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finding tours, network sessions, idea pitch assessments, financial guidance, online toolboxes
and many more. Best practices can be found in the innovation leading Scandinavian
countries (eg. the Innovation Centre Denmark) and in innovation follower Britain (Innovate
UK). Yet, the ten in-depth interviews have preliminary revealed that innovation is a type of
behaviour. Managers of innovative SME stated that tools, no matter how accessible, are not
used by innovation-driven managerial profiles. Connecting the dots is rather based on
managerial behavioural aspects like perseverance, bravery, obstinacy, the ambition to fight
against the tide, trendsetting attitude, open minded, … Consequently, it was also stated that
managers who do not want to innovate or who do not believe in it, will never be stimulated
to take up any innovation tool, no matter how accessible this tool or method is.
The large-scale quantitative survey mentioned earlier will be conducted to validate or assess
these first insights, especially preliminary assimilations concerning the environmental
sensitivity of SME managers. Insights in the innovation profile of the respondents, ideation
triggers, media use, and the actual network are aimed for by the survey.
Research results
In this first explorative phase, ten innovative Flemish small businesses (-50 employees) were
interviewed by means of face-to-face in-depth interviews. According to these innovative
small businesses, they have the capacity to absorb new information easily. Gathering new
ideas for business is mainly by travelling and by having an open view on the world.
Innovative SME seem to have no problems being their own ‘boundary spanner’: they
combine the ability to run their business while bridging to the outside world.
The following innovation triggers (Table 1) were mentioned by business managers of
innovative Flemish SME:
Table 1. Innovation triggers.
External triggers
- Sense of urgency due to new legislation
- Need of differentiation with competitors
- Insights from trend watchers
- Innovative ideas in other fields
- Demands of clients
- Best practices (colleagues, other countries)
- Foreign competitors
- Administrative work load
- Conversations within formal or informal
networks
- Job or study experience in other countries
- Artists
- Travelling
Internal triggers
- Personality of the business manager:
driven, eager, dedicated, competent,
opinion leader
- Cash overflow
Some authors, like Paul Iske (Koops, 2009) presume innovation can only be stimulated in a
situation in which entrepreneurs must, will, can, dare and may innovate. Our respondents
did not always agree with these boundary conditions. The 'must' presumption was often
denied by innovative entrepreneurs as the sense of urgency, commonly considered as an
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