Innovative actions and innovation (in)capabilities of Russian industrial companies: a further extension of observations

Abstract

This article reports the results of a further extension of a quasi-longitudinal survey among top corporate executives in Russian industry, presenting a snapshot of current innovation actions and innovation capabilities of Russian enterprises. Through comparison of the responses from the 2004 and 2010 surveys, changes in the business and management of Russian companies are examined. The perceived abilities to perform particular stages of innovation projects have significantly increased and Russian companies successfully use contractors for various types of innovation activity. However, the intensity of innovations remains low and the resources that can be utilised to create innovations at Russian CEOs' disposal remain limited as few actual innovation projects satisfy the criteria imposed by Russian owners to improve the overall profitability of the firm. The owner's criteria for evaluating innovation effectiveness particularly impede radical product innovations and breakthrough innovations in production technologies. The results of this study indicate that the relationship between the perception of innovative capabilities by CEOs and the intensity of innovations proved to be a valuable research construct and this suggests that comparative study of innovation capabilities of firms in emerging and developed economies would be a profitable extension of this research.