Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) are considered the most dynamic and elastic forms of activity. In the economy, the foundation and development of these are important for the creation of the so-called "normal" economic environment. In the recent past it was enough for companies to meet their needs in a profitable way to stay in the market, but that scenario has changed dramatically. At present it’s necessary to be one step ahead towards the future, because the strategies that have worked well in the past are not guarantees of sustainable success. The key to longevity and business competitiveness lies in innovation. Accordingly, the main objective of the present research was to present a conceptual model of innovation research in Micro and Small Enterprises to analyze (1) the degree of innovation of Micro and Small Companies, (2) how the innovation presents itself in the MSE as a result of its business environments and (3) the determining factors of the innovation according to the geographical location. This research is of particular interest to Micro and Small Enterprises in developing countries, such as Brazil, given the greater relevance of innovation activities than innovation itself, and can provide subsidies for the formulation of innovation policies.
Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are considered the most dynamic and flexible arrangement of activity. In the economy, the foundation and development of these features is important for the creation of the so-called “normal” economic environment. The main objective of this research is to present a research model of innovation in MSEs to analyse: first, the degree of innovation of MSEs, and second, how the innovation is handled by existing MSEs as a result of its business environment. The research made is based on a sample of 550 MSEs distributed over six cities across the Brazilian State of Piauí. The data were collected using the Innovation Radar application, which is owned by the SEBRAE Local Innovation Agents program. Statistical techniques of descriptive, exploratory, and inferential nature were used for corresponding data treatment and results validation. The results obtained suggest that MSEs have innovation capacity between the “Little Innovative” and “Occasional Innovative” range, and also that the average and the distribution of innovation levels are similar amongst MSEs analyzed.
