Absorptive capacity as a determinant of innovation in SMEs: A study of Bengaluru high-tech manufacturing cluster. Issue 3 (2nd September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chandrashekar, Deepak; Bala Subrahmanya, Mungila Hillemane
• Is Part Of: Small enterprise research. Volume 24:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 290
• Page End: 315
• Publication Date: 2017-09-02
• Subjects: Absorptive capacity -- innovation -- SMEs -- manufacturing -- cluster -- Bengaluru; Small business -- Pacific Area -- Periodicals; Small business -- Management -- Periodicals; Small business -- Management; Pacific Area; Periodicals; 658.02209905
• DOI: 10.1080/13215906.2017.1396491
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1321-5906

Abstract

ABSTRACT: It is generally known that clusters are the sources of innovation and therefore, of late, the focus of researchers has been increasing to unearth the factors driving innovation among the SMEs in a cluster. Researchers have identified the absorptive capacity, which is a measure of dynamic capability of an SME, as one of the critical factors that determine the innovation propensity of an SME. However, due to a lack of consensus among researchers about the factors determining the absorptive capacity of a firm in general and SMEs specifically, quantifying the absorptive capacity has remained a challenge. Within the context of a Bengaluru cluster which houses a densely interconnected network of high-tech manufacturing SMEs, this paper attempts to quantify the absorptive capacity of a firm taking into account both internal/firm-level and external/industry-level factors. Subsequently, this paper probes the impact of the absorptive capacity of an SME on the innovation performance of an SME.