Innovation: The Key Factor of Competitiveness for Chinese SMEs
Resumen
Purpose-This study aims to present an overview of SMEs’ innovation in China, to identify the main problems, and provide practical suggestions. Design/methodology/approach-The research of this paper is based on the collection and evaluation of existing literature and survey reports. Findings-This study presents the general situation and characteristics of SMEs’ innovation in China, and concludes the main reason that hinders Chi- nese SMEs’ innovation is the lack of human resources, capital, innovation culture and information. Practical implications-This study suggests that, in addition to improving resources and environment, SMEs can also try to adopt micro-innovation to promote innovation activities. These suggestions are practical and can help SMEs maintain competitiveness. Originality/ value-This study provides an overview of Chinese SMEs’ innovation, which can be the basis for future research in this area.Citas
Abdullah, N. H. et al. (2014), “The relationship between organizational culture and product innovativeness”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 129, pp. 140–147.
Ahmedova, S. (2015), “Factors for increasing the competitiveness of small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bulgaria”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 195, pp. 1104–1112.
Ai, J. and Zeng, K. (2017), “Collateral，Accounting Information Quality and Financing Constraints”, Journal of Nanjing Audit University, No. 3, pp. 22–34.
Aksoy, H. (2017), “How do innovation culture, marketing innovation and product innovation affect the market performance of small and me- dium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?”, Technology in Society, Vol. 51, pp. 133–141.
Altındağ, E. and Kösedağı, Y. (2015), “The relationship between emotion- al intelligence of managers, innovative corporate culture and employee performance”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 210, pp. 270–282.
Aziz, N. N. A. and Samad, S. (2016), “Innovation and competitive ad- vantage: moderating effects of firm age in foods manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia”, Procedia Economics and Finance, Vol. 35, pp. 256–266.
Bai, Y., Zhang, C. and Yin, H. (2016), “Research on the building of own- brand competitiveness under innovation environment”, Science and Tech- nology Management Research, No. 15, pp. 257–261.
Chung, L. and Tan, K. H. (2017), “The unique chinese innovation path- ways: Lessons from chinese small and mediuem sized manufacturing firms”, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 190, pp. 80– 87.
Ding, S., Liu, M. and Wu, Z. (2016), “Financial Reporting Quality and External Debt Financing Constraints: The Case of Privately Held Firms”, Abacus, Vol. 52 No. 3, pp. 351–373.
Ding, W., Rong, X. and Gui, B. (2005), “An empirical analysis on the fac- tor choice of the core competence in Chinese SMEs”, Studies in Science of Science, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 650–655.
Distanont, A. and Khongmalai, O. (2018), “The role of innovation in cre- ating a competitive advantage”, Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, doi: 10.1016/j.kjss.2018.07.009.
Erdogan, A. I. (2018), “Factors Affecting SME Access to Bank Financing:An Interview Study with Turkish Bankers”, Small Enterprise Research, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 23–35.
Feng, Y. and Liu, Y. (2018), “A study on financial support for small and medium，sized enterprise development”, Journal of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 23–29.
Fraumeni, B. M. et al. (2019), “Regional distribution and dynamics of human capital in China 1985-2014”, Journal of Comparative Economics, doi: 10.1016/j.jce.2019.06.003.
Gu, Q., Jiang, W. and Wang, G. G. (2014), “Effects of external and inter- nal sources on innovation performance in Chinese high-tech SMEs: A re- source-based perspective”, Journal of Engineering and Technology Man- agement - JET-M, Vol. 40, pp. 76–86.
Gupta, S. et al. (2016), “Marketing innovation: A consequence of compet- itiveness”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69 No. 12, pp. 5671–5681. He, Y. and Tian, X. (2016), “Research on the core staff loss problem in innovative small and medium-sized enterprise under the ‘New Normal’”, Technology and Innovation Management, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 6–10.
Hsu, C. H., Chang, A. Y. and Luo, W. (2017), “Identifying key perfor- mance factors for sustainability development of SMEs - integrating QFD and fuzzy MADM methods”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 161, pp. 629–645.
Ibrahim, Z., Abdullah, F. and Ismail, A. (2016), “International business competence and small and medium enterprises”, Procedia - Social and Be- havioral Sciences, Vol. 224, pp. 393–400.
Karadag, H. (2015), “Financial Management Challenges In Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Strategic Management Approach”, EMAJ: Emerging Markets Journal, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 26–40.
Kent Baker, H., Kumar, S. and Rao, P. (2017), “Financing Preferences and Practices of Indian SMEs”, Global Finance Journal, doi: 10.1016/j. gfj.2017.10.003.
Khan, E. A. and Quaddus, M. (2018), “Dimensions of human capital and firm performance: Micro-firm context”, IIMB Management Review, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 229–241.
Lee, V. H. et al. (2016), “Can competitive advantage be achieved through knowledge management? A case study on SMEs”, Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 65, pp. 136–151.
Lenihan, H., McGuirk, H. and Murphy, K. R. (2019), “Driving innova- tion: Public policy and human capital”, Research Policy, doi: 10.1016/j. respol.2019.04.015.
Li, H. (2011), “Small-sized enterprise’s strategic match in growth stage”, Journal of Nanyang Institute of Technology, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 112–115. Li, H., Wei, Y. D. and Wu, Y. (2019), “Urban amenity, human capital and employment distribution in Shanghai”, Habitat International, Vol. 91, pp. 1–12.
Li, R., Li, Y. and Jin, H. (2017), “Research on regional science-technology financial input and SME innovation ability — empirical evidence based on 127 listed companies from SME market and growth enterprise market”, Journal of Technical Economics & Management, No. 2, pp. 124–128.
Li, T., Karim, R. and Munir, Q. (2016), “The determinants of leasing de- cisions: an empirical analysis from Chinese listed SMEs”, Managerial Fi- nance, Vol. 42 No. 8, pp. 763–780.
Li, W. (2015), “Influencing mechanism of innovation ambidexterity on competitive advantage in SMEs — moderating effect of marketing dy- namic capabilities”, R&D Management, Vol. 27 No. 6, pp. 10–18.
Lin, H. and Guan, H. (2004), “Demonstrative & comparative study on the competitive edge of SMEs in Chinese eastern, middle, and western areas”, Economic Research Journal, No. 12, pp. 45–54.
Liu, C. H. (2017), “Creating competitive advantage: Linking perspectives of organization learning, innovation behavior and intellectual capital”, In- ternational Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 66, pp. 13–23.
Liu, S. et al. (2017), “Human capital network and firm innovation: a study based on the resume data of LinkedIn”, Management World, No. 7, pp. 88–98.
Liu, Y. (2017), “On Support of Commercial Banks to Financing of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises in Inner Mongolia”, Advances in Econom- ics, Business and Management Research, Vol. 48, pp. 320–323.
Liu, Z. et al. (2018), “Intellectual property protection, technological in- novation and enterprise value—An empirical study on panel data of 80 advanced manufacturing SMEs”, Cognitive Systems Research, Vol. 52, pp. 741–746.
Long, Z. and Lou, R. (2014), “Innovation characteristics of small and me- dium-sized enterprises — survey research based on SMEs of Guangdong national high-tech zone”, Science and Technology Management Research, No. 8, pp. 19–27.
Lou, Y. and Rong, X. (2007), “An empirical analysis on the factor choice of the core competence in Chinese SMEs based on ISM-Fuzzy AHP ap- proach”, Science Research Management, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 97–103.
Lu, H., Li, X. and Xing, Y. (2014), “Research on top management team human capital on enterprise growth — based on empirical study listed companies on GEM”, Science and Technology Management Research, No. 4, pp. 157–162.
Luo, Y. (2004), “Scale economy, competition and existence and develop- ment of medium, small enterprise”, Journal of Sichuan Normal Universi- ty(Social Sciences Edition), Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 54–58.
Lv, D. D., Zeng, P. and Lan, H. (2018), “Co-patent, financing constraints, and innovation in SMEs: An empirical analysis using market value panel data of listed firms”, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management - JET-M, Vol. 48, pp. 15–27.
Matinaro, V. et al. (2019), “Extracting key factors for sustainable develop- ment of enterprises: Case study of SMEs in Taiwan”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 209, pp. 1152–1169.
Miao, L. and Xu, M. (2014), “Competitive intelligence service to small and medium-sized enterprises”, Library & Information, No. 2, pp. 131–133. Muda, S. and Rahman, M. R. C. A. (2016), “Human capital in SMEs life cycle perspective”, Procedia Economics and Finance, Vol. 35, pp. 683– 689.
Naranjo-Valencia, J. C., Jiménez-Jiménez, D. and Sanz-Valle, R. (2016), “Studying the links between organizational culture, innovation, and per- formance in Spanish companies”, Revista Latinoamericana de Psicologia, Vol. 48 No.1, pp. 30–41.
Neirotti, P. and Raguseo, E. (2017), “On the contingent value of IT-based capabilities for the competitive advantage of SMEs: Mechanisms and em- pirical evidence”, Information and Management, Vol. 54 No. 2, pp. 139– 153.
Onkelinx, J., Manolova, T. S. and Edelman, L. F. (2016), “The human factor: Investments in employee human capital, productivity, and SME in- ternationalization”, Journal of International Management, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 351–364.
Padilha, C. K. and Gomes, G. (2016), “Innovation culture and perfor- mance in innovation of products and processes: a study in companies of textile industry”, RAI Revista de Administração e Inovação, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 285–294.
Qin, W. and Liang, Q. (2015), “Research on the innovation growth ability of SMEs growth in the western region: based on questionnaire survey of SMEs in Guangxi”, Reform of Economic System, No. 5, pp. 85–91. Quartey, P. et al. (2017), “Financing the Growth of SMEs in Africa: What Are the Contraints to SME Financing within ECOWAS?”, Review of Development Finance, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 18–28.
Rahman, N. A., Yaacob, Z. and Radzi, R. M. (2016), “An overview of technological innovation on SME survival: a conceptual paper”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 224, pp. 508–515.
Ren, S., Eisingerich, A. B. and Tsai, H. T. (2015), “How do marketing, research and development capabilities, and degree of internationaliza- tion synergistically affect the innovation performance of small and me- dium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? A panel data study of Chinese SMEs”, International Business Review, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 642–651.
Shahzad, F., Xiu, G. Y. and Shahbaz, M. (2017), “Organizational culture and innovation performance in Pakistan’s software industry”, Technology in Society, Vol. 51, pp. 66–73.
Sipa, M., Gorzeń-Mitka, I. and Skibiński, A. (2015), “Determinants of competitiveness of small enterprises: Polish perspective”, Procedia Eco- nomics and Finance, Vol. 27 No. 15, pp. 445–453.
System, C. E. S. (2015), “Enterprise innovation under the New Normal: current situation, problems and countermeasures —2015·China entrepre- neur growth and development special investigation report”, Management World, No. 6, pp. 22–33.
System, C. E. S. (2016), “Enterprises enter an active period of innovation: a report from the China enterprise innovation trend index — 2016·China entrepreneur growth and development special investigation report”, Man- agement World, No. 6, pp. 67–78.
System, C. E. S. (2017), “Chinese enterprise innovation trend index: in- novation environment, strategy and future —2017·China entrepreneur growth and development special investigation report”, Management World, No. 6, pp. 37–50.
Szczepańska-Woszczyna, K. (2015), “Leadership and organizational cul- ture as the normative influence of top management on employee’s behav- iour in the innovation process”, Procedia Economics and Finance, Vol. 34 No. 15, pp. 396–402.
Todericiu, R. and Stăniţ, A. (2015), “Intellectual capital – the key for sus- tainable competitive advantage for the SME’s sector”, Procedia Econom- ics and Finance, Vol. 27 No. 15, pp. 676–681.
Utami, R. M. and Lantu, D. C. (2014), “Development competitiveness model for small-medium enterprises among the creative industry in Band- ung”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 115, pp. 305–323. de Vasconcellos, S. L., Garrido, I. L. and Parente, R. C. (2019), “Organi- zational creativity as a crucial resource for building international business competence”, International Business Review, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 438–449. Verdu-Jover, A. J., Alos-Simo, L. and Gomez-Gras, J. M. (2018), “Adap- tive culture and product/service innovation outcomes”, European Manage- ment Journal, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 330–340.
Wang, H. and Liu, D. (2014), “Entrepreneurs’ characteristics and com- petitive strategy and the growth of SMEs — evidence from listed SME companies of the manufacturing industry”, Journal of Beijing Institute of Technology(Social Sciences Edition), Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 75–82.
Wang, H., Zhang, Q. and Zhu, Y. (2015), “Construction of competitive in- telligence system model for SMEs in big data environment”, Information Studies:Theory & Application, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 109–114.
Wang, Q. (2016), “Research on the effect and mechanism of ‘Internet +’ in promoting consumption upgrading in China”, Collected Essays on Fi- nance and Economics, No. 12, pp. 94–102.
Wang, Y. (2016), “Study on the impact of government R&D policy on SME’s innovations”, Sci-tech Innovation and Productivity, No. 3, pp. 4–7. Wu, L. (2019), “Venture Capital, Certification Effect and Bank Loans of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Evidence from Chinese NEEQ Companies”, Business Management Journal, No. 2, pp. 172–190.
Xiang, D. et al. (2019), “Family firms, sustainable innovation and financing cost: Evidence from Chinese hi-tech small and medium-sized enterprises”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 144, pp. 499–511. Yaseen, S. G., Dajani, D. and Hasan, Y. (2016), “The impact of intellectu- al capital on the competitive advantage: Applied study in Jordanian tele- communication companies”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 62, pp. 168–175.
Zhang, C. (2014), “Study on the transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in industrial cluster under hyper competitive environment — from perspective of the enterprise dynamic capabilities”, Science & Tech- nology Progress and Policy, Vol. 31 No. 14, pp. 92–97.
Zhang, D., Zheng, W. and Ning, L. (2018), “Does innovation facilitate firm survival? Evidence from Chinese high-tech firms”, Economic Modelling, Vol. 75, pp. 458–468.
Zheng, Y., Zhao, X. and Liu, Z. (2013), “Survey and analysis on compet- itive intelligence demands of Chinese SME: taking Jiangsu and Hunan provinces for examples”, Library and Information Service, Vol. 57 No. 13, pp. 110–118.
Zhou, L. and Zhu, T. (2015), “Research on competitive intelligence of technology-oriented small and medium sized enterprises — investigations of technology-oriented SMEs competitive intelligence in Puyang”, Inno- vation Science and Technology, Vol. 179 No. 1, pp. 93–96.
Zhou, Q., Wu, Y. and Fang, G. (2015), “The characteristics and types of firms’micro-innovation under the New Normal”, Studies in Science of Sci- ence, Vol. 33 No. 8, pp. 1232–1239.
