Mario Raffa

The Evaluation of Innovation Capabilities in Small Software Firms: A Methodological Approach*

This paper presents a methodological approach for the evaluation of innovation capabilities in small software firms. The methodology is based on the assumption of a relationship between specific resources managed by small software firms and their innovation capabilities. Within the proposed methodological approach, a model for the quantitative analysis of innovation capabilities is presented. In order to show how the methodology can be applied to concrete situations, three case studies of small firms operating in the software sector and information services are presented and discussed.

The development process of small firms

This paper analyses the development process of a sample of 32 software firms. From the raw data the authors produced 103 different organizational profiles, resulting in seven configurations. The results of the research show complex growth paths. Most firms are unable to sustain competition, mainly based on technological innovation. While the firms based on basic technical know-how show a variety of directions of growth, the more market orientated firms are forced to abandon software development as a main interest. Most of the surveyed firms cease to exist as small software firms. For most of them their life as software producers lasts: from 3 to 7 years.

The ICT Service Industry in North Africa and the Role of Partnerships in Morocco

Abstract In many developing countries, the growth of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is becoming a remarkable phenomenon. Such growth is influenced by a huge variety of economic (infrastructure and social development), institutional (finance and legal system) and environmental (education system and culture) factors. In this context, forms of partnerships between local firms and multinational companies can play a key role in fostering the development of the ICT- sector. This article presents a study of the state of the art of the ICT sector in North Africa. Additionally, an in depth study of the situation in Morocco was carried out. It investigates, using several case studies, the value of the different models of partnership that have been created in the ICT service sector.

The role of professionals in small Italian software firms

Abstract This article illustrates the outcomes of research carried out on a sample of small Italian software firms. The role of the entrepreneur and the relationships between the firm and professionals are crucial to sustain these firms innovative capabilities. Professional skills, job satisfaction, autonomy, and personal knowledge are the most important sources of the software firms performance. On the basis of the field data, a dynamic model for small innovative firms is presented to illustrate the behavior of the firms in sustaining their innovative capabilities.

The short but interesting life of small software firms

The paper analyses the organizational transformations of small innovative firms and the influence of the entrepreneurial know how on the growth path of the firms. A sample of 32 software firms has been investigated for more than fifteen years by the research group. From the raw data the authors derived 103 different organizational profiles, resulting in seven configurations. The results of the research show complex growth paths. Most of firms are not able to sustain a competition, mainly based on technological innovation. While the firms based on an initial technical know-how shows a variety of trajectories, the firms based on an initial orientation to market are forced to renounce to the software development as the main business. Most of the surveyed firms stop to exist as small software firms. For most of them their life as software producers lasted from three to seven years.

Managing the marketing/entrepreneurship interface in small knowledge-based firms: a methodological approach

In this paper the authors address the issue of the management of the marketing/entrepreneurship interface in small entrepreneurial knowledge‐based firms (EKFs). According to the perspective presented in this work, in such firms, the management of the interface is strictly related to ensuring a suitable balance of market and technological innovation capabilities throughout each phase of firm’s life. In order to contribute to the debate in this research area, the authors propose a theoretical framework based on both organizational configuration and resource‐based theories. Within this theoretical framework, a methodology to evaluate firm’s innovation capabilities based on the use of fuzzy logic is described. The proposed methodology was tested in a field analysis whose results are presented in the paper. On the basis of these empirical results, some useful indications and practical lessons concerning the relationships between marketing/entrepreneurship and innovation in small innovative firms are discussed.

Introduction: entrepreneurship, competitiveness and local development

The Research in Entrepreneurship (RENT) conference is an annual international research meeting for scholars and practitioners in the field of entrepreneurship and small business management, promoted by the ECSB (European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) and the EIASM (European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management). Starting from the RENT conference in Copenhagen in 2004, an anthology containing the best papers presented at RENT conferences is published yearly thanks to the joint effort of the RENT Scientific Committee and the local conference organizers. This book in particular contains a group of 11 contributions selected among the 131 accepted for presentation at the RENT conference hosted at the University Federico II in Naples (Italy) in November 2005. The anthology is representative of the main research areas that are of interest to a community of scholars, which is undoubtedly the leading research community in entrepreneurial and small business studies in Europe and one of the most representative ones at the international level. The RENT conference has undergone a remarkable growth during the last 20 years. As a consequence it has experienced a marked increase in heterogeneity of approaches, research topics and theoretical backgrounds. This increasing diversity undoubtedly represents a valuable resource. At the same time a need for a unitary view and the search for point of contacts between different approaches seems to emerge. As with any growing and evolving research field, entrepreneurship studies also need to manage a trade-off. It is necessary to preserve internal diversity to foster innovation and at the same time to find a common background, shared values and a common language to ensure that the different research ‘souls’ are able to talk to each other and cross-fertilize the debate. In our opinion, two possible directions to manage this trade-off have been proposed at the 2005 RENT conference.

To Support the Emergence of Academic Entrepreneurs: The Role of Business Plan Competitions

This book discusses paradigmatic changes in the field of entrepreneurship education in response to economic, political and social needs, and the consequential need to reassess, redevelop and renew curricula and methods used in teaching entrepreneurship.

Virtual enterprise in SME networks

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in industrial districts havehistorically provided an important alternative to the advantages achieved through alarger production scale in the context of the Italian industrial system. However, in recentdecades uniform growth in SME networks has come to an end. The industrial districtmodel has often proved to be rather a ‘stage’ in one of the possible different paths ofindustrialisation. In fact, small firms are evolving towards a scenario characterised byincreasing competition and massive introduction of ICT. These changes have acceleratedthe search for new organisational forms that allow SMEs facing the growing complexityof the business environment. Furthermore, it is of paramount importance to sustain local SME networks especially during period of economic crisis. One possible way may be tosupport the virtualisation potential of SME networks and encourage their rapid evolutiontoward the Virtual Enterprise (VE) model order to seize new development opportunities.Despite increasing academic interest toward the VE, there are a number of key issues notaddressed by the current literature such as the possible form VEs may assume and the lackof empirical investigations. This paper tries to fill these voids. Two are the main objectivesof this paper. Firstly, to analyse the possible models that VE may assume when participatedby SMEs and, secondly, to fill the existing empirical research gap in this field. In order toachieve the above objectives a comprehensive literature review on the subject has been firstcarried out. Subsequently, an exploratory questionnaire survey has been implemented ina SME network located in the eastern area of Naples city. The literature review allows theidentification of two extreme VE forms: the Hierarchical and the Holarchical models. Theresult of the questionnaire survey suggests that the network analysed may be a potentialpool of VEs in which temporary relationships oriented to specific projects are continuouslyformed and reformed. Finally, the comparison between literature review and surveyfindings allows establishing that VEs created in that network may assume a hybrid formbetween the two extreme models identified.

The role of academic spin-offs in connecting local knowledge

Geographical areas with a consistent delay in development are characterized by a set of extremely weak links among the places where technical and scientific knowledge are produced, i.e. Universities, Research Centres, innovative large companies, etc., and the places where this knowledge might be utilized, i.e. local SMEs, local Public Administration, etc. (Corti, 1997).