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Though KIBS constitute only a small proportion of all services, researchers frequently accord them a significance beyond that indicated by their share in employment or value added (Tether & Hipp, 2002; Gallouj, 2002). For example, KIBS are held to play ‘an increasingly dynamic and pivotal role in ‘new’ knowledge-based economies’ (Howells, 2000, p. 4), as sources of important new technologies, high-quality, high-wage employment and wealth creation (Tether, 2004). Unfortunately, while much of the rhetoric seems intuitively reasonable, one inevitably encounters definitional difficulties in delimiting the specifics of innovation in KIBS, with a variety of, more or less operational, working definitions employed by the academic literature (Wong & He, 2005).

This paper aims to understand the factors associated with perceptions of venture capital as a barrier to innovation in an important subset of knowledge-intensive service firms – technology-based business services. A general and longstanding neglect of services in studies of innovation and a common focus of innovation studies on the availability of, and demand for, risk capital has been noted.

In exploring these issues, the authors draw on survey data collected from 264 technology-based service firms located in Scotland and Northern England. The data are subjected to bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses to help explore the extent of demand-side risk capital concerns.

It was found that smaller, faster growing and R&D-intensive firms perception greater equity barriers. Moreover, firms who are relatively happy about the managerial competencies available to them, but who identify deficiencies in marketing skills and the availability of external debt finance (which may say something broadly about their financial neediness), are shown to be “needy”.

Studies of venture capital demand are relatively rare. Studies involving innovative service firms are rarer still. Given the prominent role of service firms in advanced economies and the changing perspective of the role of services in innovation, studies of financial constraints to innovation in services are timely. Innovation policy in advanced economies continues to be premised on patterns identified in manufacturing industries. This paper contributes to a broader perspective that views [technology-based] business services as dynamic innovation actors.

The purpose of this paper is to utilise a sample of 384 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who applied for external finance in the Beijing area of China to investigate the characteristics of firms against: the amount of external finance sought, the amount received, and the proportion of external finance which was received from the sought finance.

The authors use a survey of SMEs in Beijing, China, undertaken between July and December 2007 where a response rate of 37.67 per cent was obtained. The survey was translated from English to Chinese, and then back translated from Chinese to English by academics with input from businesses. The sample of 384 firms is robust.

Overall, there is little evidence in the sample of Chinese SMEs that innovative firms face discrimination from providers of credit. However, where innovation is measured by inputs (specifically R & D), providers of credit appear less comfortable. Three other factors were more important and were statistically significant at the 5 per cent level. For example, exporters were less likely to receive a greater proportion of their sought finance; and manufacturing firms were more likely than service sector firms, and limited liability companies were more likely than extended sole proprietorship firms to obtain a greater proportion of the external finance which they sought.

The sample for the research is from Beijing. Researchers may extent and role out the research to other parts of China.

Practically, the authors explore variations in firm-level characteristics by: the amount of external finance sought, the amount of external finance received, and the ratio of “sought” to “received” external finance. In this way, the research questions are concerned with understanding which “types” of firms seek most bank finance, and which are most successful. This information is of benefit to SMEs, policy makers and those who work in the finance industry.

Access to finance is a cause of stress and anxiety to many SMEs. A greater understanding of the accessing of finance in Beijing China will allow entrepreneurs to be better placed to reflect upon their businesses and their suitability to pursue finance. This can help the economic and social well-being of entrepreneurs and their employees.

There are comparatively few large scale surveys which have been undertaken of access to finance by SMEs in China, and within this field there is very little research which has been undertaken to look at innovators and non-innovators. The results allow us to have a better understanding of how much finance SMEs in Beijing are seeking, obtaining, and the proportion of finance received from that sought, and the extent to which innovation and other business and owner-manager characteristics are influential.

Based on a number of detailed, in‐depth, cases selected from 30 face‐to‐face company interviews and placed in the context of the literature, this paper will argue that targeted financial support of start‐ups, the notion of “picking winners”, is not a viable alternative to blanket cover. These selected cases serve to illustrate the complexity and variability of small firm development which, in turn, negates the validity of pre‐start predictive modelling for this sector. The paper will proceed to argue, on the basis of the evidence, that, since the form which an organisation takes and the ability of an entrepreneur to manage within the given environment are, to a greater extent, dictated post start‐up, only then can firms with significant growth potential be identified. Thus, since a firm’s true form and promise is uncertain pre‐entry, any criteria used to isolate those with the greatest potential will be, at best, arbitrary.

Based on a sample of 245 West Midlands manufacturers, this paper investigates small firms’ perceptions regarding the skills (and skill sources) required to improve innovation. While there are very few observed differences in perception between the more and less innovative firms (the employment of graduates is a notable exception), a number of interesting findings emerge. Principal among these, all firms, regardless of innovative classification, identify enhanced technical skills as the primary means to achieving improvements in innovative output (followed closely by marketing competencies). Improved management skills and, in particular, finance and exporting skills do not rank high on the small firms wish list. Moreover, sample firms overwhelmingly display a preference for improving in‐house skills, rather than increasing the number of specialists or accessing external expertise. To rephrase, there does not appear to be an external “skills shortage” but, rather, an internal “skills gap”.

This paper draws on case and interview material, from research with entrepreneurs in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to examine the process of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning in SMEs. The cases have been drawn from different sectors including services, manufacturing and technology‐based sectors such as hydraulics, and software development. This paper reviews the contribution of organisational learning theories, which, it is argued, have been developed for large firms rather than SMEs. More appropriate theories are examined from fields that accepted the impact of uncertainty and dynamics in decision making, such as Schumpeterian dynamic approaches to learning and development. Case study evidence is presented on the nature of entrepreneurial learning in growth SMEs and compared with theories in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the trend of discouragement in the small and medium sized enterprise’s (SME) lending market during the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. It detects the extent to which the responses of discouraged firms to improvements in the lending market are lagged.

The results are based on surveys of UK SME Finance Monitor (2011-2016). Probit regression models were used to assess the effect of time passed from the financial crisis on the probability of discouragement.

The analysis, inter alia, shows that the rate of discouragement has reduced significantly since 2013. The results highlight the long-term effect of tightened credit supply on SMEs that are ready to invest, but hold back because of fear of rejection.

The research suggests addressing imperfect information among discouraged SMEs that are recuperating from the financial crisis. With the rise of information asymmetry, entrepreneurs show a higher level of fear of rejection by financial institutions. The longer the effects of the financial crisis exists among entrepreneurs, the longer they self-ration from credit market, which subsequently leads to reduced levels of investment, growth, and innovation among SMEs.

This research fills a gap in the literature of the effect of financial crisis on the latent demand for lending. It discusses the long-term effect of tightened credit supply among entrepreneurs even though the supply side has recuperated and recommenced pre-crisis activities.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue on entrepreneurship and service innovation, and to conceptualize the link between entrepreneurial orientation, innovation and entrepreneurship or new entry.

Analysis of secondary data.

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO), innovation (IN) and entrepreneurship are in a vital “triadic connect”, where EO supports innovation in organizations and innovation promotes new entry or new venture creation – a vehicle for commercialization of innovations.

There is a need for empirical validation of the linkages proposed in this conceptual paper.

This “triadic connect” between EO, IN and entrepreneurship or new entry is a source of or key driver of organizational performance (OP) and competitive advantage (CA).

The theorization and schematization of the “triadic connect” (i.e. EO–IN–NE link) and outcomes (namely, OP and CA) is presented.