PROPOSAL OF A MODEL FOR THE ECO-INNOVATION INTEGRATION INTO THE INNOVATION PROCESS OF COMPANIES IN SLOVAKIA TO INCREASE THEIR PERFORMANCE

The issue of innovations, as well as ecological innovations, is a concept in Slovakia, to which considerable attention is paid because they affect all spheres of society. They relate to production, logistics, sales, and the consumers, who decide on their acceptance on the market. However, the success of innovation in the market depends on several factors that influence the innovation process. They are not just determinants that act pro-innovation and thus support innovation and innovation process. In the innovation process, some factors have the opposite effect and result in forces that suppress the creation of innovation. Therefore, in this article, we focus on mapping the state of pros and cons of innovation forces acting on companies’ innovation process in Slovakia. Based on the above findings, we have identified a large interest in implementing innovations, using an open innovation system to implement innovations and implementing eco-innovation. On the other hand, we have also identified negative factors influencing companies’ innovation process such as lack of financial resources, high bureaucracy, lack of relevant information for creating innovations, low awareness of eco-innovation, etc. Subsequently, based on the findings, we proposed a model for eco-innovation integration into companies’ innovation process in Slovakia, which was the paper’s aim. The proposed model eliminates mainly the negative influencing factors of the innovation process in companies, and at the same time, it should support them for the innovation direction. Implementing the proposed model should lead to an innovation increase in companies, but their positive impact also applies to environmental support and an overall increase in the company´s efficiency in Slovakia.