ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SME TOWARD GLOBAL NICHE TOP COMPANY THROUGH TWO-STEP INNOVATION STRATEGY

摘要

The global market was very advantageous for the big enterprises before. Nowadays many small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter abbreviated as SMEs) are very active in the global market. One of the main reasons concerning this phenomenon is explained by the rapid spread of IT (information technology). In this paper, I will search for other reasons for this phenomenon from the viewpoint of the entrepreneurship and innovation. Three Japanese companies are analyzed from the entrepreneurship and innovation viewpoint through the case study method, including interviews with top managements/executives, and then the common factors are extracted. The "two-step innovation process" is observed as the common factor among these three companies. The two-step innovation process is composed of, first, a small innovation and then, second, a Full Scale Innovation.