- and medium-sized enterprises through effective project-management processes and stakeholder engagement: A systems perspective. Systems, 11(10), 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems11100511

World Bank. (2024). Enterprise surveys: Firm-level data for Ukraine and Eastern Europe.https://www.enterprisesurveys.org