Development and implementation of an integrated multicriteria model for prioritizing innovative supplier performance in SMEs

Intenzivne promene u okruţenju, kao i rastuća konkurencija inicirali su razvoj brojnih alata, metoda i tehnika, koji omogućavaju efikasnije upravljanje malim i srednjim preduzećima. Kako bi odrţali i razvili poslovanje, preduzeća se prvenstveno moraju prilagoditi novim tehnologijama i fokus svog poslovanja usmeriti na razvoj novih proizvoda i usluga. To podrazumeva definisanje i kreiranje strategija koje su usmerene na kontinuirano inoviranje proizvoda i usluga, poslovnih procesa, znanja i sposobnosti kako bi zadovoljili sve zahtevnije potrebe potrošaĉa i omogućile sticanje konkurentske prednosti na trţištu. Inovacije u preduzećima su se tokom dugog niza godina posmatrale kao poslovni proces koji je iskljuĉivo u domenu odeljenja za istraţivanje i razvoj. MeĊutim, ograniĉenost resursa i internih izvora znanja u kreiranju inovacija u smislu unapreĊivanja poslovanja intenzivirala je istraţivanja u pravcu eksternih izvora inovacija. Poslovne mreţe, koje se odnose na preduzeća koja meĊusobno saraĊuju, pokazale su se kao osnovni izvor eksternih inovacija za unapreĊivanje poslovanja i sticanje konkurentske prednosti. Dobavljaĉi – kao deo poslovne mreţe, te njihov uticaj na inovativnost preduzeća, predmet su istraţivanja godinama unazad. Iako je utvrĊeno da dobavljaĉi doprinose inovativnosti preduzeća, problem izbora odgovarajućih dobavljaĉa karakteristiĉan je za svaku organizaciju. Uzimajući u obzir to što organizacije mogu unaprediti svoju inovativnost samo u saradnji sa odgovarajućim dobavljaĉima, odnosno odabirom odgovarajućih dobavljaĉa, osnovni cilj rada usmeren je na definisanje originalnog integralnog matematiĉkog modela za ocenu inovativnog uĉinka dobavljaĉa, od strane malih i srednjih preduzeća. U tu svrhu, formiran je trofazni metodološki okvir, sa ciljem da utvrdi kljuĉne faktore (kriterijume) za identifikaciju onih dobavljaĉa koji znaĉajno mogu doprineti invativnoj saradnji kupacdobavljaĉ. Nakon toga, u okviru druge faze, formiran je alat za fazi višekriterijumsku analizu i prioritizaciju inovativnih performansi aktivnih dobavljaĉa, od strane MSP-a (mala i srednja preduzeća), imajući u vidu prethodno definisani skup faktora. U poslednjoj fazi predloţenog modela, dodatno će biti predstvaljena mogućnost za ocenu i selekciju novih dobaljaĉa, naosnovu njihove sposobnosti da zadovolje postavljene inovativne zahteve organizacije koja sprovodi nabavke. U tu svrhu, razvijen je QFD-AHP pristup.Intense changes in the environment as well as growing competition have initiated the development of numerous tools, methods and techniques that enable more efficient management of small and medium enterprises. In order to maintain and develop their business, companies must primarily adapt to new technologies and focus their business on the development of new products and services. This includes defining and creating strategies aimed at continuous innovation of products and services, business processes, knowledge and skills in order to meet the increasingly demanding needs of consumers and enable them to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Innovation in companies has for many years been observed as a business process that is exclusively in the domain of the research and development department. However, limited resources and internal sources of knowledge in creating innovations in terms of business improvement has intensified research towards external sources of innovation. Business networks, which refer to companies that cooperate with each other, have proven to be the main source of external innovations for business improvement and gaining a competitive advantage. Suppliers, as part of the business network and their impact on company innovation has been the subject of research for years. Although it has been determined that suppliers contribute to the innovation of the company, the problem of choosing the right suppliers is characteristic of every organization. Taking into account that organizations can improve their innovation only in cooperation with appropriate suppliers, ie with the selection of appropriate suppliers, the main goal of the paper is to define an original integrated mathematical model for evaluating the innovative performance of recipients by small and medium enterprises. For that purpose, a three-phase methodological framework has been formed, which will aim to first determine the key factors (criteria) for the identification of those suppliers that can significantly contribute to the invasive cooperation between the buyer and the supplier. After that, within the second phase, a tool for multi-criteria analysis and prioritization of innovative performance of active suppliers by SMEs was formed, taking into account the previously defined set of factors. In the last phase of the proposed model, the possibility of evaluationand selection of new recepients will be additonally presented. It will be based on the ability to meet the innovative requirements. These requirements have been set by organizations conducting procurement. A QFD – AHP approach has been developed for this purpose

The Challenges While Measuring Enterprise Innovative Activities - the Case from a Developing Country

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME sector) carry a significant component of an overall economy performance in both developed and developing countries. This paper presents the results of innovation activities analysis on a given sample of SMEs from the Republic of Serbia. By implementing a complex questionnaire for assessing innovation activities authors investigate what innovation activities are conducted in sampled enterprises. Results are processed with Cochran Q, McNemar and statistical significance tests and indicate what particular innovation activities measures enterprises focus on, as well as what measures are considered as relevant by enterprises but are not used. At the same time, the factor analysis was performed to test the quality and structure of the questionnaire itself, namely whether measures of achieved innovation performances of enterprises are properly divided into categories. Additionally, specific innovation activities were analyzed and their implementation modalities by the sampled enterprises. The results contribute in the domain of better understanding of innovation activities measurement within SMEs coming from developing countries. Based on the research results, we got the insight into specific innovation activities SMEs perform, as well as key innovation performance indicators SMEs use

Development and implementation of an integrated multicriteria model for prioritizing innovative supplier performance in SMEs

Intenzivne promene u okruţenju, kao i rastuća konkurencija inicirali su razvoj brojnih alata, metoda i tehnika, koji omogućavaju efikasnije upravljanje malim i srednjim preduzećima. Kako bi odrţali i razvili poslovanje, preduzeća se prvenstveno moraju prilagoditi novim tehnologijama i fokus svog poslovanja usmeriti na razvoj novih proizvoda i usluga. To podrazumeva definisanje i kreiranje strategija koje su usmerene na kontinuirano inoviranje proizvoda i usluga, poslovnih procesa, znanja i sposobnosti kako bi zadovoljili sve zahtevnije potrebe potrošaĉa i omogućile sticanje konkurentske prednosti na trţištu. Inovacije u preduzećima su se tokom dugog niza godina posmatrale kao poslovni proces koji je iskljuĉivo u domenu odeljenja za istraţivanje i razvoj. MeĊutim, ograniĉenost resursa i internih izvora znanja u kreiranju inovacija u smislu unapreĊivanja poslovanja intenzivirala je istraţivanja u pravcu eksternih izvora inovacija. Poslovne mreţe, koje se odnose na preduzeća koja meĊusobno saraĊuju, pokazale su se kao osnovni izvor eksternih inovacija za unapreĊivanje poslovanja i sticanje konkurentske prednosti. Dobavljaĉi – kao deo poslovne mreţe, te njihov uticaj na inovativnost preduzeća, predmet su istraţivanja godinama unazad. Iako je utvrĊeno da dobavljaĉi doprinose inovativnosti preduzeća, problem izbora odgovarajućih dobavljaĉa karakteristiĉan je za svaku organizaciju. Uzimajući u obzir to što organizacije mogu unaprediti svoju inovativnost samo u saradnji sa odgovarajućim dobavljaĉima, odnosno odabirom odgovarajućih dobavljaĉa, osnovni cilj rada usmeren je na definisanje originalnog integralnog matematiĉkog modela za ocenu inovativnog uĉinka dobavljaĉa, od strane malih i srednjih preduzeća. U tu svrhu, formiran je trofazni metodološki okvir, sa ciljem da utvrdi kljuĉne faktore (kriterijume) za identifikaciju onih dobavljaĉa koji znaĉajno mogu doprineti invativnoj saradnji kupacdobavljaĉ. Nakon toga, u okviru druge faze, formiran je alat za fazi višekriterijumsku analizu i prioritizaciju inovativnih performansi aktivnih dobavljaĉa, od strane MSP-a (mala i srednja preduzeća), imajući u vidu prethodno definisani skup faktora. U poslednjoj fazi predloţenog modela, dodatno će biti predstvaljena mogućnost za ocenu i selekciju novih dobaljaĉa, naosnovu njihove sposobnosti da zadovolje postavljene inovativne zahteve organizacije koja sprovodi nabavke. U tu svrhu, razvijen je QFD-AHP pristup.Intense changes in the environment as well as growing competition have initiated the development of numerous tools, methods and techniques that enable more efficient management of small and medium enterprises. In order to maintain and develop their business, companies must primarily adapt to new technologies and focus their business on the development of new products and services. This includes defining and creating strategies aimed at continuous innovation of products and services, business processes, knowledge and skills in order to meet the increasingly demanding needs of consumers and enable them to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Innovation in companies has for many years been observed as a business process that is exclusively in the domain of the research and development department. However, limited resources and internal sources of knowledge in creating innovations in terms of business improvement has intensified research towards external sources of innovation. Business networks, which refer to companies that cooperate with each other, have proven to be the main source of external innovations for business improvement and gaining a competitive advantage. Suppliers, as part of the business network and their impact on company innovation has been the subject of research for years. Although it has been determined that suppliers contribute to the innovation of the company, the problem of choosing the right suppliers is characteristic of every organization. Taking into account that organizations can improve their innovation only in cooperation with appropriate suppliers, ie with the selection of appropriate suppliers, the main goal of the paper is to define an original integrated mathematical model for evaluating the innovative performance of recipients by small and medium enterprises. For that purpose, a three-phase methodological framework has been formed, which will aim to first determine the key factors (criteria) for the identification of those suppliers that can significantly contribute to the invasive cooperation between the buyer and the supplier. After that, within the second phase, a tool for multi-criteria analysis and prioritization of innovative performance of active suppliers by SMEs was formed, taking into account the previously defined set of factors. In the last phase of the proposed model, the possibility of evaluationand selection of new recepients will be additonally presented. It will be based on the ability to meet the innovative requirements. These requirements have been set by organizations conducting procurement. A QFD – AHP approach has been developed for this purpose