Open innovation practices in SMEs and large enterprises

Few studies on open innovation (OI) address OI practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how their use of OI and the resulting benefits differ from those of large enterprises. The lack of resources in SMEs to engage in looking outward is said to be a barrier to OI, but at the same time this shortage is cited as a motive for looking beyond organisational boundaries for technological knowledge. We investigate how OI dimensions impact the innovative performance of SMEs in comparison to large companies. The key finding is that the effects of OI practices in SMEs often differ from those in large firms. SMEs are more effective in using different OI practices simultaneously when they introduce new products on the market, whereas this is less the case for large firms. Turnover from new products in SMEs is driven by intellectual property protection mechanisms, while large firms in this case benefit more from their search strategies.     

The influence of innovation on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Based on a survey of 200 SMEs, this research investigated innovation’s influence on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study found that SMEs were somewhat innovative. The performance of SMEs was found to somewhat increase over the period SMEs were innovating. Innovation was found to positively predict the performance of SMEs. Organizational innovation and product innovation positively predicted the performance of SMEs while marketing innovation and process innovation did not. The influence of innovation on enterprise performance varied from industry to industry. The research has implications for managers and future researchers.     

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.     

Size, strategic, and market orientation affects on innovation

Based on a random sample of 500 South Yorkshire non-hi-tech manufacturing small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the quantitative findings support the hypothesis that size, strategic, and market orientation associate with innovation. The results show that prospectors are medium-sized companies and small companies, defenders. Prospectors are more innovative and market-oriented than defenders. The findings reveal that to succeed in an intense competitive environment, non-hi-tech manufacturing SMEs have to be proactive toward market opportunities, receptive to innovation and take the lead in new product innovation. However, their weaknesses include a lack of flexibility, a partial open culture and an organizational structure that impedes sustained innovation. This study addresses a gap in the literature, by linking innovation to the strategic orientation of the firm instead of examining firms' specific characteristics or the effects of external environment and structural factors. The research focuses on non-hi-tech manufacturing SMEs.     

Innovation capacity,international experience and export performance of SMEs in Brazil

Innovation capacity and international experience are factors often related to the internationalisation process of firms, with export activities as the first stage of the process. However, firms from emerging countries seem to show advantages and follow patterns of international expansion that may differ from firms based in developed countries, where the internationalisation models were created. Specifically, exporting firms from emerging countries tend to have limited resources, especially small firms (e.g., for investing in R&D). Despite these facts, the literature on export performance seems biased towards recommending firms to enhance, above all, their innovation capacity in order to achieve better export performance, while little attention is paid to international experience as a factor that is as important as innovation. In this context, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of innovation capacity and international experience on the export performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in an emerging country and to identify which factor is more significant. The Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities approach were used as theoretical frameworks. A research model was developed and tested on a significant sample of Brazilian industrial SMEs. The data were analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results indicate that international experience has a greater impact on export performance than innovation capacity, showing that there is possibility of overemphasising the role of innovation in the export performance of SMEs, at least, in the Brazilian context.     

Examining learning strategies,creativity, and innovation at SMEs using fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and PLS path modeling

Some degree of ambiguity and inconsistency in organizational learning capability and its outcomes still exists, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study argues that exploitative learning strategy, explorative learning strategy, improvisational creativity, and compositional creativity are several antecedents (causal conditions) of innovation as an outcome (solution) within SMEs. This study analyzes data from a survey of 206 top managers of SMEs using PLS-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to demonstrate innovation and its dependence on combinations of complex antecedent conditions and various alternative paths. Though the results of the PLS-SEM analysis support the hypothetical paths except explorative learning and compositional creativity; the fsQCA findings indicate conditional support for the proposed antecedents and outcomes except explorative learning and exploitative learning. Furthermore, the complex solutions of the fsQCA analysis indicate that five combinations sufficiently explain innovation.     

A causal analysis of the role of institutions and organizational proficiencies on the innovation capability of Chinese SMEs

We attempt to advance the existing narrative about the role of local institutions vis-à-vis the organizational capabilities of Chinese SMEs, and the influence of such linkages on the innovation capability of these firms. Specifically, we complement recent work by investigating the impact of macro- as well as micro-level aspects of Chinese institutions (Government support; Guanxi) on the ‘Improvisation’ and ‘Learning’ capabilities of Chinese SMEs and, ultimately, these firms’ innovation capability. Our conceptual arguments are embedded in Institutional, Organizational learning, and Resource-based theories. We isolate, unpack, and discuss several inter-related, yet distinct, causal mechanisms that ultimately influence Chinese SMEs’ innovation capability development. Based on a Partial Least Squares analysis of more than 200 firms, we find empirical support for all six hypotheses which represent the above-mentioned relationships. Our findings offer insights pertaining to: (1) the relative impact of institutional versus firm-specific factors in developing organizational proficiencies, (2) the mapping of macro- and micro-level institutional effects on organizational proficiencies, and (3) the relative effect of organizational proficiencies on innovation performance.     

Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs

The performance implications of innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have attracted considerable interest among academics and practitioners. However, empirical research on the innovation-performance relationship in SMEs shows controversial results. This meta-analysis synthesizes empirical findings in order to obtain evidence whether and especially under which circumstances smaller, resource-scarce firms benefit from innovation. We find that innovation-performance relationship is context dependent. Factors such as the age of the firm, the type of innovation, and the cultural context affect the impact of innovation on firm performance to a large extent.     

Innovation in family and non-family SMEs: an exploratory analysis

This study provides an exploratory analysis of differences between family and non-family firms in innovation investment, product and process innovation outcomes, and labor productivity. Using data from the Community Innovation Survey on 2,087 German small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we observe significant disparities at each stage of the innovation process. Whereas family SMEs have a higher propensity to invest in innovation at all, conditional on investing in innovation, these companies do so less intensively than their non-family counterparts. Family SMEs further tend to outperform non-family SMEs in terms of process innovation outcomes when controlling for innovation investment. Given the level of product and process innovation, however, family SMEs underperform regarding labor productivity in comparison to non-family SMEs. These findings complement previous empirical research by illustrating how the presence of a dominant family relates to innovation inputs and outputs of SMEs in Europe’s largest economy and its innovative SME sector.     

Innovation Capability and Performance Of Manufacturing SMEs: The Paradoxical Effect of IT Integration

In theory, IT integration through applications such as enterprise resource planning, manufacturing resource planning, and electronic data interchange provides an organization with the ability to exploit innovation capabilities. Based on survey data obtained from 309 Canadian manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study aims to identify the enabling effect of IT integration on the innovation capability of manufacturing SMEs—in terms of growth and productivity outcomes—and to verify if this effect is subject to industry influences. While the firm's innovation capability was found, as expected, to be positively related to the growth and productivity of manufacturing SMEs, the results underline paradoxical effects of IT integration in this regard. While IT integration was not seen to enable the innovation capability of manufacturing SMEs in terms of growth, it was seen to have a disabling effect on this same capability with regard to productivity.     

Corruption,Types of Corruption and Firm Financial Performance: New Evidence from a Transitional Economy

Using a nationwide survey of provincial institutional quality and a sample of private manufacturing small and medium scale enterprises (the SMEs), this paper contributes to the literature by considering for the first time the effects of corruption on the financial performance of Vietnamese private SMEs. Interestingly, contrary to previous findings, we find that corruption when measured by a dummy variable, does not affect firms’ financial performance after controlling for heterogeneity, simultaneity and dynamic endogeneity. However, the intensity of bribery and the majority of the forms of corruption were found to have negative impacts on firms’ financial performance. Hence, a typical approach using only a dummy variable for bribery might not adequately evaluate the impact of bribe intensity or even ignores the negative impacts of some types of bribes on firms’ financial performance. The findings suggest that anti-corruption measures are vital for the development of the Vietnamese private SMEs.     

An Investigation of Entrepreneurial Orientation,Perceived Environmental Hostility,and Strategy Application among Chinese SMEs

Little is known about how Chinese small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) respond to their competitive environment. We predict that when industry competition is intense, entrepreneurial Chinese SMEs tend to perceive more environmental hostility than do their nonentrepreneurial peers. The perceived environmental hostility further drives these firms to choose marketing strategies but not cost control or innovation strategies. Data from 170 Chinese SMEs confirm our hypotheses, indicating that though some entrepreneurial orientation (EO) effects transcend different economy types, other EO effects differ significantly as the environment changes.     

Entrepreneurial orientation,entrepreneurial competencies,innovation, and performances in SMEs of Pakistan: Moderating role of social ties

The current study examines the mediating role of innovation and entrepreneurial competencies in entrepreneurial orientation’s relationship with financial, social, and environmental performance. This research also determines the role of social ties in strengthening the association between innovation and entrepreneurial competencies with social, financial, and environmental performance. Using multi-source and time-lagged studies, the data was collected from 297 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan, and structural equation modeling was used to test direct, indirect, and moderating hypotheses. The findings show that entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial competencies, and innovation positively correlate with all the types of performance under investigation and confirm the mediating role of innovation and entrepreneurial competencies. Additionally, social network ties strengthen innovation—financial performance, and entrepreneurial competencies—social performance relationship. This research proposes significant theoretical and managerial implications by determining the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on SMEs in Pakistan.     

The adoption of human capital services by small and medium enterprises: A diffusion of innovation perspective

While lack of scale economies have traditionally limited the use of human capital programs among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), outsourcing models have recently emerged to provide cost-effective access to these programs. Drawing on the diffusion of innovation literature, we apply the rational accounts model and institutional theory to examine why SMEs differ in their willingness to use newly available human capital programs. We specifically examine the impact of SME size on the adoption of human capital innovations. Using survey and archival data from over 400 SMEs, we found broad support for the integrated approach we propose.     

Product Innovation in Small and Large Enterprises

Innovation networks, establishment characteristics and the regional environment are likely to play different roles in product innovation in enterprises of different size. This paper focuses on the influence of the regional environment on the early adoption of micro-electronic components in product development in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs). Drawing upon existing literature we compare the role of enterprise characteristics, innovation networks and, in particular, the regional environment for an early use of micro-electronic components in product development in SMEs and LEs using a tobit model. Our central hypothesis is that SMEs are more dependent upon their regional environment than LEs for an early adoption. However, this hypothesis is rejected by our empirical results that show that location in a large, dense region has a significant positive effect on product innovation in LEs, while it has a negative but non-significant effect on product innovation in SMEs. Our results imply peripheral regions are able to provide an innovative environment for SMEs, whereas LEs need the richer environment offered by the core regions. The results are also interesting from a policy point of view because they indicate that SMEs can be early users of new technologies even if they are located outside the large urban areas.     

美、日中小企业技术创新战略的比较分析及对中国的启示

随着经济的全球化,企业之间的竞争越来越激烈,而竞争主要依赖于科学技术,强化技术创新已经成为世界企业管理的一股潮流。中小企业在各国经济发展中占据主要的地位和发挥了独特的作用。因此加强中小企业技术创新建设,促使其健康发展,对中小企业的成长乃至国家经济发展都具有积极的推动作用。通过对美、日中小企业技术创新战略的比较分析,提出中国中小企业的技术创新战略选择。     

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.     

黑龙江省中小企业自主创新能力提升的探讨

黑龙江省中小企业自主创新能力的提升是加强其核心竞争力的必要途径之一。目前,黑龙江省中小企业在提升自主创新能力方面存在的主要问题包括:企业内部——内部组织管理不健全、融资能力弱、与高校及科研机构合作不够;企业外部——政府支持力度不够、企业公共服务平台不完善、不健全。黑龙江省应强化政府服务功能,优化中小企业创新环境;搭建完善的中小企业公共服务平台,多渠道完善融资支持体系;企业应积极开展与科研机构的合作,借助外脑提升技术创新能力;走引进先进技术与提高自主创新能力相结合,加快提升自主创新能力的步伐。     

Non-R&D SMEs: external knowledge,absorptive capacity and product innovation

The relationship between external knowledge, absorptive capacity (AC) and innovative performance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is investigated empirically. Using data from a survey on firms located in North Norway, we ask whether AC plays a mediating role between different external knowledge inflows and innovative performance. The results are consistent with AC as an important mediator for transforming external knowledge inflows into higher innovative performance if we include all SMEs in the sample. However, this result is not robust when considering the sub-sample of non-R&D SMEs only. External knowledge inflows have a much stronger direct effect on innovation performance for non-R&D firms and leave a weak mediating effect of AC. Our findings suggest that measures of AC should be developed further in order to make AC a more relevant concept for empirical studies of SMEs without in-house R&D.     

Fueling Innovation through Information Technology in SMEs*

This paper describes a study that investigates the mediating effects of information technology (IT) on the relationships among product and process innovations and firm performance (measured in multiple profitability and growth rate metrics). Using structural equation modeling on a sample of 397 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), we find evidence that (1) increases on the strategic emphasis placed on innovation, both product and process, positively impact the prominence managers place on IT; (2) the impact of innovation (both product and process) on performance (both profitability and growth) is primarily indirect, felt via the mechanism of the importance managers place on IT; and (3) an increased emphasis on IT abets managers' perception of their firms' performance, as compared with that observed among peer firms (other SMEs).