High Performance Through Innovation Process Management in SMEs. Evidence from the Italian wine sector

This paper analyses the impact on performance of the open innovation of SMEs in the Italian wine sector. Currently, innovation is one of the main fac-tors affecting the increasing competition and performance in a traditional manufacturing business such as the wine sector. Following a quantitative re-search approach, the study analyses the impact of innovation process man-agement (evaluated in terms of investment in R&D and management of key-factors, activities and instruments) on performance, identified by profitability efficiency based on a sample of 109 winegrowing SMEs. The research contributes to filling the gap in the literature where there is a lack of innovation studies in mature sectors and provides information to help wine managers and owners improve their business by identifying the best business investment area.