Abstract:

In a fast paced world with colossal overnight political and social changes we could witness over the last few month, there still are people more preoccupied with paying taxes and salaries in due time than looking after major changes the economy is due to take. Most of them are busy with running day-to-day a small business and would not see the danger right above them nor would they recognise an opportunity when would occur. It is their world, of SMEs business owners and managers that we aim to investigate in search of strategies to resist adapt and develop. Our present paper will just briefly present the first findings of a larger undergoing statistical research on Romanian SMEs over 5 years: 2012-2016 in an attempt to determine how oriented they are toward innovation, what are, if any, the main perceived barriers and how their experience, geographical location, size or line of business would influence their performance.