Innovation Driven by Cooperation of Startups and SME

Abstract

With rising need for innovation within a complex and dynamic world, cooperation between complementary partners offers potential to create competitive advantage. Early-stage start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can exploit opportunities by cooperating early and jointly developing new innovation. Despite research into cooperation between established start-ups and SMEs existing, there is no specific concept or support options for cooperation in an early stage. Intermediaries are named as a helpful support option; however specific tasks are not analysed. This research provides insight into various support options in the context of cooperation between early phase start-ups and the German “Mittelstand”. Within the framework of the Design Research Methodology (DRM) the results of a literature research and qualitative interviews are presented in a Reference and Impact Model, which show the need for support in the cooperation of start-ups and SMEs. Based on the findings, a four-phased cooperation process is proposed, which includes support possibilities in each individual phase. A comprehensive evaluation plan in the context of practical application completes this work. Keywords: innovation management, cooperation support, cooperation process, early-stage start-ups, open innovation