Small firms can innovate in different ways ranging from intensive and continuous in-house investment in product innovation to intermittent process innovation by purchasing new production equipment. Analysis of innovation patterns at the bottom of the size distribution is a neglected area of research indeed the European Community does not include firms with under 10 employees within the Community Innovation Survey (CIS3). Recent research has shed more light on this type of firm. de Jong and Marsili (2006) have demonstrated, by conducting a survey on the population of SMEs in The Netherlands, that a taxonomy can be effectively used to map the different innovative behaviours of micro-small enterprises. The paper draws on this stream of research and addresses a still unexplored issue regarding the innovative behaviour of a specific cluster. The paper will contribute to understanding the innovation behaviour of micro and small enterprises in two ways: by better specifying the innovative pattern of the cluster of specialized suppliers and by identifying the innovation mode that is related to firm performance. The empirical test was conducted by means of a survey on a sample of 182 Italian micro-small enterprises in the metal-mechanical sector.
Innovation modes and performance in Italian manufacturing micro-small enterprises / A., Comacchio; Scapolan, Anna Chiara. - ELETTRONICO. - (2007), pp. 1-21. (Intervento presentato al convegno Management Research, Education and Business Success: is the future as good as the past? tenutosi a Coventry (UK) nel 11-13 Settembre 2007).
Innovation modes and performance in Italian manufacturing micro-small enterprises
SCAPOLAN, Anna Chiara
2007
Abstract
Small firms can innovate in different ways ranging from intensive and continuous in-house investment in product innovation to intermittent process innovation by purchasing new production equipment. Analysis of innovation patterns at the bottom of the size distribution is a neglected area of research indeed the European Community does not include firms with under 10 employees within the Community Innovation Survey (CIS3). Recent research has shed more light on this type of firm. de Jong and Marsili (2006) have demonstrated, by conducting a survey on the population of SMEs in The Netherlands, that a taxonomy can be effectively used to map the different innovative behaviours of micro-small enterprises. The paper draws on this stream of research and addresses a still unexplored issue regarding the innovative behaviour of a specific cluster. The paper will contribute to understanding the innovation behaviour of micro and small enterprises in two ways: by better specifying the innovative pattern of the cluster of specialized suppliers and by identifying the innovation mode that is related to firm performance. The empirical test was conducted by means of a survey on a sample of 182 Italian micro-small enterprises in the metal-mechanical sector.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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