scholarly journals COORDINATION MECHANISMS OF COLLABORATIVE R&D PROJECTS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Baggio ◽  
Douglas Wegner ◽  
Gustavo Dalmarco

ABSTRACT Purpose: To analyze how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) coordinate collaborative research and development (R&D) projects through an open innovation strategy. Originality/value: This research was motivated by a theoretical gap in the management of collaborative R&D projects in open innovation strategies. The originality of the paper is to advance the understanding of coordination mechanisms that SMEs can use to manage open innovation and obtain more effective results. Design/methodology/approach: The research followed a qualitative approach, through three case studies of collaborative projects. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with eleven managers directly involved in collaborative R&D projects. Findings: Results demonstrate that the use of coordination mechanisms depends on the applicability of each project’s results, i.e., the higher the chances of a certain R&D project becoming a real product, the higher the importance given to the coordination mechanisms. On the cases observed, the coordination mechanisms were defined by the enterprise, not by external partners. In addition, it was observed that open innovation projects that the enterprise seeks for external knowledge to complement internal resources (outside-in) were considered more important than transferring internal knowledge to external partners (inside-out). The paper contributes to organizational theory by highlighting the relation between the characteristics of collaborative R&D projects and the coordination mechanisms used. Regarding the managerial contribution, results serve as a guide for entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs interested in coordinating collaborative projects based on open innovation processes.

2013 ◽  
pp. 160-174
Author(s):  
Hakikur Rahman

Successful innovation is a key to business growth. In the realm of technological development, innovation processes have been transformed into various forms, like open innovation, crowdsourcing innovation, or collaborative innovation. This research would like to focus on open innovation processes to reach out to the common stakeholders in the entrepreneurship system through small and medium enterprises. It has been observed that to provide innovative services or products to the outer periphery of the customer chain, SMEs play an important role. Hence, focusing innovation for SMEs would lead to a newer dimension of innovation research for better business and economic growth. It could be applied to both ways in terms of value gain to the participants. This applies to all sorts of entrepreneurships, though often corporate business houses seem to be the most beneficiaries of innovation researches. This research will emphasize open innovation for SMEs at the outset by focusing transformation of innovation leading to a networked paradigm in spite of being in closed periphery, and try to provide some overview on innovation strategies, including various challenges.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 524-550
Author(s):  
Preecha Chaochotechuang ◽  
Farhad Daneshgar ◽  
Stefania Mariano

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge by exploring how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) search for external knowledge in their open innovation processes, and how the search can be advanced. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory research employs a qualitative multiple case study design. A literature review of open innovation in SMEs and external knowledge search is used to build the premises of this study. Semi-structured interviews with eight SMEs are employed to collect subsequent exploratory empirical data. Findings This exploratory study revealed that SMEs adopted a combination of cognitive and experiential search heuristics where cognitive search was practiced during the innovation research process when searching for external knowledge, whilst experiential search was practiced during the innovation development process. Concerning the search space, this study found that SMEs mainly explored local knowledge, and occasionally pursued distant knowledge when confronted with complex problems. The reason for the above behavior was explained to be related to the reduction of costs and risks associated with innovation activities. Originality/value External knowledge plays a pivotal role in open innovation. Although extant studies have shed some light on how large firms search for external knowledge, however, it is not clear how SMEs search for external knowledge. Moreover, this study focuses on learning about both the search space and the search heuristics at both the research and the development stages of the innovation process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Ismael Cristofer Baierle ◽  
Guilherme Brittes Benitez ◽  
Elpidio Oscar Benitez Nara ◽  
Jones Luis Schaefer ◽  
Miguel Afonso Sellitto

The purpose of this study is to identify how open innovation variables influence the competitive capability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a regional territory in Southern Brazil. The research method is a survey of 67 SMEs in Southern Brazil that provided data for an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model encompassing seven innovation variables and five competitiveness constructs. The results indicate that most innovation initiatives have a low impact on creating a competitive edge in the surveyed companies. The most remarkable positive impacts are (i) technology trends influencing the shop floor productivity, (ii) flexibility influencing internal aspects, and (iii) customer satisfaction and innovative ideas and customized supplies influencing the market orientation. The study also reports that innovation processes are not safe from failures. Some ill-defined innovation initiatives may jeopardize the competitive edge.


Author(s):  
Hakikur Rahman

Successful innovation is a key to business growth. In the realm of technological development, innovation processes have been transformed into various forms, like open innovation, crowdsourcing innovation, or collaborative innovation. This research would like to focus on open innovation processes to reach out to the common stakeholders in the entrepreneurship system through small and medium enterprises. It has been observed that to provide innovative services or products to the outer periphery of the customer chain, SMEs play an important role. Hence, focusing innovation for SMEs would lead to a newer dimension of innovation research for better business and economic growth. It could be applied to both ways in terms of value gain to the participants. This applies to all sorts of entrepreneurships, though often corporate business houses seem to be the most beneficiaries of innovation researches. This research will emphasize open innovation for SMEs at the outset by focusing transformation of innovation leading to a networked paradigm in spite of being in closed periphery, and try to provide some overview on innovation strategies, including various challenges.


Economics ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 258-269
Author(s):  
Amiram Porath ◽  
Hakikur Rahman ◽  
Isabel Ramos

As a conceptual study this chapter takes open innovation as a tool that has been considered from the point of view of collaboration between the Industry and the Academy. However, if considered under the framework of the Resource Based Theory, specifically regarding Transaction Cost, it can be revealed that the two parties (Industry and Academy) are in fact compatible. Main focus of the discussion is on the Transaction Cost in the aspect of the management resources that are available for managing core activities and the cost incurred compared to other alternative management activities. It has been observed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are faced with the ever increasing stress of intensive competition and limited by their resources (for example, managerial capabilities, financial, and others) in their abilities to deal with the transaction cost, and thus effectively turn to collaboration as a solution. The study synthesizes aspects of open innovation based on a theoretical model and a case study of the User Association of Advanced Technologies program in Israel, and emphasizes on collaboration as an open innovation activity within the Resource Based Theory. Thereafter, it concludes that collaborative research reduced the transaction cost in terms of utilizing open innovation in entrepreneurships, especially in case of SMEs, before providing a few research hints. The research piggybacks on the acquired knowledge on open innovation and thus strengthens further the concept of reduction of transaction cost through collaborative research based on the specific case study.


Author(s):  
Amiram Porath ◽  
Hakikur Rahman ◽  
Isabel Ramos

As a conceptual study this paper takes open innovation as a tool that has been considered from the point of view of collaboration between the Industry and the Academy. However, if considered under the framework of the Resource Based Theory, specifically regarding Transaction Cost, it can be revealed that the two parties (Industry and Academy) are in fact compatible. Main focus of the discussion is on the Transaction Cost in the aspect of the management resources that are available for managing core activities and the cost incurred compared to other alternative management activities. It has been observed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are faced with the ever increasing stress of intensive competition and limited by their resources (for example, managerial capabilities, financial, and others) in their abilities to deal with the transaction cost, and thus effectively turn to collaboration as a solution. The study synthesizes aspects of open innovation based on a theoretical model and a case study of the User Association of Advanced Technologies program in Israel, and emphasizes on collaboration as an open innovation activity within the Resource Based Theory. Thereafter, it concludes that collaborative research reduced the transaction cost in terms of utilizing open innovation in entrepreneurships, especially in case of SMEs, before providing a few research hints. The research piggybacks on the acquired knowledge on open innovation and thus strengthens further the concept of reduction of transaction cost through collaborative research based on the specific case study.


2013 ◽  
pp. 932-943
Author(s):  
Fábio Oliveira ◽  
Isabel Ramos

Inovamais is an innovation consultant that began its activities in 1997, several years before the popularization of the Open Innovation paradigm. The founding motivation was to enable the connection of academic and entrepreneurial worlds, with focus on businesses and their needs and special emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They work with both worlds, by turning universities’ intellectual assets into commercially attractive knowledge, and helping enterprises to search external resources (funding, knowledge, and partnerships) for their innovation processes. The objective of the present case is to shed some lights over the role and services of an intermediary of open innovation in the current general innovation landscape. Therefore, this case will generally present the business model of Inovamais on intermediation of open innovation. It will also discuss the cultural, managerial, and political challenges and problems that Inovamais has identified and dealt with during these thirteen years of work at the Portuguese and European levels.


Author(s):  
Fábio Oliveira ◽  
Isabel Ramos

Inovamais is an innovation consultant that began its activities in 1997, several years before the popularization of the Open Innovation paradigm. The founding motivation was to enable the connection of academic and entrepreneurial worlds, with focus on businesses and their needs and special emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They work with both worlds, by turning universities’ intellectual assets into commercially attractive knowledge, and helping enterprises to search external resources (funding, knowledge, and partnerships) for their innovation processes. The objective of the present case is to shed some lights over the role and services of an intermediary of open innovation in the current general innovation landscape. Therefore, this case will generally present the business model of Inovamais on intermediation of open innovation. It will also discuss the cultural, managerial, and political challenges and problems that Inovamais has identified and dealt with during these thirteen years of work at the Portuguese and European levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Jianan Wang ◽  
Yuzhen Duan ◽  
Guijian Liu

It is difficult for enterprises to adapt to the rapidly developing market demand and increasingly intense competition by relying only on internal resources to carry out innovation activities. We identify three new issues for the Cross-Functional Consortium Families (CFCFs, CF2s) open innovation model based on a cooperating network: participation of large-scale high-tech enterprises (LHEs), impact from open source, and motivation of keeping resource independence. By studying the series cases of Tesla, Inc. (Austin, TX, USA) cooperating with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through an open source CF2 model, we examined and discussed these three issues and gave new connotations to both open innovation and the CF2 model from perspectives of open source and resources. This paper also provides strategic reference for other LHEs to mitigate the dependency on key resources and generate new key resources accepted by the environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
Ambara Purusottama ◽  
Teddy Trilaksono ◽  
Ari Ardianto

This study attempts to narrow the gaps that exist in the literature about branding in the context of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The research method used is a qualitative approach through in-depth interviews with Owners, Managing Directors, and Human Resource Managers in MSMEs. The results of this study indicate that the UMKM employer branding is still limited to intention. It can be seen from the absence of programs or activities that support employer branding programs that are felt directly by their employees. This is induced by the focus of MSME businessmen who are still on fundamental issues such as financial constraints and the absence of loyal consumers. The results of this study can be used by educators or stakeholders in Indonesian MSMEs as a reference for formulating employer branding approaches and strategies that are in line with the characteristics of MSMEs in Indonesia. Keywords: Employer branding, Human resources management, Micro, small and medium enterprises


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