Abstract:

The relevance of our paper is due to its focus on innovations as the determinant of competitiveness, growth and success in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In particular, we are using an example of the Czech Republic, a country that went through difficult economic transformation and systematic changes that resulted in setting up the new standards for  entrepreneurship is now struggling with the echoing results of the world’s economic and financial crisis. Czech SMEs are struggling to survive in the harsh competition on both domestic and EU markets. We show that innovations might become one of the solutions for differentiation and outsmarting the competition. The novelty of our paper lies in the empirical model that draws from the survey questionnaire conducted in the 1144 Czech SMEs. We employ research methods based on the linear econometric model represented by the multivariate statistical model and interpret its results in a concise and comprehensive form.The results of our investigation indicate that certain innovations (e.g. own R&D, investment into technology, improvement of quality of a product or service, or trading on international (both EU and world) markets) is significantly correlated with the growth and success of Czech SMEs. Furthermore, bureaucratic obstacles for innovations and various external negative impact factors did not prove to be significant in hampering the innovations in the Czech SMEs.