Narrow Results

In a study of 409 Swedish SMEs, the difference between the highest growing, which can be characterized as gazelles, and the lowest growing companies were examined regarding performance change over a four year period and what contributed to the growth from an innovation perspective. It was concluded that, besides growing, the highest growing companies also showed high profitability, increased number of employees, and significantly higher markets shares locally, nationally and internationally than the lowest growing companies. Several traits were found to contribute to this. The highest growing companies had a significantly higher portion of new products as part of the turnover during the four years studied and they perceived themselves as differentiating from their competitors concerning: (1) offering better products, (2) understanding customer needs better, (3) having a higher pace or being more agile, and (4) keeping costs down. They also found it more important to take risks, reinvest any profit, and to focus on growth than the lowest growing companies, and this regardless of industry.

This paper explores the complex relationship between competition and innovation by analyzing survey data of 2,281 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands. We develop and test hypotheses on the relationships between three dimensions of perceived competition (internal rivalry, supplier power and buyer power) and firms’ intentions to engage in product and process innovation. Moreover, we analyze if firms’ strategic attention for innovation is a moderating variable. We find that specific innovative intentions relate to different perceptions of competitive forces. Intentions to engage in process innovation correlate with the perceived bargaining power of suppliers, while intended product innovation correlates with perceived buyer power and internal rivalry between incumbent firms in the market — but the correlation with internal rivalry is significant only when firms report no strategic attention for innovation.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of factors of environmental uncertainty on the innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Innovativeness is widely accepted as an important characteristic for firm competitiveness and it has been studied by both researchers as well as business managers. Environmental uncertainty is a measure of the complexity of changing external forces faced by an organisation and it crucially impacts the responses of organisations in order to stay competitive. Based on approaches in existing literature, this study conceptualises environmental uncertainty comprised three separate dimensions — competitive intensity, market/demand turbulence, technological turbulence. Data for the study were collected from 156 SMEs in Turkey. SMEs are regarded as an important ingredient in the economic growth of nations and especially so in developing nations such as Turkey. The findings of the study reveal that market/demand turbulence and technological turbulence have a positive effect on the innovativeness of SMEs. Interestingly and contrary to popular belief, competitive intensity was not found to have significant effect on an SME's innovativeness. The implication of the results from this research is that the degree of organisational innovativeness for SMEs tends to increase and therefore should be supported in environments with greater technological and market/demand turbulence. This research makes an important contribution to the developing body of innovation literature and provides directions for managers and researchers in influencing innovativeness of firms.

The present study aims to validate the current best-practice model of implementation effectiveness in small and mid-size businesses. Data from 135 organizations largely confirm the original model across various types of innovation. In addition, we extended this work by highlighting the importance of human resources in implementation effectiveness and the consequences of innovation effectiveness on future adoption attitudes. We found that the availability of skilled employees was positively related to implementation effectiveness. Furthermore, organizations that perceived a high level of benefits from implemented innovations were likely to have a positive attitude towards future innovation adoption. The implications of our improvements to the original model of implementation effectiveness are discussed.

This study explores the relevance of established organisational determinants of innovation practice in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the emerging market of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Drawing upon data from 200 SMEs, the findings suggest that management orientation, technology orientation, alliance and cooperation and market orientation are important antecedents to SMEs’ innovative practices, but question the importance of organisational culture. This study is the first to examine the organisational determinants of innovation in both an SME and emerging market context. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered to both scholars and practitioners.

The aim of this article is to reveal what organising of innovation and growth can be enabled in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) networks. This is especially interesting for the governance of loosely coupled networks. The research is conducted in the Danish food industry with three food-producing firm networks. The posed hypotheses are tested in a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach with the available data of 60 SMEs.

The findings show that the governance of preferred behaviours of SMEs has a considerable significant positive impact on product and systematic innovation, which have a significant impact on growth. Governance of network connections is also found to have a significant positive impact on growth. The findings contribute to an understanding of how both governance of preferred SME behaviour and network connections enable innovation. This study provides SMEs, SME network organisations and policy bodies with an enhanced understanding of governance approaches.

It has long been recognised that the innovative and entrepreneurial capabilities of the small medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector can make an important contribution to the commercialisation of emerging technologies. In their role as centres of expertise and originators of new technical knowledge, universities are vital contributors to this process. Understanding the nature of relationships between universities and SMEs is therefore important, particularly in view of the fact that current theories on regional development suggest that concentrations of SMEs in certain regions, clustered around one or more university centres, can be effective locations for accelerating this process. As a counter to regional development theory, an alternative viewpoint is that the way emerging industries develop is affected more by the dynamics of industry life-cycles. The opto-electronics sector, which is characterised by regional clusters in the UK and USA, offers lessons for how SMEs and universities interact against a backdrop of these theories.

The open innovation approach emphasizes porous knowledge boundaries between firms and upstream suppliers, but tends to ignore questions of transformative efficiency and effectiveness once the knowledge reaches the focal organization. In this paper, we test for the significance of interaction effects between open innovation strategies and absorptive capacity, finding support for the idea that effective knowledge absorption capabilities are of vital importance in the facilitation of innovation effectiveness.

An important aspect of strategic choice is whether to pioneer or to imitate, that is, whether to be a first-mover or a follower. It has been suggested that this is particularly important for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) because of potential disadvantages of scale in design, production and marketing. However, empirical evidence suggests that many SMEs can be successful first-movers and that pioneering strategies enable them to compete against larger firms that have scale advantages and possess important downstream resources. This paper looks at the issue of timing of entry from a different perspective. It is concerned with the role of imitation as a strategy and its success when smaller firms are in competition with larger firms. Acquisition of technology through licensing is a frequently used strategy for firms of all sizes. It is also a classic ‘imitation’ strategy. The paper reports a study of imitative behaviour in a sample of UK manufacturing firms of varying sizes. A comparison of strategic motives, capabilities and outcomes is examined in the context of technology strategies involving both in-house R&D and that acquired through inward technology licensing. An important distinction is made between licensing that provides a basis for subsequent innovation and licensing for reactive imitative purposes. The study concludes that imitation is a viable policy option for smaller firms, but that complementary assets and appropriate capabilities determine whether such a policy has a major competitive impact or is merely a reaction to unsuccessful in-house innovation. The study calls into question the use of size per se as a competitive indicator, and indicates reasons underpinning imitative behaviour that may influence downstream success.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of factors of environmental uncertainty on the innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Innovativeness is widely accepted as an important characteristic for firm competitiveness and it has been studied by both researchers as well as business managers. Environmental uncertainty is a measure of the complexity of changing external forces faced by an organisation and it crucially impacts the responses of organisations in order to stay competitive. Based on approaches in existing literature, this study conceptualises environmental uncertainty comprised three separate dimensions — competitive intensity, market/demand turbulence, technological turbulence. Data for the study were collected from 156 SMEs in Turkey. SMEs are regarded as an important ingredient in the economic growth of nations and especially so in developing nations such as Turkey. The findings of the study reveal that market/demand turbulence and technological turbulence have a positive effect on the innovativeness of SMEs. Interestingly and contrary to popular belief, competitive intensity was not found to have significant effect on an SME’s innovativeness. The implication of the results from this research is that the degree of organisational innovativeness for SMEs tends to increase and therefore should be supported in environments with greater technological and market/demand turbulence. This research makes an important contribution to the developing body of innovation literature and provides directions for managers and researchers in influencing innovativeness of firms.

Innovations have acquired a key role in the growth and competition strategies of firms today. They are regarded as an essential tool for stimulating growth and enabling firms to master the competition brought about by the forces of globalization. However, in particular, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Western countries are facing insurmountable barriers to innovation. To what extent might the concept of global innovation and, more specifically, the internationalization of research and development (R&D) be an answer to deal with these problems, is discussed in this paper. Based on empirical studies conducted by the authors in Germany, the paper presents results from research-in-progress and proposes a reference model for chances and challenges of global innovation activities.

This work aims to understand current trends in the financial sector. Many trends are the technological solutions provided by new players operating in the financial sector (fintech), leading to different perspectives for the future awaiting private citizens and companies. This work presupposes the need to understand how the traditional financial system is able to keep up with the continuous and changing demands of a society that is evolving towards 4.0 and is increasingly aiming to meet environmental, social, and governance sustainability criteria. Above all, this chapter requires an understanding of the real reasons why systems such as decentralised finance are taking over despite the presence of well-established players. In this work, the authors aim to investigate the players, the battleground of a clash between tradition and innovation in the financial field, and whether the measures adopted by the banking system to adapt to the trends of technological innovation are sufficient to stand up to a real model of innovative development which sees a closer relationship between stakeholders and companies and which is far from the traditional banking–company system.

Open innovation seems to be practiced mostly by large organizations as they are perceived to better leverage substantial external information sources such as digital data flows. Within open innovation research, initial analysis focused on multinationals; small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were underresearched. Although there is a common perception that open innovation suits mostly multinationals, this research emphasizes the importance and benefits of open innovation adoption by SMEs through Social Media. This chapter explores quantitative and qualitative information from 360 firms in the Geneva region concerning the innovation potential of digital tools. The results demonstrate the perceived importance of social media as a source of open innovation within the Swiss SME landscape. Researching how Swiss SMEs can benefit from social media for open innovation could be relevant for both practitioners and policy makers as the importance of a digital strategy comprising data processing capabilities needs to be emphasized.

The vital factors which can facilitate the development of Startups and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in markets are the appropriate regulatory and policy frameworks. However, there is a difference in the frameworks which may contribute to different levels of development of startups and SMEs in different countries. This chapter thus focuses on the comparative study of the frameworks of selected countries to display their possible challenges in those countries. The chapter shows that governments in Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand adopt different regulatory frameworks which help stimulate the creation of startups and SMEs. It provides comparisons of the frameworks in those four countries, and also presents that there are challenges from these regulatory frameworks for startups and SMEs developing there.

Recently, the Republic of Korea has been focusing on vitalizing its startup ecosystem. In response, startup financing is also gaining importance. Therefore, this research aims to propose effective ways to support startup financing by exploring the cases of the startup financing programs managed by Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, hereinafter referred to as “KODIT”. KODIT is managing diverse startup financing programs including Startup NEST, First Penguin guarantee, guarantee with investment option, and Innovative Icon guarantee. Through managing such startup financing programs, it has developed the following recommendations to improve the effectiveness of its startup financing programs. We expect the following recommendations will provide relevant policy implications to startup support institutions in diverse Asian countries, where the role of policy finance is extremely important. First, the clear setting of the target customers should take precedence in designing startup financing. Second, much effort should be taken to reinforce the expertise and capabilities of the staff who are dedicated to supporting startups. Third, it is necessary to manage startup financing based on the diagnosis of the issues of the startup ecosystem. Fourth, the evaluation on startups should be made based on future growth potential. Fifth, there should be phased support in link with the management performance of startups. Sixth, startup financing should be supported comprehensively together with customized non-finance solutions.

This chapter addresses the efficiency of financing mechanisms and tools of the state implemented in Kazakhstan through the national small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development institute Entrepreneurship Development Fund (hereafter Damu). This study considers the data on Damu financing provided to SMEs during 2005–2019 and the relationship of this financing to the overall contribution of SMEs to the GDP of the country during this period. This chapter analyzes whether Damu’s activities promoted the economic development of the country and whether Damu is overall financially efficient as an organization, how Damu has promoted startup businesses, and the factors by which microfinancing affects economic development in Kazakhstan. The results indicate that Damu has been successful, as shown by the number of SMEs financed and the number of jobs created, to reduce regional disparity in financing SMEs. The results also show that many small firms cannot grow into medium-sized enterprises in a competitive market, even with government support. Public financial institutions are recommended to help SMEs improve their management quality and to reduce information asymmetry between loan providers and clients so SMEs can grow with a long-term strategy in a competitive market.

With the remarkable advances in IT technologies, a range of financial services combining finance and technology have been developed in the financial sector, thereby leading to increased convenience for financial customers. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have served as the foundation of the Republic of Korea and most Asia economies, have been marginalized from the benefits of these new technologies and continue to face difficulties in gaining access to finance. In this regards, our study will identify the difficulties which SMEs are facing in relation to financing and introduce cases to enhance the financial accessibility of SMEs through the convergence of financial services for SMEs and new financial technologies. This chapter examines financial technology (Fintech) that can satisfy such needs and attempts to resolve the financial exclusion of SMEs by establishing a new evaluation infrastructure that evaluates the current business activities of corporations by tapping into Big Data such as dynamic and non-financial alternative data that has otherwise been unused. In addition, we introduce a non-face-to-face finance service online platform which reduces SMEs’ physical difficulties in accessing finance and enables 24-hour, 365-day financial service. We found that Big Data on SMEs’ business activities and platform can improve the accessibility of SMEs to finance.

This chapter explores the best practices used by SMEs and start-ups from a global perspective. Human Resources is an asset and the backbone of any organisation. For an organisation to survive and excel the Human Resources personnel should put in place the best practices so that the goals can be achieved. The objective of this chapter is to assess the Human Resources functions and its best practices used in small and medium-sized enterprises. The components of human resources management reviewed in this chapter are talent management, learning and development, talent acquisition, and performance management system. A combination of comprehensive literature review through journals, articles, observations, and SME surveys were used to achieve the objectives of this study. The result will show the impact of best practices on the overall effectiveness and productivity of employees. However, we are focusing on the factors that will lead to success and other blending factors which will enhance the organisation’s performance. These, in turn, can be easily adapted into elements of organisational structure, organisational culture, and workforce training. These results can also be applied to other small businesses. This is one of the first studies to investigate HR factors and best practices through organisational structure, talent development and promotions, and the organisational culture of small businesses.

There is an established policy discourse associated with the role of higher education (HE) in supporting the development of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) but far less attention tends to be given to the needs of small family businesses. Given their unique socio-cultural context and the sizeable contribution that family businesses make to society and the economy, this is perhaps surprising. The heterogeneity of family businesses and their preferences for entrepreneurial learning present significant challenges to education providers offering formal courses of study to SMEs. Very few UK university programmes address the knowledge and skills required to start and sustain family businesses and this may be seen to represent a significant market failure in the provision of higher-level learning services to this important sector of the economy. This paper adopts Miller and Seller’s (1990) framework that identifies three general educational orientations (transmission, transaction, and transformation) as a theoretical construct to explore the nature of university curriculum and the extent to which it connects with small family firm learning and development interests. This chapter introduces a framework to guide curriculum design influenced by the interests of small family businesses and considers some associated challenges and avenues for further investigation.

Every marketer is aware of the growing importance of influencers, and undoubtedly, social media influencer marketing is on the top priority list for every marketing and sales professional. Small and medium enterprises and start-ups are the backbones of the global economy; they still face tough competition from large companies. This chapter aims to explore and define the importance of influencer marketing for SMEs and start-ups. Researchers analysed the systematic literature review from past research. They found that influencer marketing can be the key to making SMEs and start-ups succeed in their marketing campaigns with minimal capital and funds. Thus, by finding the right influencer and recognising their engagement relations with consumers, the sale of the business is boosted. This chapter concluded that SMEs and start-ups should strategise to conduct influencer marketing to target large audiences and consumers’ trust.