Drawing on a sample of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in traditional manufacturing industries from seven EU regions, this study investigates how cooperation with external organisations affects technological (product and process) innovations and non-technological (organisational and marketing) innovations as well as the commercial success of product and process innovations (i.e., innovative sales). Our empirical strategy takes into account that all four types of innovation are potentially complementary. Empirical results suggest that cooperation increases firms’ innovativeness and yields substantial commercial benefits. In particular, increasing the number of cooperation partnerships has a positive impact on all measures of innovation performance. We conclude that a portfolio approach to cooperation enhances innovation performance and that innovation support programs should be demand-led.

No abstract

No abstract

In this paper, we explore the role that cooperation plays in a small‐scale creative sector, namely that of UK studio pottery. Drawing upon data from a survey of studio potters, we examine the extent to which these artists cooperate with others in their production activities and then assess the impact of this cooperation on their sales performance. While our results suggest that studio potters can and do benefit from establishing stronger cooperative ties, the nurturing of such ties is not always easy and significant barriers to cooperation exist. Overcoming such barriers depends very much upon the nature of dyadic relations between actors, which is something we suggest reflects the governance structure of the network.co‐operative ties, horizontal and vertical linkages, creative industries, economic governance, L14, L52, L61,

No abstract