A comparative analysis between clustered and non-clustered companies using innovation indicators

The Innovation has become a central and pivotal element in the development of organizations. The aim of this paper was to analyze and compare the Innovation Indexes using indicators in two Brazilian regions, in order to identify if independent international companies have higher innovation indexes than those that belonging to an industrial cluster. Methodologically, it was used a research tool to identify the Innovation Index of these companies (questionnaires with open and closed questions), applied to the company's senior managers. The results showed that there is a link between the innovation index and companies within an industrial cluster. Thus, it was possible to observe that the reunion in clusters favors the development of innovation, observing that the general indexes obtained were bigger than those of the independent international companies were. Furthermore, the study made possible to obtain a clear view on the importance of different aspects of innovation and their influence on the Innovation Index obtained on both scenarios.