IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v14y2024i9p222-d1477975.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of the Agglomeration Economy and Innovation Ecosystem in the Process of Competency Development and Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Dario Peirone

    (Law Department, Università di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy)

  • Dina Batista Pereira

    (Centre for Management Studies of IST, University of Lisbon, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • João Leitão

    (Department of Management and Economics, NECE, Research Centre for Business Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-209 Covilhã, Portugal)

  • Olha Nezghoda

    (Law Department, Università di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy)

Abstract

In our paper, we examine the simultaneous impact of the agglomeration economy (AE) and the innovation ecosystem (IE) on the competency development of SMEs in the Piemonte region in three high-tech sectors: aerospace, mechatronics, and automotive. This study focuses on the critical challenge for SMEs: survival and market position expansion amidst rapidly changing external environments. We used the capability approach, which includes identifying and assessing a company’s competencies through the capability matrix, as a tool to analyse a company’s competitiveness in the industry based on structural changes; we determined the key insights from managerial practices of SMEs that help to comprehend the behaviour of high-performing, sustainable-performing, and low-performing companies in the development of competencies. The key finding is that SMEs’ sustainability in the context of structural changes in the external environment is primarily influenced by factors such as investment in the development of company competencies, industrial cooperation, strategic planning, cross-fertilisation, and the impact of company age and size on the availability of resources, along with the level of internationalisation. This study also identifies the main challenges these SMEs face, particularly the lack of highly skilled human resources to meet the sector’s specific needs, as well as the difficulties companies face in adapting to changes in consumer behaviour and forecasting future business strategies. In addition, this study introduces the AE and IE variables as strategic tools to enable company representatives to improve their development strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Dario Peirone & Dina Batista Pereira & João Leitão & Olha Nezghoda, 2024. "The Role of the Agglomeration Economy and Innovation Ecosystem in the Process of Competency Development and Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:222-:d:1477975
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/9/222/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/9/222/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary A Knight & S Tamar Cavusgil, 2004. "Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(2), pages 124-141, March.
    2. Delgado, Mercedes & Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott, 2014. "Clusters, convergence, and economic performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1785-1799.
    3. Nambisan, Satish & Wright, Mike & Feldman, Maryann, 2019. "The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    4. Gary A Knight & S Tamer Cavusgil, 2004. "Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(4), pages 334-334, July.
    5. Hadley, Richard D. & Wilson, Heather I. M., 2003. "The network model of internationalisation and experiential knowledge," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 697-717, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brennan, L. & Garvey, D., 2009. "The role of knowledge in internationalization," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 120-133, June.
    2. Zhou, Lianxi & Wu, Aiqi, 2014. "Earliness of internationalization and performance outcomes: Exploring the moderating effects of venture age and international commitment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 132-142.
    3. Jie Wu & Steven Si & Zhiyang Liu, 2022. "Entrepreneurship in Asia: Entrepreneurship knowledge when East meets West," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(3), pages 317-342, July.
    4. Crespo, Nuno Fernandes & Crespo, Cátia Fernandes & Silva, Graça Miranda & Nicola, Maura Bedin, 2023. "Innovation in times of crisis: The relevance of digitalization and early internationalization strategies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Yu, Honglan & Fletcher, Margaret & Buck, Trevor, 2022. "Managing digital transformation during re-internationalization: Trajectories and implications for performance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    6. Chakrabarty, Subhajit & Nag, Biswajit, 2014. "Perceptions of international trade barriers: Empirical study of small apparel firms," MPRA Paper 52635, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Il Park, Byung & Xiao, Shufeng (Simon), 2021. "Doing good by combating bad in the digital world: Institutional pressures, anti-corruption practices, and competitive implications of MNE foreign subsidiaries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 194-205.
    8. Do, Hoa & Nguyen, Bach & Shipton, Helen, 2023. "Innovation and internationalization in an emerging market context: Moderating effects of interpersonal and organizational social networks," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    9. Nuno Calheiros-Lobo & José Vasconcelos Ferreira & Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, 2023. "SME Internationalization and Export Performance: A Systematic Review with Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-36, May.
    10. Bai, Wensong & Holmström-Lind, Christine & Johanson, Martin, 2018. "Leveraging networks, capabilities and opportunities for international success: A study on returnee entrepreneurial ventures," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 51-62.
    11. Zhou, Lianxi, 2007. "The effects of entrepreneurial proclivity and foreign market knowledge on early internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 281-293, September.
    12. Mnahel Babgi & Benyamin Aghhavani-Shajari & Marion Vieu, 2023. "Evolution of Digitalization and Internationalization Literature: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis for Future Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-04398156, HAL.
    13. Casillas, José C. & Acedo, Francisco J. & Barbero, José L., 2010. "Learning, unlearning and internationalisation: Evidence from the pre-export phase," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 162-173.
    14. Indujeeva Peiris & Michèle Akoorie & Paresha Sinha, 2012. "International entrepreneurship: A critical analysis of studies in the past two decades and future directions for research," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 279-324, December.
    15. Bel Hadj Tarek & Mighri Zouhayer & Ghodbane Adel, 2019. "Entrepreneurial Competitive Intelligence Between Uppsala Model and Born Global Theories in the Case of North African SMEs," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(2), pages 734-755, June.
    16. Fletcher, Margaret & Harris, Simon & Richey, Robert Glenn, 2021. "Retrospective and prospective learning: Accelerating the internationalization process," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    17. Shaheer, Noman Ahmed & Li, Sali, 2020. "The CAGE around cyberspace? How digital innovations internationalize in a virtual world," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1).
    18. Abiodun Tope Samson, 2015. "The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Reconfiguring Capability and Moderation of Environmental Turbulence on Export Performance of SMEs in Nigeria," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 7(3), pages 76-87.
    19. Meschi, Pierre-Xavier & Ricard, Antonin & Tapia Moore, Ernesto, 2017. "Fast and Furious or Slow and Cautious? The Joint Impact of Age at Internationalization, Speed, and Risk Diversity on the Survival of Exporting Firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 279-291.
    20. Lucian Belascu & Alexandra Horobet & Georgiana Vrinceanu & Consuela Popescu, 2021. "Performance Dissimilarities in European Union Manufacturing: The Effect of Ownership and Technological Intensity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:222-:d:1477975. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.