STRATEGIC FEATURES OF THE SMES’ INNOVATION PROCESS: THE CASE OF FOOD SERVICES FROM THE CLUJ-NAPOCA MARKET

Abstract

The innovation process for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continues to play a critical role in their development. Due to their ability to provide differentiated products and services, SMEs which innovate are more successful than their non-innovative competitors. The hospitality industry is considered a highly competitive sector therefore enterprises acting in this field should develop new innovative offers. Research in the field of innovation behavior in the hospitality industry has not been systematically investigated, and especially regarding the food services sector from Romania. Thus, this paper aims at covering this gap. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategic features of the innovation process applied by food service SMEs from Cluj-Napoca, based on their behavior towards innovation and on its impact upon their business activity. A qualitative study has been developed, based on personal interviews with entrepreneurs of food-services SMEs. The research results present the types of innovations most frequently implemented, the resulted benefits and the future expected goals based on these innovations, and the entrepreneurs’ features which support the innovation process. This is the first study, which provides an investigation regarding the innovation behavior of the food service enterprises from Cluj-Napoca and contributes to the existing literature on innovation, presenting a practical approach on the strategic behavior of the SMEs from this sector. JEL classification: L83, O31.

Keywords

• innovation process, hospitality industry, strategy, differentiated strategy.