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2 Literature review and conceptual framework have been strongly targeted to enhance the creation and exploitation of innovation, particularly in small firms (Blakely, 1994; Bridge et al., 1998; Malecki, 1997). However, at the same time, many small, growth-oriented firms have become increasingly dependent on external knowledge sources due to their incapability to generate all the knowledge required for the creation and commercialisation of innovation (Cormican and O’Sullivan, 2004; Pellikka and Lauronen, 2007). Prior studies have pointed out that regional innovation support services have failed to generate such knowledge sufficiently, but there has been little research effort regarding the kind of support that is needed to foster innovation and how it should be provided (Blakely, 1994; Kaufmann and Tödtling, 2002; Klofsten and Jones-Evans, 1996; Pellikka, 2008; Pellikka and Virtanen, 2009). It has been argued that the local service infrastructure should provide a nurturing environment for small technology-intensive firms in order to support and accelerate their innovation activities and growth, as well as the growth of local regional economies (Abetti and Rancourt, 2006; Höyssä et al., 2004; Phillips, 2002; Tidd et al., 2001). Major objectives of economic policies have included the provision of suitable infrastructure and enhancement of the availability of appropriate innovation support services (Heydebreck et al., 2000). In the absence of unlimited resources, it is necessary to make local choices between industries in order to support the creation and development of small technology firms efficiently (Cohendet and Meyer-Krahmer, 2001). Prior studies have shown that realising the potential benefits of innovation requires an effective commercialisation process (Andrew and Sirkin, 2003), whereby potential products are generated from ideas and transformed into market-competent products. Developing effective commercialisation processes is a complex and challenging task for small firms in the modern business environment, in which customer requirements are rapidly changing and the life-cycles of new products are shortening. Small firms whose competitiveness is based on diverse information, such as knowledge intensive business service firms (KIBS), have become increasingly dependent on external knowledge sources. Prior studies have clearly indicated that small KIBS firms, in particular, face several challenges during the commercialisation of innovation (Pellikka and Virtanen, 2009). Most of the challenges are associated with the inability to acquire and exploit external resources that are often crucial for small firms (Blakely, 1994). Kaufmann and Tödtling (2002) stated that a key objective of local innovation support services should be to improve the innovation performance of firms, which can be achieved only by providing certain inputs to the creation and commercialisation of innovation. 32
2.6 Conceptual framework 33 2 Literature review and conceptual framework Relationships examined in the studies this dissertation is based upon include those between: 1. Innovation and growth 2. Growth and success 3. Growth, innovation and support Four studies have been conducted (as described in Articles I-IV), which collectively illustrate the characteristics of IHGS firms and form the conceptual framework of the dissertation (Figure 3). The starting point of the innovation and growth studies has been analysis of growing innovative SMEs in diverse locations. According to resource munificence and regional competitive theories, firms in urban areas should generally perform more strongly and produce more innovations than those in rural regions. To evaluate these hypotheses, the influence of location on innovation and growth has been tested and analysed in more detail in the studies, and the basic assumption of life-cycle theory has been tested by analysing the influence of age of the firms in the studied populations. The Schumpeterian hypothesis that large firms tend to have resource advantages over smaller firms for exploiting new technologies and producing innovations has also been tested. In addition, Gibrat’s law, that growth follows random walks rather than being correlated with size, has been evaluated. Other assumptions about the connections between innovation, growth and success applied and tested in the studies are derived from prior empirical studies. Previous research indicates that there is a positive correlation between innovation and growth, but there are mixed findings regarding the relationship between innovation and success. The impact of innovations on economic performance is seen as highly uncertain. Moreover, risky behaviour (including pursuing growth and innovation activities simultaneously) may lead to high variance in short-term income (Bhide, 2000). Both private and public R&D expenditures are believed to correlate positively with the development of new products, but the influence of R&D expenditure on simultaneous innovation and growth has not been tested in previous studies. In the studies reported in Articles I-IV the connections between growth and success have been analysed within the constructed framework by examining the influence of selected variables on growth, success, and simultaneous growth and success. Whether the concepts of growth and success are the same, or different, was also assessed. Models, derived from prior theories, were constructed to assess the effects of age, branch of industry, innovation, location and size on growth and success. In addition, a longitudinal case study approach was utilized to elucidate behavioural
Page 3 and 4: Aalto University publication series
Page 5: Author Tomi Heimonen Name of the do
Page 9 and 10: Acknowledgements This dissertation
Page 11 and 12: CONTENTS PART 1: Overview of the di
Page 13: List of Articles This thesis is bas
Page 16 and 17: 1 Introduction Some scholars claim
Page 18 and 19: 1 Introduction In addition, the dur
Page 20 and 21: 1 Introduction Figure 1: Framework
Page 22 and 23: 1 Introduction factors that affect
Page 24 and 25: 1 Introduction 1.4 Key concepts and
Page 26 and 27: 2 Literature review and conceptual
Page 46 and 47: 3 Research methodology Constructivi
Page 48 and 49: 3 Research methodology and the meth
Page 50 and 51: 3 Research methodology The data use
Page 52 and 53: 3 Research methodology 3.4 Models a
Page 54 and 55: 3 Research methodology reliable. Se
Page 56 and 57: 3 Research methodology concluded th
Page 58 and 59: 4 Results, evaluation of the studie
Page 70 and 71: References Abetti, P. A. (2001). Ac
Page 72 and 73: References Bhide, A. (2000). The or
Page 74 and 75: References Creswell, J. W. (2003).
Page 76 and 77: References Golafshani, N. (2003). U
Page 78 and 79: References Leitch, C., Hill, F., an
Page 80 and 81: References Pellikka, J. and Laurone
Page 82 and 83: References Storper, M. (1992). The
Page 84 and 85: Appendixes Overview: Appendix 1: Ke
Page 86 and 87: Appendixes High growth When examini
Page 88 and 89: Appendixes profitability, liquidity
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Appendixes Appendix 2 Construction
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Appendixes Appendix 2 Continued (Co
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not increased compared to Eastern F
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propensity for risk taking (Covin a
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2. Former studies and derivation of
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firm’s annual sales growth (Arund
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H4. Firm success has an impact on t
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other branches in which employment
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and Rao, 2008). Because of the unev
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Table 1. Characteristics of the dat
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firms from other firms. The data in
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Table 2. Logistic Regression analys
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Public R&D funding was shown to inc
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References Achtenhagen, L., Naldi,
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Kanter, R. (1985), “Supporting in
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Appendix 1. Corporate population ch
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Appendix 3. Distribution of personn
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12 Int. J. Business and Globalisati
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14 T. Heimonen and M. Virtanen we u
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392 Int. J. Entrepreneurial Venturi
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394 J. Siikonen et al. firms’ gro
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396 J. Siikonen et al. generally re
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398 J. Siikonen et al. determinants
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400 J. Siikonen et al. 3.1 National
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402 J. Siikonen et al. 2 the firm
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404 J. Siikonen et al. 4 Results 4.
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406 J. Siikonen et al. innovation a
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410 J. Siikonen et al. activities i
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414 J. Siikonen et al. Delmar, F.,
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