This study offers a cross-cultural perspective to better understand how time orientation shapes owner–managers’ perceptions of innovation capability in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in tourism. We synthesise the extant literature and determine SME owner–managers’ internal and external innovation capability. Distinguishing between short- and long-term cultures and comparing data from Australian and German, Austrian and Swiss (DACH country cluster) SMEs, results confirm that perceptions of innovation capability vary across cultures. Results for SMEs in short term–oriented cultures show stronger appreciation for consumer orientation, creating prospective profit and staff incentives; by contrast, SMEs in long term–oriented cultures place higher value on accessible knowledge, commitment to learning, and adaptation. To effectively manage innovation capability in SMEs, we suggest a balanced approach of considering both short- and long-term factors. Acknowledging the scarcity of SMEs' resources, we propose that owner-managers first focus on strengthening their internal organisational drivers of innovation to enhance their innovation capability. We also discuss implications for tourism policy, offer recommendations for the field of innovation research and note the study's limitations.

这项研究提供了一种跨文化的视角，可以更好地理解时间取向如何塑造所有者-经理对旅游业中小型企业（SME）创新能力的看法。我们综合现有文献并确定中小企业所有者-经理的内部和外部创新能力。区分短期和长期文化并比较澳大利亚和德国，奥地利和瑞士（DACH国家集群）中小型企业的数据，结果证实创新能力的观念因文化而异。面向短期文化的中小型企业的结果表明，他们更加重视以消费者为导向的文化，创造了预期的利润和员工激励机制。相比之下，中长期文化中的中小企业将更高的价值放在可获取的知识，对学习的承诺和适应上。为了有效地管理中小企业的创新能力，我们建议一种兼顾短期和长期因素的平衡方法。考虑到中小企业资源的稀缺性，我们建议所有者经理首先要着重于加强其内部创新的组织驱动力，以增强其创新能力。我们还将讨论对旅游政策的影响，为创新研究领域提供建议，并注意研究的局限性。