ABSTRACT
 
In recent years the interest for Innovation and Innovation Management has increased significantly among academics, researchers and professionals, promoting the emergence of a discipline in the field of management. Companies are increasingly aware of the role that innovation plays in their future and the need to manage it as a key element for greater competitiveness.

Several decades of research into innovation management have been based on different theoretical contributions on the subject, which have enabled the evolution of the concept, the development of different models of innovation, the identification of sources of innovation, different strategies that companies may have to innovation, and ultimately discussion about the very concept of Innovation Management. Currently, the holistic view of innovation and its management as a process where not only matters “what to achieve” but also “how to get it”; has led to a wider vision of innovation and the need for designing and implementing models, systems and techniques oriented to different objectives (what-s) and different functions and disciplines (how-s) of innovation.

Thus, despite the large number of studies on the phenomenon of innovation in firms, the empirical evidence on the implementation and applicability of innovation management tools of (IMTs) in enterprises is low. Hence the main objective of this work is to contrast the contribution that the implementation of innovation management tools has in companies´ innovation performance. 

The research conducted is primarily descriptive in nature, and has the objective to obtain relevant information regarding the phenomenon of innovation management in companies as well as studying the contribution of innovation techniques and tools in Basque Country companies seeking to confirm and explain the innovation performance of those companies. Due to the fact that the sample meets the sampling criteria needed to ensure its representativeness, the implications of the study are directly extrapolated to the entire study population.

The main contributions of this research work refers to the confirmation of the relationship between the use of IMTs and innovative activity, as well as the finding of the role of the use of IMTs on innovation capacity and on organizations´ innovation management performance. Also the study underlines the importance of the strategic approach to innovation, as well as the historical background on the implementation of management systems (Quality management, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Environmental management system (EMS) and R&D management systems) in innovation performance, innovation management performance and the use of HGIs. Finally, the study also highlights the role and importance of government supported programs for systematic innovation at companies like Euskadi+Innova.