The key to innovative behavior in SMEs: innovation teams

Abstract

Innovation in Small eta Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is crucial for the survival of them in times of economic crisis in a complex and globalized market. The main objective of this study is to investigate in them the influence of factors that facilitate and hinder innovative behavior through the analysis of innovation teams and their environment over time. Through a mixed methodological approach with a multilevel perspective, we examine if innovative and participative culture, transformational leadership and planning increase innovative behaviors in SMEs. The sample consisted of 14 teams belonging to 8 different organizations corresponding to both the public and private sectors, with activities typical of the service and production sectors.Our results showed that the perception of an innovative culture and participation in decision-making is positively related to innovative behavior, that this is key to enhancing the innovative behavior of workers. Transformational leadership only enhances innovative behavior in a group context through a planning of actions in the team’s star-up phase. There is an interference between managers and workers regarding innovation meaning, which may solve through innovation teams.