Collaboration for innovation in small CEE countries

Firms are struggling to gain competitive advantage to resist the ever-increasing global market pressures. Many strategic management studies have identified several essential pillars of building firm’s strategy, often highlighting positive relationships between the use of human resources and the firm performance (Collins & Clark, 2003; Wright et al., 2005). Thus, human capital as the stock of productive knowledge and skills embodied in individuals is a crucial strategic production factor. Knowledge and human resource are intrinsically related concepts since it is people who can learn, generate, utilise and disseminate knowledge in collaborative networks. Knowledge is a primary input in the innovation process, and the ability to use knowledge is crucial in achieving high innovation performance and the strategic competitive advantage (Bock, Opsahl et al., 2012).