Analysis of Εnterprises Ιnnovation Processes Hampering Factors in EU Member States

Purpose: Innovation process is a set of both formal and unconventional activities which are in general related to the invention, development, and implementation of new idea into practice. Although innovative activities of enterprises remain a subject of extensive empirical examination, less attention has been paid to the hampering factors, whereas these factors can negatively affect the innovation activities in the long run. The purpose of this study is to analyse the structure of the innovation process hampering factors in EU member states, in order to identify the key barriers (highly indicated factors) for European innovative enterprises. Methodology/Approach: The study covered 20 EU member states; Eurostat database concerning the innovation survey was used to perform the analysis. The most current available period was included. Applied methodology involved comparable analyses based on statistical structure parameters of central tendency, variability and asymmetry. Findings/value added: Identified hampering factors with the highest average indication from European innovative enterprises were: high costs, lack of internal finance and lack of qualified employees within enterprise. High costs of innovation process was the factor with both, significantly highest average score and the lowest variability in the whole research group. On the contrary, lack of access to external knowledge and lack of collaboration partners received significantly lower average indication. Practical Implications: The relations between high costs and lack of internal finance combined with relatively good access to external knowledge and collaboration partners revealed potential for innovation processes development, in particular with respect to open model paradigm. Open process models, if properly implemented and based on cooperation linkages and knowledge exchange, should allow to diversify the risk and to reduce the costs of internal processes within the enterprise and facilitate management decisions concerning dedicating capital to innovations.