NEW APPROACHES ON INNOVATION PROCESS IN THE CONTEXT OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY. IMPLICATIONS FOR ROMANIAN ENTERPRISES

In the knowledge-based economy the knowledge has become the essential factor of production, the key element of economic competitiveness at the organizational level, national and global level. Education, research and innovation form the so-called "knowledge triangle". In this triangle, the innovation is the key element with the greatest impact on welfare and also the most problematic in terms of the related policies. Unfortunately, most of the Romanian enterprises, especially the small and medium sized ones, have not the resources to support innovation process. For this reason, it was found that a viable innovation strategy is based on the combination of firms, participation in networks, alliances and collaborations in order to reduce costs ever higher of technology transfer. In recent years, such a combination is the business cluster. Starting from these considerations, the paper presents several aspects regarding the clustering process, as the best way of achieving competitiveness for Romanian enterprises, especially for the small and medium ones. The paper also highlights the main benefits of the clusters parts.