Innovation practices as a path to business growth performance : a study of small and medium sized firms in the emerging UAE market

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to innovation and economic growth, yet most of the research into innovation management has focused on developed markets and economies and large enterprises. This study identifies factors which enable SMEs to engage in innovation practices and examines their impact on business growth performance in the emerging United Arab Emirates market, namely Dubai. This study gathered survey data from a sample of 600 SMEs and analysed it using the Partial Least Squares technique. It found that SMEs’ internally driven determinants enable them to drive innovation practices and innovation practices impact on their business growth performance, but SMEs do not appear to utilise their externally driven determinants. The contribution of the study centres on the new understanding it provides of the way SME innovation practices can be promoted in an emerging market.