The Differences in the Propensity of Providing Smart Services by SMEs from the Electrical Engineering Industry with Regard to Their Cooperation and Innovation Flexibility

Abstract

There is still a lack of empirical evidence about smart service in general, and more particularly, in small and medium sized firms (SMEs). For SMEs, where the implementation of smart technologies is more demanding, the importance of cooperation with other business partners and innovation flexibility increases dramatically. The purpose of this article is to determine how the cooperation and innovation flexibility of SMEs affect the propensity to provide smart services in the electrical engineering industry. This paper also contributes a deeper insight into the intensity scale of collaboration within SME providers of smart services regarding the types of smart services offered. The empirical evidence is based on quantitative and firm-level data gathered through an email questionnaire which yielded 112 SME companies from the electrical engineering industry in the Czech Republic. The analysis is based on factor analysis, non-parametric tests, and binary logistic regression to identify the differences and effects of collaboration and innovation flexibility. The results of the factors affected confirmed external cooperation flexibility with customers and innovative flexibility in relation to the products as significant with inverse relationships between external collaboration with customers and the propensity to provide smart services. It is evident that weak ties in external customer cooperation flexibility operate as incentives or driving forces in the provision of smart services to establish closer relationships. The deeper research insights as well as the theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end of the paper.There is still a lack of empirical evidence about smart service in general, and more particularly, in small and medium sized firms (SMEs). For SMEs, where the implementation of smart technologies is more demanding, the importance of cooperation with other business partners and innovation flexibility increases dramatically. The purpose of this article is to determine how the cooperation and innovation flexibility of SMEs affect the propensity to provide smart services in the electrical engineering industry. This paper also contributes a deeper insight into the intensity scale of collaboration within SME providers of smart services regarding the types of smart services offered. The empirical evidence is based on quantitative and firm-level data gathered through an email questionnaire which yielded 112 SME companies from the electrical engineering industry in the Czech Republic. The analysis is based on factor analysis, non-parametric tests, and binary logistic regression to identify the differences and effects of collaboration and innovation flexibility. The results of the factors affected confirmed external cooperation flexibility with customers and innovative flexibility in relation to the products as significant with inverse relationships between external collaboration with customers and the propensity to provide smart services. It is evident that weak ties in external customer cooperation flexibility operate as incentives or driving forces in the provision of smart services to establish closer relationships. The deeper research insights as well as the theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end of the paper.