Innovative capacity in micro, small and medium enterprises: Review of international articles on empirical research

Abstract

The purposes of the article are to evaluate the current status of innovation capacity studies and propose directions for future research. Thirty - six articles in international empirical research on business, in particular micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) were identified from Springer, Emerald, and ScienceDirect. Findings reveal most studies on innovation capacity focus on two lines of research: determinants of innovation capacity (process) and consequences on innovation capacities (outcome). The quantitative approach is the dominant research method. Some research directions are proposed that cover outstanding themes as follows: (1) considering quantitative research method, (2) exploring innovation capacity on the service sector, (3) identifying innovation capacity on stakeholders in supply chain perspectives, (4) delving into how firm results can be affected in each type of innovation capacity, (5) examining the mediator of specific types of innovation capacities in the relationship between many other factors such as customer orientation, or market orientation or/and corporate social responsibility and / knowledge management and networking with business outcomes in term of the supply chain perspectives.