In order to survive in their market and differentiate themselves from the competition, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent more than 90% of companies worldwide, need to be creative and innovative. This book presents a conceptual framework for thinking about innovation and creativity in SMEs. It takes into account their strategic relation to their environment and the economic, technological and social changes that they face. Their ability to enhance their creativity with new ideas and to legitimize them during their implementation is also taken into account

In order to survive in their market and differentiate themselves from the competition, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent more than 90% of companies worldwide, need to be creative and innovative. This book presents a conceptual framework for thinking about innovation and creativity in SMEs. It takes into account their strategic relation to their environment and the economic, technological and social changes that they face. Their ability to enhance their creativity with new ideas and to legitimize them during their implementation is also taken into account

The concept of open innovation (OI) has become a very popular topic during the last decade, with an increasing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) embracing OI practices to gain competitive advantage. With the majority of publications focusing on large firms, open innovation in SMEs has received scant attention from both scholars and practitioners. This book seeks to correct this imbalance by providing an in-depth study for both business managers and graduate-level students. Using rich, in-depth case studies from successful companies, it examines different approaches to managing OI in order to develop practical guidelines for implementation. It also highlights important differences between OI strategies in SMEs and large companies. Its findings will be of use to those studying or working in innovation management, open innovation, small business management and entrepreneurship.

The World is changing and then also how enterprises carry out innovation needs to change. The book presents new methods and tools (from Creativity to Engineering), aimed at promoting and sustaining enterprise innovation and production improvement. The book is primarily (but not exclusively) based on the new approaches, methods, frameworks, and tools conceived for enterprise innovation and production improvement, developed during the European Project BIVEE (Business Innovation for Virtual Enterprise Ecosystems.) Addressed topics range from Open Innovation in Virtual Enterprises to shared virtual spaces for collaborative creativity, to Innovation metrics and monitoring in the context of networked SMEs.

This book brings together experts from different areas to show how creativity drives design and innovation in different kind of businesses. It presents theories and best practices demonstrating how creativity generates technological invention, and how this, combined with entrepreneurship, leads to business innovation. It also discusses strategies to teach entrepreneurial competencies and support business developments, including aspects such as corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Moreover, the book discusses the role of human factors in understanding, communicating with and engaging users, reporting on innovative approaches for product design, development, and branding. It also discusses applications in education and well-being. Based on the AHFE 2021 Conferences on Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Human Factors in Communication of Design, held virtually on July 25–29 July, 2021, from USA, the book addresses a broad audience of business innovators, entrepreneurs, designers, and marketing and communication experts alike.

Creativity and Strategic Innovation Management was the first book to integrate innovation management with both change management and creativity to form an innovative guide to survival in rapidly changing market conditions. Treating creativity as the process, and innovation the result, Goodman and Dingli emphasise the importance of a strategic approach to management through fostering creative processes. Revised and updated for a second edition, this ground-breaking book now includes: A new section on contemporary themes in innovation management, such as the use of social media and sustainability. More coverage of entrepreneurship, ethics, diversity issues and the legal aspects of technology and innovation management. More international cases and real life examples. The book is also supported by a range of new tutor support materials. This textbook is an ideal accompaniment to postgraduate courses on innovation management and creativity management. The focused approach by Goodman and Dingli also makes it useful as supplementary reading on a range of courses from management of technology to strategic management.

This book contains the collection of papers presented at the conference of the International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 8.2 "Information and Organizations." The conference took place during June 21–24, 2009 at the Universidade do Minho in Guimarães, Portugal. The conference entitled "CreativeSME - The Role of IS in Leveraging the Intelligence and Creativity of SME’s" attracted high-quality submissions from across the world. Each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers in a double-blind review process. In addition to the 19 papers presented at the conference, there were five panels and four workshops, which covered a range of issues relevant to SMEs, creativity and information systems. We would like to show our appreciation of the efforts of our two invited keynote speakers, Michael Dowling of the University of Regensburg, Germany and Carlos Zorrinho, Portuguese coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan. The following organizations supported the conference through financial or other contributions and we would like to thank them for their engagement: