Institute of Economic Sciences, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic.
Science and Research Centre, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic.
PLoS One. 2024 Jan 12;19(1):e0296873. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296873. eCollection 2024.
Existing innovation literature has assumed that the relationship between firms' R&D intensity and innovation take place without the interplay of other organizational factors. However, the reality differs, and research to date has shown that other factors affecting firms' innovation need to be considered. This is important especially in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries, which are highly dependent on both internal and external R&D and are associated with an inability to use R&D resources effectively. This study therefore responds to calls for further analysis, especially within the CEE region, and focuses on the role of two factors affecting SMEs' innovativeness and their effects, which have been mixed so far. First, we investigate the effects of SMEs' R&D intensity and capacity utilisation on product innovation. Second, we reveal the moderating role of SMEs' different ownership structures (ownership concentration; private/public ownership; family/non-family ownership) in the relationship between R&D intensity and product innovation. We confirm that CEE SMEs' ownership concentration and private ownership moderate the relationship between R&D intensity and product innovation. In contrast, we reject our hypothesis expecting that family ownership of SMEs can significantly moderate the relationship between R&D intensity and product innovation. Interestingly, we also show that the relationship between capacity utilisation and innovation is non-linear (inverted U-shaped). This study makes a significant contribution in the form of analysis within the CEE region, whose innovation systems are seen to be weak, and it is therefore necessary to bring new knowledge and recommendations to managers and public policymakers.
现有创新文献假设，企业的研发强度与创新之间的关系是在没有其他组织因素相互作用的情况下发生的。然而，现实情况并非如此，迄今为止的研究表明，需要考虑其他影响企业创新的因素。这一点在中东欧（CEE）国家尤为重要，这些国家高度依赖内部和外部研发，而且往往无法有效利用研发资源。因此，本研究响应了进一步分析的呼吁，特别是在 CEE 地区，并侧重于影响中小企业创新能力及其影响的两个因素，迄今为止，这些因素的影响一直是混合的。首先，我们调查了中小企业研发强度和产能利用率对产品创新的影响。其次，我们揭示了中小企业不同所有权结构（所有权集中；私营/公有制；家族/非家族所有制）在研发强度与产品创新之间关系中的调节作用。我们证实，CEE 中小企业的所有权集中和私有制调节了研发强度与产品创新之间的关系。相比之下，我们拒绝了我们的假设，即中小企业的家族所有制可以显著调节研发强度与产品创新之间的关系。有趣的是，我们还表明，产能利用率与创新之间的关系是非线性的（倒 U 型）。本研究通过对创新体系较弱的 CEE 地区进行分析，做出了重大贡献，因此需要为管理者和公共政策制定者带来新知识和建议。
