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Since the onset of the industrial revolution in England during the late 18th century, it has become increasingly clear how advances in technology have played a pivotal role in delivering wealth-creating economic growth, ranging from major advances in the generation of industrial power, initially through steam engines (e.g. successively by Nucomen, Watt and Trevithick), to the design of labour saving industrial machinery and working practices (Smith, 1776; Marx, 1867; Solow, 1957; Denison, 1967; Mansfield, 1968; Freeman, 1982). These advances have not merely resulted in industrial progress but have triggered changes in industrial location (e.g. water powered to coalfield sites in the cotton textile industry) (Riley, 1973), dictated population distributions and fixed the positions of major industrial cities within national and world regions. Indeed, perhaps, the most ambitious attempt to establish the major impact of revolutionary technological change on macro-level industrial performance was the explanation by Schumpeter of Kondratiev's ‘long wave’ industrial cycles (Kondratiev, 1925) in which upswings in world economic activity were linked to the introduction of pervasive new technologies caused by their ability to reduce unit prices, increase efficiency and be broadly applicable across large sectors of industry (e.g. stream and electric power) (Schumpeter, 1939; Freeman, 1986).

This chapter contributes to the ongoing debate about how digitalisation affects the internationalisation of small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs). By applying the Uppsala Internationalisation Process model, this chapter examines the impact of e-commerce on the internationalisation of SMEs. The study uses a unique dataset, which includes 14,513 SMEs across several sectors in 34 countries. The results show that firms using the Internet as a means to provide information about the firm exhibit a higher degree of internationalisation, while using the Internet to facilitate transactions was found to have a positive impact on the ratio of foreign sales to the total sales; however, these foreign sales are likely to be concentrated in less regions/markets. Furthermore, perceived export barriers were found to be a significant moderator of the effects of e-commerce usage on international intensity and international diversification. This suggests that e-commerce does not automatically facilitate the internationalisation of SMEs.

Given the numerous government initiatives in existence improving the transfer of knowledge to high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (HTSMEs) appears to be a highly relevant topic (Bougrain & Haudeville, 2002). For example, governments provide subsidies, give training, found knowledge-brokering institutes, websites, and support collaboration between HTSMEs and research institutes (Jetter, Kraaijenbrink, Schröder, & Wijnhoven, 2005). Although government initiatives are undoubtedly helpful in supporting the transfer of knowledge into HTSMEs, they are not the only way to support them. An alternative way to support HTSMEs is by providing them with the Methods and Software Tools (MSTs) they need to identify, acquire, and utilize external knowledge. This process of identifying, acquiring, and utilizing knowledge from their environment is termed external knowledge integration (EKI) in this chapter.

The purpose of the paper is two‐fold: one, to focus on a specific industry – the manufacturing industry. In response to recent criticisms research in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SME) is not sector/industry‐specific, consequently the advice for these companies was too general and not of any particular help. Two, the research addresses innovation management in terms of the interrelationship among the three elements of a business: product, process and ways of working, which were often explored in isolation in the literature. Similarly, a definition of innovation was established and a systematic approach to company innovativeness was adopted.

A survey of 1000 West‐Midlands‐based manufacturing SMEs (SMMEs) was conducted. Ten indicators were used to measure company innovativeness. The top 20 per cent firms were compared with bottom 80 per cent firms in terms of product innovation management, process and work organisation. Means of responses were compared for two sets of companies. T‐tests were performed to draw some conclusions on the results. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the factors distinguishing more and less innovative companies.

The results showed SMEs in the manufacturing industry are similar to SMEs in other industries. The drivers of SMME innovativeness were: market anticipation, customer focus and commitment of CEO/owners in NPD, processes and new ways of working. Innovation was part of the business strategy and goal‐oriented. However, innovation in SMME was based more around developing new ways of working than new product innovations. The use of systems/technology and process innovation was not uniform amongst more and less innovative companies. The main constraints of SMMEs were customer dependency, skills and knowledge acquisition through training, poor learning attitude and networking because of their tradition of being insular and autonomous.

The paper provides useful information on innovation management in small manufacturing firms.

The whole kingdom from north to south at the time of writing is enveloped in freezing Arctic weather, reminiscent of the North Russian campaign of long ago. The normal winter is relatively mild, mainly a Westerly pattern, occasionally wild and windy, wet with a rare cold “snap”. There are variations in the pattern, damp and warm in the south‐west, few frosts and rarely any snow; in the north of the country, Scotland, much colder, with the south‐east partaking of the weather pattern of the land mass of the Continent. The variations appear more of the mild weather in the South and colder, appreciably, in the North; recalling service personnel stationed at Gosport who did not need an overcoat all winter, whereas in the North, many found it necessary to wear a light overcoat tor most of the year, the south‐east corner of England, obtaining no help from the warming Gulf Stream, often gets the worst of the weather, which it has done to a very considerable extent in this winter.

Technology entrepreneur' competence is one of the main domains of study in the field of technology entrepreneurship. In the dominant rationalistic view, competence is seen as constituted by a set of components used in performing particular functions. This study aims to expand this field of study by using an interpretive view.

Phenomenology is proposed and explored as an interpretive methodology that is more compatible with technology entrepreneurship. The empirical material is based on interviews with 19 technology entrepreneurs who have established new technology-based firms in Iran.

Findings show that the nature of the technology entrepreneurship's competence is emergent, holistic and relational. Also, the entrepreneurs' perception of entrepreneurship specifies which competence's components they develop and what meaning these components take.

By examining how technology entrepreneurs experience competence in the context of business creation, this study moves beyond the lists or categories of competencies, and it contributes to a broader understanding of competence at technology entrepreneurship.

For all small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the long‐term goal is to stay in business, grow and make profit. Especially in manufacturing SMEs must understand the dynamic changes. For SMEs to remain competitive, they must deliver products to customers at the minimum possible cost, the best possible quality, and the minimum lead time. SMEs can achieve this by implementing computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). The high investment required for CIM implementation is becoming a major hurdle for SMEs to cross. This is due to the lack of financial resources which has stalled the initiative in adopting CIM. Undoubtedly this has caused a decrease in rate of adoption of CIM in SMEs. With the triangular co‐operation of government‐industry‐university, CIM can successfully be implemented in SMEs. Considering the importance of government‐industry‐university co‐operation, a model has been developed with the help of an empirical study conducted in British SMEs to facilitate the adoption of a CIM. Finally, presemts a summary of findings and recommendations.

This study aims at contributing to the discussion related to what causes Canadian small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs) to be reticent about accepting internet and e‐business technologies (IEBT) in their operations. The research also seeks to gain an understanding of the relative importance of each of the selected factors in the research setting.

A survey was conducted in the Atlantic region of Canada. Questionnaires were mailed to key SMEs' informants. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. A research framework based on the technology‐organization‐environment (TOE) frameworks was used to guide the research effort. Such contingent factors as perceived benefits, management commitment/support, organizational IT competence, external pressure, information systems (IS) vendor support, and availability of financial support, were used to develop relevant hypotheses.

The study's findings indicated that perceived benefits, management commitment/support, and external pressure are significant predictors of IEBT acceptance in the sampled SMEs; the results did not show that organizational IT competence, IS vendor support, and availability of financial support positively influence IEBT acceptance in the sampled SMEs.

Policy makers, industry leaders, and small business operators wishing to understand some of the reasons why certain SMEs in the country lag in the adoption of IEBT and related technologies can benefit from the information provided in this study. The study also alerted the attention of local IS vendors and financial institutions to what can be done to strengthen IS adoption in Canadian small businesses.

A handful of previous research in Canada has researched IEBT adoption; however, some of these studies are dated. A such, this current investigation of IEBT acceptance in a less endowed part of the country is timely and welcoming; it also serves to complement other prior studies in the country and elsewhere. A scan of the extant literature indicates that no previous study in the country has modeled some of the factors (e.g. the availability of financial support) as were used herein. The inclusion of such a factor enriches insight in this area of study.

SMEs are both users of marketing research and subjects of market research. There is clear evidence that the decision processes in such firms often render the products/services designed for medium and large firms inappropriate. One of the major suppliers of services to the small firms sector is the business support infrastructure. This includes agencies associated with business start‐up/expansion and their management consultancy services concerning marketing, finance, insurance and risk management etc. This paper considers the value of using in‐depth qualitative research to establish the unique features of business support required by small firms. In addition to a review of recent studies that have adopted ethnographic, repertory grid and cognitive mapping qualitative approaches in this context, the paper presents the results from a specific study where the repertory grid procedure was used to establish the risk management practices of high technology small firms. Conclusions are drawn concerning the strengths and limitations of qualitative market research in designing SME training/development support.