SMEs innovation in a network environment, case study in Romania

Abstract

After the 1990s, the private sector in Romania has tried to win in emerging market niches: IT services, e-commerce, retail, energy. With the liberalization of the market after admission to the EU, local entrepreneurs could not cope with external competition, crushing debts or insolvency. The situation is not different today when multinational companies compete strongly with local capital. After a continuous research process, the conclusion is that the only solution for SMEs is collaboration in business centers, virtual companies and other forms of local cooperation. This article presents a type of collaboration between SMEs that use discount coupons to recommend to other customers.