Examination of factors contributing to SMEs Innovation outcomes in the Visegrad Countries

Innovation has become a major factor affecting firms’ competitiveness and growth. Firms have over the years’ emphasis on introducing new ideas to support their growth and position itself on the market for higher profit. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) account for the bulk of businesses globally and are key contributors to job creation, poverty reduction and global economic development. Despite their growing importance in the national and global economy, they are face with varied challenges such as access to finance, increased competition, capacity limitations related to innovation, knowledge, and creativity. The visegrad group of countries are considered less innovative in the European Union, meaning that SMEs in these countries have weak innovation potentials because of their ecosystem. Until now, less studies especially in visegrad countries have focused on how firms especially SMEs can optimise innovative ideas to withstand the intense market competitions and staying profitable. This thesis examined the various factors contributing to SMEs innovation outcomes in these countries. The thesis examined the role played by both the internal and external environment of these SMEs and how it can influence their innovation outcomes. This study used the doubly robust estimation models, which helped overcome issues of confounding and endogeneity. Data for the empirical study was from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS V), conducted by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) between 2017 to 2019. The final combined sample included 2494 SMEs pooled from Poland (1101), Czech Republic (380), Slovakia (338) and Hungary (675). The logit model results have shown positive and significant results that internal factors such as internal R&D, machinery, lines of credit and internet security aided in product and process innovation outcomes in the Visegrad countries. The results on the external factors demonstrate that government contract, financial services, external R&D and informal competition positively impacted technological innovation outcomes. The research further obtained a qualitative data of 15 respondents who are lecturers and academic researchers through interview guide (unstructured instrument) and found similar variables to examine innovation outcomes. They asserted that financial obstacle deterred SMEs in their quest to adopt product innovation and technology license acquisition. The study also finds that tax rates, inadequate labour, financial obstacle, and loss due to theft impeded SMEs innovation outcomes in Visegrad Countries. The study offers theoretical and practical implications on how SMEs in these transition countries can overcome and improve their low innovation. 4 ABSTRAKT Inovace se staly hlavním faktorem ovlivňujícím konkurenceschopnost a

ISBN:	978-80-7678-175-7
EAN:	9788076781757
Počet stran	48 stran
Datum vydání	12. 07. 2023
Pořadí vydání	První
Jazyk	anglický
Vazba	e-kniha - pdf
Autor:	Michael Amponsah Odei
Nakladatelství	Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně
Tématická skupina	999 - nezařazeno
	Neprodejná publikace. Publikaci je možné poptávat zde: Volně dostupné na http://hdl.handle.net/10563/52433