Small Business Innovation Research Articles

On the failure of scientific research: an analysis of SBIR projects funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is the primary source of public funding in the United States for research by small firms on new technologies, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a major contributor to that funding agenda. Although previous research has explored the determinants of research success for NIH SBIR projects, little is known about the determinants of project failure. This paper provides important, new evidence on the characteristics of NIH SBIR projects that fail. Specifically, we find that firms that have a founder with a business background are less likely to have their funded projects fail. We also find, after controlling for the endogenous nature of woman-owned firms, that such firms are also less likely to fail.

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Journal of Small Business ManagementVolume 55, Issue 2 p. 327-327 ICSB MembershipFree Access ICSB Membership First published: 13 March 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12280AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume55, Issue2Special Issue: Technology and Innovation in Small Business: A Special Issue with TechnovationApril 2017Pages 327-327 RelatedInformation

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Journal of Small Business ManagementVolume 55, Issue 2 p. 326-326 ICSB InformationFree Access ICSB Information First published: 13 March 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12279AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume55, Issue2Special Issue: Technology and Innovation in Small Business: A Special Issue with TechnovationApril 2017Pages 326-326 RelatedInformation

From Invention Success to Commercialization Success: Technology Ventures and the Benefits of Upstream and Downstream Supply‐Chain Alliances

An entrepreneurial venture's supply‐chain partnerships involve upstream alliances (with research universities) and downstream alliances (with large industry incumbents). Even though such partnerships bring the venture many benefits, they also come with significant challenges, notably the need to seamlessly combine a “technology push” philosophy with a “market pull” one. Utilizing a data set of over both upstream and downstream alliance partnerships spanning 603 technology ventures in the biotech industry, interesting results were found with regard to the impact of these two alliance partnerships on the venture's invention success and commercialization success. Upstream partnerships demonstrate a positive impact on invention success but no significant impact on commercialization success. However, with the moderating role of downstream partnerships, the results change: the joint effect of these two types of alliance partnerships is positive for both invention and commercialization success. The study findings have important implications with regard to the role and impact of alliance partnerships at the intersection of small business, entrepreneurship and technology innovation, and for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and The Small Business—Technology and Innovation in Small Business

This is the second of a pair of special issues in Technovation (Volume 57–58 November‐December, 2016) and the Journal of Small Business Management that explore the interface between Technology Inno...

DOE grants to advance fuel cell components, hydrogen storage

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) of the US Department of Energy has announced funding for five small company projects relating to fuel cell components, and one on hydrogen storage. The awards are among 29 projects chosen for negotiations under EERE's latest Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I, Release 1 selections.

WORLD EXPERIENCE OF SMALL INNOVATION BUSINESS ORGANIZATION

A small innovative business plays an important role in the innovation process and NTP of developed countries. It serves as an integral part of the innovation environment. Features of this type of business are mostly adequate to the needs of the innovation sector. In this regard, a comprehensive development of small innovative businesses, increase of its importance in the innovation process is the main factor of intensification. This makes the relevance of the article as a detailed study of the role of small innovative businesses in innovative processes of developed countries. It allows forming the theoretical and empirical foundations that should be in the strategy of innovation and economic development of Ukraine. The paper examines the role of innovation in the small business economy of highly developed countries. The causes of occurrence and development of innovative entrepreneurship in the sphere of small business are investigated. Particular attention is paid to the state support of small innovative businesses. In the article the model of innovative small businesses is considered. We have analysed the various organizational, economic and institutional and legal forms, which characterise the small innovative enterprise, depending on the extent of scientific and technological activities, sources of funding, nature of interaction with businesses big business. The modern role and place of small innovative companies in the national economy are defined. The dynamics of funding of small businesses innovation activity for federal SBIR and STTR programs are analysed in the article.

Nexus between social capital and performance of micro and small firms in an emerging economy: The mediating role of innovation

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among social capital, innovation, and performance of micro and small businesses (MSBs) in emerging economies using data from a sub-Saharan African Country—Ghana. Specifically, the study sought to examine the mediating role of innovation in the relationship between social capital and performance. The study relied on a survey design and a cross-sectional data collected with the aid of questionnaire from 500 MSBs operating in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The scales and measures of the study were validated using confirmatory factory analysis in LISREL 8.50, while the study’s proposed model was estimated using ordinary least square regression analysis in SPSS 20. The following results were obtained: (1) social capital positively influenced performance, (2) there is positive relationship between innovation and performance, (3) social capital has a positive effect on innovation, and (4) innovation was observed to partially mediate the relationship...

Evaluation of the Small Business Innovation Research Program in Japan

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program conducted by the Japanese government is intended to enable the rapid growth of small firms. Using comprehensive empirical data, this study examines the performances of firms that are directly affected by the program. First, to provide an outline, this study compares the changes in sales, employment, and the number of patents between SBIR awardees and matched firms. It cannot be shown that SBIR awardees have better performance using those indices. Second, this study conducts regression analyses to control for firm sizes, multiple awards, technological levels, the value of venture capital in a region, and population in regions. As a result, this study does not find that SBIR awardees have advantages after applying these detailed controls. This study shows that further detailed investigation is required to prove the benefit of the SBIR program.

Zależności korelacyjne kultury organizacyjnej z innowacyjnością małych przedsiębiorstw w Polsce

Innovation of businesses depends on numerous factors. Organizational culture is one of them. It encompasses a system of values which may facilitate or inhibit the development of innovations in the organization. The current paper discusses researcher results pertaining to organizational culture of small enterprises and the relationship between their organizational culture and selected aspects of their innovation. The study aimed to determine cultural values characteristic for small enterprises in order to identify the ones facilitating innovation. In addition, the study was to serve as a basis for conclusions on the relationship between the studied issues. The study encompassed 110 small enterprises which conduct innovative activities. In order to diagnose the organizational culture, a survey questionnaire was applied. Relations were determined by means of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. Research results indicate that the culture of small innovative businesses is characterized by people-focus, focus on the surrounding environment, status based on achievements, individualism, low communicative context, low tolerance of insecurity, proactivity, and distance of authority. With the exception of low tolerance of insecurity, the majority of these features may be perceived as facilitating innovation. There exist numerous relations of weak and low intensity among the cultural features identified as innovative and innovation of small enterprises. Few aspects of innovation correlate with a considerable number of cultural values. Status based on authority manifests the strongest relationship. However, the relationship may be defined as significant but small.

The interaction of Universities with high-tech enterprises: commercialization of innovations

Thedynamics of innovative development greatly dependon the efficiency of the processes employed in creating and organizing active small innovative businesses. Inthis area, universities,with their innovative infrastructure and collaborative arrangements with businesses that provide a synergistic effect, play an important role.The goal is to substantiate the recommendations for commercializing the results of intellectual activities using networking mechanisms of interaction between universities and high-tech enterprises.The methodsemployed include process modeling and ABC-analysis, as well as a systematic approach to the networking of universities and enterprisesproducing high-tech products. Themodel forthe processes of commercializing innovations with the participation of universities was based on the business design methodology.The article contains an analysis of the development state of small innovative enterprises, as well as prospects for the development of interactive network mechanisms between universities and high-tech enterprises. The article defines the special role played by universities in the process of commercializing innovations; proposes modelsof classification, and revealsthe methods of approach to an organizational and economic model of collaboration between universities and enterprises producing high-tech products.The results of the study are intended for use by heads of universities, small enterprises in the field of innovation, as well as high-tech enterprises.

Technology Innovation Small Business Policy in South Korea: Path Dependency and Policy Idea

The South Korean government has a program, Technology Innovation Small Business (TISB), which is classified into three segments: venture business, innovative business, and green business. The TISBs are required to obtain government certification to be eligible to receive subsidies from different programs. This study examines how much the Korean presidents' policies for small businesses were reflected in institutional changes, by tracking changes of the certification institutions under three different administrations. The introduction of a new TISB policy coincided with a change in administration and it was found that each new administration supplemented existing policies to achieve policy goals and then introduced new policies by setting policy targets. From a path dependency perspective of historical institutionalism, this study shows that TISB policies can actually be differentiated from one another because they have been implemented with varying focuses on different ideas, according to the economic policy paradigms of the administration.

Micro and small business innovation in a traditional industry

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore innovation among micro and small business operators in Italy’s wine industry. Moreover, in adopting the theory of innovation, the study examines winery operators’ perceptions on innovation, ways in which wineries are innovating and whether participants’ responses vary based on demographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire designed for this study gathered the responses of 211 participants, composed by owners, winemakers, directors and business partners. Findings Innovation is fundamentally associated with minimising ecological footprint, investments, making improvements in the winery, adapting to trends and new consumer demands and, importantly, with maintaining traditions while enhancing the quality of the wines. Further, participants primarily agree with involvement in wine tourism and adoption of social media as predominant forms of innovating. Several inter-group differences particularly based on levels of wine production and size of the winery emerged. Overall, the findings align with the dimensions of the theory of innovation, namely, benefits, costs, resources and discounting factors. Originality/value Despite the significance of Italy’s wine industry, in terms of exports and consumption on a global scale, academic research focusing on this industry’s innovative practices has been limited. Similarly, there is scant research on innovation among micro and small firms, or on industries relevant to countries’ socio-economic capital. This exploratory study provides an element of originality and value, exploring and contributing to the literature on these under-researched areas.

The Assessment of Dimension Absorptive Capacity on Innovation Performance and Small Business Performance

This study aims to examine the role of the absorptive capacity dimension in improving innovation performance and small business performance. The sample used as many as 35 businesses in the business sector of handy crafts. The collected data were analyzed using path analysis and processed with SPSS software version 24.0. The results showed that all hypotheses were accepted. The absorptive capacity dimension consists of potential absorptive capacity and absorptive capacity, both of which are able to have a positive influence on the performance of innovation and the performance of small businesses. But realized absorptive capacity can have a greater influence on innovation and small business performance than potential absorptive capacity.

MODELING'S GRAND CHALLENGE — LONG TERM NATIONWIDE HIGH IMPACT THREATS

ABSTRACTThe United States (US) White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) promulgated the National Weather Strategy (White House Office of Science and Technology 2015) and Action Plan (Whitehouse.gov 2016 and 2016a) in April 2014 (final strategy released in Oct 2015) calling for a “whole of community” engagement for continental wide power loss for a year or more due to extreme space weather. The likelihood of such was calculated at 6‐12% likelihood in any decade. In May 2014, the US Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency similarly called on the small business innovation community to develop electromagnetic pulse (EMP) protected micro grids (US Small Business Innovation Research Program 2015) for critical applications both on and off military bases due to the increased likelihood of long term or permanent loss of civilian power grids. Lloyds of London (2013) warned of an 18 month long black out to the corridor between Washington, US‐DC and New York City, US‐NY due to extreme space weather and alerted the business community of the possible withdrawal of insurance support for those events. In 2016, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Regional Resiliency Assessment Program for Ashburn, VA (Argonne National Laboratory 2016), and the Internet industry based there. Its key findings included the potential impact of EMP on the Internet and cyber infrastructure and encouraged industry members to hold their own seminars and exercises to examine these threats. This provides an interesting backdrop to the problem of a simultaneous loss of both power and communication grids from EMP.On the other hand, either or both power and communications grids can be assaulted by cyber attacks which, can include physical or electromagnetic attacks. For example, the recent cyber attack on the Ukrainian power grid included physical attacks. The Metcalfe substation was a physical attack on both the transformers and the communications lines of the substation.For reasons such as these, it is prudent for government and industry to revisit their continuity plans, and best practices that take a broad cross sector analysis of possible catastrophic failure modes into account. Some of the most urgent needs may be relatively straightforward. Others will require systems of systems modeling efforts to align corporate values with the business processes and technical development under their control.

Time to patent at the USPTO: the case of emerging entrepreneurial firms

In this paper we establish facts about the time it takes to process patent applications submitted by emerging entrepreneurial firms in high technology areas in the US. These facts, subsequently, inform our understanding of the strategic decisions made by entrepreneurial firms when it comes to expedite or delay the patent application process. Empirically, we exploit data describing more than 15,000 patents granted across time to 910 life sciences firms that won grants from the Small Business Innovation Research program. The econometric evidence is consistent with the argument that the cohort of entrepreneurial firms we study has adopted a strategic choice to maintain patent applications pending for prolonged times. We also find that examiners, patent attorneys, USPTO workload as well as application-specific features influence the time length of patent pendency.

Uma análise intrassetorial e intersetorial do grau de inovação de empresas de pequeno porte do estado de Pernambuco

O desenvolvimento da inovação nas empresas tem como alicerce o esforço da continuidade na geração de indicadores de desempenho. Entretanto, medidas e avaliações realizadas em empresas frequentemente são pautadas em objetivos e efeitos imediatistas, impossibilitando o esforço de continuidade na geração de parâmetros. Para o processo de melhoria gradual do desempenho da organização, as avaliações do grau de inovação devem ser contínuas. Diante disto, este estudo avalia o grau de inovação (GI), o grau de inovação setorial (GIS) e o característico de inovação setorial (CIS) de empresas de pequeno porte (EPPs) pertencentes aos setores de indústria, comércio e serviços do estado de Pernambuco, sob uma perspectiva de análise intrassetorial contínua e intersetorial. Para atingir este objetivo, houve aplicação do diagnóstico Radar da Inovação em 90 EPPs, em três momentos distintos. Os resultados apontaram que o setor de serviços demonstrou maior evolução do grau de inovação se comparado aos de comércio e indústria. Uma vez que o setor comércio apresentou evolução do GI em todas as dimensões, enquanto o setor industrial obteve acréscimos em apenas seis dimensões do radar. Por meio do GIS foi possível identificar que as dimensões Relacionamento, Clientes e Marca destacaram-se como indutoras de peso nos três setores analisados.

Banking consolidation and small firm financing for research and development

ABSTRACTThis article examines the effect of increased market concentration of the banking industry caused by the Riegle–Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act (IBBEA) on the availability of finance for small firms engaged in research and development (R&D). I measure the financing decisions of these small firms using a balanced panel of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) applications. Using difference-in-differences, I find IBBEA decreased the supply of finance for small R&D firms. This effect is larger for late adopters of IBBEA, which tended to be states with stronger small banking sectors pre-IBBEA.

14.3 Leveraging Technology to Support Training, Treatment Adherence, and Outcomes

Use of fidelity and outcome monitoring in the dissemination of evidence-based psychosocial treatments (EBTs) in community settings has become gold standard in taking EBTs to scale. Sustainability of EBT posttraining is high stakes to agencies and providers. Over time, adherence to EBTs tends to drift, thereby diluting program effectiveness. To support clinicians in implementing EBTs with fidelity, effective measurement methods that are feasible within service settings, as well as a feedback system coupled with supportive quality improvement, are needed. Strong interest lies in using technology to support real-time fidelity assessment and the collection of client-level data to document service dose and content. Technology-based outcome monitoring can enhance the integration of outcome measurement into care, as it enables rapid use of outcome reports, decision support tools, and measurement feedback systems. Mandates in the Affordable Care Act will require practicing clinicians to consistently use EBTs and demonstrate quality of care through systematic assessment of client outcomes. NIMH small business innovation research pilot data will be presented in an online implementation support system (EBT Performance Outcome Platform, EBT-POP, 2.0) for trauma-focused (TF)-CBT that supports high-fidelity clinical service delivery and ongoing monitoring of performance and outcomes at the case and aggregate level.

ADifferentCertification Effect of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

This study examines the role of public investments in inducing small firms to develop risky, early-stage technologies. It contributes to expanding our understanding of the consequences of high-technology policies by investigating in more depth the effect of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program on the innovation effort and ability to attract external capital of small business start-ups using a new sample and estimation approach. The authors found empirical evidence that the public cofinancing of private research and development has a positive effect on the innovation propensity of small high-tech start-ups. However, contrary to theoretical expectations, they did not find any significant “certification effect” of receiving an SBIR award on attracting follow-on investment. What the authors discovered is a different certification effect: SBIR recipient firms are more likely to attract external patents. This finding confirms that enterprises need to orchestrate a portfolio of internal and external knowledge assets to produce innovations with unique competitive advantage.