ATTITUDES TOWARDS INNOVATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM WINE INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES

Abstract

The innovations take an essential role in the Bulgarian economic environment as well as in the national strategies for economic growth. For many companies, improving and increasing innovation and the ability to develop innovation is the most important factor for growth. The paper explores the innovation activity of the wine industry as a specific sector of the Bulgarian economy. The purpose of the current study is to identify the attitudes of the wine producers towards innovations and to discuss the innovation activity of their enterprises. The methods used include in-person verbal interviews, which were conducted with 15 participants as expert practitioners to test the ideas, build knowledge, and gain insightful context and nuance to the ideas. The results show that although some of the wine producers implement innovations they don’t realize it. The focus of their innovations is in the product, process, and technological innovations, because they try to reach a balance between quality and price. It looks like that the institutions are more like obstacle rather than support for such activity. Thus, we can conclude that to a high extent the wine producers in Bulgaria are implementing and willing to implement innovations. However, they are not well aware of the possible innovations, their potential for increasing competitiveness and therefore are focusing only on directly improving their product.

Keywords

• innovation
• innovation strategy
• wine industry
• interview