INTERPERSONAL TRUST AND INNOVATIVENESS OF CROATIAN ENTERPRISES

Companies with competitive advantage achieve outstanding business results which is important issue for the future and long-term survival. Interpersonal trust and innovation are important strategic tools contributing to the company’s success. The purpose of this study is to defi ne the impact of interpersonal trust on innovativeness of Croatian enterprises. This study tested and confi rmed two hypotheses. The results of the empirical research confi rm the connection between interpersonal trust and innovativeness. With the increase of trust in the ability of employees, employees’ integrity and benevolence of employees also increase innovation behaviour, innovation strategies and processes within the Croatian companies, and vice versa. With the increase of trust in the integrity of employees also increases the tendency of the development of innovative products. Innovation behaviour, strategies and processes in Croatian companies increase with employees’ trust in the integrity of managers. It should be noted that vertical trust has a positive effect on innovativeness of organization. The conclusions of the theoretical and empirical research affi rm the relevance of trust and innovativeness in creating value and achieving competitive advantage.