The influence of technology innovation strategy on intangible assets and their impact on innovation performance

During the last decades the research interest on Intellectual capital (IC) has been increasing adopting different definitions and developing different measurement tools. Nonetheless, little research focused on SMEs and the relation between IC and innovation management is understudied. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of technology innovation strategy on the IC development and then on innovation performance in manufacturing SMEs. After conducting a survey, measures of IC for SMEs has been performed and further an integrated structural equation model has been created. Results demonstrate that technology innovation strategy impacts on all IC components, the internal structural capital supports the relational and human capital, and these latter ones influence firms’ innovation performance. This study contributes to develop an IC measurement system in SMEs and to emphasize the importance of single IC components in improving innovation performance. From a practical point of view it provides mangers with guidelines to communicate and manage intangible assets in SMEs.