Cooperation of Enterprises in the Area of Innovative Activity Anna Strychalska - Rudzewicz The University of Finance and Management in Białystok aniastry@gmail.com Abstract Cooperation between entities of different types is of major importance for the process of developing and implementing an innovation. The aim of the paper was to present results of research concerning cooperation of enterprises in the area of innovation with their suppliers and buyers, with other enterprises and with scientific institutions (institution carrying scientific research) as well as organizations dealing with transfer of innovations. The study using questionnaire covered 156 enterprises from the region of northeastern Poland, which declared introducing product and/or process innovations. The cooperation occurred most frequently within the chain of supplier- processor-buyer, which is consistent with the global trends. The cooperation was much more frequently undertaken by larger entities and it involved a wide range of partner institutions. Small and medium enterprises represent a low level of cooperation with innovation transfer institutions. 1. Introduction Organizations need to adapt continuously to complex and changing conditions. They can survive and proliferate through innovation, which can be defined as the introduction of change via something new [22]. In the face of intense international competition, rapid technology evolution, and customers’ maturing expectations, innovation is a primary way in which firms actually adapt [7,17]. Porter [20] noticed appearance of a new stage of economic development that he defined as innovation- led growth as different from the earlier growth stage defined as investment-led growth. The rising costs and risks of innovation make it increasingly difficult for any firm to undertake knowledge-intensive endeavour completely on its own [12]. Freeman [8] reports that both empirical and theoretical research confirms the importance of external and internal information networks and cooperation for success of innovation. Therefore, innovation should not be seen as the product of only one actor, but as the result of an interplay between two or more parties; in other words, as the product of a network of actors [10]. Innovation is a continuous and evolving process determined by institutions, social agreements as well as intensity and scope of organizational interactions [9,18]. As indicated by studies carried out in Western countries innovation of companies increases when they take up cooperation with other entities, particularly in the area of R&D; at the same time that cooperation is treated as a very important source of innovation [15]. That relation is also confirmed in studies carried out by the CSO [6]. They show clearly that almost 90% of enterprises that cooperated in the field of innovation activity with other entities were innovative enterprises. Therefore enterprises should cooperate closely with external entities dealing with widely understood R&D activities. Innovation projects implemented on the basis of cooperation between different entities have much better chances of succeeding [11]. Literature is dominated by the view that cooperation between entities of different types is of major importance for the process of developing and implementing an innovation [e.g. 8, 13, 14, 18, 21, 22]. However Brouwer and Kleinknecht [5] believe that cooperation occurs mainly in case of weak innovators because participants in it are companies that must share the results of their research with other enterprises. That thesis was not confirmed in studies by Love and Roper [14] carried out in Germany and the United Kingdom. Considering high innovativeness of German manufacturing enterprises of various size and their extensive cooperation networks, it is impossible, according to Love and Roper [14], that only enterprises weak in the area of innovation trigger the mechanisms of cooperation. The aim of the paper was to present results of research concerning cooperation of enterprises from the region of northeastern Poland in the area of innovation. It was searched cooperation with suppliers and buyers of the enterprises, with other enterprises and with scientific institutions (institution carrying 6th International Conference on Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management Applications (CISIM'07) 0-7695-2894-5/07 $20.00 © 2007