Critical analysis of problems and success factors of implementation of innovation projects

In the modern world, innovation activity is considered the key to the economic success of the enterprise and is associated with the prospect of its further development. In this regard, there are more empirical data and studies that examine the barriers and factors influencing the outcome of innovation activity. The latter became the subject of our research, and its initial hypothesis is the existence of a research gap consisting in the under-investigation of external factors of innovation projects success. The main purpose of the study is to analyze and systematize the pool of existing scientific literature in Russian and English languages on the study of barriers and success factors in the implementation of innovative projects of enterprises. The paper analyzes sources for a 20-year period (2004-2023) published in electronic scientific libraries, including 50 (theoretical) Russian-language and 45 (empirical) English-language publications. The main research methods are content analysis, synthesis, and systematization. The main results of the study are as follows. Financing problems are the most common barrier to innovative development for both Russian and foreign companies. Other barriers are different since in Russia the problems of state regulation and internal project management are acute, whereas in foreign countries the main problem is lack of qualified personnel and information about potential markets. The most problematic elements of innovation infrastructure both in Russia and abroad are identified: social, financial and market ones. The success factors highlighted in the literature are more focused on the internal environment of the firm, including the internal potential of the firm, the quality of management and the ability to cooperate. The key conclusion drawn from the results of the work is to confirm the hypothesis that the impact of the innovative infrastructure and the institutional environment of business on the success of innovative projects is under-researched.