Macroenvironmental organisational practices adopted by innovative small and medium enterprises: a study with Brazilian entrepreneurs

Despite the large number of existing researches on innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), few studies have so far deepened the organisational practices that innovative SMEs adopt in their daily lives, especially in developing countries. Based on in-depth interview data, and preceded by an extensive literature review, this study presents organisational practices used by innovative SMEs operating in Brazil. The results demonstrate that the use of public funding, cooperation/collaboration with customers, suppliers, universities and research institutes, the presence in the international market and the location close to the logistics chain are procedures adopted by small innovative companies in the country. On the other hand, the findings evidenced that the excess of bureaucracy to access public resources, to establish partnerships with universities and export procedures interfere in the performance of innovative companies. In addition, participation in corporate networks and location in an innovative environment are not important for the companies participating in the survey.