Technology Infrastructures as Enablers of Absorptive Capacity: Evidence from of SMEs in the EU and Poland

Figures & Tables

Scopus (search within article tittle, abstract, keywords)		Web of Science (search within tittle, abstract, author keywords)
words: “technology infrastructure” or “technological infrastructure” or “research infrastructure”	13232	words: “technology infrastructure” or “technological infrastructure” or “research infrastructure”	7372
limit to words: „facilities or facility or equipment”	1385	limit to words: „facilities or facility or equipment”	605
limit to subject area: „Business, Management and Accounting” and „Economics, Econometrics and Finance”	109	limit to WoS Categories: Management, Business, Economy, Operations Research Management Science	46

Status of enterprises	EU	Poland
SMEs (up to 250 employees)	149	4
Start-ups (younger than 5 years)	59	1
Enterprises with more than 3000 employees	54	0
Enterprises with 250–500 employees	27	0
Enterprises with 1000–3000 employees	23	0
Enterprises with 500–1000 employees	16	0
Total	328	5

	Motives	Barriers	Instruments
Acquisition	Identify and acquire externally generated knowledge	Lack of or scattered information about infrastructure available to firms	Mapping of technology infrastructures to promote information about them
Assimilation	Analyze, process, interpret, and understand the information obtained from external sources	Difficult to understand and replicate context and specific knowledge	Innovation vouchers to test ideas Mobility schemes
Transformation	Combine existing knowledge and the newly acquired/assimilated knowledge	Lack of knowledge and skills how to combine information	Workshops with firms Advisory services Trainings
Exploitation	Harvest and incorporate knowledge into firms’ operations	Lack of finanse Fear of losing control over own IPR	Collaborative research projects Innovative public procurements IPR services including patent protection

Compnay	A	B	C	D	E
Status	SME	Start-up/SME	SME	SME	SME
Stage of development (start-up)	Growth stage	Growth stage	Expansion/ready for exit	Growth stage	Growth stage
Organisation of RDI activities	Internal department and outsourcing	Internal department and in-house	Internal department and outsourcing	Internal department and in-house	Internal department and outsourcing
Current target markets	The whole EU market	The whole EU market	A regional EU market (few MS)	National market and the whole EU market	National market and the whole EU market
Primary Target market	A national market	The whole EU market	A regional EU market (few MS)	A national market	A national market
Primary industrial ecosystem	Metals and metal components	Electronics and health	Aerospace and defence, energy intensive industries	Electronics	Energy intensive industries
Development of new products or technologies in the next 2 years	Yes, to a large extent	Yes, to a large extent	Somewhat	Yes, to a large extent	Somewhat
To what extent does your enterprise use TI	Somewhat	To a large extent	Somewhat	Somewhat	Not at all - we are not aware of any current TI addressing our needs.
How often do you use TI?	1–3 times per year	1–3 times per year	1–3 times per year	1–3 times per year
How much of RDI is carried out with TI?	Less than 20%	Less than 20%	Less than 20%	Less than 20%
Some tech areas are lacking relevant TI	We're not aware they exist or what they offer	There are not enough TI	There are not enough TI	There are not enough TI	There are not enough TI