Innovation in SMEs in Times of Crisis: The Ability to Reconcile Formality, Agility and Speed

Caroline Blais ()
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Caroline Blais: University of Sherbrooke, Business School, 2500 boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, J1K 2R1, Canada

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), 2023, vol. 20, issue 05, 1-23

Abstract: During the recent health crisis, certain small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) successfully developed and commercialized new products, sometimes outside their usual business sector. What practices were adopted to carry out these product innovations? To answer this question, an exploratory case study was conducted with two SMEs to learn about their motivations, practices and challenges. The results show that they engaged in innovation to survive, using a succinct and flexible innovation process, combining the principles of the stage gate system with certain aspects of the Xpress and Agile versions. During a crisis, SMEs can deploy an innovation process quickly and with agility if resources and skills are accessible and collaborations possible.

Keywords: Innovation; innovation process; crisis; small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1142/S0219877023420026

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