Barriers to innovation in service SMEs: evidence from Mexico
| Published date | 11 September 2017 |
| Date | 11 September 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-08-2016-0339 |
| Pages | 1669-1686 |
| Author | Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzmán,Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes,Sandra Yesenia Pinzón-Castro,Vikas Kumar |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
Barriers to innovation in service
SMEs: evidence from Mexico
Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzmán
Centro de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas,
Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico
Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes
Centre for Supply Chain Improvement, The University of Derby, Derby, UK
Sandra Yesenia Pinzón-Castro
Centro de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas,
Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico, and
Vikas Kumar
Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Specific research re lated to the study of inno vation barriers in se rvice SMEs in the Latin
American region is limit ed. The purpose of this pape r is to investigate the e ffects that external
environmental, finan cial and human barriers have on innova tion activities, particularly , within the context
of Mexican service SMEs .
Design/methodology/approach –Three hypotheses were for mulated and tested usin g structural
equation modelling. Da ta were collected through an instrument that was deve loped based on relevant
constructs adapted fro m the literature. The instrument was vali dated using confirmatory factor analy sis,
Cronbach’sαtest and the co mposite reliability i ndex to ensure reliabil ity of the theoretical model.
The instrument was dist ributed among service S MEs in the Aguascalient es state of Mexico, fro m were
308 valid responses we re obtained.
Findings –In general, the results indicate that all the three barriers investigated (i.e. external environmental,
financial and human) hinder innovation in service SMEs, with the external environmental barrier being the
most significant of the three.
Practical implications –The findings of this research can inform managers of service SMEs and policy
makers when formulating and implementing strategies to reduce innovation barriers.
Originality/value –Evidence suggests that specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in
service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. This paper fills this research gap by expanding the
limited body of knowledge in this field and providing further evidence on this phenomenon. The study also
enables the distinctive characteristics of innovation barriers to be understood within a particular context,
expanding in this way the body of knowledge on this field.
Keywords Innovation, Mexico, SMEs, Services, Barriers to innovation
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In the last decades, innovation has been considered in the literature of business and
management sciences as one of the essential strategies that organisations can follow to
achieve their objectives and goals (Fagerberg et al., 2004). An example of this is the poll
conducted among1,396 executives of the most important US multinational enterprises by the
American Management Association (Jamrog, 2006). This poll showedthat over 90 per cent of
the executivesinterviewed considered innovationactivities as the most important elementfor
the growth and development of their firms in the long run. Similarly, 95 per cent of them
consideredthat innovation will be a fundamental strategy forthe survival of enterprisesin the
near future (Jamrog, 2006). In this regard, the positive effects of innovation activities do not
only benefit specific sectors or regions as such effects can also be perceived in all types of
industries and countries (Fortuin and Omta, 2009).
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 117 No. 8, 2017
pp. 1669-1686
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-08-2016-0339
Received 23 August 2016
Revised 22 December 2016
Accepted 31 December 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
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Barriers to
innovation in
service SMEs
However, despite the “generic benefits”offered by innovation-based strategies and
activities, evidence suggests that the focus of theoretical and empirical research on SMEs
can be considered significantly more limited than that conducted in large enterprises
(Rosli and Sidek, 2013; Börjesson et al., 2014; Rheea et al., 2010). This pervasive phenomenon
has been prevalent despite the importance and strong influence that SMEs have not only on
economic and social development (Xie et al., 2010) but also on the technological development
of a variety of countries and enterprises (Zhu et al., 2006). In the case of innovation research
in SMEs, different aspects of this activity have been recently investigated. For instance,
Poorkavoos et al. (2016) explored the impact of inter-organisational knowledge transfer
networks and organisations’internal capabilities on different types of innovation in SMEs
in the high-tech sector. Purcarea et al. (2013) looked at SMEs’approach to learning and
innovation. Díaz-Chao et al. (2015) analysed new co-innovative sources of labour
productivity (i.e. ICT use, human capital and training and new forms of work organisation)
in small firms that produce for local markets. Gao and Hafsi (2015) examined the effect of
SME business owners’characteristics on their firms’research and development spending in
a transition economy. Furthermore, Gu et al. (2016) investigated the effect of internal and
external sources on innovation, whereas Battistella et al. (2015) proposed a methodology for
the implementation of technology road mapping in SMEs. Similarly, Ruiz-Jiménez and
Fuentes-Fuentes (2013) explored the effects of product and process innovation on the
relationships between knowledge combination capability and organisational performance
while Ren et al. (2015) investigated the effects of search scope along the supply chain on
the innovation performance of SMEs in emerging markets. Other rec ent studies
regarding innovation within the context of SMEs include the researches undertaken by
Maldonado-Guzman et al. (2016), Bouncken and Kraus (2013), Sharma et al. (2016),
Fernández-Mesa et al. (2013), Eggers et al. (2013), Wang et al. (2010), among others.
It is not easy for innovation to take place in SMEs, especially because these organisations
have a variety of barriers that stop or inhibit it (Xie et al., 2010). As a result of this, a high
percentage of SMEs around the world have encountered serious problems with the
development and adoption of innovation in theirservices, processes or management systems
(Zeng et al.,2010; O’Regan et al., 2006). Additionally, SMEs have morebarriers to innovation in
their resources andcapabilities than large enterprises (Hewitt-Dundas,2006). This makes the
process of innovation significantly more difficult for them (Hussinger, 2010).
Regarding researchon innovation barriers, this is evident in both large organisations and
SMEs in various industries and countries (e.g.Chesbrough, 2010; Madrid-Guijarro et al., 2009;
Hölzl and Janger, 2014; Antadze and Westley, 2012; D’Este et al.,2012).However,
specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin
American region is limited, especially when compared to those conducted in the
manufacturing industry (e.g. Minguela-Rata et al., 2014; Madrid-Guijarro et al., 2009;
Fisk, 2008; Oke, 2002a, b, 2004; Griffin, 1997), Europe (e.g. Hölzl and Janger, 2014;
Minguela-Rata et al., 2014; Madrid-Guijarro et al., 2009; Segarra-Blasco et al., 2008; Galia and
Legros, 2004; Hadjimanolis, 1999), Asia (e.g. Zhu et al., 2012; Kim et al., 1993),North America
(e.g. Mohnen and Rosa, 2002) and Australia (e.g. Rogers, 2004; Atuahene-Gima, 1996). Thus,
the main contribution of this paper lies in filling this research gap by expanding the limited
body of knowledge in this field and providing further evidence on this phenomenon. This is
done by analysingthe effects that external environmental,financial and human barriershave
on innovationactivities, particularly,within the context of service SMEslocated in the second
largest economy in Latin America, i.e. Mexico (The World Bank, 2016), and as suggested by
Oke (2004), Larsen and Lewis (2007), Segarra-Blasco et al. (2008) and Xie et al. (2010).
Innovation research in service enterprises is currently of high relevance as the contribution
of this type of organisations to national and international growth has increased considerably
(Oke, 2002a).
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