Working paper
SME POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN STATE (1990–2015): FROM A “GENERALIST” TO A “PATERNALIST” APPROACH Working Paper WP1/2016/02 Series WP1 Institutional Problems of Russian Economy
Purpose: the paper aims to theoretically justify the link between the endowment of intellectual capital and product novelty, and to find empirical evidence for such a link for SMEs in the Russian business environment.
Design/methodology/approach: the study implements an intellectual capital based view and the concept of novelty proposed by Schumpeter to highlight the crucial role of knowledge for transition to a higher level of competition. Drawing on a literature review, the authors determine three specific components of intellectual capital: foreign human capital, ICT capital developed at an international level and cooperation with foreign partners in order to pinpoint a premier position on the next level of the market. For empirical testing of the proposed model, a dataset comprising more than 1400 Russian manufacturing SMEs was used. Estimations were performed with the help of a principal component analysis and ordinal logistic regression.
Findings: the findings reveal that higher intellectual capital endowment promotes the level of product novelty. For Russian manufacturing SMEs, the most important is R&D capital. At the same time, ICT capital developed at an international level and cooperation with foreign partners contribute significantly to the probability of transition to a new market level.
Research limitations/implications: the study employs cross sectional data that restrict the analysis of innovation dynamics.
Practical implications: the study appears to have policy implications for the development of governmental programmes for Russian SMEs such as the creation of IC awareness, training for IC management, special programmes for R&D support and ICT capital accumulation.
Originality/value: this paper proposes a new approach for investigating the “knowledge-innovation” link, shifting the focus from a general analysis of product innovation to a level of novelty for product innovation. This is the first empirical study of the relationship between intellectual capital components and the level of product novelty for SMEs in the context of the Russian business environment.
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Igor Stoyanov, the creator of the beauty salons' network "PERSONA," faced a problem of growing number of personnel and difficulties to reach the desired client-oriented job attitude and prevent various ethical conflicts. It is obvious that the company needs a ethical code that all workers should be informed, but how to achieve this if the company has always been managed in informally manner?
For use in courses: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurship
This is the third volume in a series of five books which bring together the results of intensive research on the national systems of innovation in the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. This book looks at the relationship between small and medium enterprises and the national systems of innovation in the BRICS countries. It brings to fore crucial issues in the evolution and future trends of industrial or innovation policies for small firms: their scope, applicability, co-ordination, and main results, as well as the influence of macroeconomic, legal and regulatory environments. Taking into account the specificities and complexities of SMEs’ production and innovation systems, it seeks to inform research, policy design and implementation in the field. Combining original and detailed data, this book is an invaluable resource for researchers and scholars in economics, development studies, and political science, as well as policymakers and development practitioners interested in the BRICS countries.
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