Service Innovation Processes in SMEs in Upper Austria

Due to the increasing global competitiveness, companies have to continuously expand their offer of innovative products and services. Upper Austria is the most competitive region of Austria and one of the most innovative regions in Europe. Despite its success and prosperi-ty, the local SMEs have not yet managed to exploit their full innovation potential. This paper analyses the literature background on the topic of innovation in SMEs in the spheres of management and organization, resources, collaboration, KPIs, and innovation processes, as a part of the Interreg SIP-SME (Service innovation processes for small and medium-sized enterprises) project. Subsequently, the results from the in-depth interviews with Upper Austri-an innovation experts are presented and compared to the literature findings. The authors found that the experts confirmed the necessity of formalization of processes, the im-portance of human resources and know-how, specific organizational and managerial prereq-uisites, as well as the problematic areas in the measurement of innovation potential and ac-tivities. Differences were found in the aspects of company attributes and their effect on in-novation success as well as the reasons of employee unwillingness and reluctance to en-gage in innovation activities. Problematic areas of implementing innovation in local SMEs were identified.