What is it about?
Despite the important role small enterprises play in promoting growth and employment opportunities, the innovation development of these enterprises has received only scant attention. Most of the results which have been introduced about innovation development are based on studies with a focus on medium-size and large enterprises while the smallest enterprises are often excluded from the analyses. This study aims at contributing to the above gap by studying innovation development in the manufacturing and service enterprises with fewer than 50 employees.
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Why is it important?
This paper takes up the challenge of studying innovation development in the smallest enterprises with fewer than 50 employees. It compares what differences there are in developed innovations across the different size categories within small enterprises representing manufacturing and service sectors. In addition, it explores what differences there are in innovation capacity across the enterprise size categories.
Perspectives
This study makes a contribution to academic literature by crystallizing the relationship between the size of an enterprise and innovation development. Applying these results will provide more specific questions for studying the nature of innovation development in small enterprises. At a public policy level, the results of this study give ideas for encouraging innovation development in small enterprises. The evidence suggests that there are significant discrepancies between the enterprises as innovators. It should be acknowledged that small enterprises comprise several divergent target groups for policy making.
Dr Helena Forsman
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Small manufacturing and service enterprises as innovators: a comparison by size, European Journal of Innovation Management, January 2011, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/14601061111104689.
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