engleski

From Innovativeness of Employees toward the Firm Level and Regional Competitiveness

In the 1940s Joseph Schumpeter identified innovation as the critical dimension of economic change. He said that „creative destruction“ was the key generator of economic growth and competitiveness of companies, industries and nations as a whole. In addtion, he stated that innovativeness is manifested through evolution of institutions, entrepreneurship and technology changes that will enable economic growth (Pol, Carroll, 2006).This paper studies competitiveness at the microeconomic level through analysis of organizational behaviour at all levels: employee, job, team and organization level. It especially emphasizes the importance of organizational culture, as determinant of final employee’s as well as organizational performance. In addition to that, communication is being pointed out because development of an effective communication network is a prerequisite of accumulation, transfer and application of knowledge in order to enhance productivity and market competitiveness (Robbins, Judge, 2009). Today, the competitive advantage founded on knowledge, infrastructure, high technology and innovations are considered determinants of economic growth and market competitivenss (Porter, 2008). Beside that, competitiveness is being analysed at different levels, while connection of firm level competitiveness with macroeconomic competitiveness remains straightforward: stable macroeconomic context increases the opportunity for the new value creation, but it does not create the value itself. The value is generated through effective use of human, capital and natural resources (Schwab, 2010). Finally, this paper presents resalts from the empirical research conducted in middle size construction companies in Croatia, to an extent relevant for the topic. The results concern findings on education and training of employees, communication and organizational culture.

management; innovativeness; competitiveness; organizational culture; construction

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