scholarly journals Knowledge transfer and innovation performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs): An informal economy analysis

Heliyon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. e04740
Author(s):  
Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni ◽  
Aanuoluwa Ilerioluwa Kolawole ◽  
Maxwell Ayodele Olokundun ◽  
Mercy E. Ogbari



Author(s):  
Stefano Brogi ◽  
Tamara Menichini

Eco-innovations have become a clear target of EU policy strategies. Consequently, measuring eco-innovation performance at the country level has become crucial to detect eco-innovation patterns and to design eco-innovation policy implementation. This paper focuses on EU small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the aim to understand to what extent EU funding programmes influence barriers and drivers towards SMEs’ eco-innovation performance. A correlation analysis between data from Eco-Innovation Scoreboard index and competitiveness and innovation framework programme/Entrepreneurship and innovation programme/Eco-innovation programme projects database reveals that the countries with the highest number of EU funded projects are those with the lowest levels of green early-stage investments. According to the findings, EU funding programmes reduce financial constraints that SMEs face for developing eco-innovations. This paper recommends that policymakers should keep in mind the dynamic interaction between private and public funding support, the latter is customised according to the entity of risk along the innovation cycle.   Keywords: Eco-innovation, barriers, drivers, policy strategies, index.    



2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Mohamed Haffar ◽  
Rasim Ozcan ◽  
Magdalena Radulescu ◽  
Nicoleta Isac ◽  
Abdelmohsen A. Nassani

The emergence of advanced technologies has brought new challenges and opportunities for all kinds of business organizations. In a technologically advanced era, innovation plays a dominant role for the successful operation of the commercial landscape. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the impact of network capabilities (NC) and frugal innovation (FI) on innovation performance (IP). Furthermore, the mediating role of FI and moderating role of innovation strategies has also been tested on the link between NC and IP. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered with small and medium enterprises development authorities (SMEDA) were approached for the completion of the current study. Only 509 owner/managers agreed to participate. A quantitative research design was employed for the current study. During the two–three months process of data collection only 387 complete responses were received from the SMEs working in Pakistan’s big cities. Correlation, regression and bootstrap methods were applied to test the study hypotheses. The findings revealed that NC positively affect FI and IP. Furthermore, the findings also confirmed the mediating effect of FI between NC and IP link. The performance of SMEs working in emerging economies is largely based on their innovative activities. In this dynamic scenario SMEs’ survival is attached to continuous IP in their products and services.



2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Himyar Al-Jabri ◽  
Kamla Ali Al-Busaidi

Purpose Inter-organizational knowledge transfer (IOKT) is important especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Organizations need external knowledge to improve learning capabilities and their own competitiveness. SMEs are important for every nation’s economy. IOKT can enable SMEs’ learning and innovation and consequently its contribution to the national economy. This study aims to examine the factors that influence the IOKT process in Omani SMEs. Design/methodology/approach This study uses qualitative methodology. Participants were ten Omani SMEs from the information and communications technology sector, a knowledge-intensive sector. The study is based on face-to-face semi-structured interviews and content analysis. Findings The results confirmed that inter-organizational knowledge is considered to be important to SMEs. This research also showed that IOKT is affected by many factors related to the donor organization, recipient organization, nature of the knowledge and inter-organizational dynamics. The core factor to IOKT in SMEs is risk and trust. Originality/value Literature shows that there is an emphasis on the importance of studying knowledge management in SMEs; however, there is little work that has been done. Such study is even more important for Omani SMEs to improve their learning, innovation and contribution to a national diversified economy. This study provides valuable insights to establish an effective foundation for IOKT in Omani SMEs.



Author(s):  
Khuram Shahzad ◽  
Marco De Sisto ◽  
Muhammad Athar Rasheed ◽  
Sami U Bajwa ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
...  

Despite the increasing relevance of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) for innovation performance in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), few studies examine the complexity of the underlying mechanism that explains the relationship between EO and innovation performance. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and signalling theory, we examine an organisation-level model to explain how SME EO predicts innovation performance through human resource management (HRM) practices and collective organisational engagement (COE). We used data collected from 186 human resource managers and 526 employees in SMEs. The results indicate that HRM practices and COE sequentially mediate the relationship between EO and innovation performance. To complement studies that identify an organisation’s micro processes (i.e. employee behaviours as mediators between EO and innovation), this study highlights the need to examine macro processes occurring at the organisation level to account for the EO–innovation performance relationship.





1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (117) ◽  
pp. 517-534
Author(s):  
Robert Kappel

Africa is poorer than any other region in the world. Many countries are chaos-stricken, and most observers see a long-term decline. Structural adjustments have done so far less in order to solve at least some of the deep problems. Capitalism is not far-reaching, and the informal economy dominates the lives of the majority of the people. Will the informal economy, which is growing in the urbanisation process, form the basis for an alternative “endogenous economy”? This study identifies the growth perspectives of small and medium enterprises and industrial clusters. And it looks into new growth and locational theories, which have argued that agglomerations might favour local production and investment in a globalized world.



Author(s):  
Prita Ayu Kusumawardhany

Global competition in the digital era is currently encouraging Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia to develop innovations to provide competitive advantage. SMEs must be able to be adaptive to be able to absorb knowledge, especially in the field of technology. The use of social networking sites can provide a lot of information about individuals and networks that can be used for business purposes. The purpose of this study was to show the relevance of absorptive capacity and the role of social networking sites towards innovations conducted by SMEs. This research is a quantitative by using survey method processed through Partial Least Square (PLS) - Path Modeling that measures absorptive capacity relationships, social networking sites with innovation performance. One hundred (100) questionnaires have been distributed to SMEs in Indonesia. Research results show that the increased absorptive capacity of SMEs through social networking sites can improve innovation performance. Therefore, several recommendations are needed so those SMEs in Indonesia know what must be done to strengthen innovation performance.



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