Nowadays, in a global competitive and dynamic environment, innovation becomes more and more relevant mainly because three major tendencies: intense international competition, markets that are more demanding and various technologies, which are continuously changing. This paper presents a compilation of several various approaches on innovation, the influencing factors and the importance of innovative culture and best practices of innovative companies. Innovation is highly recognized as a key strategy for economic growth. The innovation process the process which follows certain well-structured stages in order to accomplish the goal. Innovation in a company is influenced by a series of factors which contribute to a durable economic growth. In the case of an organization which aims to promote innovation, it must create an innovative culture. Innovation is a challenge which is best solved with human resources rather than with technical ones. Developing innovative abilities requires a change in the leadership paradigm and in the way people act. But the most important item would be creating a new management style that is adapted to the specific needs of each company. There are few broadminded managers who wish to include innovations and who are aware of its necessity. This article presents a critical analysis of several written works related to innovation, thus becoming an important piece of bibliographic material, very useful to further researches in this field.
