The aim of this article is to describe patterns of innovative behaviors among small firms in\r\nMalaysia. The significant of this study lies in its attempt to differentiate innovation practices by\r\nsmall firms from the general innovation prescriptions which dominated by large firms. The\r\nunderlying theoretical arguments for this study are based on Greiner Growth Model and\r\nReadiness Theory. Greiner model explains the role of innovation as a source of competitive\r\nadvantage that support small firms� growth, while Readiness Theory and slack resources\r\nconcept explain about concentration of innovation types in small firms. This study employs\r\ncase-study which involved in-depth structured interviews with eight small firms� owners. The\r\nrespondents are classified into two groups based on its� owner social background. The first\r\ngroup consists of small firms owned by the ordinary social background owners and the second\r\ngroup consists of small firms owned by poor owners selected from a special economic\r\nempowerment program conducted by a government agency. The findings indicate that most\r\nsmall firms performed the administrative, incremental and product innovations. The\r\nadministrative innovation is applied as perseverance reactions to market turbulent and\r\ndynamic. Nevertheless, small firms which are owned by poor owners have yet to adopt\r\nextensive innovative behavior due to their tight financial constraint. The originality of this\r\nstudy lies in its approach as well as the simultaneous emphasis on owners� demographic\r\ncharacteristic effect, namely the social background, on innovative practices among particular\r\nsmall firms
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