II European enquiry to innovation activities P. Ávila, P Conceição Master in Engineering Policy and Management of Technology (2001) Bernardo Rodrigues, Carlos Mora, Nuno Constantino

Agenda Methodology Main Conclusions Question

Methodology Objectives –characterisation of Portuguese companies relatively to innovation –European overview and comparison Mail questionnaire Base sample: 1837 Year: 1998

Conclusions - Panorama Industrial and services Portuguese panorama conditions innovation -Schumpeter Theory –in industry: propensity to innovate rises with company size –In services: Relation not found

Conclusions - Panorama Processes vs. Products –industry innovates more in Processes –industry expenditure is in investment

Conclusions - Panorama Countries with large innovative companies also find above average innovation on SME’s –Market externalities and networking

Conclusions - Resources Expenditure in R&D is not directly related with innovation capacity because, –innovation is a non-linear, interactive, multi- source process In Portugal current situation, a critical mass is necessary, achieved mainly by expenditure in R&D –To compensate Portuguese lag (path dependence)

Conclusions - Objectives Improve quality criteria gap between Portuguese and European is not significant –generic criteria (tend to be an intention) Broaden product range / product replacement criteria reveals Portuguese lack of knowledge about technology platforms advantages

Conclusions - Sources of Info Networking and inner knowledge are the main information sources for innovation Opposed to the negligible role of Universities and intellectual property assets

Conclusions - Barriers Main barrier to innovation is appointed as project delays –this relates to the very nature if innovation: to create something never done before, and so about which there is no historical data ( Lack of specialised personnel is 2nd –stresses the role of Universities and State Labs Regulations and Standards

Main question Barrier to innovation –Regulations and Standards are appointed as one of the most important barriers. This represents the highly regulated Portuguese market or the almost complete absence of Portuguese firms in European and World Standardisation Forums?