Obstacles for Innovative Activities in Lithuanian Low-tech Sector’s Companies

Abstract

The innovation concept seemed to be inherent in many fields of economy. Discourse in literature and policy formation level highlight the importance of high-tech sector as the innovation intensive one and concurrently leaving the low-tech sector aside. Still few studies provide evidences that low-tech sector’s companies have potential to innovate (Hirsch-Kreinsen, Hahn and Jacobson, 2008, Cox, Frenz, and Prevezer, 2002, Santamaria et al., 2009, Heidenreich, 2009). Thus the paper aims to reveal the most inherent innovations in low-tech sector and identify the obstacles they face in introducing various types of innovations. The method of experts’ evaluation was chosen in order to gather the experts’ opinion about the specific issues on introduction of innovation in low-tech sector’s companies in Lithuania. An interesting finding is that marketing, organisation and networking innovations’ dimensions are considered not so inherent types of innovations as the product and technological innovations are. Considering the highly intensive competition in low-tech sector’s markets the marketing strategies for creating new paths of innovations in this scope are extremely important. Also the paper discusses the main obstacles of innovative activities which were emphasized by experts.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n7p691