Determinants of innovativeness in SMEs. disentangling core innovation and technology adoption capabilities

This paper studies innovativeness in SMEs from a set of innovation indicators at the firm level, capturing various types of innovation (product, process, organisational, and marketing innovations) and the level of innovativeness in these firm’s developments. The article identifies two separate dimensions in the innovativeness of Spanish SMEs, using factor analysis techniques. One dimension is associated with the capabilities for core/internal innovation and the other with the capabilities for the adoption of technology. The paper shows that significant differences exist in the personal and organisational factors that favour these two dimensions. The entrepreneur’s motivation, business planning, and cooperation in R&D activities constitute significant factors when considering the core dimension of a firm’s innovativeness, but have no effect on the firm’s capabilities for technology adoption. However, the use of external consultancy services seems to have no significant effect on the core dimension of the innovativeness of anSME, whereas it is a relevant factor for its technology adoption. Furthermore, it is shown that the entrepreneur’s education plays a more significant role in the core dimension of a firm’s innovativeness than in its capabilities for technology adoption. Depending on the policy objectives, these differences should lead to the application of specific policy approaches when an attempt to stimulate innovation in SMEs is made

Social capital and knowledge in interorganizational networks: Their joint effect on innovation

This research analyzes the effects of interorganizational links on innovation using a comprehensive framework that integrates three research streams: social capital, knowledge based view and innovation. Using data from 143 R&D and/or marketing departments of innovative manufacturing and service companies, our results show that while knowledge complexity, per se, exerts a clear influence on the degree of innovations radicalness, the effect of knowledge tacitness appears only when it is combined with social capital. Similarly, the mere existence of strong cooperation agreements (relational social capital) does not guarantee more radical innovations. It is only when this social capital is combined with tacit knowledge that it really produces more innovative products. We also find that such radical products have an important impact on firm performance.: Innovation; radicalness; social capital; knowledge complexity; knowledge tacitness; firm performance

Looking for performance: how innovation and straregy may affect market orientation models

Despite 20 years of research into various aspects of the ‘Market Orientation’ (MO) construct, dubiety persists regarding the existence, nature and significancy of the relationship between market orientation and firm performance. In order to get more evidence some authors suggest including innovation in MO models. Debate also continues to examine whether organizational strategy is an antecedent or a consequence of MO, whilst some argue that strategy moderates the MO-performance relationship. Furthermore, there are sectors of industry and geographies where the phenomenon has received very little investigation, even of an exploratory nature. This study aims to explore the MO-performance relationship and to value the effect of innovation in MO-performance models in a sector where MO was virtually unknown: the Spanish real estate industry. The magnitude of the shifts taking place in this sector enhances its potential as a showcase for processes of anticipation and adaptation to the environment. In addition, the paper aims to shed some light on the question of whether strategy potentially moderates the MO-performance link. Finally, the principal implications of our findings are discussed.Market orientation, innovation, performance, strategy, real estate sector

The impact of structural capital on the firm Innovativeness, the Galician Northern Portugal automotive industries reality

The intellectual capital is increasingly considered a major issue on the management and organization research and a source of competitive advantage. Although there are different models and approaches that try to identify the effect of intellectual capital on firm performance, there’s, also a lack of evidence and consensus. Based on that evidence, this paper focuses on the influence of the structural capital on the product- process and management innovativeness of the firm. A global model including the variables used in the previous literature is used and we establishes hypotheses for testing this model and use statistic technique to estimate the parameters of the model in a sample. To do so, we use a survey from 68 firms working on the auto components sector, established in the Northern Spain and Northern Portugal. We found firstly, that innovativeness has two main dimensions, perfectly differentiated, the product-process innovation and the management innovation; secondly that the structural capital dimensions influences differently each type of innovation capacity (innovativeness). We also concluded that the structural capital of the automotive firms based on the euro region Galicia (Spain) Northern Portugal influences positive and directly the management innovativeness. These results highlight the importance of the structural capital as well as highlight the main dimensions that influence the innovativeness, and more broadly, the value of intellectual capital as a competitive advantage in contemporary time. Moreover, point out the different character of product-process and management innovativeness.

Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational learning capability and performance in the ceramic tiles industry

La orientación emprendedora es susceptible de tener un impacto positivo sobre el desempeño de la empresa. Sin embargo, empíricamente esta relación directa no es completamente consistente. Proponemos el desempeño innovador como una variable intermedia y, además, argumentamos que la relación entre orientación emprendedora y desempeño innovador no es incondicional, sino dependiente de la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo. Utilizamos modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para contrastar nuestras hipótesis sobre la industria cerámica italiana y española. Los resultados sugieren que (1) el desempeño innovador actúa como una variable mediadora entre la orientación emprendedora y el desempeño de la empresa; (2) la orientación emprendedora puede ser considerada como un antecedente de la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo; y (3) la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo juega un papel importante en la determinación de los efectos de la orientación emprendedora sobre el desempeño. Finalmente, señalamos las limitaciones del estudio y proponemos futuras líneas de investigación. Entrepreneurial orientation is considered to have a positive impact on firm performance. However, this direct relationship does not seem to be empirically conclusive. In our research we consider innovation performance as an intermediate variable, and explain that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance is not unconditional, but subject to organizational learning capability. Structural equation modeling has been used to test our research hypotheses on a data set from the Italian and Spanish ceramic tile industry. Results suggest that (1) innovation performance acts as a mediating variable between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance; (2) entrepreneurial orientation can be considered as an antecedent of organizational learning capability; and (3) organizational learning capability plays a significant role in determining the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on innovation performance. Finally, we highlight our study¿s limitations and we posit avenues for future research.Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational learning capability, performance. Orientación emprendedora, capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo, desempeño.

Analyzing an absorptive capacity: unlearning context and information sistem capabilities as catalysts for innovativeness

This study examines the impact of a company’s unlearning context and information system (IS) capabilities on the company’s ability to challenge of basic beliefs and to implement processes that are explicitly or tacitly helpful in the reception of new ideas (absorptive capacity). We also examine the relationship between absorptive capacity and the existence and enhancement of innovativeness. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 286 large Spanish companies. Our results show that absorptive capacity is an important dynamic determinant for developing a company’s innovativeness. Moreover, this relationship is best explained with two related constructs. Firstly, the company’s unlearning context plays a key role in managing the tension between potential absorptive capacity and realised absorptive capacity. Secondly, the results also shed light on a tangible means for managers to enhance their company’s innovativeness through IS capabilities

The innovative behaviour of tourism firms

Tourism is a growing and an extremely competitive sector. To be competitive, tourism firms need do innovate, responding to the more and more demanding tourist. Nonetheless, research on this field is limited and insufficient. In Portugal, the tourism sector is a highly strategic sector for the Portuguese economy, but there is no evidence on how Portuguese tourism firms innovate. This paper presents a thesis proposal with the aim to provide empirical evidence of the innovative behaviour of Portuguese tourism firm. Trough a direct survey on all the Portuguese tourism firms we intent to investigate firms’ innovativeness and their determinants and then compare the results with data from Danish and Spanish tourism firms. The literature on innovation in services and in tourism, in particular Sunbdo et al. (2007) taxonomy of tourism firms, provides us a guide to our investigation. It is also our aim to contribute with additional findings on the process of innovation in the tourism industry.Innovation, Tourism Industries, Portugal

Absorptive capacity and relationship learning mechanisms as complementary drivers of green innovation performance

This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms\u2019 green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation performance. This study relies on a sample of 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector (ACMS) and uses partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed. The empirical results show that both absorptive capacity and relationship learning exert a significant positive effect on the dependent variable and that relationship learning moderates the link between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance. This paper presents some limitations with respect to the particular sector (i.e. the ACMS) and geographical context (Spain). For this reason, researchers must be thoughtful while generalizing these results to distinct scenarios. Managers should devote more time and resources to reinforce their absorptive capacity as an important strategic tool to generate new knowledge and hence foster green innovation performance in manufacturing industries. The paper shows the importance of encouraging decision-makers to cultivate and rely on relationship learning mechanisms with their main stakeholders and to acquire the necessary information and knowledge that might be valuable in the maturity of green innovations. This study proposes that relationship learning plays a moderating role in the relationship between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance

Social Media Use, Corporate Entrepreneurship and Organizational Resilience: A Recipe for SMEs Success in a post-Covid Scenario

This work work was supported by projects from the University of Granada (Spain) [grant number: PP2022.PP.11]; the Andalusian Regional Government [grant number: P20_00568]; and the European Regional Development Fund [grant numbers: B-SEJ-042-UGR18, A-SEJ-192-UGR20].The strategic use of social media tools facilitates firms' entrepreneurial capabilities, enabling them to become more innovative, increasing their proactivity, and helping them to renew themselves internally. In today's turbulent landscape, organizational resilience has emerged as a key variable for responding to external challenges and facing uncertainty. In this context, our study aims to analyze the role of social media use as an antecedent of corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance in Spanish SMEs, while also examining the mediating role of organizational resilience in this process. Analyzing data from a sample of 259 firms, we tested our proposed hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The results confirm that use of social media tools positively impacts the entrepreneurial capabilities of the SMEs examined. The findings also stress the strategic relevance of organizational resilience, which exerts a perfect mediating impact on firm performance. These findings have significant implications for managers, as they show the path managers must take to benefit from social media use, become more entrepreneurial and resilient, and achieve business success in these turbulent times.University of Granada (Spain) PP2022.PP.11Andalusian Regional Government P20_00568European Regional Development Fund B-SEJ-042-UGR18, A-SEJ-192-UGR2

Sustainable and traditional product innovation without scale and experience, but only for KIBS!

This study analyzes the ideal strategic trajectory for sustainable and traditional product innovation. Using a sample of 74 Costa Rican high-performance businesses for 2016, we employ fuzzy set analysis (qualitative comparative analysis) to evaluate how the development of sustainable and traditional product innovation strategies is conditioned by the business’ learning capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation in knowledge-intensive (KIBS) and non-knowledge-intensive businesses. The results indicate two ideal strategic configurations of product innovation. The first strategic configuration to reach maximum product innovation requires the presence of KIBS firms that have both an entrepreneurial and learning orientation, while the second configuration is specific to non-KIBS firms with greater firm size and age along with entrepreneurial and learning orientation. KIBS firms are found to leverage the knowledge-based and customer orientations that characterize their business model in order to compensate for the shortage of important organizational characteristics—which we link to liabilities or smallness and newness—required to achieve optimal sustainable and traditional product innovation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version