Abstract
Scholars and practitioners recognize the importance of innovation and collaboration for enhancing business performance. Gender diversity also influences business performance, either directly or indirectly. Gender diversity in a board of directors improves companies’ innovative performance and, consequently, their performance. However, research on innovation in women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is limited, which significantly restricts our understanding of the innovation–performance relationship in such businesses. Thus, in this study, using a sample of 503 women-led SMEs, we show that innovation is not a determinant of businesswomen’s business performance. Our study provides insights into how women-led SMEs deciding to innovate or collaborate are unable to appropriate the benefits suggested in the literature.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 111-117 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of the International Council for Small Business |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 3-4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2020 |
Keywords
- women CEO
- SME
- innovation
- collaborative innovation
- firm performance
- emerging economies