This article aims to understand the relationships between small companies and external innovation agents and how they can help strengthening these organisations. A multiple case research method was adopted by the researchers and applied to small companies which presented innovative practices. The data collection included documents, records and interviews with managers/business owners. Such interviews were recorded and coded using the NVivo 10 software. The results showed relationships of trust, partnership and learning. The article contributes to the idea that small companies recognize the importance of external knowledge sources in their business and innovation strategies. Companies believe in these relationships in order to bring essential competencies to their business, and continuously renovate themselves through shared feedback. This in turn leads to the capture of financial and technological resources as well as market and competitive information that strengthens the business and allows it to overcome its limitations.

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the adequacy of public policies that support innovation in small businesses in a swinging economy, particularly in Brazil. 1 In order to make our case for more adequate public policies on innovation, we develop five propositions based on the assumption that innovation policies focused on fostering socioeconomic development should meet. We adopted a documentary research design, as we examined the policies produced by governmental bodies and agencies at the three governmental levels in Brazil-federation, states, and cities. Also, qualitative content analysis was performed in order to organize, codify and interpret the messages delivered by current innovation policies in the country. We found that most public policies on innovation and small businesses are shortsighted and generalist, borrowing metrics and evaluation criteria from the big enterprise context in an one-size-fits-all manner that, ultimately, cannot be applied to most small businesses and local contexts. As a contribution to theory, our five propositions could be used as starting points for future policy and administration research. On a practical level, we propose recommendations to policy-makers and offer insights on how an adequate policy affects a country's competitiveness and socioeconomic development.