Методологија за моделирање на иновативноста на микро и мали претпријатија

Abstract

In the second half of the 20th century the labour cost, along with the level of industrialisation were considered to be the fundamental competitiveness factors. In today’s competitive business environment, innovation is the vital ability and activity for firm’s sustainability. Although the innovation is widely examined in the literature, further research is needed in this field to address which factors determine the innovativeness of micro and small enterprises. The purpose of this thesis is to fill in that gap through development and implementation of a methodology for modelling of the innovativeness of micro and small enterprises. The first step is analysis of the relevant literature and mapping two types of factors that are widely discussed: influencing factors – supporting innovation and influenced factors. The conceptual model that was developed based on these findings is refined though structured interviews of 18 experts from different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. The refined model is validated through 150 quantitative interviews with micro and small companies in the Northeast region of North Macedonia. Based on the validated model, the following factors are most influential in the analysed region: the openness of the company, the identification of the employees with the company, communication, owner’s profile, diversification in educational areas of employees and encouraging employees to propose innovation. The methodology and the models will serve as a basis for development of analytical tools to examine regional and national contexts in the further research. The validated model will serve as a roadmap for owners and managers for modelling of the innovativeness of their enterprise in the analysed region, but also in the whole country and countries with similar economic development.