INNOVATION RADAR AS A TOOL FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF REACH FOR MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES

Abstract

Organizations in general have pursued innovation as a means of gaining competitive advantage. In the context of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), this practice has been supported by the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises (Sebrae) through Local Innovation Agents (ALI) program, which aims to strengthen the practice of innovation by identifying opportunities to innovate. The main tool used in this work is the Innovation Radar, which is based on the original work of Sawhney, Wolcott and Arroniz (2006). This study aimed to achieve two main objectives: i) to analyze how MSEs can use the radar as a tool for building strategies for innovation; ii) comparatively analyze the sectors participating in the sample with regard to the extent to which innovation occurs and the importance of innovation for each sector analyzed. The study sample was composed of 1139 micro and small businesses that joined the ALI program in 2012, in the State of Paraná. The data were analyzed by statistical tests such as the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and others. The results showed that the MSEs, innovate through similar dimensions of the Radar, even if they belong to different sectors. However, the difference between the sectors is analyzed in innovation intensity, which was more robust in the software sector and weaker in the furniture sector. It was also found that many dimensions of innovation Radar were little explored, which shows great potential for gaining competitive advantage.