R&D support: the way how to increase enterprises’ competitiveness

This dissertation investigates the possibilities of increased use of direct and indirect support for R&D in small and medium-sized companies operating in branches of the manufacturing industry in the Czech Republic and specialising in the production of computers and electronic and optical instrumentation and equipment. The choice of the topic of this work was motivated by personal experience in a field in which companies either have not had enough information to take advantages of subsidies for research and development or have had negative experience relating to applications for direct support for research and development. These facts have presented obstacles to the realisation of research and development in corporate practice. The aim of this dissertation is to propose a methodology for the use of available tools in support for research and development in the Czech Republic and its verification against real data from selected companies. Data from primary and secondary research was used to investigate the selected area of academic knowledge. A questionnaire investigation was performed on the basis of knowledge obtained from detailed research of Czech and foreign literary sources. The respondents were companies in the electronic industry. The dissertation presents the results of empirical research and an assessment of research questions relating to a comparison of a selected sample of companies actively realising research and development with companies engaged merely in production with no innovative processes. On the basis of questionnaire processing and the testing of research questions, a methodology was created for small and medium-sized companies with the use of fuzzy logic facilitating decision-making in the financing of research and development activities with the use of direct and indirect support. Use of the proposed methodology will allow companies to expand sources of financing for the innovation process as an essential part of the competitive battle in the industry in question. The methodology is a significant aid for strategic decision-making in small and medium-sized companies considering the introduction of research, development and innovation. Benefits of this dissertation can be seen not merely on the theoretical and practical level, but also in the area of education