Innovation management in manufacturing small and medium sized companies: The Izmir case

In today?s world where transportation and communication is highly developed, international markets got affected by these developments too. The limits of the speed of companies and of approachable markets have vanished. Companies may have to get in competition from another part of the World.Companies have to have some special characteristics that differs them from other companies in order to step forward in competition. At this very point, innovation has become the key factor that will make companies gain advantages. Innovation is the creation of a new or highly improved product, service, process, marketing technique or organisational method and activating it in company procedures, organisation and foreign relations. Better management of innovation is important for companies in order to stay alive in competition.In this study, the question on what the factors are, affecting the innovation levels and innovation management of SMEs that are manufacturing in Izmir is tried to be answered. For this purpose, a questionnaire is created to research the company characteristics, innovation determinants and attitudes and perceptions for the innovation. This questionnaire is asked to be filled by managers from different levels of SME?s. The sub-dimensions of attitudes and perceptions for the innovation is determined, named and their relations with characteristics of companies and the present innovation determinants are searched. The scale used is the innovation management scale that is derived from other previous studies.The results acquired in the study are going to light the way to manage innovation successfully of SMEs of Izmir. Additionally, the study will support those institutions that are serving companies for innovation matters on which characteristics of companies should be observed. The study will create a ground for more complicated future studies.