加入世界贸易组织对中小企业的冲击及其应对措施

加入世界贸易组织后，我国中小企业已经开始面临着前所未有的严峻考验，我们必须勇敢面对，积极迎接各种即将到来的挑战，牢牢把握我国经济大发展的主动权。就政府而言，主要是按照世界贸易组织规则和新的职能体系，对内资中小企业实行国民待遇，使包括外资中小企业在内的所有中小企业都有一个平等的外部环境，就内资中小企业而言，更需通过多种努力增强竞争能力，在激烈竞争的市场环境中不断发展壮大。     

Patent management in entrepreneurial SMEs: a literature review and an empirical study of innovation appropriation,patent propensity,and motives

Managers make a number of strategic choices when trying to capture returns from innovation investments, including what appropriation strategy to use and whether or not to patent, strategic choices that depend among other things on firm size. Previous literature, being reviewed in this paper, shows that the patent propensity is lower in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) than in large firms and that patenting as means for appropriation is of less importance among SMEs. Chief executive officers (CEOs) and/or research and development (R&D) managers of 26 entrepreneurial SMEs have been interviewed to explain these differences and to provide insight on how patenting is used in SMEs. The patent competence was low among the studied SMEs, and internal patent resources were found to be important for effective and efficient use of the patent system, for application as well as monitoring and enforcement. While of limited perceived importance for protecting inventions in entrepreneurial SMEs, patents were used to attract customers and venture capital, which is of utmost importance for the survival and growth of these firms. Thus, patenting has an important role to play even in firms where the protective function of patents is secondary.     

吉林省金融机构对中小企业金融支持的对策分析

近年来,吉林省金融机构将开展中小企业业务作为改善业务结构、客户结构和调整战略方针、履行社会责任的重点,中小企业贷款满足率不断上升,但融资难问题,仍是制约不少中小企业进一步发展的障碍.加强对中小企业的金融支持,广大金融机构应提高服务中小企业发展的水平,增强金融创新能力,完善中小企业信贷考核体系,建立中小企业贷款风险补偿基金,发展多层次中小企业信用担保体系等,为中小企业的发展提供更有力的金融支持.     

Patenting Activities and Firm Performance: Does Firm Size Matter?

Whereas prior research has provided valuable insights into the willingness of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms to engage in patenting, a comparison of the performance implications of patenting activities across small and large firms is still lacking. This gap is important because SMEs and large firms, having different resources and capabilities, might benefit from patenting activities in different ways. In particular, SMEs can be expected to benefit less from patenting activities in terms of protection against imitators than large firms. On the other hand, the propensity and ability of SMEs to license out their patents and generate additional revenue streams might be relatively higher than that of their large counterparts. This paper studies the impact of patenting on licensing, innovation, and financial performance for both SMEs and large firms, using multiple‐group path analyses on a sample of 358 manufacturing firms. Contrary to expectations, this study demonstrates that not only large firms, but also SMEs benefit from patenting in terms of commercializing product innovations. Moreover, for both SMEs and large firms, such increased innovation performance in turn contributes to higher profit margins. Patenting activities also increase the ability of SMEs and large firms to license out knowledge to external parties, and this positive effect is significantly stronger for large firms. However, neither in SMEs nor in large firms, these outward licensing activities generate short‐term financial benefits. Finally, the study demonstrates that patenting activities do not trigger significant cost disadvantages for either SMEs or large firms. Jointly, these findings provide unique insights in the value‐generating and cost‐increasing effects of patenting, suggesting that not only large firms, but also SMEs should consider patenting as a viable strategy to fully reap commercial benefits from their innovation activities. At the same time, they temper open innovation scholars’ expectations regarding the financial benefits of licensing out knowledge. Overall, these findings point to opportunities for optimizing the intellectual property management of both SMEs and large firms.     

中小企业营销问题与对策研究

中小企业是我国企业家庭中的一个重要组成部分,其生存、发展对我国经济的发展将产生重要的影响。而我国近半数的中小企业生命周期不到4年,其原因是多方面的。本文针对中小企业的营销问题进行研究,并针对存在的问题提出相应对策,旨在促进中小企业的发展。     

论新形势下辽宁中小企业政策和服务体系的完善

金融风暴使外贸依存度较高的辽宁中小企业遭遇前所未有的困难,也为辽宁中小企业政策和服务体系的完善提出了新的课题。借鉴瑞典、英国、法国、澳大利亚等国扶持中小企业的成功做法,提出完善辽宁中小企业政策与服务体系应注重政策效果评估;将中小企业扶持列入政府工作绩效考核方案;制定政府采购中小企业产品政策;增设中小企业行业经营环境危机预警服务;注重企业家精神的培养。     

中国地区中小企业竞争力评价--对2003年规模以上工业中小企业的实证研究

随着中小企业在地区经济结构中发挥的作用日益增大,如何正确评价不同地区中小企业的竞争力状况显得尤为重要。本文认为,地区中小企业的竞争力可以通过区域影响力、经营运作力和成长发展力三方面显性指标来评价。通过构建的竞争力评价模型和相应的计量方法,我们检验得出了2003年度中国大陆30个省市自治区(西藏除外)竞争力指数及排名,并据此将各地区分为中小企业竞争力很强、较强、一般和较弱的地区。发现:各地区中小企业的竞争力与其所在地区的经济发展水平基本一致,呈现东高、中中、西低的格局。     

供应链金融融资模式下中小企业信用风险评估——以汽车行业实证研究为例

本文从中小企业综合实力、核心企业资信状况、融资项的资产状况、供应链关系状况及宏观经济环境五个方面初步构建供应链金融融资模式下中小企业信用风险指标体系,并通过专家打分法、相关性分析及鉴别性分析等方法解决指标体系中存在的非重要性及指标内容相互覆盖的问题,得到具有全面性与可操作性的中小企业信用风险评价指标体系;运用熵值法对中小企业进行信用等级评级,解决以往学者采取评级方法时具有的主观性缺陷;实证研究以汽车行业为例,得出在供应链金融融资模式下60%中小企业信用等级将得到上升的结论,有助于从中小企业信用风险评估角度缓解中小企业融资难问题。     

The innovation work environment of high–tech SMEs in the USA and Canada

This study examined the climate for innovation and creativity, and related outcome measures, in 31 Canadian and 11 US small– and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs), as assessed by 120 R&D engineers in those firms. Prior studies on the innovativeness of countries have been critical of Canadian firms compared to those in other industrialized countries. Our study tested whether differences existed between perceived climates, creativity and productivity of US and Canadian SMEs. The results indicated that the innovative climates and the perceptions of creativity and productivity of US and Canadian firms are very similar. Furthermore, the most important factors relating to creativity (Challenging Work and Organizational Encouragement) were the same for both the USA and Canada. Our conclusion is that support for innovation in Canadian SMEs is comparable with that of US SMEs. Differences in innovation measured at the national level can probably be attributed to other factors, such as industry structure and the degree of innovation in large firms.     

中国中小企业成长的影响因素研究——基于中国东北地区中小企业的实证研究

本文从中小企业的成长动机——企业家导向、成长能力——企业创新能力、成长资源基础——企业内部资源和企业的资源外取、成长机会——企业环境四个角度．构建中小企业成长影响因素分析模型。通过我国东北地区235家中小企业的实证数据对理论模型及相关假设进行验证。数据分析结果表明企业的风险趋向、企业环境的不确定性、企业创新实现能力和创新推广能力都会直接激发和推动我国中小企业的成长：而企业的先动性和企业环境的动态性则被证实会恶化中小企业的短期成长：充足的金融资源和高水平的企业网络通过对其他因素的作用间接提升了中小企业的成长绩效．但其对中小企业成长的直接影响尚需进一步的细化研究。     

Opportunity recognition and SME performance: the mediating effect of business model innovation

Opportunity recognition is vital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but SMEs face challenges in capturing recognized opportunities. Given that opportunity recognition does not automatically lead to higher SME performance and that SMEs need to take appropriate actions to exploit recognized opportunities to achieve better performance, it is imperative to explore the mediators that enable SMEs to translate opportunity recognition into higher performance. This study proposes that business model innovation may be a key conduit through which opportunity recognition affects SME performance. Based on a dataset of 155 SMEs, we find that the positive relationship between opportunity recognition and SME performance is mediated by business model innovation. These findings not only aid SMEs in accomplishing the performance effect of opportunity recognition, but also provide some insights into the implications of business model innovation.     

External linkages and innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises

While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can enjoy a number of behavioural advantages over their larger counterparts in the innovation process (e.g. rapid response to external threats and opportunities; efficient internal communication; interactive management style), they can also suffer from a number of mainly material disadvantages (e.g. inability to spread risk over a portfolio of new products; difficulties in market start-up abroad; problems in funding longer-term R&D). One area in which SMEs can suffer a marked disadvantage is that of establishing the appropriate network of contacts with external sources of scientific and technological expertise and advice. This paper addresses the issue of SMEs’ external linkages and presents data from a number of studies showing the importance of in-house technical skills to linkage activity; the importance of complementary between in-house and external know-how accumulation; and the importance of technology strategy in guiding the accumulation process. SME-oriented public technology policies should be adapted to the specific needs of SMEs in that they should focus on facilitating vertical (supplier-manufacturercustomer) linkages and offer support throughout the innovation chain from pre- competitive research through to product development. Numerous studies testify to the importance of firms extensively ‘networking’ in order to improve innovation potential (for example, Mowery, 1988; Contractor and Lorange, 1988; CEST, 1990). The majority of these studies focus on formal technology agreements, such as R&D joint ventures,; tend to feature large firm collaboration rather than that undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and while they often refer to the management problems involved in collaboration, few examine their management in any depth. This paper will describe the extensive collaborations of innovative SMEs, and will emphasise how the employment of key personnel affects the range and scope of linkages. It will highlight the broad diversity of linkages used by SMEs for technological development. And, by means of a case study of a highly technologically advanced SME, it will examine some of the most important management problems facing the collaborative process.     

Innovation practice and its performance implications in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector: a resource‐based view

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector make a significant contribution to economic growth, yet most of the research into innovation management in the manufacturing sector has focused on large organizations. This article, however, identifies innovation drivers and their performance implications in manufacturing SMEs. Its study gathered survey data from a sample of 600 Australian SMEs and found that SMEs are similar to large firms with respect to the way that innovation strategy and formal structure are the key drivers of their performance, but do not appear to utilize innovation culture in a strategic and structured manner. This study therefore concludes that SMEs' performance is likely to improve as they increase the degree to which they mirror large manufacturing firms with respect to formal strategy and structure, and to which they recognize that innovation culture and strategy are closely aligned throughout the innovation process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ownership concentration and product innovation in Chinese private SMEs

Product innovation is extremely important to the growth, success, and ultimate survival of firms. Although its unique features in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have gained growing attention in the literature, there is limited knowledge as to how ownership concentration moderates the relationship between product innovation and its determinants. Based upon insights from agency and institutional theories, we examine the moderating effects of ownership concentration on the relationship between product innovation and its key determinants in Chinese SMEs, utilizing a large dataset of 43,728 Chinese firms over the period 2005–2006. We focus on examining the differences between single-owner SMEs, where there is dominant control of one family member, and multiple-owner SMEs, where principal-agent conflicts and principal-principal conflicts are more likely to occur. Our findings indicate that single-owned firms tend to convert research and development into product innovation more efficiently than firms with multiple owners, who are typically better at utilizing external sources of knowledge and human capital.     

论中小企业技术创新的难点及应对措施

在全球经济一体化、市场竞争白热化的环境下,中小企业面临巨大的压力与挑战．中小企业只有通过不断的技术创新,形成企业所独有的核心竞争力,才能获得生存与发展。文章介绍了中小企业技术创新的概念及其特点,分析了当前中小企业技术创新所面临的主要难点,提出了切实可行的促进中小企业技术创新的应对措施。     

How Information Technology Assimilation Promotes Exploratory and Exploitative Innovation in the Small‐ and Medium‐Sized Firm Context: The Role of Contextual Ambidexterity and Knowledge Base

This research sheds new light on how information technology (IT) assimilation affects exploratory and exploitative innovation in the context of small‐ and medium‐sized firms (SMEs). This contextualization is important in establishing the boundary conditions for the theory, as well as generating specific managerial insights for SME managers. A sample of 248 U.K.‐based SMEs in the manufacturing industry demonstrates contextual ambidexterity (CA) mediates the relationship between IT assimilation and two types of innovation. This finding highlights that IT assimilation does not automatically promote innovation. Instead, IT assimilation represents a critical resource that enables the effective implementation of CA, which in turn affects innovation. This implies that SMEs cannot fully realize the potential of their IT assimilation and use it to enable innovation without implementing CA. Furthermore, this study differentiates between two different dimensions of knowledge base: knowledge breadth and knowledge depth. This study finds that knowledge breadth moderates the indirect IT assimilation–exploratory innovation relationship by influencing the effect of CA on exploratory innovation. Knowledge depth, on the other hand, moderates the indirect IT assimilation–exploitative innovation relationship by influencing the effect of CA on exploitative innovation. This finding implies that SMEs can benefit from their IT assimilation that enables them to engage in CA, which in turn allows them to perform innovation. However, it is apparent that the dimension of knowledge that SMEs hold internally can determine what types of innovation that they are able to perform.     

The moderating role of competence specialization in the effect of external R&D on innovative performance

This paper studies the functional specialization of SMEs’ technological competence and its moderating role in the effect of external R&D on their innovative performance. Technological competence consists of many functional dimensions such as basic research, product architecture, process construction, testing, and evaluation, which constitute a sequence of innovation tasks. The specialization of technological competence allows SMEs to utilize economies of specialization in R&D, enhance their bargaining power and appropriability conditions in the process of external R&D, and attract promising R&D partners. However, competence specialization may hamper SMEs’ capabilities to coordinate and integrate diverse external R&D projects. Using a sample of SMEs in Korean manufacturing industries, we find the following results. First, competence specialization positively moderates the effect of external R&D on SMEs’ innovative performance. Second, the positive moderating effect of competence specialization diminishes as the share of external R&D increases. Third, the moderating effect of competence specialization differs across industries depending on the degree of market dominance by a few large firms (i.e., market concentration) and the novelty of technologies pursued by SMEs in each industry.     

基于极限学习机网络的中小企业成长性研究

根据适合中国中小企业成长性评价的指标体系,提出了一种基于极限学习机神经网络的评价模型,并以2011年前上市的30家中小企业为例,验证了这种评价方法对中小企业成长性的基本适用性。结果表明,该评价方法应用在中小企业成长性评价系统中具有很高的评价准确率。最后根据对中小企业的实证研究结果对其成长性评价作了简单总结,并对现阶段中国中小企业的成长提出了建议措施。     

An exploratory study of factors affecting the failure of local small and medium enterprises

There is increasing recognition of the potential contribution of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) towards employment and economic growth in Singapore. Unfortunately, SMEs tend to have a high mortality rate. A survey was conducted among owners or managers of local SMEs to identify factors perceived as important in affecting business failures. The research results indicate that endogenous factors were viewed by respondents as more critical in causing SME failures than exogenous factors. Important exogenous and endogenous factors in specific areas were identified.Lau Geok Theng is Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 0511, tel: (65) 772-3179, fax: (65) 779-5941. Jasmine Lim Wang Boon is with the United Overseas Bank, Singapore.     

Becoming a more attractive supplier by managing references – The case of small and medium-sized enterprises in a digitally enhanced business environment

The importance of corporate online references in managing client perceptions and firm attractiveness is increasingly recognized. At the same time, evidence pointing to how references work in business-to-business contexts remains sporadic, with particularly limited information regarding the supplier pre-selection process in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Within the theoretical orbit of attractiveness, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate online references, Word-of-Mouth recommendations, and firm size on customer intention to initiate the business relationship with the supplier. The study takes on a mixed methods design combining qualitative interviews and focus groups with an experimental approach; both conducted with managers from SMEs based in the United Kingdom. Results indicate important preferential differences in supplier pre-selection between managers in small versus large customer firms. While generally more elaborated corporate online references tend to be preferred across small and large SMEs, less elaborated references appear sufficient in the case of small SMEs, as long as they occur in combination with a Word-of-Mouth recommendation. Our study makes important contributions to the literature on partnering attractiveness from an SME perspective and adds meaningfully to the discussions on reference management.