The aim of this paper is to critique and review the role of individuals and teams in idea generation as part of the overall organisational creativity and innovation process. Key objectives are to determine organisational development needs and research agendas in this area. Organisations continue...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the application of a process of innovation within a small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) case study organisation over a six‐year period, leading to improved understanding for further application and development. Design/methodology/approach...

Purpose – Increased developments in competition, globalisation and technology have led to an increased emphasis on innovation in organisations and academia. There is a substantial body of knowledge in regard to the concept of innovation. However, there is a need to make a distinction between...

Investigates how organisations can progress from total quality (TQ) to business innovation and represents the first part of an EU sponsored research programme in total quality and innovation. First, definitions and underlying assumptions are analysed which enables a definition of TQ and...

Designated peripheral regions within the European Union (EU) have economies and standards of living which are below average. One of the primary reasons recognised by local government for this poor economic standing has been low levels of innovation within indigenous small to medium‐sized...

Purpose – There is a paucity of studies on the complex longitudinal dynamics of innovation incorporation within family‐based small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in response to market and technological change. Attempts at innovation implementation are likely to be influenced by the...

Purpose – Innovation efforts of small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in peripheral regions are limited both by innate resource limitations and by location factors such as excessive distance from key markets and higher cost bases for new technology. However, the emergence of the knowledge...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of business improvement methods (BIM/TQM) in contributing to innovation implementation in SMEs within peripheral regions. Design/methodology/approach – A survey with responses from 606 SMEs in the North West European...

Small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are coming under increasing market pressures due to larger more agile companies encroaching on their markets and increasing integration in the supply chain. Thus SMEs need to increase their innovativeness to improve and survive. The aim of this paper...

Although the U.K. has a common political system, there are distinct regional differences. These differences are reflected in the outcomes of U.K. Government attempts to devise and implement innovation strategy within all parts of the U.K. Northern Ireland's (NI) regional differences are...