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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2024‒09‒23
eleven papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Elvira Vieira (Applied Management Research Unit (UNIAG), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia / ISAG ? European Business School, Porto / Research Center in Business Sciences and Tourism (CICET ? FCVC), Porto / IPVC ? Polytechnic Institute of Viana); Daniela Silva (ISAG ? European Business School, Porto / Research Center in Business Sciences and Tourism (CICET ? FCVC), Porto); Victor Tavares (ISAG ? European Business School, Porto / Research Center in Business Sciences and Tourism (CICET ? FCVC), Porto) |
| Abstract: | Digital marketing is increasingly essential for the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in key economic sectors. This paper focuses on the Portuguese footwear industry, dominated by SMEs, to examine the role and effects of digital marketing on business performance. Through qualitative research, including in-depth interviews with managers from five leading companies, we assess how these firms have adopted digital marketing and the impact of such practices. Many SMEs show hesitancy towards digital transformation in marketing, often due to limitations inherent in their business structures and models. This reluctance may compromise their competitive advantage and long-term viability. Given the critical importance of the footwear sector to Portugal's economy, it is vital to understand the factors driving or impeding digital marketing adoption. Our findings indicate that digital marketing substantially boosts the performance of SMEs within this industry. Despite initial resistance, those adopting these practices have seen marked improvements in competitiveness and market positioning. The paper concludes with a call for further research into integrating digital marketing in SMEs, emphasizing its potential to transform business success. These insights provide a foundational reference for future studies on digital marketing strategies and their operational implications in similar sectors dominated by SMEs. |
| Keywords: | Business Digitalization, Competitive Advantage, Digital Marketing, Footwear Industry, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Performance |
| JEL: | L25 M31 O33 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:14316278 |
| By: | Krieger, Bastian; Trottner, Fabian |
| Abstract: | We study the implications of services trade for firm innovation. Using a quasi-experimental shift-share design, we find that access to foreign knowledge-related services improves the innovativeness of domestic firms and complements their indigenously sourced R&D. To confront this evidence, we develop a theoretical model. It demonstrates outsourcing can foster firms' innovation efficiency by mitigating decreasing economies of scale in in-house innovation efforts. As a result, firms become more likely to outsource innovation efforts as they become more innovative, whereas the prevalence of offshoring depends on its associated trade costs. |
| Keywords: | International integration, Service trade, Firm innovation |
| JEL: | F14 F15 F23 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:301867 |
| By: | Schilirò, Daniele |
| Abstract: | This contribution delves into the analysis of beyond-Earth innovations and their profound impact on human life and Earth's progress. The paper first examines the literature on innovation, highlighting that innovation, which represents the primary source of progress, is complex, uncertain, and somewhat disorderly, requiring various types of knowledge, capabilities, skills, and resources. The development of innovations also necessitates collaboration among various actors and diverse ways of thinking. It is often the result of the cross-pollination of ideas that break down barriers between functions, industries, sectors, nations, and geographic distances. Furthermore, the paper underscores that ecosystems play a central role in innovation, as exemplified by the Mearth Ecosystem. Mearth consists of a geographic space representing the interconnectedness of Earth and its satellite, the Moon. Additionally, the strategic importance of the innovative activities being developed and to be developed beyond Earth, particularly within Mearth, is explained and emphasized. Finally, the important new role of private organizations and startups is highlighted in the exploration and commercialization of activities beyond Earth and their strategic contributions to innovations. |
| Keywords: | Innovations; Beyond-Earth, Mearth; Ecosystem; Beyond-Earth Commercialization; Earth’s Progress. |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O30 O31 Z0 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:121831 |
| By: | Czarnitzki, Dirk; Prüfer, Malte |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) and Research and Development (R&D) grants on firms' R&D investment using data from Belgian R&D-active firms over the past decade. Our empirical analysis robustly reveals a non-negligible crowding-out effect between the two instruments, suggesting a substitutive relationship. While each policy individually positively influences R&D investment, their combined implementation diminishes their effectiveness. These results challenge prevailing evidence and emphasize the need for a careful policy implementation, raising policymakers' awareness against a blanket increase in innovation policies without considering potential interactions. |
| Keywords: | Public procurement of innovation, Research and Development, Econometric policy evaluation, Crowding-out |
| JEL: | H57 O38 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:301866 |
| By: | Damioli, Giacomo (ISER, University of Essex); Van Roy, Vincent (European Commission, Joint Research Centre); Vertesy, Daniel (European Commission, Joint Research Centre); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative innovation with the potential to drive significant economic growth and productivity gains. This study examines whether AI is initiating a technological revolution, signifying a new technological paradigm, using the perspective of evolutionary neo-Schumpeterian economics. Using a global dataset combining information on AI patenting activities and their applicants between 2000 and 2016, our analysis reveals that AI patenting has accelerated and substantially evolved in terms of its pervasiveness, with AI innovators shifting from the ICT core industries to non-ICT service industries over the investigated period. Moreover, there has been a decrease in concentration of innovation activities and a reshuffling in the innovative hierarchies, with innovative entries and young and smaller applicants driving this change. Finally, we find that AI technologies play a role in generating and accelerating further innovations (so revealing to be "enabling technologies", a distinctive feature of GPTs). All these features have characterised the emergence of major technological paradigms in the past and suggest that AI technologies may indeed generate a paradigmatic shift. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, technological paradigm, structural change, patents |
| JEL: | O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17183 |
| By: | Hellmann, Thomas (Sa¨ıd Business School, Oxford University and NBER); Montag, Alexander (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, and); Tåg, Joacim (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Startups face a trade-off between short-term profitability versus long-term growth where investors tolerate prolonged financial losses. We present a new theory and empirical evidence about the existence and shape of so-called J-curves. The theory predicts that investors facing better exit opportunities have a higher loss tolerance, encouraging startups to pursue more ambitious growth strategies. Empirically, we examine a large Swedish dataset with detailed cash flow information. Swedish startups backed by US venture capitalists experience deeper J-curves than those backed by non-US venture capitalists. They have more successful exits, higher exit values, faster sales growth, and more follow-on funding. |
| Keywords: | Venture capital; Loss tolerance; J-curves; Entrepreneurship; Exits |
| JEL: | F39 G24 L26 O16 |
| Date: | 2024–08–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1500 |
| By: | Lee, Neil |
| Abstract: | ‘Inclusive innovation’ has become an increasingly important subnational policy agenda. This paper reviews this agenda, critiques its current usage and presents a new framework for how the concept can be applied by city government. Efforts to shape the direction, improve participation in and share the benefits of innovation should be an important part of place-based innovation policy. Yet, inclusive innovation strategies face three related problems: neophilia, a tendency for technological fixes and the lack of local powers. The paper concludes with a framework for how the concept could be used by policymakers to link innovation with better distributional outcomes. |
| Keywords: | inclusive innovation; urban policy; inclusive growth; innovation behaviour; innovation |
| JEL: | R58 D63 O30 |
| Date: | 2023–02–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117818 |
| By: | Julia Taferner (University of Graz) |
| Abstract: | This research paper addresses the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in startup ecosystems, focusing on the impact on growth strategies as well as clarifying expansion opportunities and barriers. Utilizing a qualitative methodology, the study conducts an in-depth analysis of diverse startup scenarios to unravel the complexities of AI integration. It categorically differentiates between 'purist' and 'pragmatist' paradigms of AI application.The empirical results of this investigation underscore the central role of AI in fostering sustainable corporate advancement. Specifically, AI is found to catalyze growth opportunities, with a significant increase in productivity and operational efficiency, while providing better opportunities to secure financing through private equity and public funding mechanisms. However, the advantageous impacts of AI are moderated by several challenges, most notably the substantial resource allocation required for its implementation.This contribution is significant to the scholarly discourse by articulating the distinct methodologies of 'purist' versus 'pragmatist' AI implementation in the context of startups, providing a holistic perspective on the ensuing opportunities for growth and the associated challenges. This nuanced exploration extends the existing academic discourse by shedding light on the strategic incorporation of AI within startup environments.However, the applicability of the study's conclusions is acknowledged to be confined to certain startup settings, suggesting a potential limitation in their generalizability across broader business landscapes. The study points a way forward for future research to assess the relevance of these insights in varied organizational contexts.From a practical perspective, the findings from this research endeavor can serve as a strategic guide for startups considering the integration of AI, enabling a calibrated approach to leveraging growth opportunities while navigating the attendant challenges. Furthermore, this study highlights the transformative impact of AI on venture growth strategies, implies extensive implications for economic proliferation and job creation within the technological sector. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence (AI); Startup Ecosystems; Growth Strategies |
| JEL: | L26 O32 M13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:14416262 |
| By: | Irsan Firmansyah; Luthfi Nur Rohman; Nur Al Faizah; Dyan Widyaningsih; Ana Rosidha Tamyis; Akhmad Ramadhan Fatah; Dwi Purnomo; Yasmin Anwar Putri; Zulfa Raudatul Jannah |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, youth |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agg:wpaper:2885 |
| By: | Laurent Scaringella (RTO - Rethinking Tomorrow’s Organisation - Rennes School of Business - ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the mechanisms of intellectual capital (IC) in knowledge‐intensive research centres and universities in the Minalogic cluster of Grenoble, France. We use structural equation modelling to analyse responses from 248 PhD holders. Our results show a positive relationship among human, relational, structural, and intellectual capital outcomes. We first contribute to the early understanding of IC mechanisms in research centres and universities by conducting a quantitative empirical study, which is novel to IC. We support the relation between knowledge‐based human capital and relational alliances capital and highlight the importance of employing PhD. holders. Second, unlike past studies, we offer empirical support that (a) relational alliances capital relates to structural innovation capital and (b) knowledge‐based human capital relates to structural innovation capital. We suggest that research centres and universities should develop an alliance portfolio for innovations. Third, we uncover that structural innovation capital relates to IC outcomes, contributing to the assessment of the economic and social role of public research centres and universities. This study presents managerial implications for policymakers and practitioners engaged in research centres and universities by highlighting the importance of key components of IC. |
| Keywords: | Intellectual Capital |
| Date: | 2022–11–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04678949 |
| By: | De Loecker, Jan; Obermeier, Tim; Van Reenen, John |
| Abstract: | We review the existing literature on falling business dynamism and present a new analysis using comprehensive UK firm-level panel data. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a large increase in UK firm-level inequality (especially in the upper tails) of productivity, wages, markups and labour shares, similarly to the USA. We suggest a simple theoretical framework for understanding some of these trends and quantitatively analyse why, despite increasing markups, the UK labour share has not fallen as sharply as that in the USA. Finally, we suggest some policy options in response to these worrying trends, including modernizing competition rules to deal with the growth of superstar firms and strengthening worker bargaining power. |
| Keywords: | OUP deal |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2024–07–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121234 |