High-tech Small And Medium-sized Enterprises Research Articles

The role of managerial activities in achieving Information technology ambidexterity and new product development performance in small and medium-sized enterprises

ABSTRACTGiven their limited portfolio of resources, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have to manage information technology (IT) exploitation and exploration at the same time to support a major shift in their product focus while maintaining their current array of products. We theorise that SMEs rely on managerial activities to enable IT ambidexterity to enhance the performance of their new product development (NPD). To this end, we hypothesise and test the relationships between managerial activities, IT ambidexterity, and NPD performance. Using multiple respondent data from 292 high-tech SMEs, we find that managerial activities enable IT ambidexterity, and this relationship is moderated by structural configurations. Considering the NPD management challenges ushered in by the digital era, our findings identify IT ambidexterity as a key mechanism to enhance NPD performance in SMEs. Our results contribute novel insights into the effective role of managerial activities in SMEs and help to explain the role of IT ambidexterity in the NPD literature, thereby facilitating continued theory development in this field of research.

Key factors influencing the sustained growth of high-tech SMEs in South Korea: the perspectives of founder owner-managers

PurposeThis paper explores key factors influencing high-performing, sustained growth, high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study is adopted to explore seventeen founder owner-managers of high-tech SMEs who sustained consistent employment growth, greater than the industry average, for seven years. Within the sample, those with higher (10% or over) employment compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) over this period are also compared to those with lower rates.FindingsThe study suggests that proactive approaches, such as flexible organization, risk management, fast decision-making and international market entry, are seen as important contributing factors to sustained growth. These findings contribute to a better theoretical and empirical understanding of sustained high-tech SME growth, in a country with a strong entrepreneurial and internationally competitive information technology sector. Also, collaboration across the SME was perceived as making an important contribution to staff development and growth, consistent with stewardship theory.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is based on successful high-tech SMEs, so there are limitations in extrapolating results to other types of firms, sectors or countries.Practical implicationsKey factors identified in this study can be considered by entrepreneurs seeking to achieve sustainable business. These also provide improved understanding for policymakers into the complexity of factors related to sustained and high growth of technology-based SMEs, which many countries are keen to foster to aid national economic growth.Originality/valueThe research provides new evidence exploring the diverse perspectives of founder owner-managers, on the sustained growth and failure in South Korean high-tech SMEs, and how these have changed since the inception of their business.

The impact of digital inclusive finance on SMEs' technological innovation activities-Empirical analysis based on the data of new third board enterprises.

The landscape of financial technology is undergoing a continuous evolution, driven by the relentless advancement of information technology. In this transformative milieu, digital finance has emerged as a novel financial paradigm, offering a blueprint for fostering inclusive finance. With a particular emphasis on its implications for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), this article harnesses a comprehensive dataset spanning the years 2011 to 2021, encompassing digital inclusive finance and SMEs listed on the SME board. Employing fixed effects models, this study performs a regression analysis to verify the driving effect of digital inclusive finance on SMEs' innovation activities. The findings unequivocally affirm the potency of inclusive finance in ameliorating the longstanding financing constraints that have historically constrained the growth trajectory of SMEs. Furthermore, the study elucidated the nuanced nature of the promotional impact of digital inclusive finance on SMEs, contingent upon their distinct property rights and technological attributes. Specifically, the empirical findings unveil a discernible pattern wherein digital inclusive finance exerts a conspicuously stronger promotional effect on non-state-owned enterprises and high-tech SMEs' endeavors in technological innovation. The conclusions derived from this research furnish a salient point of reference for governmental authorities engaged in the formulation and advancement of digital inclusive finance strategies, thereby imparting strategic guidance for the cultivation of innovation and holistic development within the SME sector.

Digitalization of maintenance activities in small and medium-sized enterprises: A conceptual framework

Asset management and digitalization are two timely research topics, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs continue to struggle with implementing digital technologies while retaining effective asset management processes within maintenance and after-sales service. Therefore, this paper develops a conceptual framework that integrates technological and organizational factors for digitalizing maintenance processes in SMEs. Furthermore, this paper steps away from the prevalent high-tech narrative, to explore how SMEs practically can implement digital technologies amidst common constraints. A focal point of this study is leveraging existing technologies and data for low-cost optimizations as a practical steppingstone for SMEs, bridging the gap between high-tech digital discussions and SMEs' real-world scenarios. The framework addresses three theoretical challenges in the existing literature, drawing on multiple case studies, and employing pragmatic research methods. It offers a conceptual tool for assessing the digital maturity of maintenance processes in SMEs and identifying areas for improvement. Based on the framework, low-performing domains across the case studies are pinpointed for future research. These domains encompass technical competencies within information systems, strategic efforts, and human capital within prototyping, and organizational culture within digital data collection and analysis.

Research and development and the financial performance of high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises: Does managerial ability matter?

High-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to innovate and invest in research and development (R&D) activities to remain competitive. However, due to their liability of smallness, the returns from R&D in terms of financial performance may be not as expected in such firms. Combining the resource management perspective with managerial ability research, we elaborate upon how managerial ability influences the effect of R&D on the financial performance of high-tech SMEs. We also investigate how this moderation is affected by the external environment in which high-tech SMEs operate. Using a moderated moderating model and the panel data of 256 Chinese high-tech SMEs from 2007 to 2019, we find that managerial ability strengthens the impact of R&D on the financial performance of high-tech SMEs. This moderating effect is more pronounced during the economic downturn and in regions with better digital economy development. Our findings provide important implications for high-tech SMEs on their R&D strategies and human capital management as well as the government.

Perspectives of Collaboration between Large Firms and High-Tech SMEs Regarding Open Innovation (OI)

This article aims to explore Open Innovation (OI) collaborations between high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large customers. The aim of the study is to add new perspectives regarding the specific and special way in which smaller companies initiate and develop relationships based on trust with larger customers in order to innovate and, at the same time, highlight the special contribution of customers in terms of the innovation process of SMEs. It presents perspectives regarding the way in which SMEs, by building trust, initiate and grow OI relationships with research clients but also with clients present in industry. According to the results, large customers, directly and indirectly, contributed significantly to the innovation processes of SMEs. The study focuses on SMEs aiming to adopt an OI strategy that involves enhancing legitimacy, building trust, and leveraging relationships with research institutions and larger clients. By investigating how SMEs develop partnerships with these entities, the study contributes to the existing OI literature by exploring how SMEs navigate the advantages and challenges associated with OI while fostering trust-based relationships.

Research on Credit Evaluation Indicator System of High-Tech SMEs: From the Social Capital Perspective

High-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the high-quality economic development in a country. Nevertheless, due to the difficulties banks or other financial institutions have in accurately assessing their credit levels, financing difficulties have become the biggest bottleneck restricting the progress of high-tech SMEs, and therefore, this paper aims to construct a credit evaluation indicator system of high-tech SMEs. Based on prior studies and the characteristics of high-tech SMEs, this paper constructs an indicator system from financial and nonfinancial dimensions, including 22 measurement indicators reflecting the operation status, development potential, quality, and competitiveness of an enterprise. Principal component analysis (PCA) and a Delphi-analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method are employed for the evaluation. This indicator system innovates from the social capital perspective, and by setting more novel nonfinancial indicators, the system achieves a more comprehensive evaluation of credit level. This paper also performs an empirical application using the data from 125 enterprises in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region of China, and further performs an empirical study on the external environment’s impact on the credit level. The empirical results all show consistency with existing studies, verifying the workability and validity of the indicator system we constructed.

The relationship between intrapreneurial capabilities and development in high-tech SMEs in China

ABSTRACT The deep-seated intersection between intrapreneurial activities and innovation presents a new paradigm with innovation at its core. This study explores the relationship between intrapreneurial capabilities and the development of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (HTSMEs) and examines the role and impact of ambidextrous innovation and knowledge heterogeneity. We employed a questionnaire survey of 649 HTSMEs in China, and the data are analysed using structural equation modelling. The results indicate that HTSMEs could achieve sustainable development by improving their intrapreneurial capabilities, while ambidextrous innovation plays a mediating role. When knowledge heterogeneity is introduced as a moderating variable, the results indicate that knowledge heterogeneity has a negative partial moderating effect on the relationship between intrapreneurial capabilities and ambidextrous innovation. This study contributes to our understanding of intrapreneurial capabilities by introducing balanced ambidextrous innovation and knowledge heterogeneity. Ultimately, the results suggest that HTSMEs should focus on building intrapreneurial capabilities and balance the needs of ambidextrous innovation as a path to achieving sustainable development. However, firms need to control the effect of internal knowledge heterogeneity in the innovation process.

A new approach to identifying high-tech manufacturing SMEs with sustainable technological development: Empirical evidence

Industry 4.0 has already become part of the world's largest manufacturers and is beginning to influencing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the supply chain. High-tech industries, such as pharmaceuticals, electronic equipment, aircraft manufacturing, etc., will be the first to face technological transformation. To this end, it becomes relevant to assess the sustainability of the technological development of SMEs as a factor of their successful digital transformation. This paper fills a gap in the study of such development as it pertains to Russian high-tech SMEs. Based on a critical literature review, we propose a new approach to assessing the sustainable technological development of these industries. The approach is distinguished by the use of a set of five indicators highlighted during the literature review, which can be quantified based on financial statements. The choice of variables is justified by their compliance with the specifics of industrial SMEs and KMO and Bartlett tests. We empirically tested the selected indicators using a sample of 7980 enterprises in two high-tech industries: Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). We concluded that the larger the business, the higher the sustainability of its technological development. At the same time, SMEs have two key advantages in the implementation of technological development – a decrease in resource costs of production, flexibility in asset management and gross profit. The proposed approach allows us to identify promising high-tech SMEs for the transition to Industry 4.0 technologies. Our research will be useful both for private enterprises when searching for technologically promising contractors and for public authorities when analyzing and selecting enterprises for pilot digital transformation.

Imitation or Innovation? Research on the Path Selection of Enterprise Performance Improvement from the Perspective of Organizational Ecology

This paper analyzes how imitation and innovation strategies of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) impact their sustainable performances and also the whole business ecosystem with the NK-model that mimics the fitness landscape and simulates enterprises’ choice of technological strategy in response to causal ambiguity and environmental complexity. Our study yielded three findings: (1) When the imitation barriers are low, the imitation strategy of high-tech SMEs has a better effect on the performance improvement in the early stage of the operation than the innovation strategy. In the long run, high-tech SMEs exhibit innovation, which plays a greater and more lasting role in enhancing sustainable performance. On the contrary, it is always difficult for imitators to realize significant performance improvement, (2) In a simple environment, imitation strategy plays a more effective role in improving high-tech SMEs’ performance, whereas in a complex environment, innovation strategy is more conducive to discovering opportunities, and it issues from high levels of competition, and (3) more importantly, the simulation finds that the innovation of high-tech SMEs contributes more to the performance of the business ecosystem as a whole. The introduction of the NK-model simulation method in the research of technological strategies and the new scope of looking at the strategies in the business ecosystem provide new research venues for the literature.

Selective Adoption of Open Innovation for New Product Development in High-Tech SMEs in Emerging Economies

With the diversity of customer needs and complexity of technology innovation, many high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) turn to open innovation, to produce the perfect match between market demands and firm resources. However, questions still exist in relation to open innovation in SMEs. Based on a framework combining both inbound and outbound open innovation with the four-stage new product development (NPD) process, this article explores the open innovation strategies adopted by high-tech SMEs in emerging economies for NPD and the reasons behind it through case studies. Results show that high-tech SMEs in emerging economies selectively adopt open innovation for NPD at different stages with various partners based on their needs. High-tech SMEs prefer to be closed to protect the know-how at the experimentation stage. Regarding the open innovation strategy, at ideation stage, SMEs adopt inbound open innovation for basic research and customer knowledge, while at manufacturing and commercialization stages, SMEs conduct both inbound and outbound open innovation. The analysis raises awareness of customer knowledge and customization to high-tech SMEs for NPD. This article contributes to the theories and practices on open innovation in SMEs.

Family firm versus non-family firm: the role of resource orchestration in fast-growing high-tech SMEs

PurposeThis paper strives to understand the role of resource orchestration (RO) in the rapid growth of high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachBased on a comparative case study, RO is compared between a high-tech family firm and a high-tech non-family firm. To capture the complexity of RO, this study applies a longitudinal approach using a large volume of archival and interview data gathered over ten years.FindingsThe configuration of family-firm paradoxical growth-oriented RO emphasizes RO based on collectivism and responsibility, although relying on large-scale conforming normative control. In contrast, the configuration of non-family-firm growth-oriented RO emphasizes administrative-based delegation and management-supported value creation.Originality/valueBy suggesting ownership-based RO configurations, this study provides insights into how ownership types, i.e. family firms and non-family firms, affect RO in firms operating in complex and dynamic environments. These configurations explain how and why RO is arranged in a growth context.

Towards agility in international high-tech SMEs: Exploring key drivers and main outcomes of dynamic capabilities

• Explores the drivers that foster agility in international high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises • Takes advantage of the wealth of dynamic capabilities to evaluate causation and effectuation relationships that boost agility in internationaliser SMEs • Builds on MCDM method and employs G-DEMATEL and DANP. In the era of digitalisation, agility is considered a crucial factor for the successful operations of small and medium businesses in the intricate international markets. That is, this research aims to explore and evaluate the drivers that foster agility in international high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In this regard, building on dynamic capabilities, a total of nine capabilities have been identified that assist high-tech SMEs to become agile in their cross-border activities. Taking advantage of an expert-based method, we relied on Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach to synthesise the opinion of six Italian international entrepreneurs (experts). In doing so, Grey DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (G-DEMATEL) method has been employed to investigate the cause-effect relationship between capabilities and propose conceptual frameworks for agility in international high-tech SMEs. This is followed by the DEMATEL based Analytical Network Process (DANP) to assess the importance and ranking of explored factors. Consequently, the research proposes several theoretical and practical contributions.

Degree of Internationalization and Performance of High-tech Small and Mediumsized Enterprises: Evidence from Korea

Purpose – In this study, we explore the relationship between the degree of internationalization (DOI) and firm performance (DOI–P) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector. Specifically, we investigate whether the costs and benefits dynamics concerning the internationalization of SMEs differ between high-tech and non-high-tech industries. Design/methodology – We extend the prior literature on this relationship by employing 5-year data on 589 Korean SMEs in the manufacturing sector and examining the moderating impact of the industry characteristics. Our findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between the DOI and SME performance. High-tech SMEs demonstrate an inverted U-shaped relationship, whereas non-hightech SMEs exhibit a U-shaped relationship. Findings – Our findings illustrate the importance of the industry factor in testing the performance impact of the internationalization of Korean SMEs. By incorporating industry dynamics, our results indicate that the DOI–P relationship depends on the context of the industry in which an SME operates. High-tech SMEs also display a higher DOI but are outperformed by non-high-tech SMEs for the entire internationalization path, which implies that high-tech SMEs face more challenges than non-hightech SMEs while seeking internationalization. Originality/value – The findings strongly validate that significant benefits exist for SMEs undertaking internationalization. We also employ the contextual framework contributing to increasing the understanding of the intrinsic value of internationalization and resolving the mixed results issue on the DOI–P relationship, by illustrating that the industry factor leads to different dynamics of costs and benefits of SME internationalization; it also determines the shape and direction of the relationship.

Innovation Vouchers and the Sustainable Growth of High-Tech SMEs: Evidence from China

Innovation has become an essential source of sustainable growth for most firms, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Governments around the world widely implement innovation vouchers to promote innovation in SMEs. This study empirically explores the effects of innovation vouchers in stimulating patentable innovation and ultimately enhancing firms’ financial performance. Using a panel of 1274 listed SMEs from the Small and Medium Enterprise Board (SMEB) and the Growth Enterprise Board (GEB), we find that innovation vouchers lead firms to utilize knowledge-intensive services and significantly increase their financial performance. We further document that patentable innovations mediate the relationship between innovation vouchers and firms’ financial performance. We report that the effects of innovation vouchers on financial performance are more prominent for SMEs with limited external informational resources. We believe that our study yields novel evidence and sheds further light on the important policy implications of innovation vouchers to facilitate the sustainable growth of SMEs.

The Impact of Innovation Vouchers on Green Innovation Efficiency

Innovation vouchers are part of the demand-side innovation policies that support innovation development in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by encouraging them to collaborate with universities and organisations offering knowledge-intensive services (KIS). Based on data from 353 high-tech SMEs in China, we explore the impact of innovation vouchers on green innovation efficiency. Our findings show that innovation vouchers can facilitate green innovation by 1) increasing senior managers’ risk-taking propensity, 2) reducing financial risk and 3) increasing knowledge sharing. When local governments pursue sustainable development and firms face regulatory changes, innovation vouchers could help to promote green innovation. Furthermore, our green innovation efficiency indicator shows that innovation vouchers could also increase green innovation efficiency at the enterprise level. Our research extends innovation theory by deepening our understanding of how demand-side policies influence organisations’ innovation activities and provide practical implications for how policymakers can design policies to encourage sustainability.

Crossing the Valley of Death for SMEs: Management Practices From China

The purpose of this article is to explain and solve the early stage of High-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) development issue in Tianjin, specifically the so-called Valley of Death. The Valley of Death is used as a metaphor to describe the relative lack of resources and expertise in the area of development. In this article, the resources and expertise mainly refer to the financing and loans required by high-tech SMEs in the early stage. Through the analysis of the actual situation of developing high-tech SMEs in Tianjin, the article illustrates organizations can bridge the Valley of Death through coordination and institutional support. The literature review and normative analysis methodology used in this study gathered data from literature and second-hand materials with extensive experience to construct the framework model of early stage development of Tianjin high-tech SMEs. Results indicate that institutional support has been very effective in addressing the Valley of Death. Implications of these findings suggest local government must understand the challenges in the valley, must facilitate the development of skills for the SMEs, and must supply the resources to SMEs.

Absorptive capacity and NPD: salient issues in bipolar entrepreneurial SMEs

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore knowledge absorptive capacity (ACAP) (both potential and realized) and new product development (NPD) in bipolar entrepreneurial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachIn response to recent calls for research on knowledge ACAP and NPD in entrepreneurial SMEs, particularly in different contexts, this research aims to answer a specific question: What are the characteristics of ACAP (both potential and realized) and the salient issues concerning working complementarily between both types of ACAP to foster NPD in bipolar entrepreneurial SMEs (in this case, three new low-tech and three established high-tech cases)? The authors conduct case study research based on cross-case and within case analyses to answer the question.FindingsThe findings show that, in the established high-tech cases, realized ACAP plays an outsized role in developing new products and prior-related knowledge acts as a precondition for capturing useful knowledge from external sources (potential ACAP). On the contrary, in the new low-tech cases, potential ACAP is the key driver of NPD, so external knowledge from network ties becomes a crucial source of acquiring new knowledge, along with entrepreneurs’ level of skill at applying useful knowledge (realized ACAP) to achieve NPD.Research limitations/implicationsOn the basis of the bipolar entrepreneurial SMEs (i.e. established high-tech and new low-tech ventures), the characteristics of entrepreneurial SMEs (i.e. firm’s age, size and level of technology) affect the different roles of realized and potential ACAP in driving NPD successes. Realized ACAP plays a critical role for NPD in established high-tech SMEs, whereas potential ACAP is the main driver of NPD in new low-tech SMEs. This research has some limitations that future research should conduct quantitative research in other industries’ context as well as in other countries.Practical implicationsFor new ventures, they should be aware that to strengthen their network ties with customers and suppliers can be an important tool for not only overcoming their limitations of existing knowledge but also acquiring tacit knowledge from the external sources. For established high-tech ventures, they should focus not only on the short-term NPD (the achievement of current NPD) but also the long-term NPD (e.g. series of new products and new strategic alliances) that can help avoid a not-invented-here syndrome situation.Social implicationsThe government should customize the policy to suit each targeted SME. Policymakers should play a crucial role of a linking pin among key external sources (e.g. R&D national and international institutions, SME banks and marketing agents) in different stages of the business cycle.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the literature of knowledge ACAP in SMEs to the understanding of the distinction roles of potential and realized ACAP as a mechanism in the different natures of entrepreneurial SMEs.

I need you, but do I love you? Strong ties and innovation in supplier–customer relations

Research on supplier–customer relationships has attracted a great deal of attention, as such relationships can positively impact firms’ knowledge acquisition and innovation. Within this stream of research, strong ties with customers have been explored with attention to their beneficial and detrimental effects, presenting a paradox to be addressed. To contribute to this debate, we suggest focusing on how tie strength is measured, and accordingly, we return to the seminal definition of tie strength by Granovetter (1973), who defines it as a combination of behavioural and affective components. We acknowledge that the two components have different characteristics and dynamics, which urges us to unbundle the two components and measure their separate impacts on knowledge acquisition and innovation. To further investigate the role of tie strength in innovation, we hypothesize and test the mediating role of knowledge acquisition. We test our hypothesis in vertical partnerships between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in a high-tech cluster and their key customers. We show that the unbundled components of strong ties have a direct positive impact on the knowledge acquisition of high-tech SMEs and an indirect positive impact on innovation, with knowledge acquisition mediating the effect. Our study contributes to the debate on the paradox of tie strength in supplier–customer relations by providing and empirically testing a research approach that might complement the previous approaches and by shedding light on the important role of the affective component of tie strength in knowledge acquisition and innovation.

Innovation Efficiency of High-Tech SMEs Listed in China: Its Measurement and Antecedents

Innovation efficiency is an important index to measure the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises. Numerous researches have been conducted on innovation efficiency at national, regional, and sectoral levels, while there are comparatively few studies on the innovation efficiency of high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a micro perspective. Therefore, innovation efficiency of 251 high-tech SMEs listed in China from 2012 to 2015 is measured with the super-SBM model in this paper. The results suggest that the overall innovation efficiency is low but shows an upward trend. In addition, the antecedents of innovation efficiency are explored using the panel regression model and the conclusions are as follows: (1) government subsidies, ownership concentration, and market competition deter enterprise innovation efficiency, and the impact of ownership concentration is found to be the most significant; (2) firm size and asset-liability ratio bear positively on enterprise innovation efficiency, with the effect of asset-liability ratio being greater; (3) firm age has significantly positive effects on scale efficiency but not on innovation efficiency and pure technical efficiency.