Innovative Activities and Competitiveness in Manufacturing Industry Firms - the Results of the Primary Research

In this paper the results of the primary research into business sphere in manufacturing industry are discussed. For our analysis we used questionnaire survey - the results of the primary research reflect firms´competitiveness and innovative activities from the managers´point of view. The article deals with the competitiveness by comparison with their competitors in the particular field. To evaluate firms´attitude to innovative activities, we choose these factors: conditions for innovative activities, types of innovative activities, financial sources and barriers to implementation of innovations as seen by firms. Our conclusions from the primary research are following: the competitive advantage of the Czech economy is based on low cost and relatively qualified labor force and energetically and input demanding production, but this advantage is just temporarily adequate; the expenditures of firms on innovative activities are low and firms still do not regard innovative activites as important for competitiveness.