Developing world market-leading companies – innovation governance in German small and medium-sized enterprises

Harald Dolles

International Journal of Business Environment, 2010, vol. 3, issue 2, 139-158

Abstract: A high density of highly innovative world market-leading small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can be found in the rural region Heilbronn-Franconia of Germany. Those are commonly named as 'German hidden champions'. This research aims to reveal factors that influence their innovation governance structure, by examining the firm's characteristics, HRM, organisational structures and leadership styles. All four influencing factors have been explored through semi-structured qualitative interviews with the owners or top-managers of the firms. For evaluation, a qualitative content analysis based on Mayring's suggestions was implemented using NVivo8. With regards to fostering innovation a strong sense of entrepreneurial activity and visionary leadership; emphasis on local recruitment strategies, retention programs and employees' involvement in business processes; formalised innovation processes; informal networks; rigorous knowledge management and open communication modes were discovered.

Keywords: technology management; innovation governance; company strategy; informal networks; human resource management; HRM; leadership; manufacturing; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; Germany; Heilbronn-Franconia; German hidden champions; organisational structures; top management; business owners; qualitative content analysis; vision; NVivo8; Philipp Mayring; entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial activity; local recruitment; employee retention; worker involvement; knowledge management; KM; open communication; business environment; globalisation; globalization; competiveness; innovation; Europe. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=32712 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijbenv:v:3:y:2010:i:2:p:139-158

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Business Environment from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().