Abstract:

Today, the most important factor for companies to survive is to be innovative in a highly competitive industry. The firms that have an organizational structure and environment that supports innovation are more likely to sustain their lives in today's competitive business conditions. In this study, innovation environments and applications of firms operating in the defense sector of Turkey have been analyzed in the light of both internal and external factors that support innovation. Due to its unique structure and conditions that are different from other industrial branches, the defense industry was chosen for determination of innovation environment. Surveys were conducted on 104 employees of 21 defense industry firms operating in Ankara. The results show that besides the sector’s innovative structure, skilled and creative workforce, firms that are examined were found to be at generally high levels of innovativeness.

Keywords: