Y. Caloghirou & A. Protogerou, AEGIS Survey
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The results of the AEGIS survey
Yannis Caloghirou & Aimilia Protogerou, LIEE/ NTUA
AEGIS workshopBrussels, March 9, 2012
AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
A E G I SA E G I S
Y. Caloghirou & A. Protogerou, AEGIS Survey
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Outline of the Presentation
• The Survey: Why this survey is different from other established and regular surveys?
• The Survey: Design and Implementation.• Selected preliminary results• The comparative dimension (sectoral, group of countries..)• Combine survey results with case-study findings• Can we draw conclusions by combining findings from
different kinds of entrepreneurship surveys?• Policy Implications and (Business) Strategic Considerations
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AEGIS Survey: a pilot for developing a new tool for Entrepreneurship Research in Europe
The AEGIS Research Consortium (FP 7 Very Large Integrated Project) is developing and testing a new tool for Studying and Monitoring Entrepreneurship in Europe in different contexts (sectoral, country and socioeconomic) with high research potential.
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AEGIS Survey: Why is different? What is the value added? (1)
• AEGIS survey is different both from CIS and GEM surveys and any other ad-hoc surveys on entrepreneurship– CIS: measures innovative activity of all firms across sectors
in order to produce important R&D and innovation indicators
– GEM: a general population survey targeting individuals, which explores the behaviour and characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs, new entrepreneurs, and established business owners among population
– Other surveys e.g. the KfW-ZEW study which is a national study placing emphasis mainly on the firm’s competitive environment and financing/capital requirements, or the Kauffman survey in US
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AEGIS Survey: Why is different? What is the value added? (2)
• Different focus: Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship (KIE)
• Wide geographical coverage (10 EU countries) Comparative Entrepreneurship
• The newly established firm is the unit of analysis, not the individual/ person (not person-centric)
• Context matters (National System of Innovation, Sectoral System of Innovation, Varieties of Capitalism/ different models, Networks,...)
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AEGIS survey: A pilot for a Community Entrepreneurship Survey?
• AEGIS Survey: Could be considered as a pilot exercise for the design of a new instrument aiming at the identification and monitoring of Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship in Europe on a regular basis.
• A Community Entrepreneurship Survey.
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Survey Design: Who is in?• Newly established firms
– Established from 2001 to 2007 with a primary activity in pre-selected sectors (High Tech Low Tech, KIBs).
• Actually new firms but not new legal entities resulting from any type of legal transformation of already existing firms (screening questions)
• No subsidiaries of existing companies, or mergers acquisitions, or joint ventures (screening questions)
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The survey arithmetic (numbers)• Initial population 338,000 firms based on Amadeus Database
(enriched with data from two other sources, i.e. D&B and Kompass).
• 10 countries (Sweden, Denmark, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece,
Portugal, Czech Republic, Croatia)• 22,000 contacts • Large questionnaire (around 300 variables). Average duration: 30
minutes.• 4,004 completed questionnaires • Field research executed by GDCC (Global Data Collection Company),
CATI type.
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The country dimension: The 10 countries surveyed belong to 5 different models (VoC)
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The sectoral dimension: Selected Sectors (OECD classification based on technological/ RTD
intensity)Selected Sectors NACE (rev. 1)
High-technology manufacturing sectors
Aerospace 35.3
Computers and office machinery 30
Radio-television and communication equipment 32
Manufacture of medical, precision & optical instruments (scientific instruments)
33
Pharmaceuticals 24.4
Medium to high technology manufacturing sectors
Manufacture of electrical machinery & apparatus 31
Manufacture of machinery and equipment 29
Chemical industry (excl pharma) 24 (excl. 24.4)
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The sectoral dimension: Selected Sectors (OECD classification, EC for KIBS)
Selected Sectors NACE (rev. 1)Low-technology manufacturing sectors
Paper and printing 21,22Textile and clothing 17, 18, 19Food, beverages and tobacco 15+16Wood and furniture 20+36.1
Medium to low technology manufacturing sectors
Basic metals 27Fabricated metal products 28
KIBS*Telecommunications 64.2Computer and related activities 72Research and experimental development 73Selected business services activities 74.1-2-3-4-5-6, 74.8*
*Selection of most 4-digits sectors. Some of 74.87 (other activities) excluded AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
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The size, sector and country dimension of the survey: Firm distribution per country and sector
Country Sector groups Total
High-tech Low-tech KIBS
Croatia 35 115 50 200Czech Republic 25 92 83 200Denmark 34 69 227 330France 68 196 306 570Germany 67 160 330 557Greece 22 184 125 331Italy 57 316 207 580Portugal 31 170 130 331Sweden 34 108 192 334United kingdom 47 192 332 571Total 420 1602 1982 4004AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
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AEGIS SURVEY
Main findings
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Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship
Reminding the definition of KIE• Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE): new firms that have a
significant knowledge intensity in their activity and develop and exploit innovative opportunities in diverse sectors
• For AEGIS knowledge-intensive entrepreneurs are:• involved in systematic, problem solving processes;• embedded in innovation systems;• affected by the institutional context;• open to innovative opportunities coming from (a) linking scientific or
technological knowledge with market needs and applications, (b) using internal to the firm and external factors and (c) accessing key knowledge and resources through networks
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What are we looking at?• The size of the new firm.• The size of the founding team.• Ingredients of KIE: The cognitive foundations of the founding team, the educational
level of the human capital engaged in the venture, networking, sources of knowledge, innovative performance, exposure to competition, dynamic capabilities,
• The cognitive foundations of the founding group: Educational background, prior exposure to academic research, professional background, origin of ideas, sources of knowledge,
• Human Capital: educational level• Market and demand pull, technology push and underlying approaches to
entrepreneurship• The market and business environment• COMPARATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Compare specific aspects of entrepreneurship in
different groups of countries Socioeconomic regimes (VoC) Taxonomy• Knowledge and innovation based Taxonomies
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What are we looking at? [continue]
• Reconciliation of survey results and case-study findings
• Can we draw some conclusions by combining different surveys or other sources: AEGIS, GEM, ZEW, Kaufman, OECD (?)
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Firm size the majority of firms are micro enterprises
8.51%
63.60%
24.82%
2.79% 0.15% 0.13%
0 1-910-49 50-249250-499 (6 firms) >500 (5 firms)
• On average, 11 full-time employees ( trimmed mean 5%)
• There are 1630 firms (41%) with part-time employees.
• On average, 5.5 part-time employees (2.5 trimmed mean 5%)
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The educational level of Human Capital
• High– 2 out of 3 of all new companies have employees
holding a University degree. – On average, these firms have 6 employees holding a
University degree. – Half of all the new companies employ people with a
postgraduate degree (PhDs included).• Higher Educational Level in Knowledge Intensive
Business Services (KIBs) compared to high and low-tech manufacturing.
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Share of firms per sector and educational level
High
Low
KIBS
Total
64%
54%
74%
65%
40%
29%
52%
41%12%
7%14%
11%
UD
PD
PhD
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The employees’ educational level is higher in knowledge-Intensive business services compared to high and low-tech manufacturing
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Founding team size: small average size (2 persons) and male dominated (8 out of 10)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40% 37.3%34.9%
14.1%
7.6%
3.1%1.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.8%
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What is the Founders background?non university degree
(43%) or post-graduate degree holders incl.
PhDs (35%)
previous work experience in the
same industry
12 years professional experience
technical and engineering knowledge
15% have previous entrepreneurial
experience
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323 firms ( 1 out of 100 )have at least one PhD founder: limited exposure to academic research
Sectoral group count %
High-tech manufacturing
43 13%
Low-techmanufacturing
61 19%
KIBS 219 68%
Total 323 100%
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Most important drivers of firm formation
• Work experience, • Market and engineering knowledge,• Networks built during previous career, …and, New firm formation funding: Own
and family sources
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Sources of funding for setting up a company on average 80% of funding came from the founders’ own
resources
Own financial resources
Funding from family member
Funding from previous employer
Venture capital
Funding from a bank
Public funding
EU funding
0% 50% 100%
92%
10%
28%
8%
90%
98%
95%
72%
93%
97%
Yes No
Own financial resources
Funding from family member
Funding from previous employer
Venture capital
Funding from a bank
Public funding
EU funding
0% 50% 100%
79%
43%
44%
45%
52%
34%
34%
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Knowledge Sources and Networking
• The most important knowledge sources are related to customers, suppliers and competitors.
• Networks are perceived as important facilitators of contacting customers.
• Formal types of agreements (e.g. strategic alliances) are relatively limited.
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Knowledge sources: the most important one is external related to clients, suppliers and competitors
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External-clients, suppliers and competitors
In-house R&D
External-Open sources
External-Public research and universities
Participation in collaborative R&D
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
3.67982017982018
3.3
2.91121378621378
2.08616383616384
1.88424075924076
Mean score
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The importance of networking in different firm operations main facilitator to contact customers
Contacting customers/clients
Selecting suppliers
Recruiting skilled labor
Collecting information about competitors
Accessing distribution channels
Assistance in obtaining business loans/attracting funds
Advertising and promotion
Developing new products/services
Managing production and operations
Aranging taxation and other legal issues
Exploring export opportunities
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
4.1
3.4
3.3
3.2
2.9
2.4
2.8
3.3
3.0
2.8
2.4
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Formal types of agreements (e.g. strategic alliances) are relatively limited.
Strategic alliances
R&D agreements
Technical cooperation agreements
Licensing agreements
Subcontracting
Marketing/export promotion
Research contract-out
Participated in other agreements
1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
2.5
2.2
2.1
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.5
1.3
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Firm dynamic capabilities related to market adaptation and new product development are more important than technical adaptation and participation in technology collaborations
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Market adaptation
New product development capability
Networking capability
Technical adaptation
Participation in collaborations
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
3.8
3.7
2.9
2.5
1.9
Mean score
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How innovative they are?
• 2 out of 3 firms have introduced or improved new goods/services into the market during the last three years.
• The majority of firms report that they have also introduced at least one of either process (production and delivery methods) or organizational innovation.
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Type of product innovation
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36.4%
27.6%
21.8%
14.2%
No Innovation (N=1456)
New-to-market (N=1104)
New-to-firm (N=874)
New-to-world (N=570)
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Firms use mainly informal or semi-formal ways to protect intellectual property rights
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Patents
Copyrights
Secrecy
Trademarks Trademarks
Complexity of design
Lead-time advantages on competitiors
Confidentiality agreements
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
16%
27%
40%
41%
46%
54%
55%
84%
73%
60%
59%
54%
46%
45%
Yes No
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Market and Business Environment• In their majority, these firms have many
business competitors, while their most important customers are other business firms and organizations (mainly B2B).
• On average, 86% of their sales comes from the domestic market
• The most important obstacles of their growth are market risk/uncertainty and funding
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Competition intensity and most important customer type the majority of firms has many business competitors
Competitors Count %Many business competitors 2349 58,7
Only a few business competitors 1374 34,3
No other business competitors 281 7,0
Total4004 100,0
Customers Count %Large firms employ >250 persons 1173 29,3
SMEs1767 44,1
Final consumers
499 12,5
Public sector363 9,1
Other202 5,0
Total4004 100,0
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Most important type of customer per country the vast majority of customers are B2B
Croatia
Czech republic
Denmark
France
Germany
GreeceItaly
Portugal
Sweden
UK
Total
0%
50%
100%
Large firms SMEs Final consumers Public sector AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
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Market and Business Environment(…cont..)
• Continuously changing taxation regulations and high tax rates are also important barriers for the firm operation and growth, but differences exist across countries
• The most important factor for achieving competitive advantage is related to addressing market and customer needs.
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Performance in terms of sales: a rather mild effect of the crisis
Sales2007-2009
(avg) 2010
Decreaseover 50% 4.7% 3.3%25 to 49% 6.8% 5.6%11 to 24% 5.1% 5.4%up to 10% 3.5% 6.9%Total Decrease 20.1% 21.2%0 (neutral trend) 13.7% 19.4%Increaseup to 10% 16.5% 20.8%11 to 24% 16.2% 15.7%25 to 49% 15.3% 12.0%over 50% 18.2% 11.0%Total Increase 66.2% 59.5%
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% of firms
• Trimmed Average increase during 2007-2009: +22% •no significant differences across 3 sectoral groups, although high tech and KIBS outperform low tech• 2007-2009: better results in France, Greece, Portugal, Sweden•2010: worse results in Greece and Croatia
Performance in terms of employment: increase during 2007-2009, stability during the crisis
Employment 2007-2009 (avg) 2010
Decreaseover 50% 4.1% 2.5%15 to 49% 5.8% 4.8%up to 15% 2.8% 2.9%Total decrease 12.7% 10.2%0 (neutral trend) 44.5% 59.6%Increaseup to 10% 10.0% 10.4%11 to 49% 17.3% 13.0%over 50% 15.4% 6.7%Total increase 42.7% 30.1%
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% firms
• 190 firms doubled their size during 2007-2009• Trimmed Average increase during 2007-2009: +15%• High tech firms outperform other sectors• Employment performance follows more or less the sales performance in most countries• Employment rates in high tech firms remained higher during the crisis, compared to the other 2 sectoral groups
Performance in terms of exports: those that export keep their pace in 2010
Exports 2007-2009 (avg) 2010
Decreaseover 50% 2.1% 1.1%11 to 49% 2.1% 1.7%up to 10% 1.0% 1.4%Total decrease 5.2% 4.2%0 (neutral trend) 74.0% 76.1%Increaseup to 10% 7.2% 8.3%11 to 49% 7.3% 6.8%over 50% 6.4% 4.7%Total increase 20.9% 19.8%
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% of firms• Most firms do not export, but those that export kept their pace in 2010• Portuguese firms present significant exporting activity during 2007-2009, followed by Croatian firms• French and German firms underperform (due to the size of the internal market;)•High tech manufacturing firms perform better
Post crisis period• Liquidity problems in the value chain of the firms: the main characteristic
of the post crisis period, as some customers or suppliers may exit from the market.
• Increased borrowing costs after a long period of rather low interest rates will also emerge.
• On the other hand, 5 out of 9 firms agree on possible new opportunities, as restructuring could help in healthier economic conditions and maybe a new growth cycle in certain sectors
• Extent and consequences of the crisis vary in the various countries– Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, but also UK: major problem
are liquidity difficulties of customers and suppliers. – Italian and French firms: most pessimistic in terms of opportunities that could
be created, – Greek and Portuguese companies: concerned most with increasing borrowing
costs. • Low tech firms are anxious about increasing borrowing costs, and the
problems with suppliers and customers. Firms from KIBS sectors however, believe in opportunities that may arise in the post crisis era
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Classification of KI ventures following the AEGIS theoretical framework (1)
KIE is associated with four basic characteristics: • it concerns new ventures,• new ventures that are innovative,• new ventures engaging in activities that are knowledge
intensive, • and finally, new ventures that are not to be found solely
in high-tech industries
The first and last conditions are satisfied a priori in our sample.AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
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Classification of KI ventures following the AEGIS theoretical framework (2)
Variables used from the AEGIS survey to determine innovative ventures:• Introduction of new or developed goods/services (during the last 3 years)• Type of producr innovation (N2F, N2M, N2W)• Introduction of process and organizational innovation• Intellectual property protection methods
Variables used to determine the firm’s knowledge assets:• Knowledge-seeking activities (sources of knowledge)• Average educational attainment of the founding team• Percentage of funding coming from venture capital• Human capital (education background) & innovation input (R&D
intensity as a proxy)
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Classification of firms in terms of KIE KIE variables “All-around
Innovators”“World-class
product Innovators”
“Followers” Total sample
Knowledge-intensive activities N=727 (23%) N=487 (15%) N=2012 (62%0 N=3226
Knowledge/External-Industry (0/1)
64% 28% 43%45%
Knowledge/External-Science (0/1)
19% 7% 6%9%
Knowledge/In-house R&D (0/1)
74% 71% 42%53%
Knowledge/External-Open sources (0/1)
42% 24% 18%24%
Knowledge/Participation in collaborative R&D (0/1)
24% 12% 7%12%
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Classification of firms in terms of KIEKIE variables “All-around
Innovators”“World-class
product Innovators”
“Followers” Total sample
“Initial conditions” N=727 (23%) N=487 (15%) N=2012 (62%) N=3226F-team avrg edu attainment (0/1)
20% 57% 25%29%
% capital from venture capital (0/1)
2% 7% 1%2%
Human capital & Innovation “input”
% ft employees: Graduate degree (0/1)
6% 25% 12%13%
% ft employees: PhD degree (0/1)
12% 25% 6%10%
Employee training (0/1) 60% 46% 36% 43%RD intensity (0/1) 47% 55% 17% 29%
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Classification of firms in terms of KIEKIE variables “All-around
Innovators”“World-class
product Innovators”
“Followers” Total sample
Innovation performance N=727 (23%) N=487 (15%) N=2012 (62%) N=3226Introduced new goods/services last 3 years
100% 100% 44%65%
New-to-firm (0/1) 28% 17% 21% 22%New-to-market (0/1) 48% 43% 18% 28%New-to-world (0/1) 24% 40% 6% 15%Introduced process innov. 82% 29% 35% 45%Introduced logistics innov. 80% 11% 28% 37%Introduced innovation in support activities
94% 33% 41%51%
Improved knowledge mngnt systems
87% 42% 41%52%
Changes in management structure
58% 23% 26%33%
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Classification of firms in terms of KIE
KIE variables “All-around Innovators”
“World-class product
Innovators”
“Followers” Total sample
Innovation performance N=727 N=487 N=2012 N=3226
Patents 21% 30% 3% 11%
Trademarks 52% 54% 12% 27%
Copyrights 31% 41% 7% 18%
Confidentiality 64% 93% 13% 37%
Secrecy 51% 80% 6% 27%
Lead time 76% 69% 14% 36%
Complexity 61% 70% 9% 30%
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Classification of KI ventures in the AEGIS sample of firms
• The first group, "all-around innovators”, shows a more balanced emphasis on different dimensions of innovation and relies basically in external knowledge seeking (clients, suppliers, competitors/ across the value chain)
• The second, labelled “world-class product innovators”, emphasizes new-to-world innovation drawing from in-house knowledge which in turn draws from high quality human capital (both in terms of founders and workforce).
• The third group (“followers”) clearly lags behind in all dimensions of knowledge-intensive activities and innovation; it represents what might be called “standard” entrepreneurship.
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Comparative analysis of the two more KI groups against “followers”
• In the two more KI groups, entrepreneurial teams are more heterogeneous as regards their prior expertise and employment backgrounds than “followers”.
• When it comes to their internal management and strategic behaviour, KI ventures: – have built more strongly their R&D and product related capabilities, their dynamic
capabilities (i.e. their ability to exploit market and technical opportunities), they engage more strongly in networking and participate more heavily in various types of collaborative arrangements, and of course, spend significantly more on R&D.
– tend to pursue differentiation and focus strategies more than followers, who show more emphasis on low cost.
– are heavily geared towards international markets, presumably based on their more innovative profile.
– are found to operate in more dynamic, competitive, and perhaps less benign environments.
– seem to enjoy higher performance (average profits and average growth rates in sales) than followers.
• “World-class product innovators”, compared to “all-around innovators” and “followers” seem to address (relatively) more the sophisticated needs of the Public sector and of large enterprises rather than the needs of mass markets and small enterprises.
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How KI ventures are distributed across sectors?
• “Followers” are more concentrated in low-tech manufacturing, medium-low manufacturing, and KI Market services
• “World-class innovators” are basically to be found in high-tech manufacturing, KI high-tech services, and in KI market services
• “All-around innovators” are more prevalent than expected in almost all types of industries, except for high-tech manufacturing
In general, therefore, industry context seems to play a role in KIE, with the qualification that all-around innovators appear to be spread in somewhat higher proportions than expected across all industries except in high-tech manufacturing.
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How KI ventures are distributed across different Varieties of Capitalism (VoC)? (1)
The ten countries included in the AEGIS survey belong to different VoC types. They are indicatively classified in six categories:•Liberal coordinated market economies UK•Continental Europe Germany•Nordic countries Denmark, Sweden•Large Mediterranean economies / continental France, Italy•Small Mediterranean economies Greece, Portugal•X-planned economies Croatia, Czech Republic
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How KI ventures are distributed across VoC types? (2)
• “World-class innovators” are basically found in Germany and the Nordic countries
• Mediterranean countries (incl. F and IT) have less world-class innovators than would be expected
• “All-around innovators” are basically found in Mediterranean and X-planned economies
• Followers are more or less evenly distributed except for the UK (where we find more than expected) and for Germany, where –in contrast- we find less than expected.
Taken overall, these results suggest that KIE and VoC are significantly (?) associated; KI ventures are to be found mostly in Germany and the Nordic countries. Further research and deeper intrepretation is needed.
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How KI ventures are distributed across National Innovation Systems? (1)
Following the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) classification of National Innovation Systems the ten sample countries can be classified into:
• EIS “Leaders” Denmark, Sweden, Germany• EIS “Followers”France, UK• EIS “Moderate innovators”Czech Republic, Greece, Italy,
Portugal• EIS “Modest innovators”Croatia
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How KI ventures are distributed across National Innovation Systems? (2)
• “World-class product innovators” are mostly found in EIS “leader” economies (i.e. Denmark, Germany, and Sweden) as would be expected.
• In contrast, in EIS ”leader” countries we find fewer “all-around innovators” than expected
• Surprisingly, there is a high concentration of KIE “followers” in EIS “follower” economies (France and UK)
• “All-around innovators” are found mostly in modest (i.e. Croatia) and moderate (i.e. Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, and Portugal) economies
The general message, therefore, is that more KI ventures are mostly to be found in leading economies and (surprisingly) in modest and moderate (in terms of NIS classification) countries.
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Case studies results in low-tech sector KI firms
Case studies were carried out in:•27 firms •4 countries (Denmark, Germany, Greece and Portugal) •3 low-tech sectors (food beverages, textiles and clothing, basic metals and metal products)
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Case studies results (cont.)
• Innovation and innovation strategy the way to face the competitive pressures exerted in the maturity stage of sector life cycle
• Innovation strategy has not been mainly based on formal R&D efforts
• Decisive role of external sources of knowledge, especially suppliers and customers
• Exploitation of knowledge and technologies developed in other industries (inter-industry knowledge diffusion)
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Case studies results (cont.)
• How Knowledge Intensive firms grow and sustain their competitive position
Sector level– Expansion of sectoral knowledge base– Diffusion to the value chain– Expansion of the market and sector
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Policy Implications and Strategic Considerations
• Entrepreneurship policy- and in particular KIE policy- is distinct from Small Business Policy. Narrow and broader definitions.
• System of policies to promote KIE (Research, Innovation, Diffusion of Technology, Education/ training , Employment) needed, not just traditional SME policies.
• Educational background (solid and higher than in the past) matters impact on Education Policy.
• Innovation and Technology Diffusion Policies matter very much.• Support not only excellent, but also locally relevant research.• Develop and upgrade the Knowledge Infrastructure.• Financing new firms (at what stage and with what kind of instruments?).• Policy coordination is a must for policy implementation.• Measuring KIE regularly Evidence based entrepreneurship policy.• Prepare a Charter for KI entrepreneurs in Europe. • ………AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
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AEGIS and Horizon 2020• AEGIS can be related to some of the objectives of Horizon 2020
Central role of knowledge and human capital in the future of Europe
Among the objectives of Horizon 2020:• Boost European industrial leadership and competitiveness through stimulating
innovation in SMEs• Nurture fast growing SMEs• Remove barriers for entrepreneurs to bring ideas to market• Exploit strengths in design and creativity• Involve SMEs in the innovation cycle
• Launch policies to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and enhance the quality of the business environment
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Thank you very much for your attention!
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Appendix: other Results
Appendix: other Results
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Full-time employees the majority are micro firms (q1)
8.51%
63.60%
24.82%
2.79% 0.15% 0.13%
0 1-910-49 50-249250-499 (6 firms) >500 (5 firms)
• On average, 11 full-time employees ( trimmed mean 5%)
• There are 1630 firms (41%) with part-time employees.
• On average, 5.5 part-time employees (2.5 trimmed mean 5%)
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Share of firms per country employing university graduates (q2)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
84%76% 76% 72% 70% 67%
62% 58%52% 52%
65%
Country ShareTotal share
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• 2 out of 3 firms (N= 2599) have employees with a university degree• On average, these firms have 6 employees holding a university degree
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Share of firms per country employing post-graduates (q2)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
69%
57%50%
41%36% 35% 34% 34%
26% 25%
41%
Country shareTotal share
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• 41% of firms (N= 1651) employ people with post-graduate degrees (PhDs excluded)• On average, these firms employ 4 post-graduates
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Share of firms per country employing people with PhDs
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%16%
14%13% 13%
10%9% 8%
6% 6%4%
11%
Country shareTotal share
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• 11% of firms (N= 438) have employees holding a PhD• On average, they have 2 employees with a PhD degree
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Founders per firm: average founding team 2 persons
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40% 37.3%34.9%
14.1%
7.6%
3.1%1.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.8%
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Highest educational attainment of founders (q5)43% non university degree holders, 35% post-graduate degree holders (PhDs included)
1 founder
2 founders
3 founders
4 founders
all founders
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
30%
25%
30%
31%
29%
6%
4%
7%
6%
6%
PhD Postgraduate degree Bachelor degreeSecondary education Elementary education
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Founders’ last occupation before firm establishment (q6) 40% have previous work experience in the same industry, 15% have previous entrepreneurial activity
1 F
2 Fs
3 Fs
4 Fs
Total Fs
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%44%
41%
40%
40%
41%
22%
22%
18%
14%
19%
Government employee
University or research institute employee
Unemployed
This is his/her first job
Firm owner (firm has ceased operations)
Self-employed
Firm owner (firm still in existence)
Employee in a different industry
Employee in the same industry
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Years of professional experience (q7)almost 12 years
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13.9
11.7
11.25557680051
11.9097472924188
11.6
1 Founder 2 Founders 3 Founders 4 Founders Total Founders
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Main areas of expertise of founders (q8)50% technical and engineering knowledge
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1 Founder
2 Founders
3 Founders
4 Founders
Total Founders
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%54%
49%
51%
50%
50%
25%
24%
21%
22%
23%
6%
7%
7%
6%
6%
None of these / Don't know
Finance
Marketing
Product design
General management
Technical and engineering knowledge
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Factors influencing firm formation(q13)work experience and market knowledge are the most important formation factors
Work experience in the current activity field
Market knowledge
Technical-engineering knowledge
Networks bulit during previous career
Availability of finance
Large enough customer
Opportunity from a new market need
Design knowledge
Opportunity from technological change
Opportunity deriving for new regulations or institutional requirements
Public procurement initiative
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
8%
7%
17%
16%
27%
29%
25%
36%
36%
52%
65%
83%
73%
68%
63%
47%
47%
46%
41%
38%
24%
16%
no/low importance medium importance high/very high importance
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Sources of funding for setting up a company(q14)on average 80% of funding came from the founders’ own resources
Own financial resources
Funding from family member
Funding from previous employer
Venture capital
Funding from a bank
Public funding
EU funding
0% 50% 100%
92%
10%
28%
8%
90%
98%
95%
72%
93%
97%
Yes No
Own financial resources
Funding from family member
Funding from previous employer
Venture capital
Funding from a bank
Public funding
EU funding
0% 50% 100%
79%
43%
44%
45%
52%
34%
34%
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Competition intensity and most important customer type (q15&q17) the majority of firms has many business competitors
Competitors Count %Many business competitors 2349 58,7
Only a few business competitors 1374 34,3
No other business competitors 281 7,0
Total4004 100,0
Customers Count %Large firms employ >250 persons 1173 29,3
SMEs1767 44,1
Final consumers
499 12,5
Public sector363 9,1
Other202 5,0
Total4004 100,0
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Type of most important type of customer per country (q17) the vast majority of customers are B2B
Croatia
Czech republic
Denmark
France
Germany
GreeceItaly
Portugal
Sweden
UK
Total
0%
50%
100%
Large firms SMEs Final consumers Public sector AEGIS BRUSSELS MEETING, 29/3/2012
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% of sales in different type of markets per country (q16)86% in the domestic market
France
Italy
Greece
Sweden
Portugal
Germany
United kingdom
Denmark
Croatia
Czech republic
Total
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
55
47
40
43
33
42
46
35
42
35
44
36
40
47
43
52
42
38
47
40
43
42
8
13
13
14
14
15
16
18
18
22
14
% of sales in the local/regional market % of sales in the national market% of sales in the international market
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Impact of different factors on competitive advantage (q19) most important factor adaptation to specific customer needs
Capacity to adapt the products/services to the specific needs of different customers/market
niches
Capability to offer novel products/services
Marketing and promotion activities
R&D activities
1 2 3 4 5
4.22
3.73
3.68
3.27
3.23
2.95
2.94
2.25
Mean
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Obstacles for company growth (q20)most important obstacles are market risk and funding for growth
Difficulty in finding the necessary funding for growth investments
Difficulties in recruiting highly-skilled employees
Market risk /uncertainty
Difficulty in finding business partners
Lack of technological know-how
Technology risk / uncertainty
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
40.6%
38.3%
26.2%
49.3%
60.7%
58.8%
41.1%
40.3%
42.4%
23.3%
17.0%
15.5%
no or small obstacle obstacle of medium importance significant or very significant obstacle
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Barriers to operate the company (q21)taxation is an most important barrier but differences exist across countries
Continuously changing taxation regulations
High tax rates
Time consuming regulatory requirements for issuing permits and licenses
Poorly enforced competition law to curb monopolistic practices
Poorly enforced property rights, copyright and patent protection
Strict property, copyright and patent protection
Government officials favor well connected individuals
Bankruptcy legislation makes immense the cost of failure
Rigid labor market legislation
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
14%
23%
26%
24%
36%
34%
42%
40%
45%
21%
16%
15%
17%
13%
12%
11%
9%
7%
36%
28%
23%
22%
21%
18%
14%
12%
8%
No barriers234Very serious barriers
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Dynamic capabilities (q23)Sensing customer needs is the main DC
Change practises based on customer feedback
Quickly understand new opportunities to serve customers
Observe and absorb best practices
Employees frequently share practical experiences
Regularly consider changing market demands
Quickly recognise market shifts
Respond rapidly to competitive moves
Design activity is important in introducing new products/services
Implement systematic internal and external personnel training
Formal engineering and technical studies department
Formal R&D department
0% 30% 60% 90%12%
11%
12%
20%
16%
15%
16%
36%
31%
65%
66%
74%
71%
70%
66%
62%
58%
58%
45%
42%
24%
22%
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
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Sources of knowledge for exploring business opportunities (q24) the most important knowledge sources are related to clients,
customers and suppliers
Clients or customers
Public research institutes
In-house (know how, R&D laboratories in your
firm)
Participation in nationally funded
research programmes
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
4.4
3.4
3.3
2.1
2.1
2.0
3.3
2.9
2.9
1.9
1.9
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The importance of networking in different firm operationsmain facilitator to contact customers
Contacting customers/clients
Selecting suppliers
Recruiting skilled labor
Collecting information about competitors
Accessing distribution channels
Assistance in obtaining business loans/attracting funds
Advertising and promotion
Developing new products/services
Managing production and operations
Aranging taxation and other legal issues
Exploring export opportunities
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
4.1
3.4
3.3
3.2
2.9
2.4
2.8
3.3
3.0
2.8
2.4
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Types of agreements the firm participates in (q26)formal types of agreements are ranked relatively low
Strategic alliances
R&D agreements
Technical cooperation agreements
Licensing agreements
Subcontracting
Marketing/export promotion
Research contract-out
Participated in other agreements
1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
2.5
2.2
2.1
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.5
1.3
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New or significantly improved goods or services during the past three years (per country)
Q27a. Did this company introduce new or significantly improved goods or services during the past three years?
France
Denmark
United kingdom
Germany
Sweden
Portugal
Croatia
Czech republic
Greece
Italy
Total
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
54.2%
59.4%
59.9%
60.0%
62.0%
67.4%
69.0%
69.0%
69.8%
74.1%
63.6%
Yes No
Q27b. Please estimate: The share of new or significantly improved goods to total sales
Czech republicUnited kingdom
PortugalGreeceCroatia
DenmarkGermany
ItalyFrance
Swedentotal
0.0 5.0 10.015.020.0 25.030.035.040.045.050.034.3
36.036.437.637.738.739.2
41.643.044.1
39.3
Goods
Czech republicPortugal
United kingdomCroatia
ItalyFrance
DenmarkGreece
SwedenGermany
total
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.032.2
33.834.435.0
36.637.237.838.2
41.441.9
37.1
Services
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New or significantly improved goods or services during the past three years (per sector)
Q27a. Did this company introduce new or significantly improved goods or services during the past three years?
Other business services activities
Textile and clothing
Wood and furniture
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
Paper and printing
Manufacture of metals
Food, beverages and tobacco
Research and experimental development
Computer and related activities
ICT manufacturing
Telecommunications
Chemical industry (pharmaceuticals incl)
Total
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Yes No
Q27b. Please estimate: The share of new or significantly improved goods to total sales
Telecommunications
Food, beverages and tobacco
Manufacture of metals
Other business services activities
Chemical industry (pharmaceuticals incl)
Paper and printing
Computer and related activities
Wood and furniture
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
Textile and clothing
ICT manufacturing
Research and experimental development
total
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0
Goods
Chemical industry (pharmaceuticals incl)
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
Manufacture of metals
ICT manufacturing
Computer and related activities
Research and experimental development
total
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0
Services
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The new or significantly improved products are: (q28)
56.5%31.0%
12.5%
New to the firm New to the market New to the world
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Methods to protect intellectual property (30)
Patents
Copyrights
Secrecy
Trademarks Trademarks
Complexity of design
Lead-time advantages on competitiors
Confidentiality agreements
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
16.5%
27.5%
40.4%
41.0%
45.8%
53.8%
54.8%
YesNo
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Process innovation(31)
Methods of manufacturing
Logistics, supply chain
Supporting processes activities
Improved knowledge management systems
Changes in the managing structure
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
42.7%
35.0%
49.0%
49.7%
31.5%
57.3%
65.0%
51.0%
50.3%
68.5%
YesNo
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The impact of current economic crisis(q34)
Sales
Exports
Employment
Profits
Investments
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
25%
9%
16%
22%
22%
30%
61%
61%
34%
53%
Significant increase (>5%)No significant changes (+/- 5%)Slight Decrease (-5%to -10%)Significant Decrease (-10% to -20%)Very Significant Decrease (>-20%)Don't know
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Main findings
Knowledge sources and networking• The most important knowledge sources are
related to clients/customers and suppliers.• Networks are perceived as important
facilitators of contacting customers.• Formal types of agreements (e.g. strategic
alliances) are relatively limited.
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Main findingsInnovation• 64% of firms have introduced improved or
new products/services into the market during the last three years
• The majority of firms have also introduced some kind of process innovation
• They mainly use informal ways to protect intellectual property
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