Analysis of a Swedish High Technology SME Using the Survival Index Value (SIV) Model

• One of the major deficiencies in the existing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ (SMEs) performance evaluation models is the fact that they lack a clear coupling to the issue of innovation and its impact on performance. A possible candidate model which could achieve this is the Survival Index Value (SIV) model. The model has a parameter incorporated in its structure, the technology-intake. This parameter can be used as an indicator of the degree of innovativeness of the firm. Previous works using the model looked at general performance without specific focus on innovation activities of the firm and without relating that to aspects of survival and growth. In this paper the aim was to demonstrate the ability of the SIV model to indicate a positive overall performance due to the intensive investment of a selected firm in innovation activities. The enterprise analyzed, Autoadapt AB, is a Swedish high technology firm working in adapting cars and automobiles to handicapped people. Due to the nature of their activities the firm has a high level of innovation input to be able to solve the complex problems related to usage of cars by disabled people. Both the product development process and managing the activities around it requires a high level of innovativeness and ingenuity. As thus the firm presented a very interesting object to study. The study has a clear significance as there is a need to differentiate the performance of innovation-intensive enterprises from firms who are using less investment in innovation in their activities. This can be done by considering the investment in new technologies both as product development and/or as investing in absorption of external management, product or process innovation. Applying the SIV model to run this analysis can help to demonstrate the need to incorporate the technology intake as an essential component of SME’s performance model. The results indicated that the SIVmodel is able to predict correctly the performance of the object firm. By having mostly positive survival factor values, which are single data-points, during years of operation, and also having mostly positive survivability coefficient values, which are agglomerate data-points, the SIVmodel proved its abilities. Clearly, the model has a good potential to be developed and fine-tuned even more. The SIV model can be tested further to look at deviations in performance of firms among different sectors and relates that to the innovativeness of whole sectors.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Keyword

small and medium-sized enterprises

SMEs

performance evaluation models

SIV model

Business and economics

Ekonomi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)