Assessment of the Relationship Between Innovativeness and the Financial Standing of Enterprises at the Voivodeship Level in Poland in 2018, 2021 and 2024
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to assess the relationship between the innovativeness and financial standing of enterprises across Polish voivodeships in 2018, 2021 and 2024 by determining the direction, strength and changes in this relationship over time. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was based on data from Statistics Poland (GUS). Two synthetic rankings of voivodeships were constructed: one for enterprise innovativeness and one for enterprise financial standing. The TOPSIS method was used to aggregate the diagnostic variables, while Shannon entropy was used to determine the weights, ensuring objectivity of the assessment by eliminating subjective weight selection. The relationship between the rankings was determined using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The analysis was conducted for 2018, 2021 and 2024, taking into account methodological changes resulting from the implementation of the revised Oslo Manual and the change in the GUS data publication cycle. Findings: The results indicate a low correlation between the rankings of enterprise innovativeness and financial standing in all the years analysed. At the same time, a systematic increase in the correlation coefficient was observed in successive periods, which may indicate a gradual strengthening of the relationship between the phenomena analysed. Practical Implications: The findings may support the design of regional development strategies and innovation policy by providing information on the relationship between enterprise innovativeness and financial standing. Originality/Value: The value of the study lies in its comprehensive assessment of the relationship between enterprise innovativeness and financial standing across voivodeships using a procedure for constructing synthetic rankings (the TOPSIS method with weights determined by Shannon entropy). An additional contribution is the analysis of changes in this relationship over time, covering a period of economic turbulence associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.