Business Research

International Journal of Innovation Management Vol. 13, No. 2 (June 2009) pp. 295–317 © Imperial College Press

INNOVATIVENESS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS: CASE OF RUSSIAN R&D COMPANIES

DARIA PODMETINA

Lappeenranta University of Technology P. O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland daria.podmetina@lut.fi

MARIA SMIRNOVA

St. Petersburg State University, Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg, Russia smirnova@som.pu.ru

JUHA VÄÄTÄNEN

Lappeenranta University of Technology P. O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland juha.vaatanen@lut.fi

MARKO TORKKELI

Lappeenranta University of Technology/Kouvola Research Unit Prikaatintie 9, FI-45100 Kouvola, Finland marko.torkkeli@lut.fi The number of Russian companies entering international markets has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. The development of innovative industries has intensified as well. Do innovations play significant role in internationalisation? Do innovators internationalize more actively? Does operating on international markets make companies more innovative? This paper studies innovations and internationalisation of companies in Russia, based on the survey of R&D-oriented companies located in the two most developed areas of Russia (St. Petersburg and Moscow). The study aims to identify the clusters of companies according to their exports and R&D expenditures, and fulfil in-depth analysis of innovations-related determinants that could explain the structure of the clusters. The main results of the study show the significant impact of innovation activities, competition and new product development on export intensity. Keywords: Innovation; R&D; export intensity; internationalisation; Russia; competition.

295

296

D. Podmetina et al.

Introduction

The opening of borders in the post-communist countries was highly anticipated by people and companies. However, together with obvious benefits of free trade, investments and economic development, there are a number of threats for...