knowledge workers in SMEs create links and accelerate inovation

1. ENHANCING INNOVATION IN
SMALL & MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES
THROUGH PLACEMENT OF
INNOVATION OFFICERS
Murk M. V. Peutz
ISPIM
Bilbao, June 2010
Dit project is mede mogelijk gemaakt door een bijdrage uit het Europees
Fonds voor Regionale Ontwikkeling in het kader van OP-Zuid

2. 2
Introduction
Syntens Project “Innovatie Zuid”
Not for Profit Foundation Innovation fuels economic
growth
Supported by Dutch Ministry of
Economic Affairs, EU and regional Many SMEs are thought to
governments in the Netherlands lack resources for innovation
Aims to accelerate and improve Regional economic policies
innovation in Small and Medium aim to promote clusters and
Sized Enterprises (SMEs) innovative products and
services
Acts as consultant on innovation for
SMEs, as liaison for knowledge and Regional project, co-funded
as innovation specialist by regional government and
European Union
400 employees
Project started in Aug. 2008
Public stimulus € 30 million

3. Several studies stress time and personnel
as innovation constraints within SMEs
Resource Poverty
Insufficient time Lack of personnel
50%
47%
43%
%
Respondent
% 27%
Respondent
mentioned 22% mentioned
this issue 16% 15%
this issue
Lack of time Lack of know- Lack of Lack of Finance Admini- Lack of
or capacity how (new) resources qualified strative time
employees personnel burden
Constraint Constraint
Source: FME 2009 Source: EIM 2008

4. 4
Innovation Officer instrument aims to
address resource poverty in SMEs
Issue Innovation Officer
SMEs have good ideas SME can hire „knowledge
for innovation projects, worker‟ subsidized up to
but lack resources to € 30.000,-
implement these ideas Conditions:
(people, know-how and 1. SME : EU definition
funds) 2. Knowledge worker
not yet employed in
the company
3. Plan and define
innovation project
4. Match plan with
specific knowledge
worker

5. 5
Entrepreneurs are positive about value and
timing of Innovation Officer instrument
Results of mid-term evaluation among SMEs
Value for money … … especially in times of crisis
“… being innovative in
78%
these times is harder
than ever…”
%
SMEs
“…necessary support in
22% these times”
0%
agree neutral disagree
Quotes of entrepreneurs
n=29 n=8 n=0
Source: TU/e UniPartners, n=37 (2007 & 2009)

6. Typical activities of an Innovation Officer
Interviews with officer and entrepreneur in exemplary case
Life Sciences company, 8 employees
• Products for application in vitro diagnostics and medical
imaging
• High R&D intensity
• Close to university research
Innovation Officer develops new business area for MRI
• Initial idea to diversify into products for MRI scans
• Business application to be studied
• Manufacturing processes to be established
• Innovation Officer recruited from large medical supplies
company which closed facility in the Netherlands
Note: other cases studied included a company developing and delivering cleaning products/systems for carpets, and a
company producing and distributing amongst others battery chargers, DC-AC inverters, and DC-DC converters, .

7. 7
Core findings
• Considerable impact across the board, on a multitude of
determinants of innovative ability
• Placement of an Innovation Officer addresses SME-typical time
issues (bottlenecks), enabling SMEs to focus and actually
execute innovation projects
• Innovation Officers positively impact innovation outcomes,
process improvements were observed in all cases, whilst new
products and new markets were given as outputs by the
respondents
• Innovation Officers seem to influence the SME with external
contacts, which is underestimated by the entrepreneurs
themselves

8. 8
Significant impact Innovation Officers on
important area‟s of innovation in SMEs
% respondents „large influence‟
85%
82%
70% 70% 70%
%
Convert Gain Organization Improve Generate
ideas knowledge and process Skills ideas
development
Source: TU/e UniPartners, n=33 (2009, including data from 2007 instrument)

9. 9
Innovation Officers are externally more
active than expected by SMEs
Analysis of time spent on activities by innovation officer as
estimated by both entrepreneur and officer
% time attributed to activities
38%
% 24%
21%
13%
Estimation Estimation Estimation Estimation
entrepreneur Innovation entrepreneur Innovation
Officer Officer
KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION EXTERNAL CONTACTS
Source: TU/e UniPartners

10. 10
Conclusion
Conclusion Further work
Innovation officers improve Zooming in on specific
innovation capability and capabilities on which officers
outputs in SMEs have impact, since
entrepreneurs indicate „across
Innovation Officers play an the board‟ improvements
important role in the
external orientation of SMEs Investigation of the role of the
officer in crossing bridges to
the outside world by filling in
„structural holes‟