Innovation as a determinant of SMEs competitiveness in Poland

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present the impact of innovations on the competitiveness of Polish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to analyse the trends in implementing innovations in the sector of Polish SMEs in 2012–2015 in eight areas of operation: new products or services, new approach to customer service, expansion into new geographic markets, significant changes of the existing offer, significant organizational changes, changes in technology or method of production of goods or services, marketing innovations, and changes in distribution methods. The method of direct interview was used to collect data from the respondents representing the SME sector. Data have been analysed using correspondence analysis which allowed to build a model summarizing the results of the correspondence between groups of enterprises and types of innovations.