Can small producers innovate? The case of clusters of small producers in Northern Vietnam

This chapter has two aims: the first is methodological and the second is empirical. The methodological part of the chapter discusses innovation concepts, their relevance to SMEs in developing countries, and the ways in which they can be operationalized in qualitative research. Empirically the chapter considers handicraft clusters in four Vietnamese villages, which have introduced innovations that are new to the firm, allowing the firms to upgrade production and enter export markets. The chapter applies criteria for innovation to four rich qualitative case studies and concludes that real innovation takes place in three of the four cases. Innovative success was achieved in spite of the lack of systematic support or technology transfer from outside the cluster. The chapter concludes that the Vietnamese system of innovation system is still rather underdeveloped. It did not provide much support to the entrepreneurs in the cluster.