Influence of selected organisational factors on innovation

It is almost impossible to imagine a company that does not innovate in today's market. Some companies say they compete on quality and not innovation, but they also innovate, especially in the form of process innovation aiming at enhancing quality. The aim of this paper is to present how the key set of selected organisational factors, company’s organisation, strategy, and processes, learning and links, influences innovation. In this respect, the key set of organisational factors has been measured on Croatian companies. In field research we used a questionnaire developed by Tidd et al. (2005) which was further developed to include measurable parts of innovation. The questionnaire is validated by factor analysis, but the influence of latent variables on innovation outcome, such as the number of innovations, revenues from innovation and length of time for new product launch, was researched by structural equation modelling. The research results showed that the set of strategy and learning factors has a significant influence on the number of innovations in companies (radical or modified). At first glance it might seem as though big companies have more resources and are thus in a privileged position to innovate, but researches show that the companies that are able to mobilise their employees, their knowledge and expertise in delivering new products or services, obtain better innovation results. The research results clearly indicate the relationship between company’s higher innovativeness and higher innovation results.peer-reviewe

Corporate governance, social responsibility and corporate reputation: an empirical analysis of the situation in Croatia

Responsible behaviour becomes a must in the everyday business owing to the huge pressures from different stakeholders. Products and their quality are no longer considered main competitors but companies, their brands and reputation are. The purpose of the paper is to offer an explanation how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) influences corporation's reputation. An empirical analysis in the Republic of Croatia was conducted. The aim was to enlighten the current state of CSR as one of the aspects of corporate governance in building corporate reputation. Managers' perception regarding the importance of CSR in building better reputation and competitive advantage was highlighted.corporate social responsibility; CSR; corporate reputation; corporate governance; Croatia; emerging economies.