Innovation strategies used by companies in Poland during the pandemic

Since 2020, the global economy has been dominated by the global outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the disease COVID-19. The outbreak of the pandemic was an external threat to companies, which had an impact on their innovation strategy On the other hand, for some companies, the pandemic is an opportunity for development. The global crisis, dynamic socio-technological changes, combined with globalization, cause a dizzying pace of change, there is no permission for failure in enterprises – you have to act and to do so effectively. One of the possible ways is to adapt/implement an innovation strategy The basic hypothesis in this paper is the claim that during the pandemic, the surveyed companies did not significantly limit their innovative activities and used an offensive strategy. The aim of the article is to identify the innovation strategies used in enterprises before and during the pandemic. In order to achieve the assumed goal, the article uses deductive inference, critical analysis of the subject-related literature and the in-depth interview (IDI). The research results presented in the article enrich the knowledge about innovative activities of enterprises during the pandemic. Innovation strategies used by enterprises before the pandemic (in 2016-2019) and during its duration (2020-2022) were identified. To summarise the research carried out, it can be stated that before the pandemic, respondents most often pointed to the offensive strategy, independent and market creation, during the pandemic to the offensive strategy, recruitment and independent. Enterprises that were innovative before the pandemic and applied innovation strategies did not stop doing so during the pandemic.