Promoting Innovation In New Ventures And Small And Medium Sized Enterprises

Since the pioneering work scholars such as Joseph Schumpeter and Peter Drucker, the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship have evolved to become two separate and distinct disciplines. Schumpeter 1 focused on the contributions of entrepreneurial startups and smaller firms, whereas Schumpeter 2 emphasized the role of formal research, development and industrial innovation in larger firms. Unfortunately, the study and practice of each field has suffered as a result: entrepreneurship has become preoccupied with individual entrepreneurs and small business creation, and innovation is dominated by corporate R&D and new product development. Promoting Innovation in New Ventures and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) aims to bridge these two fields by examining innovation in new ventures and SMEs. This book identifies themes which can reunite the study and practice of entrepreneurship and innovation by examining a potentially bridging phenomenon. The focus here is on high growth, innovative SMEs, and the interactions between SMEs and larger organizations, private and public. It is organized around three overlapping themes: SME innovation performance, practices and networks. Contents: Introduction (Joe Tidd)SME Innovation and Performance: Innovation and Growth in the city Region: Microeconomic Evidence of Asymmetries (David Devins, George Lodorfos, Ioannis Kostopoulos and Don Webber)Innovation and Organizational Size in Irish SMES: An Empirical Study (Rodney McAdam, Renee S Reid and David A Gibson)Effects of Product Innovation and Organizational Capabilities on Competitive Advantage: Evidence from UK Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises (Ana Christina O Siqueira and Andy D Cosh)Intellectual Capital, Innovation and Performance: Empirical Evidence from SMEs (Karl-Heinz Leitner)Fast-Growing SMEs and the Role of Innovation (Christina Grundström, Roland Sjöström, Anders Uddenberg and Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck)Perceived Competition and Innovative Intentions in Dutch Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Jeroen P J De Jong)The Impact of Environmental Uncertainty Dimensions on Organizational Innovativeness: An Empirical Study on SMEs (Cevahir Uzkurt, Rachna Kumar, Halil Semih Kimzan and Hanife Sert)SME Practices for Innovation: A Model of Organizational Innovation Implementation Effectiveness in Small to Medium Firms (Sukanlaya Sawang and Kerrie L Unsworth)A Study of Organizational Determinants and Innovation Practices in Dubai SMEs (Yahya Al-Ansari, Jun Xu and Simon Pervan)Perspectives on Innovation Management of Ecuadorian Companies: Empirical Evidence (Guillermo Javier Diaz-Villavicencio, Simone Didonet and Alexander Dodd)The Relationship between Top Management Team Innovation Orientation and Firm Growth: The Mediating Role of Firm Innovativeness (Nils D Kraiczy, Andreas Hack, Franz W Kellermanns)Organizational Learning, Non-Technical Innovation and Customer Satisfaction of SMEs (Dimitrios Kafetzopoulos and Evangelos Psomas)What's Small Size Got to do with it? Protection of Intellectual Assets in SMEs (Heidi Olander, Pia Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Jukka Mahonen)SME Networks for Open Innovation: Governance of Innovation and Growth in SME Networks (Tove Brink)Knowledge Inflows from Market- and Science-Based Actors, Absorptive Capacity, Innovation and Performance: A Study of SMEs (Graciela Corral de Zubielqui, Janice Jones and Laurence Lester)Understanding Relationships between Universities and SMEs in Emerging High Technology Industries: The Case of Opto-Electronics (Chris Hendry, Ja

Entrepreneurship is very important for both entrepreneurs and economic development. It helps boost innovation and competitiveness in every country and facilitates the creation of new jobs and new opportunities, especially for family businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Both entrepreneurship and innovation constitute a subject that is both topical and timeless, since institutions and the various institutional processes have always affected a country’s sustainability. Entrepreneurial Development and Innovation in Family Businesses and SMEs is an essential scholarly publication that contributes to the understanding, improving and strengthening of entrepreneurial development, and innovation’s role in family businesses and SMEs by providing both theoretical and applied knowledge in order to find how and why entrepreneurship and innovation can produce inefficient and dysfunctional outcomes. Featuring a wide range of topics such as women entrepreneurship, internationalization, and organizational learning, this book is ideal for researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, executives, managers, academicians, and students.

Entrepreneurial experience and venture success: A comprehensive meta-analysis of performance determinants Abstract PURPOSE: In both theory and practice, the entrepreneur’s prior experience is considered to be one of the most important human capital factors affecting venture performance. Nonetheless, the research on the effect of experience on venture performance has produced inconclusive findings. The literature explaining this inconclusiveness is sparse, but several determinants have been identified, such as the variability in the conceptualization and measurement of experience and performance, age of the investigated ventures, types of industry, or size and composition of venture management. The inconsistency of these features across primary studies makes it difficult to compare the results and to integrate findings. METHODOLOGY: This meta-analysis reviews and summarizes 80 primary studies in order to investigate the relationship between entrepreneur’s experience and venture performance. We investigated the effect of five determinants of this relationship, namely the type of experience, type of performance, venture age, size of managerial team, and composition of managerial team. A random effect model was applied and the correlation coefficient was used as an indicator of effect size. FINDINGS: The study found that experience positively affected venture performance, although the magnitude of the effect was rather small. Venture performance showed to have the strongest significant relationship with start-up experience, followed by industrial, working, and managerial experience. International, functional, and entrepreneurial experience had a non-significant effect on venture performance. Moreover, the effect of experience on venture performance was not significant for older ventures. Experience significantly affected two types of venture performance, namely the size of venture and profitability, while the effect on growth was non-significant. Finally, of all the types of venture management, the experience of owner-inclusive entrepreneurial teams had the greatest effect on venture performance. IMPLICATIONS: Investor practitioners may find it helpful to assess entrepreneurs’ experience within a broader context, taking account of the types of experience the entrepreneur possesses. Entrepreneurs’ international, functional, and entrepreneurial experience should be considered very carefully, as they had a non-significant effect on venture performance. In contrast, having experience of founding a venture or of a particular industry seems to provide more value than experience of doing business internationally, or being in business for many years. Another important aspect that investors and venture capitalists should take into account is the size and composition of the entrepreneurial team and the extent to which the venture proposal reflects the different types of experience the team members possess. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The study contributes to the human capital literature by firstly attempting to examine systematically the overall magnitude of the relationship between entrepreneur’s experience and venture performance. It also contributes by investigating the determinants of the relationship between experience and venture performance. It summarizes and combines previous inconclusive findings about the impact of different types of experience on different venture performance outcomes. Keywords: entrepreneurial experience, venture performance, entrepreneurship, human capital, learning by doing, meta-analysis, start-up, investor decision-making, performance, knowledge generation Entrepreneurial orientation and SME export performance: Unveiling the mediating roles of innovation capability and international networking accessibility in the brass industry Abstract PURPOSE: This paper answered the research gap on entrepreneurial orientation with a sample of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) export performance and the mediating role of innovation capability and international networking accessibility that has not been tested in previous research. This study also tested the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on SMEs’ export performance in the global market. The mediating role of international networking accessibility and innovation capability on SMEs’ export performance also became another focus of this study. METHODOLOGY: This paper implemented a quantitative approach with 282 owners or managers of the SMEs brass industry cluster in Boyolali, Indonesia, who were examined using purposive sampling. FINDINGS: The findings of this study revealed that entrepreneurial orientation did not significantly affect SMEs’ export performance but did significantly affect innovation capability and international networking accessibility. Another empirical test found that innovation capability had significantly affected SMEs’ export performance and the international networking accessibility. International networking accessibility also significantly affected the performance of export SMEs. This study also found an important mediating role of international network accessibility and innovation capability in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs’ export performance. IMPLICATIONS: This study contributes to research investigating the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on performance by conducting in-depth studies on innovation capabilities and international networking accessibility. Many studies have tested the mediating role of innovation capability and international networking accessibility. The practical implication of this study is that it can help managers or owners of SMEs better understand and find optimal solutions through enhancing innovation capability and international networking accessibility, which can be instilled in the characteristics of SME owners or managers to improve performance. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The results of this study indicate the mediating role of innovation capability and accessibility of international networking on SMEs’ export performance. Therefore, the main contribution of the study is to determine the mediating role of innovation capability and international network accessibility in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance by integrating the theoretical perspective of the resource-based view (RBV). Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, SME export performance, innovation capability, international networking accessibility, brass industry, Indonesia, resource-based view, RBV Relationship between knowledge transfer and sustainable innovation in interorganizational environments of small and medium-sized enterprises Abstract PURPOSE: The trends promoted for the strengthening of capacities that allow the interaction and valuation of knowledge as an intangible asset, deserve a management based on its transfer as a basis that drives innovation. Based on this, the purpose of the study is to examine the relationships between knowledge transfer (KT) and sustainable innovation (SI) in interorganizational contexts of small and medium-sized companies. METHODOLOGY: A process was carried out through the application of a questionnaire addressed to managers and owners of 109 small and medium-sized companies of activity in management and the development of information and communication technologies in two regions of Colombia. To show the significant differences between the two selected populations, a non-parametric Mann-Whitney test for independent samples was applied. Likewise, an application of the K-means algorithm was used to group the variables into subsets. The study of the data was complemented with the multivariate technique and the principal components analysis (PCA) to validate the contrasting of the declared hypotheses. FINDINGS: The results determine that by means of the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test for independent samples there are significant differences between the two selected populations. Likewise, the positive correlation between the variables of knowledge transfer and innovation is confirmed, as well as designing the interactions and the flow of processes between the components that support the aforementioned variables from the theoretical and empirical approach, whose interaction capacity between them has to promote the innovative potential under sustainability principles in small and medium-sized enterprises. IMPLICATIONS: Based on the results of the research carried out, scenarios are promoted through which it is sought to strengthen the interorganizational management of small and medium-sized enterprises, minimizing the barriers that weaken their stability. As well as promoting new ways of valuing knowledge as an intangible asset that, when transferred, generates effects in innovation management as part of the strengthening and interorganizational sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: It is based on the generation of value through the proposal of a design of a system of relations between the components that promote the transfer of knowledge and sustainable innovation. Its structure is based on empirical results that allowed defining five strategic stages that show the relationships between the components that promote interorganizational and competitive management of tangible and intangible assets available in small and medium-sized enterprises. Keywords: knowledge transfer, sustainable innovation, interorganizational environments, knowledge management, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, SMEs, intangible assets, Colombia Comparative analysis of national innovation systems: Implications for SMEs' adoption of fourth industrial revolution technologies in developing and developed countries Abstract PURPOSE: This study aims to identify the differences and similarities in the innovation systems of developing vs. developed countries that influence SMEs’ adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. There is a notable absence of comparative research between National Innovation Systems (NIS) of developing and developed countries. Additionally, the current scholarly conversation lacks a holistic view of NIS. Our study aims to fill these gaps by employing Lundvall’s framework to explore both developed and developing countries’ systems comprehensively. METHODOLOGY: The data was collected through a Systematic Literature Review, identifying a total of 695 publications from SCOPUS, Web of Science (WoS), and ProQuest. The PRISMA process was adhered to, resulting in 32 papers undergoing quality evaluation using Gough’s ‘weight of evidence’ guidelines. Twenty-nine primary papers were selected, comprising twelve from developed countries, another twelve from developing countries, and the remainder from both categories. Using Qualitative Meta-synthesis (QMS) with ATLAS.ti, a systematic alignment of codes with research inquiries pertaining to NIS ensued, revealing a multifaceted spectrum of findings across these scholarly investigations. FINDINGS: We found that there are similarities and differences between the innovation systems of developed and developing nations. The similarities include the intra-firm interactions taking place between managers and workers, inter-firm relations between the SMEs and Academia and other SMEs, as well as the role of the government in providing funding and regulation (albeit at significantly varying degrees). The most significant differences observed were in the funding mechanisms, the role of the government, and the R&D systems. It was found that governments in developed countries provided SMEs with substantial incentives, tax credits, and subsidies to adopt 4IR technologies, which appears to positively impact the adoption rate. We conclude by developing a conceptual framework for the NIS necessary for the adoption of SMEs’ 4IR technologies in developing countries. IMPLICATIONS: This study contributes to the literature on innovation systems by examining the NIS of both developed and developing countries. This analysis allows us to gain deeper insights into how specific aspects of each country (developed or developing) affect (positively or negatively) SMEs’ adoption of 4IR technologies. Practically, it informs governments in developing countries on which aspects to focus on in their NIS to increase the rate of the adoption of 4IR technologies by SMEs. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: A distinctive aspect of this study lies in the creation of a comprehensive conceptual model delineating the essential components of the innovation system pivotal for the successful integration of 4IR technologies within SMEs. This model is designed to serve as a practical tool for governments in developing countries, providing a structured framework to facilitate and enhance the strategic development of their innovation landscapes. Keywords: national innovation systems, fourth industrial revolution technologies, SME, adoption, developed countries, developing countries, comparative analysis, government policies, Lundvall’s framework, qualitative meta-synthesis Social cognitive career theory and higher education students’ entrepreneurial intention: The role of perceived educational support and perceived entrepreneurial opportunity Abstract PURPOSE: This study aims to integrate insights from the Socio-Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and entrepreneurship literature to develop a research framework of how perceived entrepreneurial opportunities (PEO) and perceived educational support (PES) shape the progression of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and entrepreneurial career interests (ECI). Additionally, this study investigates whether ECI mediates the effects of PEO and PES on entrepreneurial intention (EI) and how PEO and PES moderate the effects of ESE and ECI on EI. METHODOLOGY: A sample of 888 university students was recruited from Vietnam. Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analyses were adopted to test the reliability and validity of the scales. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is then used to test formulated hypotheses. FINDINGS: The current study demonstrates that ESE and ECI directly trigger EI. Although PES and PEO did not directly impact EI, their influence on EI was mediated through ESE and ECI. In addition, PEO was found to act as a positive catalyst for the transformation of ESE and ECI into EI. The greater the entrepreneurial opportunities students perceive, the more likely they are to convert ESE and ECI into intentions to become entrepreneurs. IMPLICATIONS: This study makes a significant contribution by emphasizing the relevance of the SCCT framework in understanding entrepreneurship and brings to the forefront the role of PES and PEO in shaping the progression of ESE, ECI and, ultimately, EI. In addition, the findings of this study provide practical implications for nascent entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship educators, and policymakers. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This study is one of the first to investigate the role of PEO and PES in the development of Vietnamese students’ SES, ECI and, ultimately, their intention to engage in entrepreneurship. Keywords: entrepreneurial intention, social cognitive career theory, perceived educational support, perceived entrepreneurial opportunities, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial career interests, structural equation modeling, SEM Entrepreneurial intentions of students from Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine: The role of perceived entrepreneurial education results Abstract Purpose: Our main aim is to establish which factors influence entrepreneurial intentions, with a particular focus on the role of entrepreneurial education and university support in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE). An additional aim is to determine the differences in these perceptions between students from seemingly similar but rather different CEE countries. Methodology: We based our study mainly on two theory constructs, namely the entrepreneurial support model (ESM) and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE). Both concepts often appear in research on entrepreneurial intentions, but they are not used together. Moreover, we proposed a new education-related factor – perceived entrepreneurial education results (PEER). To verify hypotheses quantitative research was conducted using surveys among 2,085 first-year undergraduate students from three technical universities in three countries: Latvia, Poland and Ukraine. Findings: The results of the study indicate that entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived entrepreneurial education results, and perceived educational and relational support all influence the intention of students to launch a venture. The research did not provide support for the hypothesis of an impact of perceived structural support (PSS) on intentions. The impact of perceived educational and relational support appeared to be less important than the impact of ESE and PEER on intentions. Additionally, we identified that there are significant differences between students from the analysed countries. Implications for theory and practice: Our research has identified a new factor, not previously used in studies of entrepreneurial intentions, that is, perceived entrepreneurial education results. This new factor can be used in research as a complement to self-efficacy and it refers to hard skills related, in this particular case, to entrepreneurship. The results show the importance of the national context, implying the need to take this into account when modelling support policies at a national level. The findings can be used to remodel how this knowledge is delivered to young people. Originality and value: Firstly, we proposed the inclusion of a new education-related component called perceived entrepreneurial education results, which can examine the perceived results of education at any level, in our case, at the secondary school level. Secondly, we showed the stronger influence of factors related to perceptions of one's own skills than perceptions of support from the environment. In addition, we demonstrated that making judgements or recommendations about entrepreneurial support, for rather similar countries, should be considered separately. Furthermore, we conceptualised the three aspects ESE, PEER and ESM in a new way. Finally, we also proved that the role of individual factors varies from country to country, even if the countries belong to the same cultural background and share a similar past experience. Keywords: entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial education, perceived entrepreneurial support model, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived entrepreneurial educational results, Central and Eastern European Countries, CEE countries, comparative analysis

A multidimensional approach to entrepreneurship, especially in the post-COVID-19 era, will have an important influence on the state of business and government, especially when considering the effects of technological development, innovation, glocalization, and nationalization policies that need to be adopted for inclusive sustainable growth, as well as the enhanced and efficient utilization of global resources. That means there is likely to be a shift in how entrepreneurship development and entrepreneurial opportunities will be perceived, developed, and resourced. The question is how to sustain SMEs and entrepreneurial innovation in the post-COVID-19 era. Thus, comprehensive research and knowledge on designing policies and approaches to ensure the sustainability of SMEs and entrepreneurial innovation in post-pandemic times are essential to sustain, stimulate, and foster SMEs, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial innovations. The Handbook of Research on Sustaining SMEs and Entrepreneurial Innovation in the Post-COVID-19 Era provides research dedicated to entrepreneurship with a special emphasis on the sustainability of SMEs and entrepreneurial innovations in the post-COVID-19 era. It provides discussion and the exchange of information on principles, strategies, models, techniques, methodologies, and applications of entrepreneurship in the post-COVID-19 era in the field of public and private organizations. The chapters communicate the latest developments and thinking on the entrepreneurship subject worldwide by drawing on the latest developments, ideas, research, and best practice to examine the implications of the changes taking place due to COVID-19. This book is ideally intended for entrepreneurs, global organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises, managers, executives, government officials, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in learning about, designing, or implementing policies that are more effective in the post-pandemic era.

This book presents readers with the opportunity to fundamentally re-evaluate the processes of innovation and entrepreneurship, and to rethink how they might best be stimulated and fostered within our organizations and communities. The fundamental thesis of the book is that the entrepreneurial process is not a linear progression from novel idea to successful innovation, but is an iterative series of experiments, where progress depends on the persistence and resilience of the individuals involved, and their ability and to learn from failure as well as success. From this premise, the authors argue that the ideal environment for new venture creation is a form of “experimental laboratory,” a community of innovators where ideas are generated, shared, and refined; experiments are encouraged; and which in itself serves as a test environment for those ideas and experiments. This environment is quite different from the traditional “incubator,” which may impose the disciplines of the established firm too early in the development of the new venture. Featuring case examples of start-ups across a wide spectrum of industries, from Wikipedia to Ryanair, the authors explore the qualities of successful innovation, including a high tolerance of risk and unpredictability and commitment to building knowledge enterprises that value intangible assets. This volume is a clarion call to those in academia, enterprise, and government who seek to work together to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, with a stark message for academic institutions: engage or be left behind.

In this engaging and practical book, authors Lisa K. Gundry and Jill R. Kickul uniquely approach entrepreneurship across the life cycle of business growth—offering entrepreneurial strategies for the emerging venture, for the growing venture, and for sustaining growth in the established venture. Written from the point of view of the founder or the entrepreneurial team, the book offers powerful and practical tools to increase a venture's potential for success and growth.

This book, by two leading authorities on innovation and entrepreneurship is a tour de force of some of the challenges, and opportunities, that face entrepreneurs in emerging economies as they attempt to cross the divide between an old and a new economic order. It presents a fascinating account of the myriad of obstacles facing entrepreneurs in post-Soviet countries and, because it is based on case studies presents both a detailed, and ultimately a human, picture of how businesses have been built. World Entrepreneurship Society Innovating and enterprising in countries where these activities have been centralised or prohibited for decades is a daunting venture. Showing how this was nevertheless possible by comparatively reviewing six cases in as many different European and Asian post-Soviet countries, is the great challenge that this important book has skilfully solved. The book illustrates the diversity of successful innovation and entrepreneurship processes in relation to the institutional context, and highlights the importance of the human and social factor and the need to consider the specificities of the countries and the transition process. Bruno Dallago, University of Trento, Italy This is a great book that integrates multiple perspectives and offers fresh insights into the role and nature of innovation and entrepreneurship especially in emerging economies. Aidis and Welter did a magnificent job in assembling some of the best minds and writings on this important topic. The book adds richly to the literature and provides a crucial roadmap for future scholarship. Shaker A. Zahra, University of Minnesota, US Little is known about innovative and successful enterprises in the countries that, until 1990, were part of the Soviet Union. Most previous research has extensively covered barriers to entrepreneurship and innovation that exist in these countries, some of which undoubtedly represent a hostile and harsh environment for any entrepreneurial activity. In this book, a different perspective is introduced. The focus is shifted to the innovative potential that these environments provide, demonstrating how entrepreneurs have been able to convert possibilities in hostile business environments into successful businesses. Through this collection of six in-depth case studies, the authors illustrate how successful and innovative businesses were able to develop in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Moldova and Ukraine. Each case study presents an overview of the country s key economic indicators and the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economy, followed by the presentation of a case study of a successful SME. Teachers, researchers and students of entrepreneurship will find much to interest them in this book, as will students of international business and anyone conducting business in Europe.