Innovation Typology: Comparative Study on Central European Countries

The purpose of this research article is to present the importance of innovation forsustainable development of companies in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paperpresents the topic of specific types of innovations that are conducted by companies with themain objective focused on analysis of differences among organizations based on the country ofoperation, company size and company maturity. Design/methodology/approach: The research method of data collection in this research wasan extensive survey of enterprises from five EU countries. The research tool was an electronicquestionnaire that was distributed to representatives and management of organizations. Thisresearch was part of a research project, which was realized during the period 2015-2018. Research objectives are achieved with extensive analysis using statistical Chi square testing ofsignificance of differences found among selected groups of companies. Findings: The analysis in our research has shown several differences between analyzedcountries, where Austrian and German companies conducted product innovation significantlymore than Slovak and Czech companies. 54% of large companies have conducted technologicalinnovation recently, while smaller companies conducted mainly product innovation. Growingcompanies conducted all types of innovation more than mature companies. Research/practical implications: The importance of innovation in current dynamicenvironment pushes companies into fast decisions regarding future development. Slovak andCzech companies need to sustain their competitiveness to Austrian and German companiesmainly by increasing product innovations. Large companies may face slower pace of growth. Originality/value: This unique research consisting of 1482 companies provides important viewon differences in behavior of companies. The originality of the research comes from thecomparison of five European countries, where SK and CZ companies are compared to strongereconomies as DE, AT and CH. Identified statistically significant differences provide managersimportant information that can lead to specific actions in their future innovation management.