La «innovación escondida» de las pymes industriales en el capitalismo español. Gestión, estrategias y repertorios de prácticas innovadoras en pymes manufactureras catalanas

Alejandro Pizzi; Manuel Ahedo

doi:10.5565/rev/papers.2465

The ‘hidden innovation’ of industrial SMEs in Spanish capitalism: Management, strategies and repertoires of innovative practices in Catalan manufacturing SMEs

Authors

Alejandro Pizzi Universidad de Valencia
Manuel Ahedo Universidad de Copenhague

PDF (ES)

Abstract

Innovative and dynamic manufacturing SMEs have been and continue to be one of the bases of collective prosperity in various European countries and regions. Based on a multilevel sociology that integrates the micro level (firm and organization), meso level (regionallocal and sector) and macro level (state-related national capitalism), the article analyses the innovation activity of industrial SMEs, which may be called hidden innovation because it does not appear in conventional indicators. Based on 22 semi-structured interviews with managers of manufacturing SMEs of Catalonia, Grounded Theory is applied to construct descriptive categories and conceptual propositions in order to understand and analyse the social relations and typical processes SMEs use to innovate. Three main issues are analysed: discursive-cognitive frameworks, management and planning, and strategies and repertoires of innovation practices. The main contributions are as follows. At the micro level, the participation of SMEs in the sector-related value-supply chain or network exerts a decisive influence on their innovation repertoires, and two typical repertoires of innovation practices have been found: relatively autonomous practices and client-dependent practices. At the meso level of Catalonia’s innovation and business system, problems have been found in producing local collective competition goods due to institutional aspects and public policies. At the macro level, Spain’s capitalism displays a low development of institutional factors to provide its business system with innovation capacities.

Keywords

innovation system, development, capitalism, production-supply networks, SME-supporting policies, local collective competition goods

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Author Biographies

Alejandro Pizzi, Universidad de Valencia

Alejandro Pizzi es doctor en sociología (Universidad Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona). Profesor de la Universidad de Valencia (Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Departamento de Sociología). Sus temas de especialización son la sociología económica, la sociología del trabajo y de las relaciones laborales y la sociología de los movimientos sociales.

Manuel Ahedo, Universidad de Copenhague

Manuel Ahedo Santisteban es doctor en Sociología (Universidad del País Vasco). Prof. Lecturer. University of Copenhagen; Department of Political Science, Study Council (Copenhagen; Denmark). Sus temas de especialización son la sociología económica, la sociología del desarrollo y la sociología de la educación.