| dc.description.abstract | The “Report of Knowledge-based Economy” published by the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation Development) in 1996 suggests that the innovation of, output of, and utilization of knowledge will be the primary drivers of a nation’s competitive edges and economic growth. Given the dilemma that small businesses are more innovative but lack of the funding to wager necessary investments, the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan proactively launched the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program in 1999. Its objective is to encourage domestic small businesses to strengthen innovations in technology and new product development. Through the SBIR program, the government subsidizes small businesses in research and development for new technologies, sharing the cost and risks during the process.
Most previous researches in the area or R&D focused on performance or resource utilization issues. This case study attempts to uncover the interaction among the employees in the target organization, which is a small business receiving SBIR funding. This study aims to provide new insights into the matter and create a set of fresh discussion issues for related projects.
A project team working on an SBIR funded project was selected as the target team. Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and participant observations. The social network analysis approach was employed to carry out the analysis. By utilizing social network analysis, interactions among the team members can be revealed, and any exceptions can be exposed and corrected. In addition, different types of project members can be identified. For example, a member may be a major contributor, a loner (one who does not like to work as part of a team and has less contribution), and so forth.
Managerial suggestions are proposed based on the research findings. Professional managers may use the suggestions to more effectively arrange the work team, and will hopefully help to improve the performance of the organization. | en_US |