Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Commerce - Department of Business Administration

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered to be the driving engine for employment growth, source of innovation and technological progress. Moreover, the success of small exporters is critical for economic growth and is considered as an important development stage for many SMEs. However, their competitive advantage lies within the firm{u2019}s ability to innovate. This thesis contributes to the above literature by examining main factor believed to promote firm growth namely {u2018}innovation{u2019} activities. Growing interests on the relationship between innovation and growth have recently been tackled. However, there remains a gap in literature on the relationship between innovation and firm growth for SMEs in emerging economies.Previous studies are conducted in developed counties such as UK, Ireland, USA, Germany, and Switzerland, which leaves the gap for those developing countries.Thus, this thesis addresses the gap by examining the importance of innovation activities in the performance and growth of SMEs in Egypt.On the other hand, innovation leads to better performance in terms of growth, and productivity.Therefore, SMEs and their innovation activities should be an integral part of any recovery and growth strategy for the economy.The research problem for this study is: : Failure to achieve the targeted effectiveness for the growth and the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the emerging Egyptian markets as a result of the ineffectiveness of innovative and entrepreneurial activities due to internal and external environmental changes and to identify the enabling factors to innovation practices for SMEs in the emerging Egyptian market, and to examine the relationship between innovation practices and business growth performance

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