Corporate social responsibility versus sustainable production in the process of implementing eco-innovations

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to assess investments made to-date in the field of innovations introduced within the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in the Małopolskie voivodeship, including environmental initiatives. Methodology: The research was conducted at the turn of 2023 and 2024. At the first stage of the research the selection of enterprises was intentional, namely, small and medium-sized enterprises that carried out their business in the Małopolskie voivodeship. Then enterprises were selected on a random basis (350 respondents). A statistical analysis of the results was made. The obtained results were subjected to a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's multiple comparisons tests, with a significance level of 0.05. Tukey’s post-hoc tests allowed for a detailed analysis of the means by identifying statistically homogeneous groups. Confidence intervals for the means of the examined traits were calculated, assuming a confidence level of 0.95. The calculations were performed using the Statistica 13.1 statistical software package (StatSoft Inc., USA). Findings: The results of the research confirmed that the SMEs are hardly interested in introducing eco-innovations (approx. 5% of respondents). The most frequent barriers that hinder environmental initiatives among the respondents included: insufficient financial resources and inexperience. Other responses included: lack of knowledge and qualified personnel. Originality/value: The research on eco-innovations is a necessary activity in order to increase competitiveness of enterprises from the SME sector. An innovative approach to the analysis of this issue becomes necessary for current and future research in this field. The above is confirmed by the presented research. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sustainable production, eco-innovations. Category of the paper: Research paper.