Innovative high-technology SMEs have become a major influencing factor in the success of any modern economy and they increasingly compete in the globalised world with limited resources. Previous research on SMEs at firm level has always taken into consideration the constraints of the resources that an SME faces and the implications of this on their performance and business growth. SMEs have to develop their own unique skills and capabilities, allocating their limited resources appropriately to be able to respond to the changes in the external business environment that pose risks to the success of their innovation and its commercialisation. Having an innovation strategy is very important: to have a clear goal and a path to achieve the set goal. This helps high-technology SMEs to decide which factors can influence the success of their innovations, leading to business growth by developing dynamic capabilities to respond to the external changes by allocating their resources at their disposal. This thesis is an empirical analysis of innovation strategy and its role in the business growth of high-technology SMEs. This research study is carried out at firm level. It draws on Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capability theory to explore innovation strategy factors contributing to the better performance of the firm. Four hypotheses were proposed based on the theoretical framework developed through the literature review. They were tested using empirical data. The primary data were collected using quantitative methods through survey questionnaire. Data was collected from 106 high-technology SMEs in the UK. Technological factor, marketing factor, entrepreneurial factor and risk from the business environment were identified as four important factors which are part of an innovation strategy. The results of the study suggest three revised factors: technology, entrepreneurial and government-related risk factors. The initial risk related to business environment was amended to government-related risk factors based on the measurement variables which were loaded to the factor. However, one hypothesis based on the marketing factor failed to support the proposed positive influence on business growth and hence rejected. This calls for further research on the marketing factor in high-technology SMEs. This study recognises the reason behind this paradoxical result, which could be the nature of the high-technology firms participating in this study, which are more dependent on technology-push rather than marketing pull and they do not confirm with the established norms of marketing for the business growth of their firm. This study contributes to the development of knowledge and practice at multiple levels. The research developed a theoretical framework to establish the innovation strategy factors and its influence on business growth and this is validated through empirical data. At the practice level, the results of the study could be used by high-technology SMEs in the UK, and any other high-technology SMEs which are based in a similar economy and business environment, to have better information about innovation strategy. The study could also help policy makers, propose better policy to support innovation of high-technology SMEs in UK.

As Chinese economy develops, service innovation has become a key element for which Chinese enterprises compete and upgrading of service industry all over China due to its influence on national economic competitiveness, among which the innovation of multi-agent service plays an important role in enterprises. This thesis mainly studies the concept of the Multi-agent Participate Model of Service Innovation and explores the strategic role and position of the model in communication industry. The purpose of this thesis includes two parts: firstly it studies the service innovation which multi-agent such as enterprises, customers and suppliers participate in so as to establish a new theoretical framework of such service innovation. Secondly, from the perspective of strategic management of enterprises, it considers the selection of Multi-agent Participate Model of Service Innovation in competitive strategies of the communication industry to clarify the strategic role and position of such model in management of the communication industry. Questionnaire and interview are two main data acquisition methods in this thesis. The author surveyed 100 employees from China Telecom with a questionnaire designed by herself. The data shows that customers’ demands for market and competitors’ competition in the market have a great influence on the innovation activities of enterprises. Some senior managers of China Telecom have been interviewed for this study. The interviews have shown the significance of Multi-agent Participate Model of Service Innovation in telecommunication industry and the Multi-agent Participate Model of Service Innovation can favorably be applied to telecommunication industry. The enterprises, customers, employees, managers and suppliers are of inseparable relationships in the model. As an innovation model of enterprises, Multi-agent Participate Model of Service Innovation can better mobilize enthusiasm of each participant of service innovation, and innovativeness of management service to clarify the strategic position of the model in enterprise management.

Background: The Supply Chain department at the division Sandvik Machining Solutions within Sandvik AB have found a need of introducing a process for managing innovation within the organization in order to gain competitive advantages and to stay on the leading edge in their field. Research Questions: 1. How can a generic model for managing innovation within the supply chain look like? 2. How can an innovation process be configured and managed in order to create and manage new ideas in the supply chain? Methodology: An exploratory case study approach to answer the research questions has been conducted in order to develop a model for innovation management within a supply chain of large manufacturing firm. The data collection methods have been interviews and from internal documentation. The interviews have been conducted with managers at Sandvik Machining Solutions within the SCM department, R&D department (innovation manager) and sales departments. The amount of correspondents has been no more than the amount 10 because of the empirical evidence it will result in otherwise and the time limit of this research. The fact that this is a case study, based on a single company, our findings will not be completely generalizable to other populations, but it can be generalizable to some extent if applied to similar companies and situations. To increase the validity of this research, the model could have been tested and evaluated. Findings and Results: The results showed that there is a need of becoming more innovative within the supply chain. Moreover, to get inputs through-out the organization we have also received significant information regarding e.g. the supply chain strategies, innovation and customer needs. These inputs have been analyzed in order to develop an innovation management process that will fit a supply chain department. The model also provides a structured approach to create and manage new ideas in within the Supply Chain.

This thesis aims to provide clarity on which factors within an organization positively affect its performance in terms of innovation.  Innovation is seen as a critical component of a company’s strategy in achieving market differentiation and profitability, yet for many, it remains a frustrating pursuit.  This study aims to empirically model the relationship between a firm’s investment in innovation and the effect of this investment on its performance.  The method used is Structural Equation Modeling with data gathered from our online survey of 128 respondents from firms within the EU.  This work addresses two research questions, the first being to confirm that a firm’s innovation performance is influenced by both a commitment to human factors focusing on softer values in combination with strong R&D and technical capability.  Secondly, whether the presence of innovation inhibitors influences this relationship.  The findings showed that a firm’s innovation performance is improved when it prioritizes creating an environment and culture that nurtures innovation only when activated through a strong commitment to technical and R&D excellence, but not without this technical capacity.  Secondly, the introduction of innovation inhibitors reconfirmed the first finding, and the relationship between both the human factors within a company and its technical capability, as well as the relationship between this technical capability and its performance was stronger in their presence.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:29:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aparecida Gomes dos Santos Lousa.pdf: 1684532 bytes, checksum: 5b759ab83fb04f2b65d7ae33ff7799cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-19 / This dissertation discusses about strategy of innovation to the Chemical Industry of the State of Goiás (IQUEGO) and suggests an improvement proposal through Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) in Molecular Biotechnology. The creation of Government/Company/University partnership is included in the viability proposal of RD&I. The Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory implantation strategy is presented based on the concepts of interdependent collaborative departments of an organizational structure, which will focus on new and/or innovator drug research. The innovation law, standards and resolutions, innovation related scientific papers, pharmaceutical and administrative literature were used as theoretical references. As it concerns a professional master degree, this dissertation tries to find a solution for IQUEGO´s professional environment. The process of research could be identified in seven stages, ranging from the evolution of administrative theories though organizational innovation to the identification of an opportunity to improve through RD&I in Molecular Biotechnology. The research ends structuring a Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory. The proposed model intends to inspire managing toward implantation process of RD&I through Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory at the IQUEGO. / Esta dissertação coloca em pauta a estratégia de inovação na Indústria Química do Estado de Goiás (IQUEGO) e faz uma proposta de crescimento por meio da Pesquisa, Desenvolvimento e Inovação (PD&I) em Biotecnologia Molecular. A criação de parcerias do tipo Empresa/Governo/Universidade está inclusa na proposta de viabilidade do laboratório de PD&I em Biotecnologia Molecular na indústria farmacêutica. Tendo como preceitos a relação de interdependência das áreas dentro de uma estrutura organizacional, é apresentada uma estratégia para implantação do laboratório de PD&I em Biotecnologia Molecular, contemplando a pesquisa para medicamentos novos e/ou inovadores. Utiliza-se como referencial teórico a lei da inovação, normas e resoluções e literaturas envolvidas, artigos científicos relacionados ao cenário da inovação no mundo e literaturas farmacêuticas e administrativas. Por se tratar de um mestrado profissional, esta dissertação buscou a oportunidade de propor uma solução para um problema encontrado no ambiente profissional da IQUEGO, objetivando torná-la adaptável à realidade da empresa. A partir de uma estrutura de desmembramento do trabalho foi possível modelar o processo de pesquisa em sete macroetapas, abrangendo desde a evolução das Teorias administrativas pela inovação organizacional até a identificação de uma oportunidade de crescimento através da PD&I em Biotecnologia Molecular. O trabalho finaliza com a estruturação de um Laboratório de PD&I em Biotecnologia Molecular. O modelo proposto busca servir de inspiração para a gestão do processo e implantação do Laboratório de PD&I em Biotecnologia Molecular na IQUEGO.

A Open Innovation (OI) é uma abordagem emergente que têm despertado cada vez mais o interesse de especialistas e de estudos acadêmicos na área de inovação. Entretanto, a implemen-tação dessa estratégia ainda é desafiadora, especialmente para as Pequenas e Médias Empresas (PMEs). A carência de métodos e processos documentados e estruturados para implementar a OI, também são fatores que causam resistências e desestimulam muitas vezes as empresas. Ou-tro fato é que poucas pesquisas e trabalhos empíricos têm explorado o potencial e influência dos Sistemas Regionais de Inovação (SRIs) na implementação da OI nas empresas. Frente a essa problemática de pesquisa, esta Tese tem como objetivo geral desenvolver um processo de implementação da estratégia Open Innovation voltado para empresas de SRIs. O produto final da Tese é um framework que representa o Processo para Implementação da OI (PIOI). É uma ferramenta gerencial que visa auxiliar e orientar os gestores quanto as etapas, documentos, e forma mais apropriada para conduzir a implementação. Sobretudo, permite a compreensão dos elementos e Fatores Críticos de Sucesso (FCS) que interferem na melhoria da capacidade de inovação em PMEs. Este trabalho de Tese está estruturado em sete capítulos, com cinco artigos propostos. O artigo 1 busca identificar os fatores determinantes para a implementação da OI em SRIs. O artigo 2 apresenta uma revisão sistemática da literatura para identificar os FCS para implementação da OI no âmbito das empresas. No artigo 3, desenvolve-se uma pesquisa apli-cada com 50 empresas de um SRI para diagnosticar as estratégias de inovação e os FCS para implementação da OI. No artigo 4, propõe-se um framework para implementação da OI em PMEs de SRIs. No artigo 5, o framework é testado e avaliado empiricamente através de um estudo de caso de uma empresa. A estrutura metodológica geral da Tese está fundamentada no método de pesquisa construtivista (Design Science Research – DSR). Os artigos abrangem le-vantamento bibliográfico, survey, estudo de caso e pesquisa-ação, e empregam ambos os mé-todos, quantitativo e qualitativo, conforme seus objetivos. A Tese oferece importantes contri-buições acadêmicas e práticas ao abordar os FCS que interferem na implementação da OI, e ao desenvolver um processo para implementação dessa estratégia em PMEs de SRI’s. Além disso, representa uma oportunidade para que as empresas possam transformar e melhorar o seu pro-cesso de desenvolvimento da inovação, implementando mudanças de estratégia e introduzindo estruturas mais colaborativas que suportem novos modelos de negócios. / Open Innovation (OI) is an emerging approach that has increasingly attracted the interest of experts and academic studies in the area of innovation. However, implementing this strategy is still challenging, especially for Small and Medium Companies (PMEs). The lack of documen-ted and structured methods and processes to implement OI are factors that cause resistance and often discourage companies, besides the fact that few empirical studies and research have ex-plored the potential and influence of the Regional Innovation Systems (SRIs) in the implemen-tation of OI in companies. Faced with this research problem, this thesis has as general objective to develop a process of implementation of the Open Innovation strategy directed at SRIs com-panies. The final product is a framework that represents the Process for Implementing OI (PIOI). It is a managerial tool that aims to help and guide managers on the stages, documents, and the most appropriate way to carry out the implementation. Above all, it allows the unders-tanding of the elements and Critical Factors of Success (FCS) that affect the improvement of the innovation capacity of PMEs. The thesis is structured in seven chapters, with five proposed articles. Article 1 seeks to identify the determining factors for the implementation of OI in SRIs. Article 2 presents a systematic review of the literature to identify the FCS for implementing OI in companies. In Article 3 we carry out an applied research with 50 companies in a SRI, in order to diagnose their innovation strategies and the FCS to implement OI. In Article 4, we propose a framework for the implementation of OI in PMEs of SRIs. In Article 5, the framework is empirically tested and evaluated through a company’s case study. The general methodological structure of the thesis is based on the constructivist research method (Design Science Research - DSR). The articles cover literature review, survey, case study and action research, and use both quantitative and qualitative methods, according to their goals. The thesis offers important academic and practical contributions by addressing FCS that affect the implementation of OI, and by developing a process to establish that strategy in PMEs of SRIs. In addition, it represents an opportunity for companies to change and improve their innovation development process by implementing strategy shifts and introducing more collaborative structures that support new business models.

A presente dissertação faz um estudo dos tipos de inovação promovidos por 11 empresas apoiadas pelo programa PIPE da FAPESP. Seu objetivo é descrever os tipos de inovação promovidos pelas empresas em seus primeiros dez anos de existência. Pretendeu-se aqui responder à pergunta \"Que tipo(s) de inovação as empresas de sucesso paulistas, intensivas em conhecimento, promovem nos dez primeiros anos de suas existências?\". Para tanto, o autor utilizou, em um primeiro nível de classificação, a tipologia do Manual de Oslo (2005), que estabelece e denomina a inovação como a) em produto b) em processo c) em marketing d) organizacional. Em um segundo nível de classificação, este só para a inovação em produto, o autor utilizou a tipologia de Garcia e Calantone (2002), que estabelece e denomina a inovação em produto como a) incremental b) realmente nova c) radical. Para desenvolver a pesquisa, qualitativa, de perfil exploratório-descritivo, o autor enviou email convite a 603 empresas beneficiárias de apoio do programa PIPE da FAPESP, apoio este obtido entre maio de 2002 e dezembro de 2009. Com as informações fornecidas pelos respondentes, denominadas ações empreendedoriais, o autor preencheu a parte inicial do instrumento de pesquisa, concluindo assim a primeira etapa do trabalho. A segunda etapa constituiu-se de entrevista, quando as ações empreendedoriais descritas pelos respondentes foram classificadas por tipo de inovação. Os resultados obtidos descrevem os tipos de inovações promovidos pelas empresas constantes da amostra em seus dez primeiros anos de existência. / The present dissertation studies the innovations promoted by 11 companies supported by the program PIPE of FAPESP. It aims at describing the types of innovations promoted by those companies in their first ten years of existence. One intended to answer the question \"What types of innovation successful companies of São Paulo state promoted in their first ten years of existence?\" At the first level, the typology of Oslo\'s Manual (2005) was used to classify the innovations in product, process, marketing and organizational. At the second level, this one only for products, the typology of Garcia e Calantone (2002) was used to classify the innovations in radical, really new and incremental. In order to develop this study, the author contacted companies supported by the program PIPE of FAPESP. Eleven companies were interviewed. The results do describe the type of innovations promoted by the companies in their first ten years of existence.

A inovação é um fator crítico para o sucesso das empresas. A indústria farmacêutica é historicamente movida pela inovação. Entretanto, neste ramo, o desenvolvimento de novos produtos envolve custos elevados e um longo ciclo de desenvolvimento de produto acarretando em um alto risco de negócio. Recentemente, a estratégia de inovação aberta (open innovation) surgiu com alternativa às empresas para inovação sugerindo que as empresas mantenham-se abertas a idéias internas e externas, tornando o processo de inovação mais ágil, econômico e seguro, uma vez que ele passa a ser compartilhado com outras partes. Porém, embora este novo paradigma se aplique ao ramo farmacêutico, há poucas pesquisas até o momento que estudem diretamente a estratégia de inovação aberta à indústria farmacêutica. Desta forma, este trabalho busca estudar de forma exploratória a prática da estratégia de inovação aberta por indústrias farmacêuticas brasileiras e compreender: os motivos que levaram as empresas nacionais a adotarem este modelo, como esta prática está estruturada dentro destas indústrias e de que maneira elas trabalham com seus parceiros de inovação. A pesquisa comprovou que as indústrias farmacêuticas estão utilizando a inovação aberta como estratégia de inovação. Entretanto, o modelo de inovação aplicado possui adaptações, em razões de questões culturais e maturidade da empresa, de forma que o fluxo de idéias criativas ocorre somente na direção do ambiente externo para o interno da empresa. Entre os problemas relacionados à inovação aberta no Brasil, optou-se por investigar as relações entre os envolvidos como forma de encontrar oportunidades de melhoria para o modelo brasileiro que ainda se baseia muito na relação empresa-universidade. Dentre as empresas estudadas no estudo de caso indicou serem os principais stakeholder as universidades e institutos de pesquisa públicos e que estas parceiras se consolidam preferencialmente através de convênios de pesquisa. / In a highly competitive environment, innovation is a critical factor to the success and maintenance of any company. The pharmaceutical industry is historically moved by innovation in products. However, in the pharmaceutical business, the development of new products demands huge investments and a long development cycle which consequently increase the risk of the business associated to uncertainty. Recently, the open innovation strategy emerged as an alternative to companies to innovate and develop new products. This new paradigm suggests that companies must be opened to ideas from the internal and external environments and to perform co-development projects with the purpose of developing products faster, cheaper and in a less risky way. Although this new paradigm is adequate to the pharmaceutical segment, there are few researches that discuss the open innovation strategy in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, this research has the purpose to study the practice of open innovation strategy by Brazilian pharmaceutical companies and to access: the reasons that motivate the national companies to adopt this model, how this practice is structured inside the companies and how they work with their innovation partners. From this investigation it was possible to verify that the pharmaceutical industries in Brazil use open innovation as a strategy of innovation. However, the open innovation model characteristics in Brazil consider adaptations from the original model suggested by Chesbrough. For cultural and the companies’ business maturity level, it was noticed that the influx of creative ideas is mainly from the outside towards inside company. Additionally, it was investigated the relationship among the co-development stakeholders, as an opportunity to find improvements to the Brazilian open innovation model. The case study findings indicate that the most relevant partnership type is the consortium with the universities and research institutes.

This thesis comprises three essays on immigration, innovation, and trade. The first essay utilizes an enhanced gravity model to estimate the effect of lagged immigration waves on Canadian imports and exports, by province. Empirically, this model was tested using Canadian data on import and export flows to the top 40 countries of origin for immigrants to Canada based upon the composition of the most recent wave of immigrants. The results are consistent with previous studies, where immigrants increased both import and export trade flows. By adding the provincial immigrant wave variable, it was also found that new immigrants affect imports almost immediately, whereas for exports, the immigrant effect is not significant for at least 5 years and may take as long as 20 years to reach full impact.<p>The second essay utilizes an enhanced gravity model to estimate the effect of innovative capability on Canadian provincial exports to Canadas top 60 importing countries. Empirically, this model was tested using Canadian data on export flows to Canadas top 60 importing countries. The results are supportive of a provinces innovative capability leading to increased exports, where innovative capacity is measured by international patents, scientific journal articles, and R&D expenditures. For example, in terms of innovative capacity as measured by international (U.S.) patents, provinces with higher levels of international patents had higher levels of total exports, where this effect was greater for exports to developing versus developed countries. Furthermore, provincial R&D expenditures as well as the number of provincial scientific publications (in addition to provincial international patents) were found to be significant drivers in increasing the amount of provincial hi-tech exports to developed countries.<p>The third essay utilizes an augmented national ideas production function to examine skilled immigrants impact on Canadian innovation at the provincial level. Empirically, this model was tested using Canadian data by province on innovation flow over an 11 year time period, where innovation flow is defined in terms of international (U.S.) patents. It was found that skilled immigrants, who are proficient in either English or French, have a significant and positive impact on innovation flow in their home province. Further, in examining skilled immigrants by source region, it was found that skilled immigrants from developed countries have the greatest impact on their home provinces innovation flow. This is true of North American/European skilled immigrants for all skill-level categories including language proficiency, education, and immigrant class. For immigrants from developing countries, only highly educated Eastern Europeans and Low Income Asians classified as Independent Workers are both significant and positively related to their home provinces innovation flow.

This thesis comprises three essays on immigration, innovation, and trade. The first essay utilizes an enhanced gravity model to estimate the effect of lagged immigration waves on Canadian imports and exports, by province. Empirically, this model was tested using Canadian data on import and export flows to the top 40 countries of origin for immigrants to Canada based upon the composition of the most recent wave of immigrants. The results are consistent with previous studies, where immigrants increased both import and export trade flows. By adding the provincial immigrant wave variable, it was also found that new immigrants affect imports almost immediately, whereas for exports, the immigrant effect is not significant for at least 5 years and may take as long as 20 years to reach full impact.<p>The second essay utilizes an enhanced gravity model to estimate the effect of innovative capability on Canadian provincial exports to Canadas top 60 importing countries. Empirically, this model was tested using Canadian data on export flows to Canadas top 60 importing countries. The results are supportive of a provinces innovative capability leading to increased exports, where innovative capacity is measured by international patents, scientific journal articles, and R&D expenditures. For example, in terms of innovative capacity as measured by international (U.S.) patents, provinces with higher levels of international patents had higher levels of total exports, where this effect was greater for exports to developing versus developed countries. Furthermore, provincial R&D expenditures as well as the number of provincial scientific publications (in addition to provincial international patents) were found to be significant drivers in increasing the amount of provincial hi-tech exports to developed countries.<p>The third essay utilizes an augmented national ideas production function to examine skilled immigrants impact on Canadian innovation at the provincial level. Empirically, this model was tested using Canadian data by province on innovation flow over an 11 year time period, where innovation flow is defined in terms of international (U.S.) patents. It was found that skilled immigrants, who are proficient in either English or French, have a significant and positive impact on innovation flow in their home province. Further, in examining skilled immigrants by source region, it was found that skilled immigrants from developed countries have the greatest impact on their home provinces innovation flow. This is true of North American/European skilled immigrants for all skill-level categories including language proficiency, education, and immigrant class. For immigrants from developing countries, only highly educated Eastern Europeans and Low Income Asians classified as Independent Workers are both significant and positively related to their home provinces innovation flow.