A.J.J. Pullen

Successful Patterns of Internal SME Characteristics Leading to High Overall Innovation Performance

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle with the paradox of developing new products and technologies on the one hand and minimizing costs on the other. These SMEs must be innovative to survive and grow. However, compared to large firms, SMEs have several problems in their innovation process, which negatively influence their overall innovation performance. This research explores successful patterns of internal SME characteristics that lead to high overall innovation performance. Cluster analyses were conducted to find patterns in the internal characteristics of SMEs with high overall innovation performance. We find that companies that focus on incremental innovation and that achieve high overall innovation performance indeed share a pattern in their internal organization, when controlling for innovation type. The paper adds to the current body of knowledge by comparing high- and low-performing companies based on competence differences. Because real-life organizations consist of multiple organizational characteristics, we also contribute to management practice by simultaneously addressing multiple organizational characteristics for the successful organization of innovation.

SME network characteristics vs. product innovativeness: how to achieve high innovation performance

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must on the one hand innovate for company survival with the appropriate degree of product innovativeness, and on the other they need to collaborate and focus on core competences for efficiency matters. This research examines the relation of network characteristics and product innovativeness on innovation performance in SMEs. We tested hypotheses on the relationship between these three variables via data gathered from 60 SMEs, active in the medical devices sector. In this context we aim to offer consensus on the theoretical and empirical question of whether or not network characteristics and product innovativeness have a direct effect on innovation performance of SMEs. Results show no significant direct effect of product innovativeness on innovation performance. A positive interaction effect of multiple network characteristics on innovation performance was found, which confirms the significant importance of network configuration on innovation performance for SMEs. It indicates that, for SMEs in a highly regulated sector like the medical devices sector, the interaction of network characteristics is of crucial importance for high innovation performance. It is the combination of network characteristics that counts

Successful New Product Development by Optimizing Development Process Effectiveness in Highly Regulated Sectors: The Case of the Spanish Medical Devices Sector

Innovation is a key driver of sustainable competitive advantage and one of the key challenges for small-and medium-sized companies (SMEs) (O’Regan et al., 2006). Therefore, SMEs need to remain active in new product development (NPD). It is difficult for SMEs1 in regulated sectors to development new products, because heavy regulatory involvement imposes a number of difficulties on the NPD process. Products have to meet these strict regulations in terms of quality, safety, functionality, and manufacturability, which makes it difficult for SMEs to differentiate in terms of the effectiveness of the product concepts. However, there are big differences in the NPD performance of SMEs. Then, the questions are (1) how do SMEs in regulated sectors distinguish themselves in terms of innovation performance? And, (2) how can SMEs in regulated sectors be successful in NPD?