저기술 중소기업의 혁신전략: 독일과 한국의 사례를 중심으로

Low-tech small sized firms are neglected for a long time relating to various industrial or science & technology policy of the state. Against that, this article attempts to analyze innovative strategies of low-tech small sized firms, which secure their growth and competitiveness. For this, I try to examine internal factors and external environment factors that successful low-tech small sized firms have a good command. To analyze paths of growth and innovation success, I have adopted case study framework with 20 samples from Germany and Korea. Categorizing innovative strategies of low-tech small sized firms as step-by-step product development type, consumer-oriented marketing strategy type, and process specialization type, we have hereby identified that success of these firms depends on how their innovative strategy is linked with following factors as knowledge base, management capabilities, value chain as well as networking, and social and institutional conditions. Comparing with firms in Germany well-known as hidden champion and Korea suffered from low productivities, we could draw conclusions that low-tech small sized firms in both countries use according to the industrial sectors and technology muster nearly same strategies. However, the German cases shows difference with Korean, while innovative strategies of German firms are linked more effectively with social and institutional conditions, namely vocational training, reginal embeddedness, etc. than Korean. This is nothing less than real prerequisite of success and innovation of German small sized firms.