Innovation Performance In SMEs Research Articles

The role of cooperative R&D in innovation performance of SMEs: evidence from South Korean materials, parts, and equipment firms

ABSTRACT Can cooperative R&D between SMEs and other organisations enhance innovation performance? This study utilises a mixed-methods approach to examine the impact of voluntary cooperative R&D and gain an improved understanding of the mechanisms that facilitate innovation outcomes. The analysis uses a firm-level secondary dataset from South Korea’s M-P-E industry for the period between 2005 and 2020, as well as in-depth expert interviews. The findings indicate that collaboration between SMEs, universities, and government research institutes (GRI)s positively impacts innovation performance. The expert interviews confirm that partnerships with academic institutions and research organisations help bridge the gap between creating key innovations and their commercialisation. The results also show that government R&D support facilitated collaborations between suppliers and buyers, which in turn led to improved innovation outcomes. This implies that providing R&D subsidies to SMEs could be a useful strategy for governments seeking to bolster their technological innovation. Policy implications are further discussed in the conclusion.

HOW DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CAN AFFECT PRODUCT INNOVATION PERFORMANCE MSMES: EVIDENCE FROM WEST JAVA

This study aims to examine the relationship of foresight capability to the innovation performance of SMEs by using digital transformation as a mediating variable. This study uses a quantitative research method. Data collection was carried out through a structured offline questionnaire. The technique of determining the sampling is done by using purposive sampling. The population in this study were SMEs originating from the West Java region, with a total of 187 questionnaires collected. This research uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesis. This study proposes ten hypotheses, of which seven direct effect hypotheses and three hypotheses test the mediating effect. The study's results found that foresight capability can affect product innovation performance. The effect of foresight capability (network and analysis) can affect digital transformation, but the time horizon cannot affect digital transformation. Digital transformation can affect the performance of MSMEs product innovation. This study found that digital transformation can partially mediate network relationships and analysis on product innovation performance and cannot mediate time horizon relationships on product innovation performance. The findings of this study enrich the foresight literature, digital transformation, and innovation performance of MSMEs products.

Comparison of the criteria affecting the digital innovation performance of the European Union (EU) member and candidate countries with the entropy weight-TOPSIS method and investigation of its importance for SMEs

Digital innovation offers new competitive opportunities for the EU to achieve its digital strategies and innovation objectives. This study aims to show that the digital innovation performance of SMEs is related to criteria that affect countries' levels of digital technology adoption, digital transformation and innovation management. The digital innovation indicators used for this purpose are ICT, knowledge-intensive employment, university-industry collaborations on R&D, digital skills, patent applications, investments in new technologies, R&D expenditures, use of virtual social networks and cyber security. Research data were obtained from the Global Innovation Index (GII), Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and Network Readiness Index (NRI). These data were analyzed with the Entropy Weight-TOPSIS method and EU and candidate countries were compared. In the results of the research analysis, Austria, Denmark and Germany took the first three places. In the ranking of these countries, ICT utilization, patent applications and R&D expenditures have high scores. The last three ranked countries are Turkey, Serbia and Croatia. Compared to EU members and other candidate countries, these three countries have the lowest scores in ICT use, patent applications, knowledge intensive employment, digital skills, investment in new technologies and university-industry cooperation in R&D.

The effect of ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) on SMEs' innovation performance

While there is extensive research on SMEs' innovation, limited attention has been given to the specific implications of HRM practices in fostering innovation in this sector. This represents a critical gap, considering the unique challenges faced by SMEs in managing their human resources. Accordingly, in this study, we developed and validated a conceptual model that evaluates the ability of SMEs to enhance their innovation and innovation performance through the adoption of HRM practices that relate to employees' abilities, motivations and opportunities (AMO). Data was collected through a survey of manufacturing SMEs in France. Overall, the findings contribute to the literature by shedding light on the mediating role of innovation between HR‐enhancing practices and innovation performance in SMEs. In addition, the analysis highlights the importance of HRM practices in shaping workforce capabilities and influencing organizational performance. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of structured HRM practices in attracting and retaining high‐quality human resources, akin to larger companies. These findings have practical implications for SME owners, managers and policymakers seeking to foster innovation and enhance organizational performance in the SME context.

Moderating role of organizational culture in the relationship between total quality management and organizational innovation among manufacturing SMEs in Nigeria

Previous studies on the total quality management and innovation relationship have had mixed findings. We predict that organizational culture could moderate the relationship between total quality management and organizational innovation. The study collected empirical data from 433 small and medium-sized enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria. Structural equation modelling–partial least squares were used to test the conceptualized model to determine the examined relationship with a moderating effect of organizational culture, customer relation, and employee relations that were positively and significantly related to innovation. However, management leadership was found to be negatively related to innovation. Organizational culture positively and significantly moderates the relationship between continuous improvement, management leadership and innovation, while it had a positive but insignificant moderating role on the relationship between employee relation and innovation. The study contributes to a better understanding of how organizations adopt a combination of cultural components to achieve total quality management and innovation performance. The study concludes that organizational culture interacts with continuous improvement and management leadership to influence positively the innovation performance of SMEs in Nigeria. The findings imply that the model of this study can be used in management literature as empirical evidence for selecting the critical elements for total quality management implementation and innovative culture. Using an extended method of analysis such as the importance performance map analysis to establish the direct and indirect relationships has provided the methodological rigor required for theory confirmation. Finally, the study made a significant contribution to the existing literature through testing and proving of the moderating role of organizational culture in the underlying relationship using empirical evidence.

Improving Employee Innovation Performance of SMEs Through Human Resource Management Practices: A Moderated Mediation Model

This paper proposes a theoretical model that analyzes the link between Human Resource Management practices (HRMPs) and employee innovation performance (EIP), the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the moderating effect of organizational learning capability (OLC). A study was conducted using a cross-sectional approach in Sokoto, Nigeria, gathering data from sachet table water enterprises. Participants were selected through convenience sampling and questionnaires were personally administered. Hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares—Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that EO mediates the relationship between HRMPs and EIP, while OLC moderates it. All six hypotheses were supported.This study adds to the current understanding of HRMPs by exploring the mediating role of EO and the moderating effect of OLC on enhancing and strengthening the same relationship.

How digital platform capability affects the innovation performance of SMEs—Evidence from China

Today, more and more enterprises are achieving co-innovation across borders by joining digital platforms. However, many SMEs face difficulties in developing and benefiting from strong digital platform capability (DPC) due to limited experience, resources, and funds, which hinders innovation opportunities. This study constructs a model to explore how SMEs can enhance their innovation performance (IP) by adopting digital platforms based on resource orchestration theory. We then introduce ecological institutional norms (EIN) as the moderating variable to observe whether effective platform governance impacts enterprises' value co–creation (VCC) and IP. We conduct a questionnaire survey on 346 SMEs in China's manufacturing industry that participate in digital platforms, and the regression analysis and the bootstrap test results indicate that (1) DPC has a significantly positive impact on IP; (2) DPC has a significantly positive impact on VCC; (3) VCC partially mediates DPC and IP; (4) EIN positively moderate the relationship between DPC and VCC and positively moderate the mediating effect of VCC. These findings add to the literature on digital platforms theoretically and fill the gap in research on how participation in digital platforms can enhance enterprises' innovation and development from the perspective of SMEs. Finally, the study has important managerial implications for SMEs to cultivate DPC, carry out VCC, and participate in platform governance.

Individual characteristics and innovation performance in SMEs: Moderating role of physiological capital

Aim: The current study determines the individual characteristics and innovation performance in Pakistani SMEs and moderating role of physiological capital. The present study employed organizational behavior theory and Social exchange theory.Methodology: 310 managers from Pakistani SMEs completed an online questionnaire to examine the results. According to the findings of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), affective commitment influences readiness for change in a positive way.Findings: The results also showed the association between affective commitment, creativity, and trust on impact of readiness for change and the moderating role of psychological capital among Pakistani SMEs.Implications/Novel Contribution: The study’s employment of organizational behavior theory and Social exchange theory is another main contribution. To retain workers, managers must implement procedures that foster employee identity, trust, and organizational respect. Furthermore, the present study contributes to the knowledge already available on the innovation simulation platform for Pakistan’s SME sector.

Living Labs and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Symbioses Propelling Sustainable Innovation

Until recently, it had not been certain to what extent the integration of SMEs in Living Labs, as a special form of open innovation ecosystems, actually leads to successful commercialization of (sustainable) products and/or services. Today, while the effectiveness of publicly funded innovation projects is increasingly being debated, especially by European policymakers, who once hoped to solve the European paradox through this type of public-private-people partnership, this article can prove that in parts of the innovation process—and this includes, in particular, the sustainable innovation output—an increase in innovation performance on the site of the SMEs can be detected. Based on the concept of program evaluation, the effects on SMEs’ innovation are determined with a preliminary qualitative study. The impact of Living Lab projects on innovation output, activities, capabilities, and knowledge flows of 12 European SMEs are then empirically tested in a quantitative study. Significant effects on the innovation performance of SMEs resulting from participation in Living Labs are identified. According to this study, Living Lab projects mainly influence the sustainable innovation output and knowledge flows of SMEs.

Open Innovation Performance in SMEs: Strategic Insights from Patent Analytics

Prior research has identified a positive relationship between open innovation collaboration and innovation performance. This paper asks whether this positive relationship reported in the literature is partially driven by measurement error, e.g., misclassifications of firms’ intra-group transfers of knowledge as interactions external to the firms. Using a unique, self-compiled secondary dataset of 21,898 patent families from 44 German small- and medium-sized enterprises with 9,902 entities, we show that open innovation collaboration’s impact on innovation performance becomes insignificant when measurement distinguishes between patents from collaborations by firms within and firms beyond the same corporate trees. Boundary conditions and robustness checks yield stable results when tested against 12 patent quality-based measures of innovation performance. Our contributions motivate to revisit the assessment of open innovation performance to prevent biased results and suboptimal decision-making in implementing innovation and subsequent commercialization strategies across firms’ boundaries. We further show that complementing open innovation theory with patent quality measures enriches analytical options and allows additional insights. This adds to the broader understanding of open innovation theory, in particular open innovation outcomes.

Parental Leave Policies and Innovation Performance in SMEs

When is the parental leave taken by top management team (TMT) members beneficial or detrimental for the innovation performance of SMEs? Drawing from upper-echelon theory and role theory, we advance a model that proposes that smaller TMTs and TMTs with longer tenures have a better potential for leveraging the benefits and reducing the shortcomings of parental leave-taking by their members. We test this model using unique data on a large sample of Swedish SMEs. We find that TMT members’ parental leave has a weak positive impact on SMEs’ innovation outputs. Conversely, the effect is strongly positive when TMT size is small and/or TMT tenure is high. Theoretical and practical implications of parental leave policies for SME intonation are discussed.

Pengaruh Inovasi Terbuka Terhadap Kinerja Inovasi Pada UKM di Indonesia

This study aims to examine the effect of open innovation on product innovation and the innovation performance of SMEs in Indonesia. The source of data used in this study is secondary data obtained from Indonesia innovation survey (IIS) 2014 that covers 2011-2013 period. The analytical technique used in this research is descriptive analysis and SEM analysis using the AMOS statistic software. The results show that: (1) open innovation (external search breadth) had a positive effect on product innovation, by contrast open innovation (external search depth) had no significant effect on product innovation; (2) Internal R&D had a positive effect on product innovation, in contrast external R&D had no significant effect on product innovation; (3) collaborative practices has not had a positive effect on product innovation; (4) product innovation has a significant effect on innovation performance.

Correlation Analysis Model of Social Capital and Innovation Performance Based on Knowledge Mapping.

In this paper, the correlation between social capital and innovation performance is analyzed using a knowledge graph approach, and a correlation analysis model is designed for practical use. Given the advantages of knowledge graph technology and the fact that most recommendation models fail to make full use of the correlation between knowledge graph and recommended items, this paper proposes a cross-attention fusion-based knowledge graph recommendation algorithm (CAKR). The CAKR model contains a cross-fusion module, a recommendation task module, and a knowledge graph embedding task module, and the inputs of the two task modules are alternately learned in a low-dimensional space by the cross-fusion module. The input of the two task modules is alternately learned in the low-dimensional space by the cross-fusion module to interact with the two embedding vectors of items and entities, and then, the obtained feature vectors are fed into the relevant task modules, respectively, and then, the results are calculated by the respective prediction functions. There is a mediating role of knowledge management capabilities in the innovation ecology perspective between social capital and innovation performance of SMEs. Among them, it fully mediates the relationship dimension of technical social capital, the cognitive dimension of institutional social capital, the relationship and cognitive dimension of market-based social capital, and innovation performance, and partially mediates the structural and cognitive dimension of technical social capital, the structural and relationship dimension of institutional social capital, and innovation performance. The relationship between knowledge management capability and innovation performance is positively mediated by environmental dynamics in the innovation ecology perspective, and the positive effect of knowledge management capability on innovation performance is more significant when the environmental dynamics are stronger, and vice versa. Finally, based on the results of the empirical study, some management suggestions are provided on how SMEs can reasonably utilize social capital to enhance their innovation performance.

The Impact of Innovation, Organizational, Technological Capital on Innovation Performance of SMEs: The Mediating Effect of Innovative Intelligence

Innovation is crucial for SMEs to survive and impacts the national economy. The present study is conducted in the context of knowledge-based SMEs in Malaysia concerning structural capital (technology capital, innovation capital, and organizational capital), innovative intelligence, and innovation performance. A survey was carried out through a face-face interview and online. A total of 136 usable questionnaires were then analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). This study has shed light on the role of the structural capital of knowledge-based SMEs on innovation performance. While structural capital is significant for organizations to achieve their competitive advantage and should be given necessary attention compared to human capital, innovation and technological capital were not fully capitalized. The presence of innovative intelligence in SMEs helps to be innovative. This result will be encouraging to SMEs in other developing countries. The results obtained are useful for SMEs, especially knowledge-based firms where technology and innovation are critical to achieving a competitive advantage. The results are also significant for agencies that handle SMEs in high-tech and policymakers to increase performance and promote economic stability.

A Study on Relationship Between Organizational Absorptive Capacity, Information Source Diversity and SME’s Innovation Performance

본 연구는 중소기업 혁신성과에 대한 선행요인을 조직학습 이론 및 사회연결망 이론적 관점을 바탕에 두고 발견하는 것에 초점을 맞추었다. 환경변화에 빠르게 적응하는 역동적 능력으로서 조직학습 이론적 관점에서 흡수능력을 혁신성과에 대한 강력한 선행요인으로서 주장한다. 또한 정보원천 다양성이라는 요인의 중소기업 혁신성과에 대한 단독적인 효과를 사회연결망 이론적 관점에서 제시한다. 마지막으로 두 변수의 상호작용 효과는 각 변수의 단독적 효과보다 중소기업 혁신성과에 더욱 강력한 정의 영향을 미칠 것으로 예측했다. 따라서 이러한 연구가설을 2018년에 수집된 대한민국 제조업 혁신조사 자료를 통해 검증했다. 본 연구에서 예측된 연구가설은 실증분석을 통해 모두 채택된 결과를 보였다. 마지막 장에 본 연구에 대한 이론적 및 실무적 의의, 연구의 한계점과 미래연구 방향을 포함하였다.The current study focuses on finding the preceding factors of innovation performance of SMEs based on organizational learning and social networks theoretical perspectives. As a dynamic ability to adapt quickly to environmental changes, absorptive capacity is argued as a strong factor for innovation performance from the theoretical perspective of organizational learning. In addition, the direct effect of information source diversity on the innovation performance of SMEs is presented from the theoretical point of view of social networks. Finally, the interaction effect of the two variables is expected to have a stronger positive effect on the innovation performance of SMEs than the single effect of each variable. Therefore, these research hypotheses were verified through the data of the Korea Manufacturing Innovation Survey collected in 2018. The predicted research hypotheses were adopted through empirical analysis. Then the last chapter includes theoretical and practical implications of this study, limitations of this study, and future research direction.

Relationship of entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance of SMEs using PLS-SEM

Relationship of entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance of SMEs using PLS-SEM

Reinforcing the Innovation Performance of SMEs Through Innovation Culture and Government Support

Innovation has become an approach to create value to customer in order to remain competitive in the market. However, previous research on innovation performance particularly among Bumiputera SMEs has received little intention. Hence, Bumiputera SMEs need to inculcate the innovation culture in order to generate innovation performance. An interview was conducted with a sample of ten Bumiputera entrepreneurs in Malaysia which probing into their outlook on the innovation culture towards innovation performance. The results showed that innovation culture in Bumiputera SMEs is important and government support plays an important role to strengthen the relationship between innovation culture and innovation performance. Therefore, this study provides useful pointers to entrepreneurs and policy makers on the importance of innovative culture and enhancing innovation performance in Bumiputera SMEs.

Relationship Between Market Orientation and SMEs Innovation Performance: Role of Absorptive Capacity and Openness

The study was founded on three main objectives. The study looked at the direct relationship between market orientation and the innovation performance of SMEs. It also assessed how absorptive capacity mediated the direct relationship between market orientation and the innovation performance of SMEs. Lastly, the study assessed the moderating role of openness on the effect of market orientation and absorptive capacity of SMEs. Results were founded on 418 Ghanaian SMEs. The reliability and validity analyses were conducted before the actual path estimations Structural Equation Modelling in Amos (v.23). This study concluded that marketing orientation had a significant positive relationship with the innovation performance of SMEs, and the relationship between market orientation and SMEs’ innovation performance was partially mediated by the effect of the absorptive capacity of SMEs. The relationship between market orientation and innovation performance of SMEs could thus be direct or mediated through absorptive capacity. Finally, the study concluded that the effect of market orientation on absorptive capacity was moderated by openness. Market-oriented SMEs with an innovation openness strategy can achieve higher absorptive capacity. It was recommended that SMEs seeking to achieve innovation performance must invest in understanding the market in which they operate. This includes understanding the customers and competitors. The various units in the organization must also integrate to enhance the smooth sharing of innovation knowledge. Organizational performance measures such as innovation are very critical for the survival of firms in this age of COVID-19 pandemic when even giant firms are running into losses and folding up.

Research on the Influence Mechanism and Configuration Path of Network Relationship Characteristics on SMEs’ Innovation—The Mediating Effect of Supply Chain Dynamic Capability and the Moderating Effect of Geographical Proximity

Innovation is the continuous source of power for the survival and development of SMEs, but the complexity of innovation and the limitation of resources make SMEs trapped in the dilemma of “innovation difficulty”. A moderated mediating model was constructed based on social network theory and resource view, and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used to empirically study the influence mechanism between network relationship characteristics and SMEs’ innovation and the configuration path to achieve SMEs’ high innovation performance. The results show that the characteristics of network relationships positively affect the innovation performance of SMEs. Supply chain dynamic capability plays an intermediary role between network relationships and SMEs’ innovation relationships. Different geographical proximity levels of the supply chain lead to different coordination interaction and knowledge sharing efficiency between upstream and downstream, which not only positively moderates the relationship between supply chain dynamic capability and SMEs’ innovation performance, but also moderates its mediating effect. Furthermore, the fs QCA analysis results show three configurations for SMEs’ high innovation performance based on the characteristics of network relations: geographic proximity regulating type, network relationship dominant type, and dynamic coordination and integration type.

Dynamics of Digital Change – How Digital Sophistication Influences Innovation in SMEs

In this study we examine the influence of digitalization on innovation performance in SMEs. We first conceptualize digital maturity as a possible measure of digitalization in organizations and then propose a one-dimensional digital maturity model: digital sophistication model, to classify the state of digital maturity in SMEs. Subsequently, we use ordered logit estimation techniques to predict the influence of digital maturity on the prospects of innovation in our sample of 820 German SMEs. Our results show a significant positive influence of digital maturity on innovation performance in our sample SMEs. We discuss results and implications of our research study.