The relationship between innovation perceptions, leadershi̇p style in innovation process and the company's innovation performance: A study on SMEs in Duzce

The main purpose of the research is to examine the effect of the manager's innovation perception on the style of managing innovation process and to research the impact of the style of managing innovation process on the companies' innovation performance. The population of the research is the upper level managers of SMEs operating in Duzce. Quantitative research was used in the study. Data were obtained by using face to face questionnaire technique. 126 questionnaires were used to analyze the data. The main statistical analyses used in the study are; descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The data was analyzed by SPSS 20.0 package program. According to the research findings, the most important innovation perception is that innovation raises the product quality. The most effective leadership style in managing innovation is transformational leadership. The innovation performance of SMEs in Duzce is at an average level. The positive perception of managers towards innovation affects managing innovation in terms of transformational, charismatic and strategic leadership styles. On the other hand, additional cost perception, from the category of negative perceptions, affects managing innovation in terms of transformational, charismatic, strategic and servant leadership style. The perception of fundamental change affects the transformational leadership style. The most important leadership styles that are used in managing innovation process and that have impact on companies' innovation performance are charismatic style and strategic leadership style.