Analysis of the Behavior of Slovak Enterprises in the Context of Low Innovation Performance

Abstract

Building-up the knowledge economy and innovation development of the economies of individual European countries are one of the primary initiatives currently in force in the European Union Strategy for Growth called Europe 2020. On the other hand, the implementation of the knowledge economy and especially in the field of innovation, Slovakia lags behind other European countries and ranks among the countries with the weakest innovative performance. The paper provides qualitative research based evidence mapping the behavior of Slovak organizations during the time period from 2009 to 2011 with the aim to review and to analyze the results of this research,as well as to identify and to analyze the activities of companies, which see their own business as more innovative. The research has been conducted with top managers, using structural electronic questionnaire. The sample consists of 288 companies based in Slovak republic, especially SMEs. Collected data have been processed and analyzed through descriptive statistics, charts and formulas. The dominant finding is that innovative companies maintain long-term stable relationships withemployees and maintain stable business partnerships. In contrast, focus on supply chain optimization and changing of labor relations are themajor characteristics for companies that are not designated as innovative.