Analysis of Quantitative Empirical Data

The analysis of the quantitative data will be based on each single question in the semi-structured interviews and compared with the comparable statement in the survey. Moreover, the individual case will be compared with the others as it is projected in a comparative case study. Not all questions from the Comparative Case Study Matrix (Appendix 4) will be included, as some of these will be analysed in section 5.2.

When analysing quantitative data, different forms of analysis can be used.

However, as argued in section 3.5, by the use of mixed methods, methodical eclecticism is used in the analysis as both quantitative and qualitative

6 Attached via USB-sticks.

43 research methods are being used for the collection of empirical data.

Therefore, in the analysis of quantitative data, some of the questions analysed will include answers based on data conducted via semi-structured interviews in order to compare the individual cases.

Number of employees

The question is based on innovation indicators from the Oslo Manual.

The maximum amount of employees is represented by Shape with 90 employees, and Move Innovation represents the minimum amount of employees with 25 employees. This results in a variation width of 65, as equals the biggest of the companies, measured on employees, being 260%

bigger than the smallest company, which can seem extreme. However, with the definition of an SME, as being a maximum of 249 employees, the variation width seems relatively small. The variation width of 65 employees can therefore be approved for purposes of comparison.

Q1) When did the company start its business activities?

The question is based on innovation indicators from the Oslo Manual.

The oldest company started their business activities back in 2006, and the youngest companies started their business activities in 2014. The companies are therefore relatively new with an average start of business activities in 2010,3.

Q2) How is the ownership of the company?

The question is based on innovation indicators from the Oslo Manual.

All of the companies are self-owned companies.

Q3) Are the company selling on a local, national or international market?

The question is based on innovation indicators from the Oslo Manual.

Two of the six companies are selling their products or services on a national market, which equals to 33,33%. The remaining four companies are selling their products or services on an international market with Denmark as the biggest market.

Q4) Are you trying to create a specific culture in the company?

The question is among others based on the literature presented by Teece, Pisano and Shuen (1997), arguing that culture has to be built.

44 In the survey, the statement is presented, as “The company is innovative”.

The quantitative data in this question can therefore not be compared to the question asked in the semi-structured interviews, but are included in the survey in order to see if the employees in the respective companies identify the company as innovative. The highest employee score to this statement is 4.88, and lowest is 4.14 with a variation width of 0.74 and an average employee score of 4.28. On a weighing scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is

‘Strongly disagree’ and 5 is ‘Strongly agree’; it can be argued that the employees perceive their workplace as innovative.

Q5) Do the company have an innovative culture?

The question is among others, based on the literature presented by Herzog (2011), where innovation culture is defined as organization-wide shared basic values.

The question, formulated as a statement in the conducted surveys, relates to whether or not the culture in the respective companies can be categorized as innovative. The relevance of this question relates to the stated research question as if the employees did not see the culture in their company as innovative, the foundation for using the cases, as examples of how innovation culture successfully can be practised in Danish SMEs were not present. To the statement presented, the highest employee score is 4.88, and the lowest is 3.95. A variation width of 0.93 creates a relative substantial difference in perception of having an innovation culture in the companies. The average employee score is 4.17. Both the lowest and the highest employee score are though on the positive side of perceiving the culture as innovative, only differentiated on how much of an innovation culture the two companies possess. When comparing the average employee score here with the one presented in Q4, a difference of 0.11 can be seen. With this result, the employees in general identify, with a small margin, their company to be innovative rather than having an innovative culture.

Q6) Who has the responsibility for the development and implementation of innovative initiatives in the company?

The question is among others, based on the literature presented by Burns and Stalker (1961) about mechanistic versus organic cultures.

In the survey, the statement focused on the managerial or employee responsibility of both development and implementation, whereas the

45 questions in the semi-structured interviews focused on distinguishing between development and implementation of innovative initiatives. A direct comparison of the answers in the semi-structured interviews and the employee score in the conducted surveys can therefore be difficult to draw.

Nevertheless, both of the results provide valuable insight into the structure of the innovation processes in the respective SMEs. The lowest employee score given to the statement “The management team is the most important factor for development and implementation of innovative initiatives in the company” is 2.00 and the highest is 3.09, providing a variation width of 1.09 and an average score of 2.71. Compared to the opposite statement “The employees are the most important factor for development and implementation of innovative initiatives in the company” an interesting result emerges. Here the highest employee score is 4.40, and the lowest is 3.71 resulting in a variation width of 0.69 and an average employee score of 3.97.

The two average employee scores indicates that the employees in general believe that they are an important factor in the SMEs regarding the development and implementation of innovative initiatives.

Q8) Do the company has an overall strategy as you know of?

The question is based on the importance of strategy as presented in the Pentathlon Framework by Goffin and Mitchell (2017) and Stuckenschneider and Schwair (2005) regarding innovation strategy.

The statement in the survey is here again different from the one presented in the interview. Where the question in the interview focuses on whether the respondent knew the overall strategy for the company, the statement in the survey was formulated as “I know the company's overall strategy and my tasks are a part of that strategy”. The focus here was therefore more focused on if the employee’s work tasks are a part of the overall strategy. The highest employee score is split by two different SMEs and the score given is 4.00.

The lowest is 3.63 resulting in a variation width of 0.37, which must be defined as a small variation and can therefore be interpreted as the employees, to some degree, believes that they know the overall strategy and that their work tasks are a part of the overall strategy.

46 Q9) How do the company adapt to changes in the market?

The question is based on the literature presented by Adams (1982) and Cannon (1985) on how adaptability is an advantageous factor for innovation in SMEs.

Again, the question in the interview and the statement presented in the survey differ slightly. The question in the interview relates to how the company adapt to changes in the market whereas the statement in the survey is presented to the respondents to identify the perception of the company regarding changes in the market, and the statement is stated as

“The company is adaptable (regarding implementation of new technologies or threats from competitors)” The lowest employee score here is 4.27, and the highest score is 4.40 resulting in a variation width of only 0.13 and an average employee score of 4.33. The low variation width indicates a consensus among the employees. And the average employee score indicates that the employees in general believe that their company is adaptable to new technologies or threats from competitors.

Q14) Does the employees choose their own work tasks?

The question is based on the literature presented by Isaksen and Tidd (2006) and Steiber (2014) on whether the employees can choose how to perform their work.

Both the question in the interview and the statement in the survey relates to whether the employee chooses the work task him/herself. The reason for using the question both in the interview as well in the survey is to see if the management and the employees have different perceptions of this. When analysing the answers from the employees in the survey, the lowest employee score is 2.88, and the highest is 4.40 resulting in a relatively high variation width of 1.52, indicating that it depends on the respective company whether or not the employees choose their work task themselves or not. The average employee score of 3.59 indicates that the employees, to some degree, choose their work tasks themselves.

Q18) Does innovation happen internally or externally?

The question is based on the literature presented by Steiber (2014) on open organizations and Robertson and Green (2013) on open innovation.

47 Both the question in the interview and the statement in the survey relates to whether the innovation happens internally or externally. The same argumentation can be applied here as in Q14, about using the same question in the interview as a statement in the survey, as this illustrates a potential different perception when asking the respondent via the interview and the employees in the company via the survey. When the employees are presented to the statement “Development of new ideas takes place internally in the company'', the lowest employee score is 3.50, and the highest employee score is 4.28 resulting in a variation width of 0.78. The average employee score of 3.93 indicates that, even though the employees disagree slightly in the different cases, they tend to believe that innovation happens internally. The opposite statement was presented to the employees as:

“Development of new ideas in the company takes place externally”. Here the lowest employee score is 1.96, and the highest employee score is 3.00, resulting in a variation width of 1.04 being slightly higher compared to 0.78 in the other question. The average employee score of 2.43 here supports the employees’ perception of that innovation happens internally as the average employee score in the first statement was 3.93 and in the latter statement 2.43, resulting in a difference of 1.50.

Q19) Do you have a systematic approach for the development of new ideas in the company?

The question is based on the literature presented by Hauschildt and Salamo (2007) on the movement from an organic culture to a more mechanistic one.

To the statement presented to the employees in the survey: “There is a clear systematic approach to the development of new ideas in the company”, the lowest employee score is 2.60, and the highest is 3.36 resulting in a variation of 0.76, which indicates that the employees slightly disagree about having a systematic approach for development of new ideas. With the average employee score of 2.93, it can be argued that the employees do not know whether or not there is a systematic approach for developing new ideas in the company.