INNOVATION STAGES AND ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES AT MIDSIZED COMPANIES IN BRAZIL <br><strong>DOI:10.7444/fsrj.v4i2.123</strong>

Abstract

The structuring of innovation stages and analysis of organizational resources that catalyze innovative solutions is not only essential to the understanding of innovative behavior at midsized companies, but also to the raising of issues that may be of use when ideating public policies in support of innovation at midsized Brazilian companies. Given this framework, the purpose of this study is to analyze the status of innovation at midsized companies in Brazil. This was a triangular research that adopted the lifting sequential method effectively covering a sample made up of 50 mid-sized companies, scattered throughout 12 different economic sectors. Primary and secondary data were employed in the study. This was respectively collected via semi-structured interviews with managers and directors over the phone or via Skype and from journals, conference proceedings, journals and databases. During primary data collection, interviewers examined interviewee responses (content analysis) and subsequently defined corporate scores for each type of organizational resource using a 5-point scale, whereby 1 represented the highest level of organizational resource incipient application/presence, 3 an intermediate level and 5 the highest. Field research results (descriptive and multivariate analysis of data) revealed that the innovative profile of studied midsized companies is characterized by the intermediate stage in terms of product and processes innovation and by the embryonic stage when considering organizational innovation. This generally indicates that for product and process innovation, the prevailing strategy is technological differentiation and product and process development, whilst typically the innovation process is both mixed and closed. In as much as organizational innovation is concerned, core strategies include conducting technological benchmarks and monitoring market trends, whilst the innovation process is linear and non-systematic.