دانلود رایگان مقاله آیا SME ها باید برای بهبود عملکرد نوآوری اقدام به خرید عمومی کنند؟

ABSTRACT

While public procurement is an efficient demand-side policy instrument, resource constraints impede small and medium-sized enterprises from accessing innovation procurement contracts. As a remedy, inter-organizational networks are seen as a means to extend SMEs’ resources. This paper examines the relationship between interorganizational networks and SMEs’ innovative performance. It investigates how this relationship is mediated by the public or private sector customer's demand for new or significantly improved products. We find that networks involving other firms are associated with SMEs’ innovative performance, and that this is mediated by both customer types. Furthermore, the public procurement of innovations is associated with greater returns in the case of the new products or services. For significantly improved products or services, networks involving other firms may improve performance when the demand originates from private sector customers. Our results suggest that SMEs should emphasize networks with other firms rather than public or private research and development actors when they develop new products for the public sector. These innovations can be further developed, providing opportunities for further leverage in private sector markets.

5.4. Conclusions

This article studied SME networks and innovative performance with a survey to Finnish SMEs. We hypothesized that the demand for new or improved products or services originating from public or private sector customers would act as mediators between SME networks and innovative performance. We distinguished three types of networks: networking with other firms, networking with private sector R & D actors, and networking with public sector R & D actors. We found that networks involving other firms are associated with SMEs’ innovative performance, and that this is mediated by both customer types. Furthermore, the public procurement of innovations is associated with greater returns in the case of the new products or services. For significantly improved products or services, networks involving other firms may improve performance when the demand originates from private sector customers. Our results suggest that SMEs should emphasize networks with other firms rather than public or private research and development actors when they develop new products for the public sector. Hence, the results of this study provide a way to understand the importance of SMEs’ networks in innovative product development and compare and contrast the innovative performance arising from public and private sector customers.