‘Innovation’ is regularly offered as a panacea. Businesses should innovate their way out of recession, innovate to be more competitive and save jobs. But how practical is new product development and introducing new processes in the typical environment of a small firm?

According to our study, small firms are often unable and unwilling to break out of their routine and the limitations of resources. Owner/managing directors said that product, service and process innovation was only for large firms with the resources to invest.

In particular, the firms didn’t think there was opportunity in getting the help of their local universities, the publicly funded experts in all different areas of technology and management, and with the facilities to back it up. In their minds, universities and colleges are focused purely on educating their students. Research work at universities was not considered to be relevant to them.

But innovation doesn’t have to mean a major exercise in Research and Development, large-scale investment and diversion of people’s energies. Relatively small improvements in product design, service delivery or how the business is run or presented, can have a significant impact on its success.

The West Midlands Technology Network (WMTN, a collaboration among the region’s universities, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Birmingham City, and Staffordshire, along with Walsall College and Coventry City Council), has been taking a practical, hands-on approach with firms. Rather than research and commercialisation of technology, WMTN works with firms on their specific issues. In its first five years, work by the Network with 700 firms has led to at least £86m in new and protected sales, as well as 2,500 new and safeguarded jobs.

A quarter of firms surveyed reported significant or major impacts across all key elements of their competitiveness as a result - including productivity, profits, staff numbers, market share, environmental performance and management arrangements.

The government’s push for innovation among firms (as set out in this year’s Innovation Nation report) is only likely to intensify in the coming years, but small firms can’t be expected to deliver change on their own. It will be the firms linked into networks and partnerships, whether locally or on a national basis, which will prosper.

 

Tony Robotham, West Midlands Technology Network (WMTN), www.wm-technet.co.uk