Positioning Serbia on the competitive market according to the innovative performance of SMEs

Abstract

Innovations are key drivers of the growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises. The development of innovations is monitored through the achieved innovative performances, on the basis of which the future directions of the development of innovations are defined and the perceived obstacles to their development are removed. The aim of the paper is to identify the level of innovative performance of Serbia, as well as the positioning of Serbia in comparison with the innovation results of the countries of the European Union (EU). The paper analyzes the innovative performances of Serbia and EU countries: innovation index and three indicators of innovative activities (product innovations, business process innovations, and indicators of innovative SMEs collaborating with others). By applying the comparative method the position of Serbia towards the EU was identified. The results show that the innovation index of Serbia follows the trend of this index in the EU. Serbia does not lag behind the results of the EU regarding the performance of innovative activities. Serbia achieves good results in the area of business process innovation and product innovation, while in the case of indicators of innovative SMEs cooperating with others, it achieves worse results compared to the EU.