Innovation in the “forgotten businesses”

PurposeThe objective of this article is to discuss how the research on innovation in the small businesses may be operationalized. This paper discusses the field's concepts, typologies, units of analysis and the general basic assumptions pertaining to the operationalization of innovation research in small businesses.Design/methodology/approachThe article is an essay, whose format aims to provide the reader with reflections and multiple questions, by instigating the free thinking, the research as well as the construction of different ideas and/or perceptions in a logical and scientific way (Meneghetti, 2011). Thus, a conceptual approach for the operationalization of the innovation research in small businesses is proposed and discussed.FindingsMost of the innovation literature has ignored the small businesses, so that its core concepts and basic assumptions should be reviewed in an inclusive approach. The authors developed an analytical proposal that consists of a four-step logical approach to researching innovation in small businesses, starting from the innovation's concept as something important and then evolving to discussing how one has to try and see the small business as an object of study.Originality/valueThe value of this paper lies with the attempt to critically bring the small businesses into the spotlight, as study them has practical and theoretical implications that go beyond the field of innovation itself.