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The authors report on their findings from an ongoing seven‐year research project on the intersection of entrepreneurship, marketing and technology. The focus of their research is to identify factors that lead to better, faster and less expensive new product and service development. The present study investigates new product development practices in high‐technology small‐to‐medium enterprises (SMEs), including electronics and computer, biotechnology, military software, space, and electronic machinery companies. Gathering data from 60 new product development projects, the authors found that successful project teams perform certain practices better than unsuccessful ones. These include project visioning, process proficiency, management support, documentation systems, established project deadlines, team processes, and communication. Further, the authors identified critical success factors in the new product development projects as process proficiency, effective filing system, an established project deadline, information coding, and reduced formal communication within teams.

This study aims to identify and examine the relationship between network resources and international performance of high tech small to medium‐sized enterprises (HTSME) in the telecommunications industry in Ireland. The network resource construct for this paper comprises three dimensions: network human capital resources, network resource combination, and information sharing.

Empirical research was carried out using a mail survey in which 154 firms completed and returned the questionnaire. Three hypotheses were analysed using structural equations modelling using LISREL.

The study's main finding suggests a positive relationship between a firm's network human capital resources and international performance. However, no support was found for the relationship between network resources combinations, information sharing and international performance.

This study is cross‐sectional, confined to a single industry and focused on the role of networks in the HTSME context only. Results from this study provide policy makers and practitioners with additional insights into specific network resource‐based factors that are associated with international performance for HTSMEs. Such an assessment would help identify specific areas of relationship strengths and weaknesses in terms of the level of human capital available to firms, the combinations of complementary resources across firms and the extent and level of information exchange between firms.

The paper concludes with a discussion of these findings and the overall implications for policy makers and managers. Specifically, it is necessary to identify and review the types of resources that are critical to the international performance of firms and develop and implement business strategies building on those resources in order to enhance the likelihood of international success.

This study offers a multiple dimensionality to the network resource concept by measuring the direct effect of the type of network resources in terms of human capital, information and network resource combinations on international performance of HTSMEs in the telecommunications industry. These findings advance network research by highlighting the trade‐offs that networks impose on firms that seek to manage and leverage their network resources.

This paper aims to use the institutional perspective to jointly explore the underlying motives that drive Chinese private small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to invest in the developed economy of Germany and the role China’s institutional environment is playing in this context.

Given the lack of recent in-depth studies, the authors use multiple case study method to present rich insights from elite interviews with executives belonging to seven Chinese SMEs and industry experts, as well as the study of firm documents, social media and the latest governmental policies.

The results indicate not only market-, resource- and strategic asset-seeking motives, but contrary to the literature, also efficiency-seeking goals. Further driving factors are the integration in global value chains and high degrees of entrepreneurial orientation. The second major finding is that China’s institutional environment induces widely divergent effects. Its ministries established new outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) support measures that are beneficial for some SMEs’ post-entry operations. However, some firms are not aware of any support measures or suffer from discrimination that hinders innovation and from which they try to escape by investing abroad.

This paper considers different levels of analysis (firm, entrepreneur, institutional environment) to investigate Chinese SMEs’ motives in Europe’s largest market. By examining why and how these firms use OFDI to a developed economy, the authors address an essential question for China’s economy that is of primary political and academic concern (“How can China get that improved innovation that often seeds entrepreneurial growth?”). In addition, the study contributes to the growing discussion of institutional escapism in emerging markets by revealing five institutional hardships Chinese SMEs are facing and how this relates to their internationalization.

Contrary to the mainstream born global (BG) perspective, some previous studies report the incremental expansion of BGs. In addition, the reasons behind BGs initiating specific steps, if any, and BGs’ entry market choices are still unknown or rather contrasting. This study views that such contrasting findings may be attributed to the contexts in which BGs operate. Within the context of consumer goods BGs, the purpose of this paper is to examine the entry market choices and post-entry growth patterns, and investigate the underlying reasons.

This study adopted in-depth historiographic case research from seven Korean BGs in the consumer goods sector that demonstrated success in internationalization. Multiple sources were used to gather data from each case. A total of 14 interviews, approximately two one-on-one interviews per firm, were the major means of data collection.

The findings revealed that first entry market choices among BGs functioned largely as attempts at emergent opportunities. However, after the first wave of entry into countries with available selling opportunities, entry market choice became a simultaneous pursuit of strategic markets and emergent selling opportunities. BGs focusing on image-oriented consumer goods appeared more strategic when entering the world’s leading markets to gain brand reputation. The analyses of internationalization processes revealed three patterns, which collectively implied that each move to the next stage came from a strategic decision to solve the problems related to survival and strategic visions for growth.

One contribution of this paper is the provision of empirical evidence for entry market choices among consumer goods BGs. The findings suggest that BGs’ entry market choices may not be a simple matter of simultaneous expansion to the world’s lead market. Instead, they may comprise more strategic decision. While previous studies have suggested such evolutionary or path-dependent internationalization processes, this study is among the first to reveal specific growth patterns and the possible reasons behind them.

Pursuing sustainable development has become a necessity for all types of businesses, owing to the increasing sensitivity of stakeholders towards pollution and environmental degradation related to economic activities. To sustain this approach, investments supporting green innovations (GIs) are required. The paper investigates how stakeholders affect the choices of companies to pursue sustainable development objectives through the use of GIs.

A sample of 222 innovative Italian SMEs was collected and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique and the importance performance map analysis.

The authors found that the stakeholders with not-contractual ties with SMEs affect GIs. Among stakeholders with not-contractual ties only workforce represents a strong stimulus to eco-innovate. Anyway, contrary to expectations, public administrations exert a negative influence; that is, they appear to hinder SMEs approach towards GIs.

This paper contributes to filling the knowledge gaps about the factors stimulating innovative SMEs' investments in GIs. Specifically, by analysing the stakeholders' influences, many policy indications emerge, such as extending facilities and regulations, encouraging partnerships and networking and attracting private and institutional investors.

Until now, the prominent interest of researchers and policymakers has been focused almost exclusively on large manufacturing corporations because of their higher ecological footprints and the belief that SMEs are supposed to be mainly followers rather than first adopters of innovations. But in many international areas, the role of SMEs is widely predominant, and these SMEs chiefly operate in the service sectors.

Universities, when collaborating with industry, are generally assumed to be the motors for innovation. Inspired by a case on a university’s collaboration with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a regional strategic network (RSN), this paper aims to put forth how the university makes important contributions through transferring knowledge on innovation processes that is a teaching role, rather than sees itself as the party producing innovations. This paper describes and discusses the university’s teaching role and its consequences in university-industry collaborations for innovation.

Empirically, the paper departs from a mid-Swedish RSN where nine SMEs started to work with a university. Interviews with representatives of the nine SMEs participating in the innovation project, along with university and RSN representatives, comprise the main data source. The paper analyzes the university’s teaching role and the consequences of it.

Findings point at how the SMEs developed structured innovation processes, improved their market intelligence and increased their efficiency in providing new solutions. The university facilitated knowledge, while the SMEs responded through creating knowledge both on how to innovate and in terms of innovations.

The teaching role, which would mean that the university stays with one of its core functions, indicates a need to rethink university-industry collaboration related to expectations and role division. Moving from producing innovations to facilitating knowledge on how to innovate, would, for universities, mean that they minimize those conflicts emerging from their various roles and indicate that the production of innovation is placed at those devoted to run and grow businesses.

Specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects that external environmental, financial and human barriers have on innovation activities, particularly, within the context of Mexican service SMEs.

Three hypotheses were formulated and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected through an instrument that was developed based on relevant constructs adapted from the literature. The instrument was validated using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s α test and the composite reliability index to ensure reliability of the theoretical model. The instrument was distributed among service SMEs in the Aguascalientes state of Mexico, from were 308 valid responses were obtained.

In general, the results indicate that all the three barriers investigated (i.e. external environmental, financial and human) hinder innovation in service SMEs, with the external environmental barrier being the most significant of the three.

The findings of this research can inform managers of service SMEs and policy makers when formulating and implementing strategies to reduce innovation barriers.

Evidence suggests that specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. This paper fills this research gap by expanding the limited body of knowledge in this field and providing further evidence on this phenomenon. The study also enables the distinctive characteristics of innovation barriers to be understood within a particular context, expanding in this way the body of knowledge on this field.

The purpose of this study is to pursue a comprehensive review of the progress of open innovation literature.

Using a wide range of literature sources, altogether 293 articles relevant to the study’s objective were identified for statistical analysis. Moreover, contributory articles published from 2003 to June 2015 were included for content analysis.

The study contributes in two ways. First, based on content analysis of the selected contributory articles, the authors shed light on the overall development of the open innovation literature and highlight the findings of significant studies. Second, the authors provide a detailed picture of the progress of open innovation literature by analyzing the comprehensive set of articles. Total yearly publication activity was calculated, and publication activity in different disciplines was addressed. The study unveils most influential articles, authors and journals that have discussed open innovation. The geographical locations of influential articles and authors are revealed. Additionally, frequently used keywords are listed.

The authors present a new framework of open innovation research, highlight the progress of existing research and suggest avenues for future research.