Training for creativity and innovation in small enterprises in Ethiopia

Policy makers recognize the role of small businesses in bringing about economic growth and reducing or eliminating poverty, and training can contribute significantly to this process. The present study adds to the small firm literature by examining whether training encourages small firms to be more creative and innovative. It does so by investigating the extent of creative and innovative activities in small enterprises (SEs) that have undertaken training with support from the Ethiopian technical and vocational education and training system. SEs for the purpose of the study are businesses with fewer than 30 employees. The term includes micro‐enterprises, which are defined in Ethiopia as having fewer than six employees. Quantitative methodology was used to compare and contrast these enterprises with similar enterprises which had not had training support. Data were collected from 146 randomly selected small firms by means of interviews with owners and employees. Interviews were also conducted with technical, vocational education and training experts. The study examined five predictors of creativity and innovation activities that training support would be expected to encourage and found significant differences in two of them: creative thinking and motivational attributes. Differences in other creativity and innovation variables, however, were not significant. The researchers conclude that education and training for creativity and innovation should be prioritized to enhance the performance of small firms, in particular by increasing their expertise, improving their motivation and ability to surmount challenges and developing their creative thinking in the search for new business ideas.     

The impact of entrepreneurial marketing on innovative marketing performance in small- and medium-sized companies

ABSTRACT

This study examines the impact of entrepreneurial marketing on innovative marketing in small- and medium-sized companies producing industrial tools and mechanical parts. The statistical population of this study consisted of all owners and workers of industrial tools and mechanical parts around the world. The sample size includes 195 people who were chosen through simple random sampling method and Cochran formula. This is a correlational research and the data were collected using a questionnaire designed by theoretical foundations and Likert scale. The validity of the tool was confirmed using the opinions of experts and specialists and the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha (0.891). Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results show that value creation that includes creating value for customers through the products and services, and marketing activities and technology has the greatest impact on innovative performance. Also, innovation, which includes innovative strategy, management believes in innovation, and using new methods to carry out activities, is in the next place. Among the factors, the leverage of resources, which include the financial and human forces, has the least effect on innovative performance.     

Uncovering Barriers to Complex Incremental Product Innovation in Small and Medium‐Sized Financial Services Firms*

Developing new products is of the highest importance for the survival of firms. This not only refers to really new products, but firms also need to invest in modifying their existing products. Small and medium‐sized companies are no exception to this rule. The present study focuses on the innovative activities of small and medium‐sized financial service companies and aims to answer how small and medium‐sized financial services firms organize their product innovation processes and what the main barriers during these innovative attempts are. Data from 30 financial small and medium‐sized enterprises were collected to address these issues. The data showed that the firms in our study experience problems in terms of resources, project‐based working, incentives, and information technology, despite the fact that the innovative efforts are aimed at modifying existing services. Although these issues may not be totally unexpected, the results from this study do point at some interesting distinctions with the previous literature. Furthermore, it is suggested that the impact of the barriers may be of lower importance than is often assumed in the innovation literature.     

How innovative are spin-offs at later stages of development? Comparing innovativeness of established research spin-offs and otherwise created firms

The literature argues that research spin-offs (RSOs)—enterprises originating from a university or research institute—appear to have higher innovative potential and capabilities than other start-ups, at least in the early stages of their development. Yet, little is known about the innovative performance of these companies at later development phases. Thus, the main goal of this study is to investigate whether there are any differences in research and development (R&D) and innovation behavior between established and/or mature RSOs and otherwise created firms and, if so, to what extent they are driven by networking and cooperation activities as suggested by some scholars. To this end, we employ probit regression analysis and a matching approach using survey data on more than 6,000 East German firms, among which are 179 RSOs. Our first findings suggest that established RSOs engage in R&D and innovation activities more frequently than companies whose genesis was of another type. Nevertheless, the results obtained when accounting for collaboration measures show that the precedence of RSOs in further development stages over otherwise created firms in terms of innovation outputs is related to their higher intensity of cooperation activity and close, face-to-face interactions with universities, and not to type of firm creation. Moreover, our findings reveal that cooperating in various fields may be of different importance for specific inputs and outputs of the innovation activity. Finally, based on our results, we draw some implications for both practicing managers and public policymakers.     

The effect of innovation policy on SMEs’ employment and wages in Argentina

This article evaluates the effect of the Argentinean Support Program for Organizational Change on employment and wages. The program aimed at increasing small and medium-sized enterprises’ competitiveness by co-financing technical assistance to support process and product innovation activities. Although employment is not usually the main objective of these types of programs, they are always implemented assuming that they create—or at least do not destroy—employment opportunities. We use a unique data set with information for the population of firms in Argentina from 1996 to 2008 to test this important assumption. Using a combination of fixed effects and matching, we find that both process and product innovation support increased employment and wages, with a higher impact on employment. In addition, we find that product innovation support had a larger effect on wages than process innovation support.     

The Driver of Green Innovation and Green Image – Green Core Competence

This study proposed a novel construct – green core competence – to explore its positive effects on green innovation and green images of firms. The results showed that green core competences of firms were positively correlated to their green innovation performance and green images. In addition, this research also verified two types of green innovation performance had partial mediation effects between green core competences and green images of firms. Therefore, investment in the development of green core competence was helpful to businesses for the enhancement of their green innovation and green images. Furthermore, this study found that green core competence, two types of green innovation performance, and green images of medium & small enterprises (SMEs) were all significantly less than those of large enterprises in the information and electronics industry in Taiwan. Therefore, there was the advantage of firm size for the green core competence in this industry, and it was imperative for SMEs to develop and create their green core competences to strengthen their green innovation performance, and green images.     

Innovation and risk-taking in a transitional economy: A comparative study of chinese managers and entrepreneurs

This research was set in the People's Republic of China. As former socialist China moves from central planning toward a more market-driven economy, improved knowledge about the new environment and firm decisions within such an environment has significant implications. For organizational researchers, such a transition represents a genuine shift of paradigm, and thus offers a unique opportunity to test existing organizational theories and develop new ones. For multinational businesses seeking business opportunities, they have to compete or cooperate with these Chinese firms, whether state-owned or privately owned.Motivated by a deep curiosity in, using the language of Williamson (1996), “What is going on there” behind the “bamboo curtain,” and underpinned by a strong conviction that organizational researchers have much to gain as well as to offer by focusing on transitional economies, I undertook this study to examine characteristics of a regulatory environment and the impact on innovation and risk-taking among Chinese managers and entrepreneurs. I collected original primary data that represents managers from large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and entrepreneurs from small privately-owned enterprises (POEs) through personal interviews and a survey. Significant differences were found between managers and entrepreneurs in their reported environmental characteristics, strategic orientations, size, and firm performance, indicating that managers are not as innovative and are less willing to make risky decisions than entrepreneurs. Being smaller and faster than SOEs, entrepreneurial firms have adopted some strategies that distinguish them from their larger and more established competitors. Speed, stealth, and sound execution allow entrepreneurs to harvest first-mover advantages and thus increase their chances for survival in a turbulent environment.     

乌卡时代航空物流企业微博营销对顾客参与意向的影响与攻略研究——基于高质量发展视角

在新冠肺炎疫情的冲击下,全球航空物流企业进入了波折却又充满希望的乌卡时代,一些新的线上营销方式开始大行其道。特别是微博营销,凭借其低成本、高效率、精准化的优势,迅速成为乌卡时代航空物流企业营销创新的重要渠道和高质量发展的关键助力。在此背景下,选择高质量发展为研究视角,从乌卡时代的概念界定出发,探讨国内微博网站的发展和功能,并对航空物流、微博营销、高质量发展进行理论溯源;然后基于技术接受模型和创新扩散理论,提出了感知有用性、感知易用性、感知趣味性、互动性、社会影响、个人创新对顾客参与航空物流企业微博营销意向影响的假设模型;最后通过实证分析对其进行验证,在此基础上从微博内容、微博互动、活动营销的优化方面提出了相应的创新性策略,进而为处于乌卡时代的中国航空物流企业切实开展微博营销管理、杀出新冠肺炎疫情重围提供了独特的高质量发展路径选择。     

Firms size and R&D spillovers: Evidence from Italy

The recent emergence in the industrial organization literature of a wave of studies identifying small firms as more innovative than their larger counterparts poses something of a paradox? Where do small firms get their knowledge generating inputs? The purpose of this paper is to link innovative inputs to innovative outputs. This enables the identification of the extent to which spillovers exist from major sources generating new economic knowledge, such as the research and development (R&;D) laboratories of private and public firms, as well as universities, to the innovative activity of large and small enterprises. Based on twenty Italian regions over a period of nine years, the emprical evidence suggests that, while firm R&;D expenditures contribute to the generation of innovative output for all firms, as well as for large and small firms, the spillovers from university research are apparently more important for small-firm innovation than for large-firm innovation.     

The impact of venture capital on the persistence of innovation activities of start-ups

In this study we investigate the impact of early stage venture capital on innovation activities of start-ups. This is done based on a cohort of start-ups that is representative of all firms founded in Switzerland in 1996/97, as recorded by a census of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for this period. We analyze not only the impact of early stage venture capital on innovation performance 3 years after firm foundation, but also 6 and 9 years after firm start, respectively, for those firms that survived and reported continuously innovation activities (persistence of innovation). The results support neither the hypothesis of a positive impact on initial innovation activities nor the hypothesis of a positive time-persistent effect on innovation performance of start-ups.     

The relationship between training and innovation activities in enterprises

We examine the relationship between enterprises’ use of employee training (or education) as a method to stimulate new ideas or creativity among their staff and enterprises’ innovation activities. A data set of 5204 Norwegian enterprises is used. Based on correlation coefficients, we find a positive relationship between enterprises’ use of employee training and their innovation activities. This relationship is not found significant for innovative enterprises that developed the innovations mainly by themselves or together with external partners if we control for enterprises’ use of brainstorming sessions and/or work teams to stimulate new ideas or creativity among their staff. Training can, however, be argued to be indirectly related to innovation strategies, as it is combined with other human resource practices.     

New Product Development Processes in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Some Australian Evidence

This article examines the new product development process (NPDP) in Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Findings from a sample of 276 innovative Australian SMEs suggest that marketing-related activities were undertaken less frequently and were less well executed than technical activities in developing new products. However, marketing-related activities were important in distinguishing between successful and unsuccessful new products. In addition, resource and skill availability and new product planning were positively associated with the quality with which NPD activities are executed. Further, the existence of a new product strategy seemed to have a significant positive impact on the quality of NPD activities.     

政府研发补贴、融资约束与企业创新绩效——基于所有权性质视角

政府研发补贴是克服研发市场失灵，促进企业研发活动的重要手段之一。然而，目前鲜有关于考察政府研发补贴、融资约束以及所有权性质对企业创新绩效的复杂关系研究。基于2001-2018年间我国上市制造业企业数据分析，结果表明：首先，政府研发补贴和融资约束对企业创新绩效的影响取决于企业所有制性质，国有企业的创新绩效受其影响最为显著。其次，企业在接受政府研发补贴后，其融资约束的程度都会被减缓；与国有企业相比，政府研发补贴对民营企业融资约束的缓解更强。最后，对任何所有权性质的企业而言，政府研发补贴都会挤出企业的研发投资。     

创新绩效角度的战略性新兴产业发展实证研究——以新能源产业为例

文章以新能源产业为例,根据《战略性新兴产业分类》,从中国工业企业数据库遴选出归属该产业的企业。利用微观企业层面的大样本数据,对企业创新绩效进行综合性研究。基于面板Probit计量模型的估计结果表明：企业的R&D投入、出口与否和企业知识积累对企业的创新产出有明显正向效应。企业规模、企业资本密集度等因素对创新产出的重要性因所有制不同而不同。政府需要采取有针对性的政策来诱导企业尽可能多地进行R&D投入,扩大出口以及增加企业本身知识积累。     

Innovation capacity,international experience and export performance of SMEs in Brazil

Innovation capacity and international experience are factors often related to the internationalisation process of firms, with export activities as the first stage of the process. However, firms from emerging countries seem to show advantages and follow patterns of international expansion that may differ from firms based in developed countries, where the internationalisation models were created. Specifically, exporting firms from emerging countries tend to have limited resources, especially small firms (e.g., for investing in R&D). Despite these facts, the literature on export performance seems biased towards recommending firms to enhance, above all, their innovation capacity in order to achieve better export performance, while little attention is paid to international experience as a factor that is as important as innovation. In this context, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of innovation capacity and international experience on the export performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in an emerging country and to identify which factor is more significant. The Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities approach were used as theoretical frameworks. A research model was developed and tested on a significant sample of Brazilian industrial SMEs. The data were analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results indicate that international experience has a greater impact on export performance than innovation capacity, showing that there is possibility of overemphasising the role of innovation in the export performance of SMEs, at least, in the Brazilian context.     

Innovative Enterprise and Historical Transformation

The social conditions that affect innovation change over timeand vary across productive activities. Hence theoretical analysisof the innovative enterprise must be integrated with historicalstudy through the use of what I call a historical-transformationmethodology—a methodology that stands in sharp contrastto, but can nonetheless be complemented by, the constrained-optimizationmethodology favored by conventional economists. In surveyingsome major attempts to analyze the role of the business enterprisein generating superior economic performance in the advancedeconomies, including the works of Oliver Williamson, AlfredChandler, Edith Penrose, and resource-based theorists, I explainwhat a historical-transformation methodology is and why sucha methodology is needed for understanding how and under whatconditions business enterprises can in fact be innovative enterprises.     

Competitor orientation in successful SMEs: an exploration of the impact on innovation

The impact of market orientation on organisational performance has been the subject of many studies illustrating variance with firm size. Although small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are inherently customer-oriented, research has identified that they have significantly lower levels of competitor orientation than large firms and that competitor orientation is significantly related to organisational performance. In addition, studies have illustrated that SME success is linked to innovative problem solving, new product development and resource optimisation. SMEs are inherently innovative in how they adopt creative approaches to overcome constraints associated with their size. Given that SMEs often neglect to focus on competitors, this study explores the relationship between competitor orientation and organisational performance through an innovation lens. This study uses a qualitative research approach to investigate seven successful SMEs as case studies. The findings indicate that SMEs seeking optimal organisational performance should pay close attention to direct and indirect competitors in order to identify opportunities and build sustainable competitive businesses.     

武汉台资企业融资困境与对策分析

融资难是台资企业在武汉经营活动中遇到的突出问题。近年来,武汉台商资金需求不断增加,而融资渠道却较为有限且受到诸多限制。造成武汉台资企业融资困境的主要原因有台资企业与大陆银行间信息不对称以及大陆融资环境不完善等多种因素。在当前两岸关系迅猛发展的关键时期,武汉市应着力于加大对台湾金融机构的引进力度,加强两岸征信合作,完善金融环境,在合理框架内不断创新业务合作模式,最大限度地满足台商融资需求。     

Open innovation practices in SMEs and large enterprises

Few studies on open innovation (OI) address OI practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how their use of OI and the resulting benefits differ from those of large enterprises. The lack of resources in SMEs to engage in looking outward is said to be a barrier to OI, but at the same time this shortage is cited as a motive for looking beyond organisational boundaries for technological knowledge. We investigate how OI dimensions impact the innovative performance of SMEs in comparison to large companies. The key finding is that the effects of OI practices in SMEs often differ from those in large firms. SMEs are more effective in using different OI practices simultaneously when they introduce new products on the market, whereas this is less the case for large firms. Turnover from new products in SMEs is driven by intellectual property protection mechanisms, while large firms in this case benefit more from their search strategies.