The Perceived Values of Service Industry Innovation Research Subsidiary in Taiwan

Abstract

Service Industry Innovation Research (SIIR) is the only governmental subsidiary for service-oriented small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to apply for funding in Taiwan. Since different voices exist regarding the objectives of SIIR and related governmental funding projects like small business innovation research (SBIR), it is important to understand the true intangible SIIR value beyond the tangible key performance indexes from the awarded SMEs, which should be very different from the traditional personal or corporate value systems in the Literature. Based on the interview data of 55 SIIR awarded SMEs, 11 value categories were identified, which implies competitiveness, growth, brand image, operational excellence, and recognition in addition to subsidiary. This research result should provide an incremental knowledge for the governmental funding agencies to reposition and promote as well as for the SMEs to know how to look at the governmental subsidiary projects, such as SIIR or SBIR that is popularly adopted in many countries.