Relação e influência entre inovação e competitividade em micro e pequenas empresas do Sul do Brasil

Abstract

This research aimed to understand if there is any kind of relationship and influence between innovation activities and competitive criteria based on data from Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in southern Brazil. Initially, a theoretical model was proposed based on published scientific studies establishing the relationship between innovation indicators and competitive criteria. Afterwards, a verification of this theoretical model was made through a survey with 66 MSEs from the South of Brazil, raising the level of importance given by the managers of the companies to the innovation indicators and the market perception of these companies in relation to the competitive criteria. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to perform statistical tests and reduce variables. Afterwards, the linear regression in the SPSS 20® software made it possible to verify, from the data collected, which innovation activities are related and that influence the competitiveness of the MSEs. The Quality criterion explained 17.2% of the data variance, Reliability explained 10.9% of the variance, Costs explained 10.8% and Flexibility and Speed were not significant. Thus, the results show that the competitive criterion Flexibility was not clearly related to any innovation activity, but the Quality, Reliability, Costs and Speed criteria are related to innovation, receiving positive and sometimes negative influences, indicating that some types of implementations of innovations may not be viable. Finally, an Innovation KPI prioritization ranking was established to facilitate the implementation of these activities in companies that do not have projects or planning focused on innovation.