Factores condicionadores para el desempeño en innovación de compañías industriales

Conditionning Factors for Innovative Performance of the Industrial Companies

Clandia Maffini Gomes e Isak Kruglianskas

5 Methodology

5.1 Type of Study

This study, of a quantitative nature, involved carrying out a survey. According to Babbie (1999), surveys are conducted in order to produce descriptive statements about given populations. For this purpose, a data-gathering instrument was applied to collect data from Brazilian companies with the aim of identifying how well the management of external sources of information needed for innovation, influences the innovative performance of the companies that participated in the survey.

5.2 Formulation of the Hypothesis

The basic conceptual model of the survey was determined on the basis of the study's objectives, as well as on the concepts and information obtained in the theoretical foundation and the knowledge acquired in the exploratory stage of the survey. The model consisted of a set of variables related to the management of external sources of technology information, and to innovative performance. This basic conceptual model is shown inFigure 2.

Figure 2 - Conceptual model of the survey

The proposed conceptual model is based on several pre-suppositions. The main is that there is an association between the management of external sources of technology information and innovative performance.

5.3 Procedures for Gathering and Analyzing the Data

The universe of the survey consisted of Brazilian companies in the industrial sector that have characteristics and indicators that demonstrate their emphasis on innovation activities. This population was chosen as the object of investigation because the management of outside sources of technology information is most common in this type of company.

The population consisted of companies that are members of the National Association for Research, Development and Engineering of Innovative Companies (ANPEI), and companies that take part in the Technological Management Program (PGT) of the Administration Institute Foundation.

The questionnaire sent to these companies was specifically addressed to the person responsible for the area of technology, and to officers or CEOs of the member companies of ANPEI and PGT. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail and through access to a website. The total number of replies obtained was considered high in terms of the basic list used. Of a total of 191 companies, 72 answered and returned the questionnaire, representing approximately 38% of the companies that received the first e-mail.

The data was processed with the aid of Microsoft Excel and SPSS software programs. To prove the hypothesis, multivariate and univariate analyses were carried out through the statistical techniques of factor analysis.

6 Analysis of the results

The results will now be discussed, based on the data obtained from the survey. First the characteristics that constitute the profile of the respondents and the companies that made up the sample will be treated. Next, the values shown by the variables related to the management of external sources of technology information will be presented, together with the values taken on by the variables related to innovative performance.

6.1 Sample Profile

The profile of the companies surveyed is characterized on the basis of the highest frequencies shown in relation to their sectors of activity, their gross operational income in 2005, their average numbers of employees, origin of their controlling capital, the share and nationality of their foreign capital, the share of exports in gross operational income, the placement on the market of innovations in products or processes, and the main area/sector responsible for innovation activities. Figure 3, below, presents the predominant profile of the companies surveyed.

Figure 3 - Profile of the companies surveyed

Most of the companies are characterized as being large-sized (number of employees and revenue) and are concentrated in sectors of high technological sophistication. The group of companies therefore shows a profile that is favorable for identifying the characteristics of their management of external sources of technology information, which is the theme of this present study.

6.2 Management of External Sources of Technology Information

The management of external sources of technology information was characterized by evaluating the following aspects: (1) intensity of the companies' use of the types of modalities of access to technology, (2) the types of sources of technology information, (3) the criteria that orient their choices regarding external sources of technology information, (4) the factors that hinder processes of contracting external sources of technology information, (5) relationships with partners in the management of projects, and (6) the benefits of partnerships/ cooperation in innovation activities.

The characterization of the management of external sources of technology information showed that the companies use technical and scientific publications and participate in fairs and exhibits in their search to access technology information. Partnerships with universities and other companies are the main modalities for accessing the technologies used to attain high technological levels. Opportunity to access certain technologies is the main criterion that orients the choice of external sources of technology information. This fact highlights the importance of having a high-grade network structure for obtaining external sources of technology information. The main hindrances to processes of contracting external sources of technology information are the lack of structure and preparation to manage the implications arising from cooperation, and the legal and cultural determinants involved.

The main aspects that facilitate relationships with partners in the management of projects are the existence of some prior relationship between the companies, and expertise, whereas the main aspects that limit relationships with partners are the companies' organizational and personnel structures and the partners’ different paces of work. This confirms the theoretical pre-suppositions, which indicate that successful partnerships imply the sharing of objectives, structure and knowledge. The main benefits of partnerships and cooperation projects in innovation activities are the development and absorption of more effective technology, the improvement of technological potential, access to well-trained human resources, the shared use of research installations, and technology information.

The main indicators of innovation used by companies are related to products and/or processes. Important among the benefits of innovation activities are broader ranges of products offered and increases in market share, improved production flexibility, greater production capacity, improvement in aspects associated with health and safety, and norms and regulations that control the domestic market. The indicators denominated share of new products in total sales, reduction in costs resulting from technological innovations in processes, and total number of university-trained technicians working with the company, have shown greater evolution in the last five years, and the indicators that revealed higher rates in 2005 were: share of new products in total sales, and reductions in production costs resulting from innovation in processes. These aspects have all contributed to increased competitiveness of the companies surveyed.

6.3 Factor analysis of the independent and dependent variables

To examine the characteristics of the management of external sources of technology information and reduce the number of indicators for each variable by identifying the main components of each factor, a multivariate model of factor analysis was adopted.

The factor analysis technique generates new factors aimed at replacing the original variables of the study. The statistics generated by the factor analysis indicated the suitability of its use in this study, and especially highlighted the existence of high and medium-level correlations between the indicators of each variable. The KMO index and the sphericity test (p<0.05) indicated the existence of relationships among the indicators and this allowed for the continuity of the analysis. The main components method was used to extract the factors. The criterion for choosing the factors were those with self-values with explained variance above 1. The indicators chosen were those with high correlations with the factors generated (above 0.7).

The results of the factor analysis of each independent variable evaluated are presented below. It should be mentioned that the indicators with high rates of non-response were not included in the first model of analysis. The factors extracted, the indicators and their respective factor weights, and the total explained variance related to the type of modality of access to technology are presented in Table 1.

One observes a trend of access to the technology from the partnership with other companies and universities, in function of the search of a high technological level. The technician-scientific publication use and the participation in fairs and exhibitions confirm the trend of the use of external sources of information on the companies.

The opportunity of access and timeframes and flexibility consists in the main criteria that guide the choice of the external sources of information, what salient the importance of the establishment of a high structure of network for capitation of external sources of information.

The main limitors of the process of act of contract of external sources of information are of internal and external origin, in reason of the lack of structure and preparation to manage in function of the implications of the activity of cooperation and the involvement of the legal and cultural conditioning.

The main factors that facilitate the relationship with the partners are the existence of prior relationship and expertise of partners and the factors that make it difficult the relationship are the organizational structure and of staff and the differentiated paces of work between partners, confirming the estimated theoreticians who point with respect to the fact of that successful partnerships share objectives, structure and knowledge.

The development and absorption of more effective technology, the improvement of the technological potential market, the access to financial and qualified human resources, the use in partnership of the research facilities and technology information are the main benefits of the activity of innovation.

The factor analysis of the contributions of innovation activities, of evolution, and of the numerical values related to innovative performance of the companies is shown in Table 2.

The main indicators of innovation used by companies are related are related to products and processes. Important among the benefits of innovation activities are broader ranges of products offered and increases in market share, improved production flexibility, greater production capacity, improvement in aspects associated with health and safety, and norms and regulations that control the domestic market

The indicators denominated share of new products in total sales, reduction in costs resulting from technological innovations in processes, and total number of university-trained technicians working with the company, have shown greater evolution in the last five years, and the indicators that revealed higher rates in 2005 were: share of new products in total sales, and reductions in production costs resulting from innovation in processes. These aspects have all contributed to increased competitiveness of the companies surveyed.

The factors extracted in the factor analysis are listed in Figure 4, according to the macro- and micro-variables defined in the conceptual model for the survey.

The factorial analysis disclosed that the main factors that influence the technology management are the partnership with other companies, the cooperation with university, the accomplishment of catalog purchases, the participation in conferences, fairs and technical and scientific publications, the relationship with clients, the adoption of criteria in the choice of information sources as timeframes and flexibility in services, capacity of identification of opportunities, the lack of coordination and the extreme bureaucracy, the existing laws regulations and standards, expertise and existing prior relationship between the partners, the training of the employees and existing administrative structure and the technical and market potential. The main factors that influence the innovative performance are the market performance, the market competitiveness, the quality of the processes and the technological competence.

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