Fostering Open Collaborative Innovation for Micro and Small Technology-Based Firms in Brazil

Innovation happens as a combination or a result of various phenomena (i.e. entrepreneurship, business environment, interactions etc.), it is almost impossible to be explained by a single discipline itself. Due to the fact that there are many facets to explore in order to cover all aspects to innovation, the present paper approaches this theme with emphasis on the sociological perspective, considering that innovation is not a solitary, but an interactive phenomenon, which firms develop connections able to reach new innovation sources, new processes and technologies. As a theoretical reference, this paper develops the argument of the importance of the firms' interaction linkages and connections and their influence on the efficiency of the innovation system. So, in this context, the authors decided to adopt the survey method to examine whether or not interaction linkages have an impact on micro and small technology-based firms' innovativeness in Brazil. So, the findings showed that interactions between firms and other innovation agents such as universities, research centers, financial institutions and other partners is very important to the development of open collaborative innovation activities and have direct impact on the level of innovativeness. Finally, this paper seems to conclude that innovation is a result of combination of various interaction linkages and not a solitary phenomenon restricted to the firm itself that may be appropriately fostered.