Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CIP-Hellas 2014 (CIP-HELLAS SERVICES TO ENHANCE THE INNOVATION MANAGEMENT CAPACITY OF GREEK SMEs)

Teaser

The project aims to support the innovation management capacity of Greek SMEs as a mean for advancing competitiveness and ensuring growth. Four partners of the Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas provided mentoring and coaching services on all stages of the innovation management...

Summary

The project aims to support the innovation management capacity of Greek SMEs as a mean for advancing competitiveness and ensuring growth. Four partners of the Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas provided mentoring and coaching services on all stages of the innovation management system, including the innovation process from idea generation to innovation results, leadership, management skills and other enabling factors, such as collaboration with R&D partners, clients and suppliers.

The service is of particular significance for Greek SMEs that have been seriously affected by the lasting financial recession and need support activities directly aiming at boosting their competitiveness and growth. The proposal addresses the specific objectives of the work programme, namely:
a) Identification of bottlenecks in the innovation management process of SMEs benefitting from grants by Horizon 2020’s SME instrument and address these bottlenecks with the help of capable coaches,
b) Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation processes in SMEs with significant innovation activities that could potentially become beneficiaries of European support to research and innovation.

Work performed

All partners prepared the planning, development and provision of the new services in a uniform and standardized way.

A pool of potential SME candidates was developed based on the knowledge and experience of the nominated EEN experts on the Greek market. Α structured process was followed so as to carefully identify and select the companies that have the potential to benefit most and provide real impact in terms of jobs, growth and European economic impact. The selection was based on predefined criteria, agreed by all partners at the proposal stage, incorporating both geographical and sectorial criteria. National priorities for research and innovation in Greece and priorities of the Smart Specialization Strategy of each region were taken into consideration. Common high level quality standards and predefined procedures were developed for all partners to maximize the efficiency of the service.

The existing infrastructures and networks of the partner organisations were used to identify innovative SMEs with the highest potential. The Network contacted the selected group of innovative companies as early as June 2014, with an estimated deadline for expression of interest at the end of August 2014. The expressions of interest were ranked by the nominated EEN experts and a shortlist of SMEs with possible recipients of the service were drafted. The cases of clients were distributed among the partners/ nominated experts based on geographical location and thematic expertise.

The total number of companies that were contacted depended on the results of the SMEs Instrument call for proposals and the number of workdays spent for the service packages provided. However, since no SME Instrument beneficiaries were identified, all companies were offered the service for enhancement of their innovation management capacity and they were notified by October 2014, to allow sufficient time for evaluation and service provision. The final target audience included SMEs with strong innovation capacities in general, as well as a desire (and a potential) to grow, but lack the strategic innovation management capacities to achieve this goal.

Technical standard CEN TS 16555-1 and IMP3rove tool for assessment were used by nominated experts of the Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas consortium in order to deliver eventually 39 service packages by the end of December 2014.

During the period of the project, no Greek beneficiaries of the SME Instrument were identified; thus Key Account Management (KAM) services were not applicable.

Final results

• Identify SMEs with significant innovation activities and a high potential for internationalisation
• Connect all actors involved in the innovation chain, increase the efficiency of investments in research, development and innovation and contribute to smart growth in Europe
• Enhance the innovation management process of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as a mean to increase their competitiveness
• Enhance the innovation management capacity that is not available to SMEs in many Greek regions as result of lack of offer, unaffordable market prices or poor quality
• Foster the innovation potential of SMEs that, compared to large companies, have limited capacity for risky and costly R&D activities and consulting services
• Encourage SMEs to explore their research and technological potential and provide incentives for profit from commercialisation of innovative technologies, products and services
• Provide SMEs with efficient tools for filtering ideas that have commercial potential or abandoning others that don’t line up to the original expectations
• Collaborate with SMEs benefitting from the SME Instrument to identify bottlenecks to the creation of economic and address these bottlenecks with the help of capable coaches
• Monitor the mentoring and coaching services provided by Horizon 2020 to maximize the benefit for SMEs
• Support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to fully utilize the opportunities offered by the Horizon 2020 and, more specifically, the programme “SME Instrument”
• Provide SMEs with efficient tools for filtering ideas that have commercial potential
• Stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit of the country.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.enterprise-hellas.gr.