Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Cooperates in Innovative Initiative for SMEs
Thursday, 28 January 2010 | University News
The InnAware project for small and medium-sized enterprises held its final harvest session after 9 months of collaboration between students, SMEs and innovation experts from both inside and outside CBS. All participants were highly positive about the outcomes, although only 2 out of six firms made it to the end of the innovation journey.
Before InnAware, there was unaware, says Thomas Snitker, founder of usability research consultancy Snitker & Co., one of the companies participating in the newest addition to CBS' catalogue of innovative business collaborations. The InnAware business camp started in September 2008 in cooperation between Mette Reebirk, by then International Development Director at CBS, IKI - Initiative for Creativity and Innovation, TM-Innovation/Thomas Mathiasen and Frederikke Kroon, founder of Marketing Consulting Services, the consultancy which has already been collaborating with CBS in the Instant Innovation Camp. In contrast to that initiative which brings together master level students and large companies, InnAware focuses on small and medium sized enterprises' (SMEs) innovation processes from idea development to implementation in the short timespan of only nine months - an initiative appreciated and supported financially by the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation (Forsknings- og Innovationsstyrelsen FI).
Focusing on SMEs
- It is easier for large companies to cooperate with researchers, about 30 % do it in Denmark, but how do SMEs get access to knowledge? Only 6% of the SMEs in Denmark cooperate with universities, explains special advisor Kristen Olesen from the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation one of the reasons for supporting the project. Dr. Ysabel Nauwelaerts, associate professor at Lessius University in Belgium and key note speaker at the harvest session elaborated in her speech that the crucial factors for SMEs - access to public and/or financial support, practical education and training as well as stimulating networks - are all present at the InnAware project and make it a perfect example for networking and knowledge sharing.
- A lot of students will work in SMEs later on, so it's very important to bring those two together and make them profit from each other's experiences, adds Mette Reebirk.
Challenges along the way
However, this can be a difficult task, as shown by the fact that only 2 of the initially six firms participating in the project were able to complete it.
Even though 30 % ( 2 out of 6) sounds like a rather low score we know from other studies that only 10% of new innovations are at the market after two years. The reasons for dropping out of project InnAware ranged from lack of time and resources at companies with less than 2 employers, financial problems and restructuration processes, recognition of non-competitiveness of the concept and one of the companies had their innovation department closed during the project, explains Frederikke Kroon.
Also the two remaining companies faced challenges along the way: MBA students from Lessius University in Belgium examined InnAware in a research project and allthough the overall feedback on the outcomes was highly positive, they listed several steps in the 9 month process that need improvement. The implementation phase proved to be a crucial point where companies would have benefited by having more efficient facilitating and closer consultancy.
Tight timeframes like the Business Camp Method which is used in Innaware demand a lot of all participants - stepping up, taking responsibility and prove leadership ability - but especially skills like openmindedness and bravery to try out new ways, explains Mette Reebirk.
The two companies that bravely fought their way through the innovation process - Snitker & Co. from Copenhagen and We are sailing from Malmö - have proven to be in possession of these skills and now take on to new innovation journeys - in their luggage not only the learning outcomes of the sessions, but also a newly launched game (We are sailing) and a new business branch (Snitker & Co.). For CBS, the innovation journey continues with both Instant Innovation Camp and InnAware being closely looked at from abroad - will Project InnAware happen again and expand just like Instant Innovation Camp tries? Mette Reebirk smiles - you will definitely see us around in the future...
Learn more about Project InnAware and watch the camp film at http://www.innaware.dk/
By Alexandra Bode
Copyright Alexandra Bode, CBS Observer
