Distinguishing the innovation behaviour of micro, small and medium food enterprises

The European economy, and particularly the food sector, is characterised by SMEs. Networking represents for SMEs an opportunity to meet their needs in terms of know-how, and technological and financial resources with the main purpose of fostering innovation and facing global competition. Most scientific studies investigating networking for innovation focus on SMEs as a whole without exploring possible differences between SMEs. An important question to be posed is whether the firms within groups of SMEs behave the same in terms of innovation. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether different ‘innovation profiles’ of Italian food SMEs can be distinguished and to identify the structural factors associated with different profiles, with particular attention to size and networking. The methodology consists of a cluster analysis on data obtained by standardized on-line questionnaires compiled by Italian agri-food SMEs. Moreover, besides the identification of possible heterogeneity within the SME group with regard to innovation behaviour, the paper presents further value by providing useful information on surveyed Italian food SMEs in terms of firm structure and innovation.