Title: Factors influencing innovation decision making in Portuguese firms

Authors: Alexandra Braga; Vitor Braga

Addresses: CETRAD, CIICESI, Felgueiras School of Technology and Management, Oporto Polytechnic, Rua do Curral, Apt. 205, Felgueiras 4610-156, Portugal ' CETRAD, CIICESI, Felgueiras School of Technology and Management, Oporto Polytechnic, Rua do Curral, Apt. 205, Felgueiras 4610-156, Portugal

Abstract: There is an undeniable positive effect of innovation for both firms and the economy, with particular regards to the financial performance of firms. However, there is an important role of the decision making process for the allocation of resources to finance the innovation process. The aim of this paper is to understand what factors explain the decision making process in innovation activities of Portuguese firms. This is an empirical study, based on the modern theoretical approaches, which has relied on five key aspects for innovation: barriers, sources, cooperation, funding; and the decision making process. Primary data was collected through surveys to firms that have applied for innovation programmes within the Portuguese innovation agency. Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques were used. Our results suggest that the factors that mostly influence the Portuguese firms' innovation decision-making processes are economical and financial (namely those related to profit increase and labour costs reduction).

Keywords: economic factors; financial factors; innovation barriers; innovation sources; innovation cooperation; innovation funding; decision making; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; competitive advantage; resource allocation; profitability; labour costs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2013.056232

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2013 Vol.14 No.3/4, pp.329 - 349

Published online: 30 Sep 2013 *

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