Like much of SMEs research, innovation studies of small enterprises have commenced later and are less numerous. The focus of such studies remains high-technology enterprises, which continue to attract both academic and popular interest, oblivious to the innovative endeavours of people in traditional low-tech industries.

This book attempts to address this imbalance through a comprehensive analysis of innovation in this largely neglected area. Based on case studies of seven small innovative food companies, this book presents an in-depth analysis of innovation in the Scottish food and drinks industry and unravels a lesser-known approach to effective low-cost product innovation, which is simple and economical, yet elegant and successful.

Using careful data collection and rigorous statistical testing, the analysis and findings in this book address a wide spectrum of interests: academics in business schools, policy makers in governments and executives and entrepreneurs in food and other low-technology sectors.

Vijay Vyas is Senior Lecturer in Entreprise and Entrepreneurship and Course Director of MSc, Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at Portsmouth Business School; a former visiting Professor at Lancaster University Management School; and a former Professor of Business Economics at the MS University of Baroda in India.