Supporting European SMEs

Transcription

1 Supporting European SMEs The Enterprise Europe Network in

2 Table of contents Preface... 3 In summary: significant results and conclusions... 4 In detail: Results of the Network in different areas... 6 Services to SMEs... 6 GENERAL INFORMATION ON EU AFFAIRS... 6 SPECIALISED ADVICE... 6 PARTNERSHIP SERVICES... 6 BROKERAGE SERVICES... 7 COMPANY MISSIONS... 8 Making SMEs more innovative... 8 LOCAL EVENTS... 8 FIRST COMPANY VISITS... 8 CONSULTING SMES... 8 Visibility and Promotion... 9 ONLINE PROMOTION... 9 PRESS AND MEDIA... 9 SUCCESS STORIES PRINTED MATERIAL Inside the Network: Internal communication, cooperation and training TRAINING DISTRIBUTION OF EFFORT Page 2

3 Preface The results and achievements of the Enterprise Europe Network are regularly assessed against a set of 50 selected indicators measuring the level of activity, the coverage of the Network's principal priorities, target groups, expected outputs and the visibility of Network partners. This analysis covers the results of the first 18-month period of the Network's activities and is based on the quantitative reports provided by Enterprise Europe Network partners in All data in this report refers to the period from the start of the Network in 2008 until June As it is the first analysis of the Network's activities, comparable figures or assessments relating to previous periods are not available. The conclusions drawn in this report are therefore primarily based on an assessment of the status quo against the (expected) requirements for a successful continuation and consolidation of the Network's activities. The source data used for this report covers 98% of all Network partners. It can therefore be considered as representative of the Enterprise Europe Network, although a limited degree of variation caused by different understandings of individual indicators and by inevitable marginal inaccuracies implied in the self-assessment process carried out by each Network partner cannot be excluded. Page 3

4 In summary: significant results and conclusions The analysis of the figures reported by the Network partners for the first 18-month period allows a number of conclusions to be drawn about the state of the Network as of June Where appropriate, the experiences of Commission staff dealing (directly and indirectly) with Network partners on a regular basis is taken into consideration as additional information. The Enterprise Europe Network is on track to meet its long-term targets with regard to the provision of SME support, cross-border business cooperation services and the promotion of innovation, technology transfer and commercialisation of research results. Initial bottlenecks such as the transition phase needed to establish an adequate infrastructure to fully support the delivery of the Network's complete range of services have been overcome. Furthermore, cooperation patterns within the Network have improved and diversified, thus increasingly blurring the initial division into different modules operated more or less independently. This "network effect" is expected to have a positive impact on quality. The nature of the Host Organisations as well as targeted activities of almost all Network partners create a unique combination of proximity to local SMEs, a continuous and increasing integration in regional business and innovation support infrastructures and access to a wealth of information, business opportunities and technology offers/requests in 45 countries (including all EU and EEA countries as well as neighbouring countries and major relevant markets). The total number of services provided to SMEs in the reporting period (as reported by In touch with SMEs: information, innovation and business development services in high demand Personal, tailor-made business support services and innovation management help SMEs Consultation and feedback tools give SMEs a voice in EU decision making the Network partners) is in excess of 2 million. This includes information services such as newsletters, (automated) electronic alerts and answering simple EU information requests, but also personal assistance and in-depth technology or innovation assessments, brokerage services and specialised assistance. However, the latter are of course much more targeted and time consuming and address a more limited audience. Nevertheless, the Network has reached a significant proportion of the EU's total SME population of over 20 million enterprises. This suggest that the Network has a very strong long-term potential to link SMEs up between each other, to contribute to a better exploitation of the single market by a significant number of small and medium sized European enterprises and to act as a "bridge" between the European Commission and SMEs in the regions. The reported figures show that the Network is most active in the areas of EU advice & information, specialised advisory services (especially in the areas of (access to) finance, but also IPR and business / technology reviews), brokerage services and business partnerships. The Network regularly acts as an intermediary between the Commission and local SMEs by providing communication channels in both directions. Mechanisms designed to consult SMEs in the preparation of forthcoming legislation or programmes and tools to collect SME feedback on existing rules at EU level are particularly important in this context. In total, over 4000 contributions from SMEs have been collected, many of which were contributions to consultations on proposed Page 4

5 legislation (for example within the framework of an impact assessment (SME test). Given the size of the segment of SMEs served by the Network during the first reporting period (see above), a stronger sectoral orientation of the respective tools and a wider involvement of Network partners in this activity - especially in cooperation with the Network's sector groups - are expected to further increase the intensity and quality of the interaction between the Commission and the SME sector. The success rate for turning research profiles into agreements to submit joint proposals under FP7 was almost 45%. Approximately 18% of technology profiles have led to the conclusion of a formal technology transfer agreement brought about by the Network. The recording of business partnership agreements is a new activity for the Network, and was hampered by a number of factors including the time needed to conclude an agreement and technical obstacles. A direct comparison with technology profiles is therefore not (yet) appropriate. However, it remains a priority to align the patterns of concluding and recording business partnership agreements across all service types of the Network. In several cases, there is a concentration of Network results, both in geographical terms and in terms of the type of service (for example generation of partnership agreements). Regional visibility and promotion activities with local media also vary considerably. On the one hand, this shows the very high level of quality delivered by some Network partners. On the other hand, it also exposes areas where results are at significant variance with Network. Although it is not realistic to expect identical performance indicators throughout the Network, major discrepancies can be reduced in order to steer the Network's service delivery to a more uniformly high level. o Training activities should continue to take place at several levels. Newcomer training remains relevant due to the relatively high intake of new staff members, although a more rationalised approach could be explored. The successful decentralised trainings and the 'train the trainers' approach have emerged as particularly useful tools to maintain a high quality in the Network. o Mentoring activities carried out by Network partners themselves may be useful o to spread good practices and exchange ideas. The strengths and weaknesses of individual Network partners can be identified and brought to the attention of Network partners by the EACI at the occasion of the monitoring and assistance visits. A thorough analysis informing targeted recommendations will help to address issues that require special attention and identify training needs. o Existing successful methodologies, tools and solutions (including Commission-funded pilot actions) should be analysed and put at the disposal of the entire Network in order to help broaden the range of services, increase standards and make better use of Network synergies. o Uneven distribution of activities and outputs across the Network Strong variations in success rates of different partnership profiles New ad hoc direct support measures for partners with a lower performance should be introduced. Training, mentoring, ad hoc direct support measures and use of best practices Development of Sector Groups to support trans-national activities in all modules Alignment of partnership agreement processes across all modules Increase regional visibility: use of success stories, exploitation of synergies Page 5

6 In detail: Results of the Network in different areas Services to SMEs GENERAL INFORMATION ON EU AFFAIRS Over the 18 months of the reporting period, Enterprise Europe Network partners have responded to more than queries on EU topics equivalent to one query per Network partner per working day. It can therefore be concluded that local SMEs consider the Enterprise Europe Network as a natural source of information about EU matters. Consequently, although general EU information is not the main mandate or activity of the Network, it nevertheless is an important aspect of its daily work with SMEs. The role as a source of information about the EU for local SMEs is also emphasised by the Network's involvement in over 1700 Commission information campaigns or events ranging from occasional activities organised under the umbrella of the SME week to more structured cooperation in long-term communication strategies on specific topics. SPECIALISED ADVICE One of the Network's main assets is its ability to provide individual, tailor-made support and advisory services to its clients. In total, some specialised assistance services were delivered by the Network partners in the past 18 months. The majority of these almost or 40% focused on helping SMEs participate in EU programmes. A further (23%) were concrete financing services. These figures reflect both the Network's strong role in closing the gap between European programmes and their beneficiaries on the ground and the prevalence of the issue of access to finance for SMEs. The high number of financial reviews and services also reflects rising demand from SMEs for this type of services at a time when credit and loans are less readily available and shows a high degree of responsiveness of the Network to the demands of their customers as defined by the economic circumstances. The remaining 40% of specialised services were in more or less equal proportions technology assessments (including innovation audits), business assessments and services related to intellectual property rights questions. Although the services delivered under these headings often represent a longer-term engagement with the client and may be timeintensive, further improvement is possible, especially in view of the relatively low overall number of this type of specialised services. PARTNERSHIP SERVICES Business cooperation and technology transfer services are at the heart of the Network's services. The total number of business cooperation proposals, technology offers, technology requests and research partnership proposals in the Network's database is in excess of The high promotion intensity for these proposals assisted by the Network's coverage of 45 countries and the Network's brokerage and matchmaking services have generated over expressions of interest and led to a total of 1525 concrete partnership agreements. This translates into an average success rate (percentage of profiles that led to a partnership agreement) of just over 13% across all three types of profiles. However, this figure is skewed by strong divergences in the success rates for each individual type of profile and by the different nature of the respective partnership agreements. The highest success rate almost 45% - is reported in the research area, where a partnership agreement is defined as an agreement to submit a joint proposal in FP7. Page 6

7 For technology profiles, the success rate is one in five. In contrast to research partnership agreements, technology transfer agreements are much more concrete, more difficult to generate and usually concern cooperation in a concrete project between the partners (for example to bring a new technology to the market, rather than to submit a research proposal). Business cooperation agreements are of a similar nature and might therefore be expected to be generated in approximately the same numbers as technology partnership agreements. However, with 257 recorded partnership agreements, the data does not suggest this. It is understood that the long time needed to conclude a formal agreement (over a year, thus making it difficult to complete the full cycle within the reporting period) and technical constraints 1 are two key reasons for the low figure. However, in contrast to technology agreements, the recording of business partnership agreements is a new activity for the Network. There is no history of systematically accompanying client SMEs until the conclusion of a formal partnership agreement under the predecessor networks. It is therefore a priority to align the patterns of concluding and recording business partnership agreements with those in the areas of research and technology. The Working Group on partnership processes will have a central role in this context. Similarly, more training and assistance in the generation of business cooperation projects may be necessary. It also appears that existing agreements could be better documented and recorded. The strong divergence between the numbers of partnership agreements recorded per type, but also per country, does not seem to correlate coherently with national macro-economic environments or innovation capacities. This suggests that realistic global minimum targets may be conducive to a higher and more evenly spread number of partnership agreements. Last but not least, a relative prevalence of research partnership agreements was recorded. The Network is therefore developing a client base in the research sector, which may, in turn, facilitate the conclusion of other types of partnership agreements in the future. On the other hand, it raises a number of challenges such as the effective exploitation of synergies with the National Contact Points for the 7 th Framework Programme (FP7 NCPs). BROKERAGE SERVICES Brokerage services are at the core of the Network's activities. Although concentrated in module B, they also play an important role in module A. Over client SMEs called on the Network for individual brokerage services considerably more than the number of clients looking for financing services or for assistance to access EU programmes, and approximately half the total number of SMEs receiving specialised advisory services. Consequently, the time spent on these services represents a sizeable proportion 22% - of the overall working time spent on Network activities. As a result, almost 7000 new direct contacts have been established between a Network client and a potential partner. In addition, some SMEs participated in dedicated brokerage events, attending a total of client-to-client meetings 2. As in the case of company missions, a careful preselection of participants of each meeting by the organising Network partners is carried out to ensure that client-to-client meetings yield a strong potential for creating partnerships between matching SMEs. 1 The IT infrastructure for business cooperation profiles was not fully operational in the entire reporting period. This may have contributed to a lower overall number of profiles and, consequently, partnership agreements. However, it neither explains the considerable differences in the number of partnership agreements between consortia, nor the full extent of the low success rate of existing business cooperation profiles. 2 This indicator counts the number of meetings each client SME of an individual Network partner had with potential partners. It does not allow any conclusions about the success rate of these meetings. Page 7

8 COMPANY MISSIONS Network partners regularly organise company missions, where local SMEs travel to a selected destination in order to meet and reach deals with companies in the partner region. Typically, company missions consist of a small number of SMEs with a particular sectoral or geographical interest. The Network partner's role is to ensure that its clients meet suitable potential business partners at their destination. Cooperation with a local Enterprise Europe Network partner is usually a strong asset in the identification of potential matches. In total, 9248 SMEs participated in a company mission organised by the Network, where nearly client-to-client meetings were arranged. A careful pre-selection of participants by Network partners and a targeted approach by participating companies is essential to deliver a higher success rate (the data available does not allow a calculation of the success rate of such client-to-client meetings). Reaching out to SMEs Network partners have estimated their client base to extend to over 2 million small and medium sized enterprises. This figure takes account of all recipients of their general information services and of clients receiving concrete advice. Given that the estimated SME population in the EU is over 20 million, the Network has the potential to reach a significant proportion of enterprises on a continuous basis. LOCAL EVENTS Local events can be considered as a key way for Network partners to deliver their services especially brokerage and information services in an efficient way to a wider SME audience, while at the same time attracting potential new clients. In the reporting period, almost local events were organised, with a total of over participating SMEs. This makes local events the single most powerful method to reach out to and address SMEs. Furthermore, the promotional value of a successful event should not be underestimated. FIRST COMPANY VISITS Events can, however, only deliver services in a relatively standardised way. In order to address the specific needs of an SME individually, Network partners have carried out nearly first company visits (which are usually followed by a more in-depth, longer term engagement). It thus follows that Network partners generally invest strongly in attracting new clients and building new long-term relationships with their clients. This is a very positive sign of a sustainable, long-term strategy to maintain a sufficiently large and adequate client base. Possible explanations for the exceptionally high numbers of first company visits recorded in some countries could include a particular need to mobilise new clients (especially in the case of newer consortia) or a high demand from SMEs. CONSULTING SMES The feedback and consultation mechanisms provided by the Enterprise Europe Network are unique in two ways. First of all, the Network is the only channel of DG ENTR that allows a two-way communication system between individual SMEs and the Commission by providing a forum where SMEs can make their opinion about existing EU legislation known. Secondly, the Network operates mechanisms (SME Panels) for targeted and often highly specialised consultations of SMEs that can be used to inform Commission services in the process of drafting legislative proposals, SME-relevant programmes, etc. The SME Panels can be a flexible tool to carry out the SME Test within the framework of the impact assessment procedure. Page 8

9 During the reporting period, a combined total of 4000 opinions from SMEs were collected about existing and forthcoming EU legislation. Approximately 3000 of these were collected in SME Panels during consultations on legislative proposals. As the Network is in a position to identify and reach out directly to the relevant target group, these consultations have involved up to 15% of the total SME population in the relevant sector especially in highly specialised areas. The opinions collected in this process can therefore be considered as representing a significant proportion of affected SMEs and give extra weight to the contribution of small and medium sized enterprises to the European legislative process. In future, a stronger sectoral orientation of the respective tools is planned in order to provide Commission services with an even more targeted approach. In combination with a wider involvement of Network partners and, in particular, the Network's sector groups, this would further increase the intensity and quality of the interaction between the Commission and the European SMEs. Visibility and Promotion The importance of promoting the Network is self-evident, both in terms of attracting new clients and with regard to the long-term objective of establishing and strengthening the brand name of the Enterprise Europe Network as a quality mark. Network partners generally appear to be very active in this area, although a more uniform approach to the online presence of Network consortia would be beneficial. ONLINE PROMOTION The internet and other electronic means are the most frequently used methods of promoting the Network. While the total figure of nearly 85 million hits on Network partners' websites suggests that the Enterprise Europe Network is well presented online, the way individual consortia or partners are advertised on the web differs considerably. Some consortia have developed their own independent websites using the Network's visual identity, whereas others are limited to a few pages on the web site of their host organisation. In the latter case, accessibility to information about the Network's services is reduced significantly. This may have negative implications on efforts to recruit new clients. Consortia without an adequate online presence ought to be encouraged to explore possibilities to rectify the situation. Network partners also make extensive use of (electronic) newsletters. These can range from traditional news bulletins to targeted information for individual clients such as selected profiles matched automatically with the requirements of the client. In total, Network partners sent over 2 million bulletins to SMEs throughout Europe, thus addressing a significant share of the EU's SME population. PRESS AND MEDIA The strong multiplier effect makes press and media coverage one of the most efficient ways to communicate about the Network. During the reporting period, the Network was covered in 1467 radio and television broadcasts or, expressed in different terms, more than 80 broadcasts per month dealt with the Network in one way or another. In addition, Network activities were covered in over press articles and press releases. Consequently, the Network disposes of good channels to advertise its services and successes via the press and the media. At the same time, it is already considered as a reference for SME-related issues by a significant group of multipliers. This positive tendency could be used to create a momentum for Host Organisations to mobilise their often very close links with the regional and national press to ensure an even better and more regular coverage of the Network. Isolated evidence suggests that while EUwide broadcasters such as Euronews ran features about the Network at several occasions, Page 9

10 its presence in local and regional media which is arguably even more important due to the latter's popularity with local business people can still be improved. This requires intensive efforts of the Network partners and a systematic exploitation of synergies with local and regional multipliers (including press, media, but also - and increasingly - stakeholders and cooperation partners). A selection of tools is at the disposal of Network partners to help them in their contacts with the media. SUCCESS STORIES Success stories are considered as a useful "anchor" to promote the Network as they usually show a concrete achievement, expressed in simple terms and demonstrating how the Network can make a direct and often crucial contribution to the success of local businesses. They also provide good material for "in-house" promotion of the Network within Host Organisations. However, the high number of press releases, articles and broadcasts is not matched by the number of success stories. There is significant scope to improve the use of success stories, both by Network partners and by the Commission and EACI. Evidently, this presumes an efficient mechanism for collecting success stories and for distributing them within the Network PRINTED MATERIAL Demand for printed information material appears to remain high. With nearly printed copies of leaflets and other information material, Network partners have invested considerable effort in the provision of printed documentation. Practice has shown that the availability of templates, the graphic charter and draft texts that can be adapted to the local or regional situation has had a positive impact on both the quality and the uniform appearance of printed documents emanating from the Network. Inside the Network: Communication, cooperation and training The strengths of the Enterprise Europe Network rest on its broad geographical coverage and a comprehensive delivery of all Network services at regional level in other words, on providing clients with easy access to all services of the Network anywhere in the European Union (and beyond). The nature of the Network's mandate requires efficient interaction with other Network partners both within the own consortium and at a wider scale. At consortium level, the principle of signposting is particularly important as it implies that potential clients are directed and, where necessary, accompanied to the Network partner that is most suited to answer a specific client request. In the reporting period, this is reported to have happened in 6397 cases well below 10% of the total number of specialised advisory services delivered by the Network. The available data does not conclusively point to a single interpretation of this comparatively small number of signposted clients. In view of the high number of queries received and services delivered by the Network, it could be understood as an indication that clients often address their requests directly to the appropriate Network partner, thus not creating a need for signposting. However, it may also raise the question whether signposting procedures are applied appropriately. This would, in turn, point to a need to reinforce efforts to strengthen the collaborative spirit within the Network. Similarly, the development of common approaches, methodologies and sectoral solutions in each area of activity requires a strong involvement from the Network partners. And, last but not least, every employee working for the Network has in theory - the knowledge, experience and ideas of all the colleagues throughout Network at their disposal. Whether or not this potential is exploited efficiently depends on the culture of cooperation and networking among the 1246 full-time equivalent staff members contracted to the Network. Although difficult to measure, there are several indications that the development of the "Network effect" is following a positive trend. At the Annual Conference 2009, virtually every Page 10

11 partner was represented by at least one of the 800 participants. Cooperation within Sector Groups (726 individual contributions/participations) is also lively and involves a large proportion of individual partners. Furthermore, there is a good rate of participation in the Network's governance structures (531 contributions to Working group meetings, mentoring activities and Steering and Advisory Group meetings). It is expected that these activities contribute to the development of increasingly cooperative patterns in the Network. Finally, the Network's integration in the local and regional business and innovation support architecture i.e. cooperation with local actors that are not part of the Network is also essential to ensure a high level of service quality for all client SMEs. This has only become a priority after the consolidation of the Network's own internal structures. However, there have already been approximately 8500 cases of clients being signposted to the Network by relevant local stakeholders. Network partners also report almost 1500 cooperation agreements with third parties outside the Network. Both figures point to a sound level of regional visibility and a good awareness of the Network among local stakeholders. Nonetheless, there remains room for further development and synergies, in particular with regard to structured cooperation with third organisations such as regional innovation support providers. Furthermore, current cooperation patterns with and the provision of services to clusters and public enterprises are also limited. This is particularly relevant in view of the Network's mandate to bridge the gap between SMEs and EU funding mechanisms available at regional level (for example via the Structural Funds). TRAINING Staff training is an important factor ensuring that the Network remains up to date and able to deliver high quality services to SMEs. Given the high number of new staff members working with the Network (881 full time or part time), newcomer training is particularly important. E- learning modules and decentralised approaches may help to meet the high demand. In total, Network staff members received almost hours of training in the reporting period. This translates into an average of approximately 30 hours of training per (full-time equivalent) Network employee (approximately three days of training per Network employee per year - more than half of the standard of a Commission official). In addition, many senior staff members have offered mentoring services. Interest in training events including decentralised trainings organised by Network partners in cooperation with the EACI has thus been strong throughout the last 18 months, thus indicating a high level of investment in the quality of Network services. DISTRIBUTION OF EFFORT There are 1246 (contracted) full-time equivalent staff members working for the Network. Half of their working time is accounted for by information, feedback and advisory services tasks that are relevant to all three service modules of the Network. The rather more specialised delivery of individual brokerage services still accounts for 22% of working time, whereas event organisation a very efficient way to reach many SMEs at the same time - and networking activities take up 15% of the time of Network employees. 3 A sizeable proportion of time spent on Network activities (13%) is taken up by project management - which leaves room for further improvement. 3 The types of activity recorded in this indicator are not congruent with the three service modules of the Network. It is therefore not possible to draw conclusions about the relative importance or intensity of each individual module. Page 11