Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KAM2CentralPoland-3 (Enhancing innovation management capacity of the SMEs in Central Poland-3)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2019-01-01 do 2019-12-31
There are two main objectives the Consortium aimed to achieve by delivering KAM And EIMC services under the project KAM2CentralPoland-3.
The first objective was to ensure that the beneficiaries of the following schemes: EIC SME Instrument (SMEI) now called EIC Accelerator, Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) and Future and Emerging Technologies Open (FET-Open) – now called Pathfinder received the most appropriate services to enhance the probability of successful exploitation of the innovation project supported by the schemes and and to create conditions for sustainable growth of the beneficiaries thanks to the help of coaches able to identify bottlenecks and indicate solutions. This objective was implemented by the tailor made service of The Key Account Manager (KAM). The second objective was to build its own brand of a reliable organization that provided valuable and comprehensive services, which helped to increase the innovation management capacity to the business community, and in particular to innovative SMEs. This objective were implemented by a specially designed activity called Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs (EIMC), addressed to SMEs with a real potential for international growth via product, process, service or business model innovation but lack the knowledge, skills or ability to manage innovation activities. A lack of capacity for innovation management is recognized as an important barrier which adversely influences the development of SMEs. Most of Polish companies are small, privately owned entities. A majority have advanced their business by introducing new technologies and equipment, but still not a large number of them recognize the need of creating their own new products or solutions. These companies usually tap on the low cost of human resources which allows them to compete on local or international markets. Even when welcomed by companies, the innovation process is hard to be initiated. SMEs have limited financial and human resources, and most of them do not know how to identify their strengths and weaknesses. They often struggle with inadequate access to quality consulting and coaching services. These shortcomings were addressed by the EEN-CP consortium providing EIMC services in accordance with the widely recognized Innovation Health Check and IMP3ove methodologies. A relatively small number of innovation-developing companies in Poland have benefited from Horizon 2020 programs such as SME Instrument, FTI and FET-Open. According to the NCP statistics in the years 2014-2020 (as of 02/02/2020), 3,699 SMEs applied for grants in Horizon 2020 but only 348 SMEs were successful (out of which 108 were SMEI beneficiaries). During the last 4 years, the majority of those companies is the group that have been offered access to more sophisticated forms of assistance, such as coaching provided by highly specialized international experts. That allowed them to accelerate the process of innovation and quickly deliver their solutions to the international market. Such assistance also helped them to apply for further funding available from public and private sources. Nowadays, coaching and mentoring are quite popular and are offered as added value in different schemes, therefore the companies are willing to benefit from this kind of services. Although many of them lack experience necessary to identify the right coaches and to take best advantage from their services. They usually have limited access to databases containing profiles of coaches, and particularly coaches with proven track record in supporting SMEs on the international stage. Key Account Management (KAM) services provided by the Consortium were aimed to address these problems.
Both the KAM and EIMC services were compatible with the general offers of the Consortium partners, which allowed the latter to deliver services targeted at different stages of company development.
The first objective was to ensure that the beneficiaries of the following schemes: EIC SME Instrument (SMEI) now called EIC Accelerator, Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) and Future and Emerging Technologies Open (FET-Open) – now called Pathfinder received the most appropriate services to enhance the probability of successful exploitation of the innovation project supported by the schemes and and to create conditions for sustainable growth of the beneficiaries thanks to the help of coaches able to identify bottlenecks and indicate solutions. This objective was implemented by the tailor made service of The Key Account Manager (KAM). The second objective was to build its own brand of a reliable organization that provided valuable and comprehensive services, which helped to increase the innovation management capacity to the business community, and in particular to innovative SMEs. This objective were implemented by a specially designed activity called Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs (EIMC), addressed to SMEs with a real potential for international growth via product, process, service or business model innovation but lack the knowledge, skills or ability to manage innovation activities. A lack of capacity for innovation management is recognized as an important barrier which adversely influences the development of SMEs. Most of Polish companies are small, privately owned entities. A majority have advanced their business by introducing new technologies and equipment, but still not a large number of them recognize the need of creating their own new products or solutions. These companies usually tap on the low cost of human resources which allows them to compete on local or international markets. Even when welcomed by companies, the innovation process is hard to be initiated. SMEs have limited financial and human resources, and most of them do not know how to identify their strengths and weaknesses. They often struggle with inadequate access to quality consulting and coaching services. These shortcomings were addressed by the EEN-CP consortium providing EIMC services in accordance with the widely recognized Innovation Health Check and IMP3ove methodologies. A relatively small number of innovation-developing companies in Poland have benefited from Horizon 2020 programs such as SME Instrument, FTI and FET-Open. According to the NCP statistics in the years 2014-2020 (as of 02/02/2020), 3,699 SMEs applied for grants in Horizon 2020 but only 348 SMEs were successful (out of which 108 were SMEI beneficiaries). During the last 4 years, the majority of those companies is the group that have been offered access to more sophisticated forms of assistance, such as coaching provided by highly specialized international experts. That allowed them to accelerate the process of innovation and quickly deliver their solutions to the international market. Such assistance also helped them to apply for further funding available from public and private sources. Nowadays, coaching and mentoring are quite popular and are offered as added value in different schemes, therefore the companies are willing to benefit from this kind of services. Although many of them lack experience necessary to identify the right coaches and to take best advantage from their services. They usually have limited access to databases containing profiles of coaches, and particularly coaches with proven track record in supporting SMEs on the international stage. Key Account Management (KAM) services provided by the Consortium were aimed to address these problems.
Both the KAM and EIMC services were compatible with the general offers of the Consortium partners, which allowed the latter to deliver services targeted at different stages of company development.
During the reporting period the consortium rendered a total of 75 (134%) services (both KAM and EIMC) out of which 66 were completed and closed and 9 services is still ongoing. The target set out in the proposal was 56 services (14 KAM and 42 EIMC). As it was initially described in the proposal, the nature of both types of services is long-term, and several actors are involved in the service implementation. The proposal also stated, that in cases when there were not enough SMEs eligible to receive KAM services during the reporting period, the partners could provide EIMC services instead. Thanks to the close cooperation with NCPs, Poland’s success rate in SMEI increased, resulting in more KAM services being performed by project partners, although the overall success rate is still low. The project provided companies with complex services to support innovation management by mentoring and coaching schemes. The idea behind KAM services was to help identify the best coach that would meet the specific needs of the company under the SME Instrument H2020. KAM main task was to introduce the concept of the coaching service and highlight its benefits to SMEs in order to convince them to use the service. Other tasks related to KAM service included conducting needs analyses, and selecting coaches who matched the needs of the SMEs. KAM also facilitated coach-SME relationships, and supported the establishment of coaching contracts, as well as the coaching processes as such. EIMC service was designed for companies that have the potential to grow and want to develop innovative products or services but lack the knowledge, skills or ability to manage innovation activities. The idea behind EIMC service was to assess the current status of the innovation management system in the company with the help of dedicated tools (IMP3rove or Innovation Health Check tools, both compliant with ISO 56002 - CEN/TS 16555-1 standard). On the basis of the report generated by the tools an innovation expert prepared a recommendation, and developed an action plan for the company. Then the company implemented the plan, while the EIMC expert monitored the implementation process.
By adopting the client journey concept the Network will acted as a true one-stop-shop rendering a variety of services to the SMEs in the region. Good communication between partners was essential to ensure the highest service quality to Network clients, smart signposting and mutual feedback. All the companies that received the services during the reporting period were satisfied. The services helped them implement their innovation projects or actions. The coaching services helped to navigate the SME successfully through H2020 projects. The EIMC services, and particularly the assessment of innovation management in companies, built up an innovation culture and the awareness of innovation potential in companies, as well as assembled knowledge on the implementation of innovations. The service developed sustainable understanding of the holistic approach to innovation management. It provided the participating companies with the knowledge of what should be changed or improved in order to be more innovative and competitive on the European market. The implementation plans prepared by innovation experts presented strengths and weaknesses of the companies as well as actions required to close the identified gaps. Companies in the regions covered by the consortium understood that to be more competitive they need to develop and implement innovation strategies.