110 BENCHNMARKIG ANALYSIS OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES POSITION ACCORDING TO GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX Bojan Krstic University of Nis, Faculty of Economics, Nis, Serbia Tanja Stanisic University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia Jelena Stanojevic University of Nis, Faculty of Economics, Nis, Serbia Summary: The aim of this paper is to analyse the position of the Western Balkan countries, according to the Global Innovation Index and its subindexes and pillars. Due to the efforts of the Western Balkans countries to become members of the European Union (EU) and to adopt its positive experience in many fields, the average of relevant indicators for the EU as a whole is used as the benchmark in the analysis. The purpose of the paper is to identify deviations of the Western Balkans in the achieved level of innovativeness in relation to the EU, as well as to formulate recommendations for the improvement of the position of these countries. Key words: Benchmarking, innovation, Western Balkan countries, European Union. Note: The research is realised under the project no. 179066 that is financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. 1. INTRODUCTION Innovativeness is the basic driving force of development in the modern conditions. It is equally important innovation at the micro level, where the organization's success in the market depends on the ability to apply knowledge and innovation, as well as at the macro level, where innovativeness is a prerequisite for the survival and development of a country in a dynamic global environment. Therefore, the innovations are considered as a competitiveness factor of great importance for both domestic and global markets. Innovations are a challenge for every business undertaking, but they are determinant of his success. The attitude towards innovations changed over time. They began to be seen as the driving force