Robbins, Peter
(2016)
Innovation Processes: Do They Help or Hinder
New Product Development Outcomes in Irish
SMEs?
Irish Journal of Management, 35 (1).
pp. 88-103.
ISSN 1649-248X
Abstract
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a considerable contribution to the development and diffusion of innovation
as well as accounting for the bulk of economic activity and employment in Ireland. A formal process for managing the stages of
innovation projects is generally cited as a key component of best practice in new product development (NPD). Successfully
managing innovation is an important business objective for SMEs, and yet, relatively little is known about how innovation-active
firms approach innovation and, specifically, whether firms use formal processes to manage their NPD activities. This study
of innovation-active Irish SMEs finds that three quarters of firms report that they do not operate a formal innovation process,
yet this is not associated with poorer performance in terms of revenues from new products and services; and there are few
differences between firms with formal innovation processes and firms with informal innovation process across each stage
of the Innovation Value Chain. Having a more formal innovation process is, however, associated with success at bringing novel
products to market. This study contributes to our understanding of the management of innovation in SMEs and to the emerging
literature on SMEs that has emphasised both the prevalence and the effectiveness of informal management processes.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Innovation; Processes:
New Product; Development; Irish
SMEs; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Design Innovation |
| Item ID: |
8417 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1515/ijm-2016-0006 |
| Depositing User: |
Peter Robbins
|
| Date Deposited: |
05 Jul 2017 10:49 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Irish Journal of Management |
| Publisher: |
DE GRUYTER OPEN |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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