Perspectives on innovation within medium-sized firms in Wales

The Welsh economy is heading towards a post-Brexit future with historically lower levels of productivity continuing to leave the country lagging behind the UK average (Huggins and Williams, 2011; Welsh Government, 2017). An understanding of how new models of innovation are constructed and developed are then particularly important for policy makers and academia in Wales. As noted by Baughan (2015), innovation accounts for 25-50% of labour productivity growth

City-region or urban-rural framework: what matters more in understanding the residential location of the creative class?

This paper addresses the key question as to what matters more in understanding the residential location of the creative class in Slovenia: the city-region or the urban-rural framework? Our analysis shows that differences in residential concentrations of the creative class vary more within city-regions (on an urban-rural framework) than between city-regions. Moreover, the creative class is moving out of densely populated urban areas to more sparsely populated suburban / rural areas within all city-regions. There also are significant differences between more developed western Slovenia (denser settlement structures) and less developed eastern Slovenia (sparser settlement structures). We conclude that new models of living promote dispersion

Stakeholder Growth Platforms for the Development of Food Sector Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs): A case study experience from Wales, United Kingdom

Project HELIX 2016-2020 was developed and implemented in Wales, to improve technical/ safety/science knowledge; and sustainable innovation in food manufacturing small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The paper aims to place Project HELIX within the wider context of regional and food sector development and then examine the project's rationale and delivery methods in relation to this. It reflects on the effectiveness of the project (or otherwise) in constructing regional advantage from knowledge transfer and knowledge spillovers. Finally, the paper identifies areas of further research both in terms of the firm level and in relation to other food sector initiatives more generally

Sourcing knowledge for innovation:the international dimension

Drawing knowledge from external sources in the UK, or internationally, has become increasingly important to small and medium-sized firms (SMEs). SMEs cannot generate all they need to know to develop new products and processes within their own companies, they need to look elsewhere for new ideas and expertise. This practice is known as knowledge sourcing. This report provides a detailed review of patterns of knowledge sourcing, and the key factors influencing these patterns, particularly from a small business perspective. We present key findings from a survey of 393 UK companies and analyse the results. We also highlight case studies of UK SMEs that work closely with overseas partners and agents to widen their own knowledge

The Welsh automotive component industry and new product development

Over the past two decades Wales has been relatively successful in attracting inward investment, and in developing industrial clusters in automotive components and electronics. However the Welsh economy, in general, is still relatively weak in several areas thought to be important to long term regional competitiveness, such as education, entrepreneurship, and notably, research and development (R&D) (Brooksbank and Pickernell, 1998). This paper examines R&D and more specifically New Product Development (NPD) in the Welsh first tier automotive component industry (i.e. those component firms supplying directly to the vehicle assemblers). In this industry NPD is becoming increasingly important as a means of achieving competitive differentiation. Vehicle manufacturers are focusing on their core competencies, transferring significant responsibility for component design and development to their first tier supply base (Rhys, 1996). This transfer of responsibility has important implications for these firms and their local economies. For example Sleigh (1991: p6) notes "success will be dependent on the determination to pursue R&D on an increased scale. Not to do so could deprive a component manufacturer of its ability to grow or even survive"

Coworking in the digital economy: Context, motivations, and outcomes

The number of self-employed, freelancers, and remote workers has risen steadily; simultaneously a range of collaborative shared workspaces – coworking spaces – has emerged rapidly in which these individuals ‘work alone together’. However, existing research is skewed towards the community aspect of coworking, treated largely as an end in itself and investigated by qualitative approaches only. We argue that this represents only a partial account of coworking. Thus in addressing the basic research question of why people who no longer need to work together apparently choose to do so (for at least part of their working lives), we delineate inputs (social and environmental factors), outputs (community, interaction and knowledge sharing) and outcomes (innovation, growth) of coworking and investigate these quantitatively for the first time. Data was collected via a questionnaire survey of coworkers across two coworking spaces in South East Wales, UK. We find that coworkers report enhanced levels of innovation, despite this typically not being an explicit motivation. Finally we discuss potential limitations of the study, possible policy implications, and fruitful areas of further research such counterfactual surveys of those presently not using coworking spaces, multivariate and longitudinal methods to further explore the causal relationships between inputs, outputs and outcomes

An appropriate tool for entrepreneurial learning in SMEs? The case of the 20Twenty Leadership Programme

The 20Twenty Leadership Programme was developed by Cardiff Metropolitan University as an executive education programme to be delivered within South Wales to small businesses. It is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and administered by the Welsh European Funding Office and has the key aim of developing SME’s growth potential via a range of leadership and management skills, including a focus on ‘soft’ skills. The focus of this paper is to place the 20Twenty Leadership Programme within the wider context of entrepreneurship policy and SME training initiatives in particular, and then to examine the rationale and delivery methods of the Programme in relation to these. It also reflects on the Programme’s success (or otherwise) to date where possible. Finally, the paper seeks to suggest fruitful areas of further research both in terms of the 20Twenty Leadership Programme itself, but also with regard to evaluation in relation to other parallel programmes, and to SME training initiatives more generally

Lessons from Green Lanes: Evaluating Protected Bike Lanes in the U.S.

This report presents finding from research evaluating U.S. protected bicycle lanes (cycle tracks) in terms of their use, perception, benefits, and impacts. This research examines protected bicycle lanes in five cities: Austin, TX; Chicago, IL; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, D.C., using video, surveys of intercepted bicyclists and nearby residents, and count data. A total of 168 hours were analyzed in this report where 16,393 bicyclists and 19,724 turning and merging vehicles were observed. These data were analyzed to assess actual behavior of bicyclists and motor vehicle drivers to determine how well each user type understands the design of the facility and to identify potential conflicts between bicyclists, motor vehicles and pedestrians. City count data from before and after installation, along with counts from video observation, were used to analyze change in ridership. A resident survey (n=2,283 or 23% of those who received the survey in the mail) provided the perspective of people who live, drive, and walk near the new lanes, as well as residents who bike on the new lanes. A bicyclist intercept survey (n= 1,111; or 33% of those invited to participate) focused more on people's experiences riding in the protected lanes. A measured increase was observed in ridership on all facilities after the installation of the protected cycling facilities, ranging from +21% to +171%. Survey data indicates that 10% of current riders switched from other modes, and 24% shifted from other bicycle routes