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Research background: In the context of Industry 4.0 and 5.0, competitiveness is intricately linked to innovativeness and ongoing technological advancements, posing a formidable challenge for countries and organizations aspiring to thrive in this environment. Within this framework, the significance of innovativeness is escalating, emerging as a crucial factor for the competitiveness of enterprises and economies alike. Purpose of the article: The article aims to present the structure and dynamics of research on the competitiveness of SMEs shaped on the basis of their innovativeness to further guide both research and management practice. Methods: This comprehensive bibliometric analysis delves into the Scopus database to uncover the leading authors, journals, and countries driving empirical research on SME competitiveness and innovation. The study utilizes the VosViewer software to graphically represent the overarching themes explored by researchers in this field. Additionally, an analysis of the selected articles identifies trends shaping the discourse on SME competitiveness and innovation. This multifaceted approach provides a holistic understanding of the current state of research in this domain, paving the way for future directions and insights. Findings & value added: In this study, the authors conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current research landscape on SME competitiveness and innovation in the digital transformation era. By identifying key challenges, opportunities, and strategies for SMEs, our findings offer valuable guidance for researchers, policymakers, and SMEs themselves in navigating the complexities of the digital transformation landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation and innovativeness should be seen as a vast and internally complex set of measures carried out to improve management efficiency, build strong competitive positions and obtain economic benefits from enterprises, national economies and societies. A possibility of achieving these benefits is the category of competitiveness, hence, relative position of a region is measured using various indicators. The aim of the study is to analyze the level of the selected RIS indicators of the Podkarpackie against selected EU regions. The study will make it possible to understand in which area Podkarpackie performs better and in which worse? The analysis is carried out at the regional level NUTS 2. The most important approach in which quantitative indicators have been used comprehensively is EIS, which makes it possible to compare the Podkarpackie with the selected regions of Poland and the EU. Seven regions were selected for our analysis: 1 in Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and 3 in Poland. When it comes to innovativeness, the Podkarpackie region is a Moderate Innovator. The results of our research show that the relative strengths in the regional innovation system are design applications, sales new-tomarket/firm innovations, R&D expenditures business sector, non-R&D innovation expenditures, and tertiary education. Relative weaknesses are: marketing or organizational innovations, and also life-long learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: Innovation is a very important pillar within a knowledge-based economy, in the regional and local perspective as well. A literature review on innovation and SME innovation strategies to their correlation and the possibility of their joint examination. Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to explore the SME's innovation strategies and their impact on effectiveness of innovation in a peripheral region. We investigate the effects of innovation activities not only among small and medium, but also micro firms which are not covered in official innovation surveys by the national statistical offices. We proposed a model of implementing innovation, and tested our hypotheses. Methods: Research was based on data drawn from CATIs carried out among 419 firms, therefore making a conceptual contribution to the knowledge on innovation strategy. The main statistical test for relationships and dependencies was the chi-square independence test. To arbitrate whether there were statistically significant differences between medians due to different factors among enterprises, analysis for variance (H Kruskal-Wallis' test for k independent samples) procedure was implemented. Findings & Value added: The results of our research show that among SMEs in peripheral regions dominated those which we call 'pragmatists' and 'imitators' in context of their approach towards innovation. The significance of objective factors showed that there was a lack of enterprises that could play the role of 'creators of innovation' in the peripheral region. However, the examined firms more often noticed positive than negative aspects of introduced innovations, which is determined by the scale of enterprise; they were focused mainly on the consequences of innovation for their products and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes and discusses the environmental and natural resource impacts, benefits, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential associated with a long-term transition to more energy-efficient pyrometallurgical smelting technologies for the production of refined copper. Using generic data from the KGHM Polska Miedź S.A, Glogow I and II smelting facilities in Poland, this study employs life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental impacts of shaft and flash furnace-based smelting technologies. Additionally, this analysis accounts for likely technological changes in the more energy-efficient flash furnace smelting technologies and electricity generation from 2030 to 2050 to forecast the long-term impacts of copper production. Life cycle impact assessment results for copper production are characterized using the ReCiPe 2008 midpoint method. LCA results show that, for most impact categories, the flash-based technology can achieve significantly lower environmental impacts than a shaft furnace (i.e., to produce 1 ton of copper in 2010 generates, on average, a 24% lower overall impact). For climate change, transitioning from shaft furnace-based copper production to more efficient flash furnace technology leads to decreasing GHG emissions of 29% in 2010, 50% in 2030, and 56% in 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]