In the conditions of a dynamic business environment and a constant struggle for survival in the market, innovation becomes the basic factor of the growth and development of an enterprise. Namely, it always leads to new solutions, new ideas, and new ways of doing business. The basic competitive advantage of each modern enterprise is reflected in its ability to innovate its own business. Generally, an innovation of an enterprise results in an advantage over the competition, while the resulting competitive advantage results in an increase in profit, which is the main goal of every modern enterprise. A key precondition for the survival of each enterprise is the continuous improvement of competitiveness, that is, the investment in innovation of products and services. The aim of the paper is to point out the importance of innovations in the business of modern organizations. Innovationbased operations play a key role in fostering prosperity, creating and sustaining competitive advantage. A key aspect of an effective and efficient organization is the active participation of each organizational unit in the innovation process. Innovations are not just the responsibility of research and development, marketing and production units, but involve simultaneous engagement of all functional areas within the enterprise.

Sustainable intellectual capital, in the new economy, is becoming a key determinant of sustainable growth and development of enterprises. This is an important precondition for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage of a modern enterprise. It is intellectual capital that includes knowledge aimed at solving environmental issues. Also, these intangible assets of enterprises include the so-called green innovations that contribute to the sustainability of enterprise business. Moreover, successful enterprises are expected to adopt corporate social responsibility strategies, and as a result, the concepts of sustainable intellectual capital and green intellectual capital are being developed. The aim of this paper is to present the basic characteristics of the modern approach to intellectual capital in the era of knowledge economy, i.e. to point out important elements of the concept of sustainable intellectual capital and the concept of green intellectual capital.

In the conditions of economic globalization and a dynamic business environment, companies need to continuously improve and innovate their business, in order to avoid complex and fierce competition and to achieve long-term and sustainable success. Due to the intensive effect of technical and technological progress, the survival and success of the company on the market depends on the introduction of innovative changes in the company and the undertaking of research and development activities. Research and development activities are a crucial factor in generating knowledge, creating patents and innovations, as well as in the increasing of profitability in the business of modern companies. Research and development (R&D) and innovations are considered to be a cornerstone of competitive advantage. The object of this paper is to point out the vital importance that R&D has for innovativeness, i.e. for performing innovative activities at the level of European countries and worldwide.

Rural tourism represents the tourism in rural households, as well as holidays and stays in rural areas, events, festivals, recreations, productions and sales of handicrafts, crafts and agricultural products. Rural tourism is especially suitable for the revitalisation of degraded rural areas, ensuring their sustainability in the future, through creating new work places, increasing the diversity of occupations, rural crafts, and also preserving the landscape and nature. The development of rural tourism of the Republic of Serbia could play an important role in the country’s rural development and economic development in general. Thanks to its diverse relief and preserved nature, Serbia has significant resources in rural tourism at its disposal, but the number of negative factors that prevent more intensive growth of this economic branch is not negligible at all. One of the most important problems, but not unsolvable one, is the extinction of rural settlements in Serbia.

An important characteristic of the modern business world is the development of the knowledge economy. In modern conditions, intangible assets based on knowledge are becoming a key resource for preserving the competitive advantage of companies. It is about human resources, their knowledge, the relationships they build in order to develop and transfer knowledge, as well as the relationships they build with stakeholders. These relationships represent the relational capital of the company, and the reputation of the company is its important segment. Reputation is also an important factor in differentiating companies at the market and creating a relationship of trust, not only with consumers, but also with all other stakeholders. In this way, the company realizes significant economic and non-economic benefits. The aim of the paper is to point out the key advantages of a good reputation, from the aspect of creating value for the company 's stakeholders, as well as from the aspect of business performance. Also, the importance of reputation as a segment of intellectual capital for competitiveness is emphasized.