RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNOVATION ACTIVITY AND CUSTOMER COLLABORATION IN SMEs: TECHNOLOGICAL AND BUSINESS UNCERTAINTY

Yuji Minami, Hidenori Sato and Takeyasu Ichikohji
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Yuji Minami: Graduate School of Business Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba 3-29-1 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Hidenori Sato: ��Faculty of Business Sciences, University of Tsukuba 3-29-1 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Takeyasu Ichikohji: ��Graduate School of Economics, Tohoku University 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2023, vol. 27, issue 01n02, 1-40

Abstract: The environment surrounding small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has changed dramatically due to rapid technological advances and the global and domestic impacts of pandemics and regional conflicts. This study identifies the relationship between customer collaboration and innovation activity under this environment. Our hypothetical model is based on relational view and analyses the relationship between customer collaboration, technological and business uncertainty, and innovation activity, which is divided into incremental/radical goods and services. We conduct a survey of Japanese SMEs (suppliers) in industrial markets. The results of our analysis using structural equation modelling highlight that customer collaboration is overall positively associated with SME innovation activity. Further, different types of uncertainty may affect customer collaboration and innovation activities differently. In sum, this study interprets the relationship between customer collaboration and innovation activities using the theoretical framework of relational view and provides insights into the possible impact of environmental uncertainties on this relationship.

Keywords: SMEs; innovation activity; customer collaboration; uncertainty; relational view (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919623500093

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