How is technology managed in SMEs? Differences and similarities between micro, small and medium enterprises

Abstract

In the field of innovation and technological development, regularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do not have the required resources to start projects. The innovative and technological behavior is conditioned by several elements, such as structure, financial resources, the environment and the sector. Each one presents competitive conditions that predetermine their possible strategies and behavior. For an efficient management of technology, it is necessary to consider the opportunities and threats of its technological position, the capability to acquire and develop resources, the capability to assimilate technologies and learn from this experience. In practice, the SMEs establish different models. The present work aims to characterize the different functions carried out from certain models established in the literature. From a representative sample of 81 companies and through a cluster analysis, we were able to identify 6 different empirical models defined by differences and similarities in the analysis of the environment, market research and technology assessment, acquisition and adaptation of technology, assimilation and technology implementation, which are mediated by size, sector and location.