Innovation Leaders, Modest Innovators and Non-innovative SMEs in Slovakia: Key Factors and Barriers of Innovation Activity

Abstract

Background and Purpose:The field of innovation represents for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a fundamental challenge. If the number of innovative SMEs is to rise, it is necessary to identify key factors determining their innovation activity and eliminate the innovation barriers. The main purpose of the paper is to present the results of primary research focused on identification (evaluation) of key factors and barriers determining innovation activities in Slovak SMEs. The division of SMEs into three groups of enterprises: innovation leaders, modest innovators and non-innovators enables to identify the differences in managers´ perception of the main factors and barriers determining innovation activities in various types of SMEs and to formulate policy implications for Slovak SMEs. Design/Methodology/Approach: Results of the empirical research were processed using MS Excel and the statistical analysis of the data in R3.2.4. statistical system was done. For statistical tests we assumed significance level (α = 0.1). Results: Evaluating the importance of the key factors a majority of enterprises (64.71%) indicated financial resources as the most important factor for the innovations. There is no statistically significant difference in individual (analysed) factors between innovation leaders, non-innovators and innovation followers (modest innovators). The results gained from Fisher exact test (p-value = 0.11) indicated a small difference in evaluating the significance of individual barriers between innovation leaders, non-innovators and modest innovators. Majority of enterprises also see as the main barriers to develop innovation activities bureaucracy and corruption and inappropriate state support of innovation activities. Conclusion:The main implications (conclusion) coming from the research are basic recommendations for state policy makers as well as SME´s managers to foster innovation activities in enterprises. They refer to the areas of financial resources, high-quality human resources, cooperation and participation of SMEs in different networks and clusters, systematic institutional support to SMEs, well-created vision and clearly formulated aims, and willingness of enterprises to innovate. Recommendations are summarised following the results of factor´s and barrier´s evaluation.

Does Corruption Affects Business Innovation? Insights From Emerging Countries

“…Concerning the relationship between corruption and innovation, two different points of view emerged. A first point of view highlights the negative impact of corruption on innovation (Veracierto, 2008;Mungiu-Pippidi, 2015;DiRienzo & Das, 2015;Paunov, 2016;Lesakova, Gundova, Kral, & Ondrusova, 2017;Dincer, 2019;Alam, Uddin, & Yazdifar, 2019 and others). This approach is more morally and legally correct and is known as "sanding the wheels" theory.…”

Application of Cluster Analysis in Marketing Communications in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: An Empirical Study in the Slovak Republic

“…In Slovakia, most of the enterprises use Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to communicate with their customers. SMEs represent a significant part of Slovak economy with the greatest potential for growth and the impact on economic stabilization and balanced development of the regions [108][109][110][111][112]. In Slovakia, 99.9% of the total number of business entities are SMEs and in 2017, they recorded increased employment (+1.4%), added value (+8.9%), or profit (+7.5%), while value added growth in this sector was the most significant over the course of the last seven years [12].…”

Benchmarking of Slovak Regions in Terms of Start-UP Implementation Indicators and Creative Potential Indicators

“…Among the well-known Slovak start-ups, we can certainly include the world-known company ESET, Sygic navigation systems, mobile eco-houses ECOCAPSULE or Aeromobil. Lesakova et al (2017) examined in her study the order of factors that determine innovation activities in Slovak SMEs, which, according to their innovation activities, were divided into 3 groups: innovation leaders, innovation followers and non-innovative SMEs).…”

“…The evaluation is based on the Innovation Scoreboard of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). Innovations are classified according to OSLO Manual (product, process, marketing, organizational) and EU countries are divided due to their innovation performance in a similar way as in Lesakova et al (2017) to the best innovators (e.g. Germany, Sweden), the following innovators (e.g.…”

“…In 2018, Slovakia reached the 41st place out of 140 countries evaluated, and in 2017 it was 59th place. Lesakova et al (2017) research show that financial resources are the most important factor for innovation activity for Slovak SMEs and their lack is a major barrier to innovation. To remove these barriers, it is appropriate to combine sources of funding.…”