Facing the Innovation–Export Paradox
Abstract
This chapter presents a literature review that guides the study and includes the types of innovation and innovation process, and the resource-based view. The resource-based view highlights the link between strategy and the internal resources of firms and allows the acquisition and allocation of a company’s resources to be viewed as a strategic decision. It also combines “the internal analysis of phenomena within companies with the external analysis of the competitive environment”. For companies operating in small domestic markets, fostering innovation logically leads to the enhancement of export sales in order to achieve a satisfying level of return on research and development investments. An in-depth case study is most appropriate at the exploratory stage of a research project. It is suited to analyzing the interaction between key variables in close cooperation with practitioners, in this case the executives of innovative companies operating in small domestic markets.