Pedro Figueroa Dorrego

Critical elements for product innovation at Portuguese innovative SMEs: an intellectual capital perspective

The general purpose of this research is to study interaction effects between intangible assets and product innovation. More specifically, the authors build on the intellectual capital-based view of the firm and new product development perspectives to analyse which intellectual capital elements affect product innovation performance at innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Portugal, and what are their interdependencies, if any, in that process. The findings confirm that intellectual capital does influence product innovation performance at Portuguese innovative SMEs. However, not all intellectual capital elements that were identified for the purpose of this research show such a relevant effect. In fact, only three elements, coming, respectively, from human, relational and structural capital, effectively reveal a significant impact on product innovation performance. Those are ‘Commitment to the Product Innovation Process’, ‘Vertical Relationships’ and ‘Product Innovation Management and Strategy’. In addition, only structural capital elements exhibit a significant direct impact on product innovation success. Human capital and relational capital elements affect product innovation indirectly, through their interaction with structural capital. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of intellectual capital elements on product innovation at SMEs, providing more evidence on which to build an intellectual capital-based view of corporate phenomena.

Intellectual capital on regional innovation systems: toward the momentum of growth rates of business performance

The aim of this paper is to introduce a model that makes explicit the links among intellectual capital (IC) items (human-HC, structural-SC and relational capital-RC) and the indicators activity growth in innovative SMEs. Several authors have pointed out the importance of knowledge and innovation as basic factors of competitiveness. Other authors have studied the relationships between some elements of intellectual capital and business performance. Through the relevant literature review done, a set of relationships has been developed and contrasted in 163 SMEs. Must be stressed the importance of the structural capital (SC) in the internal management of innovation in innovative SMEs. Furthermore, the growth of their activity can be explained mainly by the link HC-SC. There are relevant implications from the perspective of the triple helix, especially regarding to the innovation regional policies and the strategic orientation of the science-technology system.

The main intellectual capital components that are relevant to the product, process and management firm innovativeness

This paper focuses on the influence of the human, structural and relational capital on the product-process and management innovativeness of the firm. A global model including variables used in previous literature is used and we establish 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 intellectual capital components influences differently each type of innovation capacity (innovativeness). We concluded that the human and relational capital influence positive and directly the product-process innovativeness and that the structural capital influences positive and directly the management innovativeness. These results highlight the importance and influence of the intellectual capital on the innovativeness. Moreover, they point out the different character of product-process and management innovativeness.

EL CAPITAL ESTRUCTURAL Y LA CAPACIDAD INNOVADORA DE LA EMPRESA

The current business environment press companies and researchers to seek new competitive factors, that permit achieve and/or maintain competitive advantage. Among those appears the intellectual capital concept. A component that represents the strategic knowledge assets owned by the company, among other aspects is the structural capital. It is usually suspected that it affects the innovativeness. Nevertheless is less known the way this impact happens and the aspects that are involved in. To investigate this connection we had passed a survey in 68 companies operating in the automotive component industry located in Galicia (northern Spain) and northern Portugal, and verify, first, that the innovative capacity has two dimensions: the product-process innovativeness and the management innovativeness, second, that structural capital influences differentially each type of innovativeness. We verified that it influences directly the management innovativeness.

The impact of structural capital on product innovation performance: an empirical analysis

By conducting a questionnaire within a network of Portuguese innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and by using a combination of multivariate techniques to determine constructs and relations, the authors build on the intellectual capital and new product development perspectives to empirically analyse the influence of structural capital on product innovation performance. The results indicate that structural capital does have a significant and positive relationship with product innovation performance at Portuguese innovative SMEs. However, not all structural capital elements that were considered for the purpose of this study reveal such significant impact. In fact, product innovation management and strategy stands out as the only structural capital element that significantly affects product innovation performance at the innovative SMEs level.

Relation between intellectual capital and the product process innovation

This study aims to identify the influence of intellectual capital on product and process innovation. To do so, we have administered a survey to 68 firms that belong to the auto components sector, located in Northern Spain and Northern Portugal. In our study, we identified three dimensions within the intellectual capital components. Human capital: formation and knowledge creation, innovative attitude and innovate incentive; structural capital: culture of innovation, the trust and creation and knowledge development, finally, relational capital: collaboration networks, clients and alliances. The elements of intellectual capital with a direct and positive influence in the product-process innovativeness were the human capital and the relational capital. However, not all dimensions of these components have a direct and positive influence. Concerning human capital, only the innovative attitude and innovation incentive dimensions seem to directly and positively influence the product-process innovativeness. The relational capital has influence in the product-process innovativeness; only through clients and collaboration networks.