MODEL OF OPEN INNOVATIONS AND SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT

The paper discusses characteristics of the model of open innovations as an inseparable part of operations of contemporary enterprises and their influence on the development of small and medium-sized business. It starts from the viewpoint that small and medium-sized enterprises make great efforts to use their potentials for growth and development in the best possible way by using the model of open innovations. These efforts involve reliance to own innovation activities and use of external sources of innovations, i.e. the sources which promote the chain of values through external commercialisation of the right to intellectual property at their disposal, as well as commercialisation of the knowledge and innovations of others. These business entities have certain advantages in the innovation process which make them a suitable partner for network connectivity, since they are less bureaucratically organised and often have a pronounced motive to be more successful than large enterprises