Marketing challenges for high-tech SMEs

The development of successful strategic marketing programs for the commercialisation of new technology represents a challenge for small and medium sized technology-based firms. The mechanics of developing successful marketing strategies for technological innovations is a complex process from design to implementation. High-tech SMEs play an important role in facilitating the ‘knowledge-based’ or ‘smart’ economies. However, technological superiority is not a guarantee for a high-tech SMEs’ success. Instead, the odds of success are maximized by a combination of technology superiority and marketing capability. Drawing on key published studies in the marketing literature, this paper proposes a research framework to capture the strategic marketing issues in high-tech SMEs, managing both incremental and breakthrough innovations. From our analysis, we identify some key strategic marketing challenges facing high-tech SMEs and conclude with avenues for future research.