THE ANTECEDENT FACTOR AND OUTCOME OF MANAGEMENT INNOVATION IN SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES: A CUSTOMER RELATION CONTEXT

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 07n08, 1-38

Abstract: As the major business environment changes, there is a growing need for management innovation to strengthen the organisation. Large enterprises such as GE, which promoted Six Sigma, and Toyota, which installed innovative production systems using the Kanban method, have rooted management innovation in their corporate cultures. However, although there are precedent cases limited to some high-tech ventures, the actual state of management innovation in low-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is not well understood. Therefore, we investigated the SMEs in Japan’s relatively low-tech industrial areas using structural equation modelling. This study found that collaboration with customers is an important antecedent factor for management innovation. Moreover, management innovation mediates the relationship between the collaboration with customers and technological innovation activities and between the former and firm performance. The explanatory power of management innovation on firm performance is weak. This paper provides deep insights into the role of management innovation in SMEs.

Keywords: Management innovation; change agent; customer; SMEs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919623500408

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