Strategic management of innovation in manufacturing SMES: Exploring the predictive validity of strategy-innovation relationship

This research investigates strategy-innovation relationship in manufacturing SMEs. The scope of investigation encompasses the technical, marketing, and organisational dimensions of innovation. Our work extends research on Miles and Snow's framework of strategy configurations by exploring the relationship between attributes of strategic posture and innovation behaviour. This approach aims to provide a more accurate representation of strategic management of innovation in manufacturing SMEs. Results (1) confirm the differentiated propensity to adopt specific innovation behaviours among strategic postures, thus confirming posture-specific innovation characteristics, and (2) highlight differentiated associations between strategic attributes and innovation attributes among strategic postures, thus bringing new insights on strategy-innovation fit. Results also emphasise the influence of hybridisation of strategic profiles on the predictive validity of strategy-innovation relationship. Finally, this research provides useful managerial inputs on the strategic management of innovation in SMEs from an innovation effectiveness standpoint.