Does innovativeness of knowledge-intensive business services differ from other industries?

This article seeks to determine whether the innovative capabilities of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) do actually differ from other industries through comparing the innovation capacities and financial performance of KIBS with firms operating in other sectors (non-KIBS). Based upon a 1000-firm sample, the results of our estimated econometric model demonstrate that non-KIBS firms are in possession of significantly greater innovation capacities than KIBS firms. These differences were observed across factors such as organisational process innovation, the launch of already existing products in new markets, branding and new product designs. Nevertheless, as regards the actual importance attributed to product/service innovation, KIBS firms place a greater comparative importance on innovation in comparison with their non-KIBS peers. In addition, the empirical evidences display a significantly different range of effects of innovation capacities on financial performance and concludes that non-KIBS firms turn in better comparative performances than specialist KIBS firms.     

Innovation's Second Step

Innovative companies often place their emphasis on invention, research, and new product development, even as they neglect the process of bringing products to the marketplace in a way that is advantageous over the long term. Small to medium‐sized businesses that are scaling up are particularly vulnerable to entering into unfavorable distribution arrangements with large mass‐market retailers. Often, managers assume their firm will automatically benefit from a technological or creative breakthrough. Rather than focusing solely on new innovations and viewing distribution as an afterthought, we suggest that innovative firms make channel management a priority as their products are discovered and they attempt to reach more customers. In this article, strategies are offered as paths managers should consider as they use their innovations to scale up from small or medium‐sized firms into large companies. Steps for implementation as well as concurrent risks are also presented. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Comparing Innovation Capability of Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Examining the Effects of Organizational Culture and Empowerment

This study analyzes the impact of organizational culture and empowerment on innovation capability, and examines the peculiarities of these effects. The study's hypotheses are tested by applying both individual and firm‐level analyses to survey data collected from 743 employees from 93 small and medium‐sized firms located in Turkey. For medium‐sized enterprises on both the individual and firm level of analysis, results suggest that collectivism and uncertainty avoidance are positively associated with empowerment, whereas power distance is negatively related to empowerment. Assertiveness focus has no relations with empowerment and innovation capability, yet among cultural dimensions, only uncertainty avoidance is related to innovation capability. For small‐sized enterprises, findings suggest that both power distance and uncertainty avoidance are linked to both empowerment and innovation capability on the individual level, whereas two new paths between collectivism and innovation capability and between assertiveness focus and empowerment are found on the firm level. Also, empowerment is found to be positively related to innovation capability for both small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) on both the individual and firm level. In terms of managerial practice, our study helps clarify the key role played by cultural dimensions in the process of shaping an empowering and innovative work environment. Findings also reveal that managers should focus on participative managerial practices (e.g., empowerment) to promote innovation capability of SMEs.     

The level of innovation among young innovative companies: the impacts of knowledge-intensive services use,firm characteristics and the entrepreneur attributes

The link between difficulties in obtaining funding and young innovative companies (YICs) has been investigated in numerous studies. YICs also face other barriers such as limited internal resources, access to technology services, etc. Thus, any public policy on innovation for providing financial support to YICs must be accompanied by offering technical assistance and consulting services. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of YICs that enhance their innovation and, specifically, if the use of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) helps drive innovation. This study also investigates the level of innovation among YICs in relation to the firms’ characteristics (size, sector, competition) and the entrepreneurs’ attributes (age, gender). This study found that the use of KIBS stimulates innovation in YICs.     

An Empirical Approach to the Financial Behaviour of Small and Medium Sized Companies

This paper shows how the financial behaviour of small and medium sized companies is influenced by size and business sector. This idea underlies two research approaches to capital structure: (i) credit rationing, and (ii) the pecking order theory. Both approaches are based on asymmetric information and have been widely developed over the past two decades. An analysis has been carried out on 1000 Valencian companies that were randomly selected from the state company registry. These companies were divided by size before analysis. As an innovation, the investigation implements a multivariate MANOVA model that takes into account two key variables in the financing of small and medium firms. Our results show that size influences company self-financing strategies, and that business sector influences short-term financial policy.     

The Identification and Characterization of Open Innovation Profiles in Italian Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises

Open innovation (OI) denotes a company's ability to draw on a range of external sources to meet their needs for innovation. Very few empirical analyses have been conducted on the extent to which this new paradigm is embedded in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, the present study's objective is to identify and characterize different profiles of OI in SMEs, considering the openness of the innovation process phases, variety and breadth of collaborations, determinants, barriers, and motivations. A survey was carried out among Italian SME manufacturing firms, and a database of 105 companies was obtained. With regard to data elaboration, a factorial and cluster analysis was conducted, and three different OI profiles emerged: selective low open, unselective open upstream, and mid‐partners integrated open. The different behaviors of the three clusters in terms of determinants, performance, contextual factors, barriers, and motivations were analyzed and discussed.     

Technological Collaboration: Bridging the Innovation Gap between Small and Large Firms*

This paper analyzes how technological collaboration acts as an input to the innovation process and allows small and medium‐sized enterprises to bridge the innovation gap with their bigger counterparts. Based on a large longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, the results show that though technological collaboration is a useful mechanism for firms of all sizes to improve innovativeness, it is a critical factor for the smallest firms. The impact of this collaboration varies depending on innovation output and type of partner. Specifically, the impact of collaboration in small and medium‐sized firms is more significant for product than process innovations. Regarding type of partner, vertical collaboration—with suppliers and clients—has the greatest impact on firm innovativeness, though this effect is clearer for medium‐sized enterprises than for the smallest firms.     

Entry barriers of small and medium‐sized software firms in the Japanese market

The Japanese software market size was U.S. $131,773 million in 2004. Due to limited domestic software production, Japan is highly dependent on imported software products. Despite the market potential for foreign software firms in Japan, almost no research exists on what kind of challenges foreign software firms encounter when they are entering the market. To fill this gap, this article investigates the entry barriers of small and medium‐sized software firms in the Japanese market by using a multicase study. The findings suggest that most of the barriers are firm‐specific and mainly related to firms' resources and capabilities to operate in the market. The entry barriers encountered also seem to differ somewhat from earlier investigations, which have mainly targeted large manufacturing firms. The new observations included common barriers related to the intensive information flow of customization and localization needs and market requirements of software products. The findings are useful for both practice and further research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Responsible family ownership in small‐ and medium‐sized family enterprises: an exploratory study

The concept of responsible ownership was originally developed with reference to large, publicly held firms. However, the relevance of small‐ and medium‐sized closely held firms, such as family firms, in all economies and the specific governance and organisational characteristics of these firms require further examination of the responsible ownership concept and its operationalisation. Based on the existing literature, we define the construct of responsible family ownership to fill this gap in responsible ownership theory. We propose a scale that can be used to assess the responsible family ownership construct in small‐ and medium‐sized family enterprises. The data used in this exploratory study were collected in an ad hoc survey answered by a representative sample of 84 small‐ and medium‐sized family enterprises. The study contributes to the responsible ownership literature by presenting the responsible family ownership construct, a key driver of balance in family and firm systems that is therefore critical to the health of small‐ and medium‐sized family enterprises. In addition, a scale is proposed as a means to operationalise the construct and to derive practical implications for the governance of this kind of firms.     

Marketing planning in the larger family business

In recent decades a considerable literature on marketing planning has accumulated. The larger part relates to marketing planning in big firms with specialized, professional managers. There are books on the subject, like that of Malcolm McDonald which has gone through several editions, and there is also a steady stream of articles in the academic journals. In addition, the marketing planning activities of big firms are referred to by many more writers in the overlapping but broader contexts of “strategic marketing” and “strategic planning”. A lesser part of the literature relates to marketing planning in small firms. The small firms in question are usually very small. Typically they are owner‐managed and employ just a handful of people in a single location. The purpose of this study is to fill a gap in the literature by examining a medium‐sized firm; a category which seems to have been neglected by researchers.

Most modern economies are characterized by a significant group of middle‐sized firms, still owner‐managed, but with multi‐million dollar turnovers. Many of these remain family companies and constitute an important reservoir of business initiative. One such family business is the focus of this study. Given the relative lack of scrutiny of such firms to date, the author decided to conduct an in depth evaluation from within one large, family firm rather than seek by means of questionnaire to obtain information from a significant sample of the group. The results of the study suggest that neither the existing typologies of small firm approaches to marketing nor the formal models of marketing planning attributed to big companies necessarily characterize the marketing planning and management of larger, family businesses.     

Trade and Innovation in Services: Evidence from a Developing Economy

Studies on innovation and international trade have traditionally focused on manufacturing because neither was seen as important for services. Moreover, the few existing studies on services focus only on industrial countries, even though in many developing countries services are already the largest sector in the economy and an important determinant of overall productivity growth. Using a recent firm‐level innovation survey for Chile to compare the manufacturing and ‘tradable’ services sector, this paper reveals some novel patterns. First, even though services firms have on average a much lower propensity to export than manufacturing firms, services exports are less dominated by large firms and tend to be more skill intensive than manufacturing exports. Second, services firms appear to be as innovative as – and in some cases more innovative than – manufacturing firms, in terms of both inputs and outputs of ‘technological’ innovative activity, even though services innovations more often take a ‘non‐technological’ form. Third, services exporters (like manufacturing exporters) tend to be significantly more innovative than non‐exporters, with a wider gap for innovations close to the global technological frontier. These findings suggest that the growing faith in services as a source of both trade and innovative dynamism may not be misplaced.     

Implications of Firm Controllable Factors on Export Growth

The need to stimulate export activity of U.S. companies has motivated research on export behavior of firms. Based on the strategic export model, this study attempts to investigate firm controllable factors that stimulate export growth. A survey of 640 small and medium sized manufacturing firms engaged in exporting showed that having a high commitment to exporting, having a possitive attitude toward exporting by placing less importance on perceived barriers to exporting (or export growth), having a customized product adaptation policy and willingness to modify the product, and seeking outside export assistance contribute to export success measured by export growth. International market expansion strategy did not seem to be associate with export growth.     

社区性中小银行发展的供求分析与策略探讨

社区性中小银行发展问题是我国区域金融中出现的新生事物，其金融产品与服务具有定向性、综合性、差异性、创新与智能性的特点。在我国发展一批真正意义上的社区性中小银行不仅必要，而且可行。社区性中小银行的培育和发展应纳入国家发展战略，并在国家政策导向下，通过排除各种制度、法律、政策障碍，积极稳妥地推进和发展社区性中小银行。     

Barriers to Innovation among Spanish Manufacturing SMEs

Innovation is widely recognized as a key factor in the competitiveness of nations and firms. Small firms that do not embrace innovation within their core business strategy run the risk of becoming uncompetitive because of obsolete products and processes. Innovative firms are a perquisite for a dynamic and competitive economy.
This paper reports on the results of a study that examined barriers to firm innovation among a sample of 294 managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Spain. The study examined the relation between (1) product, process, and management innovation and (2) 15 obstacles to innovation, which can limit a firm's ability to remain competitive and profitable. Findings of the study show that barriers have a differential impact on the various types of innovation; product, process, and management innovation are affected differently by the different barriers. The most significant barriers are associated with costs, whereas the least significant are associated with manager/employee resistance. Additionally, the results demonstrate that the costs associated with innovation have proportionately greater impact on small than on larger firms.
The findings can be used in the development of public policy aimed at supporting and encouraging the innovation among SMEs in Spain. Government policies that encourage and support innovation among all firms, especially small firms, can help countries remain competitive in a global market. Public policy that encourages innovation can enable firms to remain competitive and survive, both of which have direct implications for employment and a country's economic viability. The results may also be insightful for managers who are attempting to encourage innovation. Understanding barriers can assist managers in fostering an innovative culture by supporting new ideas or by avoiding an attitude that creates resistance to new ideas.     

Networks,Firm Size and Innovation

Using survey data on Australian firms this paper investigates the determinants of innovation. Various possible determinants are investigated, including market structure, export status, the use of networks, and training. Regression analysis is conducted separately for manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms and, within each sector, by firm size categories. The results include evidence of persistence in innovative activities and that the use of networks is associated with innovation in some sector-firm size categories. Specifically, small manufacturing firms exhibit a positive association between networking and innovation. In contrast, for non-manufacturing firms this association is present for medium and large sized firms.     

Credit rationing and firm exports: Microeconomic evidence from small and medium‐sized enterprises in China

This paper examines the effect of credit rationing on export performance by small and medium‐sized firms in China. We use a detailed firm‐level data provided by the Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises Dynamic Survey (SMEDS) during 2015–16 to conduct this analysis. The SMEDS provides firm‐specific measures of credit rationing based directly on firm‐level responses to the survey rather than indirect ones, based on firm‐level financial statements. We find that, at the extensive margin, weak and strong credit rationing reduces export probability of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) by 15.1% and 39.6%, respectively. At the intensive margin, they decrease SMEs' export values by more than 20.0% and over 28.8%, respectively. Different than existing literature, we construct valid firm‐level instruments, firm‐level housing stock, for credit rationing rather than using province‐level instruments. We also employ county‐industry‐level instruments and obtain consistent estimates. In addition, credit rationing exhibits heterogeneous impacts on firms with different liquidity ratios, product portfolios, external collateral and capital utilisation rates.     

Implementing Market Segmentation Strategies in UK Personal Financial Services: Problems and Progress

Most academic research into segmentation in the financial services industry has focused on alternative analytical approaches and base variables; relatively little attention has been paid to implementation issues, despite managementS concerns about the practicality and usefulness of segmentation. Some significant barriers to effective implementation of segmentation have been encountered by major financial services firms. This paper reviews these barriers, and finds that weaknesses in customer data, and the importance of a good fit with the company'S distribution channels, can limit the range of segmentation approaches that a company can adopt, while the organisational context, structure and strategic positioning canfail to support effective segmentation. The paper also considers some of the newer entrants to the financial services industry, and finds that they are making progress in all of these areas.     

Key service innovation drivers in the tourism sector: empirical evidence and managerial implications

This study highlights the importance of market orientation and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as determinants of service innovation activity for companies in the tourism sector. In doing so, the study provides a means to classify companies as innovative or not. Using a sample of 100 Spanish firms from different branches of the tourism sector, we confirm and extend prior research. In particular, market orientation??especially a customer orientation??is critical for developing new services that lead to competitive advantages. In addition, ICT have a dual, direct, and indirect influence on service innovation.     

Variations in SME Characteristics and the Use of Service Intermediaries for R&D

Large companies increasingly look externally for opportunities to enhance innovation, which has resulted in closer study of innovation systems. We examined the role of service intermediaries (universities, technology centers, and consultants) within these systems using a sample of predominately small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises located in Valencia, Spain. As with studies of large companies, absorptive capacity (e.g., research and development expenditures) was positively related to the likelihood that a firm would engage in service collaborations. However, the rate of collaboration was higher relative to studies dominated by larger companies. Also, there were differences in the pattern of firm characteristics associated with the use of specific services. For example, the level of SME export activity related positively to the use of technology centers, but negatively to university collaborations. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.