Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 25 ISSUE 1
Written by Margarita BOGDANOVA, Lyubomir TODOROV, Evelina PARASHKEVOVA, Mariela STOYANOVA

This paper empirically examined the role of formal and informal networks in building innovation attitudes and an environment for conducting quality research in economics and management in Bulgarian universities. It highlighted some of the key issues not yet explored in the academic literature – the behavioral attitudes and expectations of researchers towards the institutional environment in universities, and the extent to which it was supportive for the development of quality research. An empirical study was conducted with 74 respondents from Bulgarian universities working in the field of economics and management. The analysis of the results showed that respondents appreciated the perceived support from the organization they worked in. Support aimed at stimulating innovative environments for conducting innovative research in economics and management was also highly valued. Two of the research hypotheses were not supported: 1) that informal relationships were more important than formal relationships and 2) that having support from the immediate supervisor stimulated innovative behavior. On this basis, insights were derived in the discussion of the empirical results. The contribution of the publication is in the interdisciplinary approach where behavioral science was linked to network theory. The aim was to discover and identify more clearly those behavioral motivations and constraints that, analyzed through the lens of network theory, provided tools to improve collaboration in research organizations and universities.

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