The local innovation agents program: a literature review on the largest Brazilian small business innovation support program

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of Brazilian micro and small businesses (MSBs) and the main lessons derived from the largest small business innovation support program in the country, the Local Innovation Agents – Agentes Locais de Inovação (ALI) Program. Design/methodology/approach In total, 34 papers were selected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases (28), as well as from the Revista de Administração e Inovação – RAI (6), a seminal Brazilian innovation journal. The papers were analyzed in terms of the regional context, methodological approach and main findings. Regional complementary analyzes of some program figures were also performed by Spearman correlation and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Findings The review revealed a low innovation level among Brazilian MSBs and that the platform (incremental product) and brand (marketing) innovation dimensions were the most developed across different regions and industries. Reviewed papers also showed that all MSBs were able to improve innovation over the program independent of previous management and innovation levels, besides positive relationships between management and innovation. The complementary analysis provided a regional panorama of the program figures and corroborated MSBs innovation improvement. Research limitations/implications This review analyzed relevant papers and figures related to the program, summarized main lessons and provided future research venues. Practical implications Different innovation strategies reviewed may be implemented by MSBs owners. Policymakers may also benefit from the program experience. Originality/value Despite the high number of publications and the relevance of the largest Brazilian innovation support program, there were still no literature reviews comprehending the diverse lessons derived from the ALI Program, as well as a regional panorama of the program figures.

Organizational innovation: Validation of a multidimensional scale for micro and small businesses

“…In this way, this study is based on the inquiry carried out by Silva and Di Serio (2017), which indicates weaknesses in the conceptualization of organizational innovation criteria, resulting in a heterogeneous and dispersed conceptual basis (Forsman, 2011;Berends et al, 2014). Silva and Di Serio (2017), present the main weaknesses of innovation theory as follows: i) a lack of conceptual convergence, leading to an inaccurate understanding within and between theoretical fields regarding what innovation truly is (Sawhney et al, 2006); ii) the existence of a high number of innovation typologies, which do not clearly present the unit of analysis, making comparisons between research results unfeasible (Gao et al, 2020;Medeiros, 2021;Carneiro et al, 2021); iii) the lack of a common understanding about the innovation process (Berends et al, 2014;Ferreira et al, 2015); and iv) the popularization of the fallacy that innovation is only technological, which is moreover dependent on R&D activities and is an exclusive privilege of large corporations (Berends et al, 2014;Silva et al, 2016;Silva & Di Serio, 2017), disregarding the innovative role of small companies (McGuirk et al, 2015;De Carvalho et al, 2020).…”

“…Notably, the application of the innovation radar model in studies on the development of innovation in MSEs in the national context has also indicated a fifth dimension (Néto & Teixeira, 2014;Paredes et al, 2015;De Carvalho et al, 2015;Simões et al, 2015;Gonçalves et al, 2017;De Carvalho et al, 2020), originally called "innovative ambience" (Bachmann & Destefani, 2008), which, in this study, based on the international literature, is renamed "innovation in knowledge channels" (van de Vrande et al, 2009;Parida et al, 2012;Silva et al, 2016). The redefinition of this new approach to innovation is theoretically supported since the literature considers "innovation in knowledge channels" as a form of open innovation (van de Vrande et al, 2009;Parida et al, 2012;Silva et al, 2016).…”

“…Thus, this study tackles the challenge of studying innovation in MSEs that operate in traditional sectors of the economy, diverging from the literature, which has suggested that innovation originates in the research and development (ReD) activities and the technological and financial resources of large corporations (Fernández-Esquinas et al, 2017). However, current research refutes this presumption, which masks those truly responsible for innovation and competitiveness (Berends et al, 2014;Baumann & Kritikos, 2016;Fernández-Esquinas et al, 2017;Oliva et al, 2019;De Carvalho et al, 2020;Gao et al, 2020;Medeiros, 2021;Carneiro et al, 2021).…”

Excellent And Sustainable Tourism Management Through The Baldrige Criteria (Case Study: Mangunan Orchard Tourism Attraction)

“…Organizations cannot stand alone without support from internal and external parties (Dambiski Gomes de Carvalho et al, 2020;Vinyard, 2015). The previous instrument explained that the plans that were prepared had to be submitted to the implementers in the field.…”

Análise Das Dimensões Do Radar Da Inovação Mais Impactadas Nas Pmes Participantes Do Programa Ali

“…Alguns trabalhos que estudaram o programa (CAMPELO, 2017;CARVALHO, et al, 2018;GONÇALVES et al, 2017;LIMA;MULLER, 2017;VASCONCELOS;OLIVEIRA, 2018;WALTER et al, 2017;DORNELAS;DALCOMUNI, 2013;OLIVEIRA, 2012;ROCHA, 2015;ALCOFORADO, 2019;CARVALHO et al, 2020;SENHORAS, 2021)…”