摘要：Building a competitive economy is based on the existence of competitive regions whose essential element in terms of sustainable development is the effectively functioning business sector.Typical representatives of the regional economy are the small and medium enterprises that often have the character of family businesses.The challenging competitive environment requires proactive responses to turbulent changes,and innovative activities have to be pursued in order to maintain activities and development on the market.Innovation is the driving force behind the development;it is a key issue to survive in a competitive business environment.Despite their quarter-century presence,family business in Slovakia are not addressed enough attention.This was the basic motif to review the current situation on the market.330 business entities were involved in the first phase of our research.The aim if this article is to explore the innovative activity of small and medium enterprises having a character of family businesses in the regions of Slovakia,and also identify those important determinants that influence the innovation ability of the family businesses.The Chi-Square Test of Independence,the Pearson correlation coefficient and the mean value statistics were applied in the research.The findings of our case study aimed to reveal the trends linked to the innovation activity of family businesses.
关键词：Innovation activity;small and medium enterprises;family businesses;sustainable and competitive regions.
