Innovativeness Among Small Businesses: Theory and Propositions for Future Research

Small businesses represent the lifeblood of the economy.Variations in the innovativeness of these firms may help explain why somesucceed, but many fail [Frambach, R. T. (1993). An integrated model oforganizational adoption and diffusion of innovations. European Journal ofMarketing, 25(5), 22-41; Nord, W. R. & Tucker, S. (1987).Implementing routine and radical innovations. Lexington, MA: LexingtonBooks.]. To understand how small businesses develop and use innovations, a series ofdepth interviews were conducted with small, family-owned firms in the US andSpain. Results suggest several factors affect innovativeness, includingindustry-specific, firm-specific, and innovation-specific factors. The studyends with a series of propositions, potential managerial implications of thestudy, and suggestions for further research. (Publisher Abstract)

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