Innovation-Driven Performance in European SMEs: A Theoretical Approach

In a globalized economy, innovation is a priority of ensuring the competitiveness degree of companies, being the core of the development in any economic activity. The purpose of this paper is to study from a theoretical perspective the agile management of innovation in European small and medium sized enterprises, to analyze their particularities and how they act to stay competitive through innovating their business models. The literature review will cover the importance of innovation for companies, the multiple definitions and classifications of innovation and innovation management, theoretical models of innovation, the applicability of innovation management in different fields and in companies with different specifics, elements within companies that are important for an efficient innovation management, features of innovation management in an agile company, the geographical features of innovation management, business model innovation, efficiency growth, company’s performance. The paper will investigate the methods and practices, the connection with the business models used in order to drive innovation, how innovation’s agile management can be described in European SMEs, what results are achieved by SMEs in terms of innovation, how to describe the compatibility of innovation management—agile management. The paper aims to clarify from a theoretical point of view the particularities of the companies that fall into the previously defined niche, being a current and relevant one for the European economic space, given the challenging times the European SMEs had to face.