International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

The importance of innovation is increasingly emphasized and understood these days to ensure the future growth of enterprise and its survival. Innovations allow companies to coordinate their operations with changes that occur in their environment, changes in the market and with the ever-changing needs of customers. Innovation is understood as a very important factor of organizational performance and its survival and prosperity in a competitive environment. The company’s innovative potential represents the company’s ability to implement all innovation processes and defines how effectively the company can not only create but also use its innovations. The company’s innovation and innovative potential are the most important and complex issues that companies currently face and is the key to the success of all organizations. The competition that companies have to compete with is strong and over time the customer requirements themselves are becoming more and more demanding, so it is increasingly important for the company to be aware of its innovative potential, which it can develop by introducing and using new innovations. It is important for companies to be able to anticipate and address the challenges that come their way and transform them into creative and innovative solutions and to respond effectively to unforeseen events. The main aim of the paper is, based on the analysis of theoretical knowledge, to identify innovation and innovative potential in business management reflecting current changes and challenges in the environment, and to assess their importance by Slovak companies.