The impact of quality improvement on the innovative operation of SMEs

Abstract

The SME sector plays an important role in a country's economic growth and development. In order for these companies to develop successfully, the support of the state is necessary, but certainly their own efforts invested in improving knowledge and innovative solutions. The presented research aimed at determining the impact of quality improvement on the innovative performance of small and medium enterprises. The research included a sample of 295 small and medium enterprises that have implemented the ISO 9000 standard in their operations. Correlation analysis determined that there are statistically significant relationships between the variables of quality improvement and the variables of innovative action. The regression model showed that the greatest individual contribution to the achievement of innovative action was made by the variables management of mutual relations, decision-making based on facts and continuous improvement. Improving quality and developing innovation should enable the SME sector to build its competitive advantage in the market.

Theoretical foundation of corporate entrepreneurship

“…The goal of corporate entrepreneurship is to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage by fostering innovation at all organizational levels: corporate, business and functional, but also on individual and project team basis. The spirit of entrepreneurship should be reflected in organizational strategy, structure, culture, control mechanisms, compensation system and human resources management, as well as in improving knowledge and innovative solutions (Cvjetković et al, 2022). Thanks to entrepreneurial initiatives, the organizational vision is being redefined, and latent dissatisfaction with the state of the art becomes the core business philosophy, initiating the never-ending search for better products, processes, business models and markets.…”