Company innovation is conditioned, among others, by top management: their mental focus on the development of innovative activities, the ability to allocate appropriate resources to this activity, the ability to identify and use external impulses, as well as the acceptance of many, even controversial points of view. The literature highlights the existence of a close relationship between education of executives and their innovation awareness. Few studies conducted in SMEs confirm the link and the impact of competence development on their competitiveness. Innovation plays a key role in building the competitiveness of SMEs, which is conditioned by the competence, especially the competences of management staff. The purpose of the research was to identify relationship between managerial competencies and innovation processes in SMEs. Research methods were theoretical analysis of scientific literature and a direct survey (the instrument of data collection was questionnaires). The quantitative sample of analysing contains 174 managers - representatives of companies (SMEs) located in the Province of Silesia in Poland. A questionnaire consisting of 19 questions with a mixture of Likert-scale and closed-ended questions with one answer was developed. The data was collected in April and May 2014. Data analysis was accomplished using IBM SPSS Statistics 21. In the paper, a theoretical model of managerial competences was built, covering selected areas of knowledge, skills, traits, attitudes and behaviours significant to company innovation. Then, in the empirical research, using this model of managerial competences, it was tested whether the level of company innovation is correlated with the level of managers' competence. Studies on the competences are conducted primarily in large organizations. However, the researchers argue that it is necessary to look at the development of competencies of SMEs differently than in large organizations. In SMEs, it takes a different form and conditions. The presented research filled the gap in knowledge of the importance of managerial competences in the innovation processes in SMEs.
