Ayşe Esra ASLAN, Burcu DUMAN, Dunya SEN, Cem DURAN, Sinem ATARBAY

A Pilot Study on the Perception of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Problem Statement: The concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship must be understood and adopted to ensure such transformation in the university after “Entrepreneurial and Innovative University Index” publication. The basic problem of this research is an analysis of how entrepreneurs define the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship. Purpose of Study: This research is focused on how innovation and entrepreneurship concepts are defined by company and project owners making innovation, the types of innovation they work on, the challenges they encounter during the process, and the coping strategies they use Method: This study used a qualitative research pattern and phenomenological research. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with the owners of five companies who voluntarily participated in the study. The frequency and categorical analysis of content analysis techniques were used in the analysis of the data. Attempts were made to provide reliability by coding the coincidentally selected ones of the voice-recorded interviews via two independent coders. Jury assessment was made for general and specific sub-areas created for categorical analysis within validity. Findings and Results: Six general areas and 39 specific sub-areas were created within the scope of categorical analysis. Among the most remarkable findings, it was clear that innovative entrepreneurs expressed opinions mostly within the general scope of “innovation process”. Within the “definition of innovation”, it can be seen that they most often refer to providing “added value” with the product. Within the “product features”, they most often refer to the “inclusion of innovation.” It was mentioned that “learning experiences” have positive effects on the innovation process. Conclusions and Recommendations: It may be suggested that researchers can study the competitiveness and innovation ability of entrepreneurs. It was observed that the participant companies did not have their own innovation models and strategies. It is necessary to develop a countryspecific innovation model and strategies based on it in order to develop innovation. Keywords: innovation description, innovation process, challenges in innovation process.

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