e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized...

e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Country Report Austria A Snapshot and Scoreboard of e-Leadership Skills in Policy, Higher Education and the Labour Market

Contact

For further information, please contact:

empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH

Oxfordstr. 2, 53111 Bonn, Germany

Tel: (49-228) 98530-0 * e-Mail: [email protected] *

Web: www.empirica.com

Bonn and Brussels, March 2015

Authors:

Karsten Gareis Philipp Markus Eriona Dashja Tobias Stabenow

http://www.empirica.com/

Country Report: Austria - e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

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Disclaimer

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the information provided in this document.

About this document

This document is a Country Report produced in the course of the service contract “e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises”, or short "LEAD”. Services are provided under contract for the European Commission, DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs – Unit H/3 - Key Enabling Technologies and Digital Economy, Tender No. 288/PP/ENT/CIP/13/C/N01C012

About LEAD

LEAD develops targeted actions for start-ups and fast growing SMEs to provide them with relevant e-leadership skills and qualifications for entrepreneurs, managers and advanced ICT users that are recognized trans-nationally.

The LEAD consortium includes the partners: empirica, INSEAD, IE Business School, Henley Business School, Aarhus University, New Bulgarian University, Antwerp Management School, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), IDC Europe, PIN-SME and CIONET.

LEAD analyses the role of e-leaders in SMEs and entrepreneurial firms based on engagement with SMEs to gain insights into what

kinds of leaders SMEs rely on to ensure they can use ICT to develop, grow and compete, how SMEs use ICT to develop, grow and compete and what kind of e-leadership skills they need to succeed.

This work represents an important step forward towards helping business schools and SMEs collaborate and develop insights and a common language for SMEs to access and foster leaders who are both business and ICT-savvy (“e-leaders”) and who ensure SMEs use ICT effectively. It is laying the groundwork for the planning of targeted educational offers for SMEs and entrepreneurs by business schools and universities, which will be demonstrated within the project duration.

LEAD also engages with other stakeholder groups from education and the labour market, associations representing SMEs, start-ups and gazelles and others to take into account the target groups evolving requirements for e-leadership.

LEAD aims to sharpen the e-leadership definitions and metrics, specify data requirements for establishing monitoring mechanisms which can be used as a basis for policy making and to improve monitoring of demand and supply of these skills. Technology trends are analysed to understand their impact on new business models and organisation of companies and their e-leadership requirements. An overview of the present European e-leadership policy landscape for the different target groups is developed as well as an overview of the present European landscape of

e-Leadership courses and MOOCs. In addition a search and analysis of initiatives from industry, education and training organisations is carried out.

Content

1 e-Leadership Scoreboard 3

2 Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development 5

3 Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development 7

4 Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship 11

5 Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives 13

6 Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Austria 15

Methodology 17

Country Report: Austria - e-Leadership Scoreboard

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1 e-Leadership Scoreboard

The scoreboard offers an approach to monitoring and assessing issues related to e-leadership skills development, such as: education offers, workforce potential, exploitation opportunities, and enabling policies or other driving mechanisms. It compares European Member States, allowing for a comparative assessment of e-leadership performance of Member states. Doing so, it showcases relative strengths and weaknesses of national e-leadership ecosystems, thus informing and enabling policy discussions.

The e-leadership scoreboard comprises four levels: 24 indicators, 7 building blocks, 4 dimensions to be further aggregated to one overall e -leadership Index (eLI).

The “e-leadership skilling” dimension consists of one building block, “Education and Training”. This building block aims to capture e-leadership education and training through four indicators: The number of Master's/Exec Education level programmes with a mix of ICT & business (per population), the number of e-leadership candidate programmes (per population), the share of enterprises that provided training to ICT/IT specialists and quality of management schools. In the second dimension, “e-leadership workforce potential”, the e-Leadership Skilled Professionals and e-Leadership Pipeline building blocks aim to gauge the extent of e-skills/ICT practitioners and e-leadership in the workforce. The expectation is that e-leadership competences, as defined in the context of this study, prevail in or recruit from these two selected categories. Overall this dimension of the scoreboard

looks to offer a proxy for the potential estimates of e-leaders in each country. A third dimension is entitled “e-leadership skills exploitation” and attempts to assess the friendliness of a country’s business framework and extent of its preparedness in exploiting opportunities provided by ICT. It contains three building blocks capturing aspects from Business Environment, Innovation Opportunities and Technology Trends in each country. The fourth dimension: “e-leadership skills promoters” rests on the proposition that countries with efficient enabling mechanisms (policies,

Rank: 12

Index score: 5.15

ValueScore

(0-10)EU 28 Rank EU 28 avg.

Education and training

68 3.37 5 40

- per

100,0- per 100,000 population aged 20-59 1.4 8.56 2 1

2 1.82 6 1

- per

100,0- per 100,000 of workforce with potential e-leadership skills 0.0 0.00 13 0.4

11% 6.00 9 9.6%

-

SMEs - SMEs that provided training to ICT/IT specialists 10% 6.43 9 8.4%

4.7 4.58 15 4.81

e-leadership skilled professionals

59,939 0.9 10 99,726

Line

mana- as % of total workforce 1.4% 4.9 12 1.3%

30,458 0.7 12 63,021

ICT

mana- as % of total workforce 0.7% 3.1 12 0.8%

e-leadership pipeline

69,709 0.8 11 115,205

ICT

practi- as % of total workforce 1.7% 4.3 10 1.48%

3 4.0 20 3.5

17 2.5 17 22.14

Business environment

97 0.5 15 235

%

share - as % of total number of high growth enterprises 3.9% 2.4 14 4.7%

409 0.6 10 771

%

share - as % of total number of high growth enterprises 16.3% 8.3 6 13.3%

74,517 0.9 14 154,090

Empl

oyme- as % of total employment 2.8% 3.6 17 3.0%

427,250 0.8 12 789,975

Empl

oyme- as % of total employment 16.3% 6.4 10 15.0%

31% 8.7 5 23.8%

% of

SMEs % of SMEs that employed ICT/IT specialists 30% 8.7 4 22.4%

Innovation opportunities

4.8 7.2 6 4.17

5.0 7.4 8 4.22

5.8 8.1 4 5.18

5.0 5.9 15 4.88

Technology trends

6.1 8.2 9 5.65

35% 5.6 8 29.8%

6% 7.1 6 4.14%

National policy and stakeholder initiatives

3.5 5.7 10 2.87

1.5 1.4 21 2.25

2.5 4.0 9 2.45

Employment in ICT sector

e-le

ader

ship

ski

llin

g Master/Exec Ed level programmes with a mix of ICT & business

E-leadership candidate programmes

Quality of management schools

Austria

Enterprises that provided training to ICT/IT specialists

e-le

ader

ship

wo

rkfo

rce

po

ten

tial

Line managers

ICT managers, architects and analysts

ICT practioners - professional level

ICT graduates (per 1000 population aged 20-24)

Business administration graduates (per 1000 population aged 20-24)

Employment in ICT intensive sectors

e-le

ader

ship

ski

lls

pro

mo

ters

ICT Practitioner Skills

Skills for digital entrepreneurship

e-Leadership education and training

Firm-level technology absorption

Impact of ICT on new services and products

% of enterprises using social networks

e-le

ader

ship

ski

lls e

xplo

ita

tio

n

Availability of latest technologies

% of enterprises using RFID technologies

Capacity for innovation

Percentage of enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists

State of cluster development

High growth enterprises in ICT sector

High growth enterprises in ICT intensive sectors

Country Report: Austria - e-Leadership Scoreboard

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initiatives, etc.) are well positioned to produce the right mix of e-leadership skills in line with the dynamics of the job market demand and talent requirement. This dimension is composed of one building block which looks to capture insights on available programmes and initiatives focusing on e-leadership education and training targeting large companies as well as those targeting digital entrepreneurs and high-growth SMEs (gazelles).

e-Leadership performance per indicatorEU AT

Master/Exec Ed level programmes with a mix of ICT & business



Line managers


ICT core professionals

ICT graduates

Business administration graduates




Employment in ICT intensive sectors % of enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists





% of enteprises using social networks


National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education and training

National policy &stakeholder initiatives on Skills for digital entrepreneurship

% of enteprises using using RFID technologies

National policy & stakeholder initiatives ICT Practitioner Skills


0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

% of enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists

Master/Exec Ed level programmes with a mix of ICT & business






% of enterprises using RFID technologies




National policy and stakeholder initiatives ICT Practitioner Skills

% of enterprises using social networks

Line managers


ICT practioners - professional level

National policy and stakeholder initiatives Skills for digital entrepreneurship

ICT graduates



Business administration graduates


National policy and stakeholder initiatives e-Leadership skills


Performance-based indicator ranking

AT EU

Country Report: Austria - Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development

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2 Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development

The main coordinating body for developing policy-making in ICT-related fields in Austria is the Kompetenzzentrum Internetgesellschaft (KIG), set up by the Federal Government in 2010. The KIG Board is composed of representatives of the Federal Chancellery (BKA), the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth (BMWFJ) and the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT). Within the KIG, the Government closely cooperates with the country's ICT sector, which since 2008 already has developed priorities for policy-making via the Internet Offensive Austria. The idea for that initiative was born in autumn 2007 after talks between representatives of the ICT industry, ICT organisations and associations and the Austrian Federal Government. By March 2008 already more than 400 experts, more than 35 CEOs and top executives of leading ICT companies and around 170 companies and organizations were engaged in meetings grouped into six working groups (Science and Research; Education and generations; Culture and Media; Health and social issues; Economy, infrastructure and eGovernment; Security and consumer protection) with the purpose to develop the ICT strategy for Austria. The result of this process was the Austrian Internet Declaration, submitted to the Federal Chancellor in 2010. The Declaration is to serve as a guidance document for the implementation of ICT-related measures in the country.

The KIG twice per year issues a "catalogue of priorities", i.e. lists of projects and initiatives together with proposed budgets and institutions to be made responsible for their execution. Ideas for such projects and initiatives are developed in close cooperation between government and the country's ICT sector, with a focus on efforts which are likely to have a positive effect on Austria's standing on the Networked Readiness Index (NRI).

The KIG in late 2012 published a White Paper1 on "Basic considerations for the development of an ICT Strategy 2014 to 2018”. It called for national ICT strategy based on the recognition of the economic importance of ICT for Austria and Europe. The ICT strategy is expected to fill the existing gap between the strategic objectives on the one hand and

1 http://www.kig.gv.at/Portal.Node/kig/public/Content/files/aktuelles/Konsultation_IKT-Strategie.pdf

Policy & Stakeholder Activity

Summary Assessment

e-Leadership education and training:

Austria has a well developed Strategy Research, Technology and Innovation, but it does not address e-leadership skills. The ICT Strategy 2014 to 2018, currently still under public consultation, is not expected to make a difference in this regard. Various initiatives are in evidence for supporting SMEs in the acquisition of knowledge for ICT-enabled business modernisation, e.g. e-business.

Skills for digital entrepreneurship:

supporting business generation, reaching from entrepreneurship education at school age to Business Plan competitions and the like for students and graduates. None of these, however, make explicit reference to e-leadership skills or digital entrepreneurship, with the exception of Go Silicon Valley, a scheme which has its roots in business development support for companies that seek to expand abroad, but appears to be an effective programme for equipping high-growth SMEs in the ICT sector with the leadership skills required to flourish internationally. Austria has a range of major initiatives for boosting spin-off activities at universities, including the ECN Network and the AplusB funding programme.


e-Leadership education and

training

Policies and Stakeholder

Activities

http://www.kig.gv.at/Portal.Node/kig/public/Content/files/aktuelles/Konsultation_IKT-Strategie.pdf

Country Report: Austria - Policies of relevance to e-Leadership skills development

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concrete projects on the other hand, and set priorities and directions of measures and activities. The involvement of stakeholders from industry and economy is given highest priority. The White Paper suggested eSkills, ICT education and ICT qualification as key targets of the strategy, including all school levels up from primary school; academic qualification, vocational training, ICT training of teachers etc. At the time of writing, the ICT Strategy 2014 to 2018 is being developed in an open public consultation. Promotion of ICT start-ups is among one of nine main focal points around which the discussion revolves.

The Federal Government's Strategy for Research, Technology and Innovation was published in 2011 under the title "Becoming an Innovation Leader"2. The strategy focuses on education, research, financing, technology and competition, facilitated by means of collaboration between public actors, the business world and the research centres. Aims of this strategy also include issues related to e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship, namely: strengthening innovation in businesses i.e. with regard to strategic use of ICT; support of co-operations between public sector research and the economy (technology transfer); boosting supply of human resources with the required skills for technology and innovation; and promotion of business start-ups in knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy.

"ICT of the Future" (IKT der Zukunft) is the government's a funding programme for promotion of radical technological innovation in the pre-competitive stage of ICT development. It is the successor of FIT-IT, which since 2002 has funded the establishment of an efficient and internationally visible Austrian ICT research community. Taking account of the results of a major evaluation study of the country's RTDI system, ICT of the Future places increasing emphasis on "provision and acquisition of high qualified human capital to conduct leading-edge research.

The Federal Minister for Education and Women's Affairs in engaged in initiatives for promotion of Entrepreneurship Education3. Content of entrepreneurship education are traditionally taught in vocational schools in a variety of school subjects. In some strands of education such as commercial high schools "Entrepreneurship and Management" is formally part of the curriculum. Many commercial academies offer entrepreneurship and management in the form of a post-secondary four-semester special education. The Schumpeter Commercial Academy in Vienna 13 offers the training focus on "Entrepreneurship and Management" combined with a special talent promotion. The Schumpeter Academy developed a media package for teaching, Entrepreneurship Education for School Innovation (EESI), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, and is now in use at secondary and vocational schools across the country. The Education Ministry also set up the EESI Pulse Centre, a dedicated centre for teacher training about entrepreneurship education and for development of further activities to nurture positive attitudes towards entrepreneurial activity among school teachers and students.

In another development of relevance for our topic, the Labour Contract Law was recently amended so that it is now possible to engage in advanced training part-time – before, only full-time leave was foreseen for advanced training, which meant that both employees and employers found it unattractive. Now employees can undertake advanced training programmes to improve their skills without leaving the company.

2 http://www.bka.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=42655

3 https://www.bmbf.gv.at/schulen/bw/bbs/entrepreneurship.html

http://www.bka.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=42655

https://www.bmbf.gv.at/schulen/bw/bbs/entrepreneurship.html

Country Report: Austria - Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development

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3 Stakeholder initiatives for the promotion of e-Leadership skills development

3.1 e-Leadership training in the context of SME and entrepreneurship support

No initiatives have been identified that explicitly target e-leadership training, but the following appear of some relevance to the topic.

Innovation Assistants for SMEs4 is a programme funded by the region Upper Austria and established already in 1998. It brings together SMEs which seek to engage in an innovation project with fresh graduates from technical or economic fields of study. Once SMEs have successfully outlined and submitted an innovation project, they can choose from a list of graduates who have successfully registered an interest to become Innovation Assistants. The latter perceive an additional qualification in innovations management before the start of the project. They are supported by a professional consultant throughout the duration of the project. Costs are borne by the programme up to a limit of EUR 40,000 per innovation project. About 10 projects are selected for funding per year. Graduates who work as Innovation Assistants benefit by:

The possibility to kick-start their career by gaining practical skills in how to succeed in innovation related activities in a real-world business context;

Coaching and support from professional external consultants with proven expertise in innovation management;

Participation in an additional qualification programme (provided TMG, Upper Austria's Business

Agency) which equips them with practice-oriented skills in innovation management.

Knowledge: Factor of Success is a package of measures by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Economic Chamber of Commerce (WKO) to help SMEs overcome the challenges of transitioning towards a knowledge-based society. The initiative consists of three pillars: an Austria-wide roadshow; Publications with ‘best practices’ and guidelines on knowledge management for SMEs; Individual support for entrepreneurs.

Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) is a public sector entity in charge of promoting the development of innovative companies and the commercialisation of new technologies. Its main focus is on providing services to innovative enterprises and academic researchers to facilitate the establishment and development of technology start-up firms and to foster the use of high tech in Austria. AWS is behind two interesting initiatives related to digital entrepreneurships skills:

Management for a Time (Management auf Zeit, MAZ) provides financial support to start-ups for employing an external expert who temporarily supplies them with their know-how in finance, marketing and technology. The subsidy can be up to EUR 50,000 per applicant.

AWS First ("Your future. Your business.") is a new initiative introduced in 2014 targeting school graduates aged 18 to 23 who have an idea and the ambition to develop their own business model. The focus is on knowledge-intensive start-ups, typically based on innovative use of ICT. AWS First Business Lab will allow 10 teams (of 2-4 persons) to obtain a scholarship for training, mentoring and networking with Austria's start-up scene. The aim of the Business Labs is to prepare participants to start a business, build a network and especially to develop a quality business model.

The impulse programme targets the creative services industry and offers SMEs and start-ups funding for innovative projects as well as training in basic entrepreneurship skills (we-workshops) and in specific, often ICT-related topics (via impulse lectures).

4 http://www.innovationsassistent.at

http://www.innovationsassistent.at/


8 / 23

Go Silicon Valley: An Initiative by the Federal Ministry of the Economy and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, offering up to 16 selected Austrian companies the opportunity to undergo a three-month business programme at a Business Accelerator in Silicon Valley (either Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale or nestGSV in Redwood City). Go Silicon Valley seeks to enable Austrian SMEs to enter the US market and gain access to potential collaborators and risk capital. After selection by a US jury consisting of financial and industry experts, each SME can avail of the comprehensive services of the Silicon Valley based business accelerator company over a period of three months, including: a temporary office with Silicon Valley address; training in US business practices; networking with partner companies, venture capital firms, angel investors; preparation of market entry in the USA; and a mentoring programme. To qualify, candidates must have a breakthrough business idea in the ICT sector (ideally also patentable), which is available at least in prototype form and which has been tested under close-to-market conditions. One or two representatives with decision-making power (founder, CEO, CIO, etc.) can spend three months in Silicon Valley. Over the past four years 72 ICT companies participated in the "Go Silicon Valley" technology initiative, one in five of which founded a new company or subsidiary in the USA as a result. For 2014/2015, 17 additional companies have qualified.

3.2 Initiatives from the business community

Fledgling digital entrepreneurs can benefit from the training services of a range of stakeholders from the business community, including the following:

AustrianStartups, described as "a neutral, independent and non-profit platform of, by, and for the Austrian start-up community to increase its visibility and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem". AustrianStartups has been designed as an open place for all start-ups, stakeholders, and persons interested to launch joint initiatives with Austrian entrepreneurs;

Impact Hub Vienna has a particular target on start-ups in the social entrepreneurship domain;

Erste Sparkasse, a public savings bank, and Economic Chamber of Commerce (WKO) organise the i2B Business Plan Award, Austria's biggest event of this type;

Association of Austria Technology Centres (VTÖ) provides support services to >50 technology centres across the country, to increase their capacities as incubators and accelerators;

priME-Cup Austria, the Austrian edition of the management-game competition created by a German-based company priME-Cup GmbH, is organised in cooperation with the Austrian Economic Chamber of Commerce (WKO). priME-Cup lets students take on the role of business operators for two days and have fun learning about running a business. Students work as "young entrepreneurs/managers" in teams of 3-4, learning/experiencing economic thinking and strategy and how companies compete, by means of computer simulations (PRIMESIM® Entrepreneurship). Teams are supported by professional coaches with a business management background.

3.3 Initiatives from within the established education system

Universities are engaged in the development of course programmes that focus on e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship. They also run a range of activities for boosting commercialisation of research results by means of spin-offs, graduate start-ups and intensified cooperation between research and the business sector.

Innovative course programmes include the following (see also the more detailed description further below):

Vienna University of Technology and Vienna University of Economics and Business are offering a joint professional MBA programme in Entrepreneurship & Innovation (selected as

http://www.i2b.at/


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Best Practice, see detailed description at the end of this report). The focus lies on leadership in entrepreneurial and innovative environments.

Danube University Krems (selected as Best Practice, see detailed description at the end of this report) offers a professional MBA with six core modules in general management. Specialization modules enable the concentration on e-leadership issues and e-skills topics like “Data, Data Warehousing, BI Concepts & Basic BI Services”, “Advanced Business Intelligence Services” or “Digital Media and Distribution Channel Management”.

FH Kufstein (University of Applied Sciences) has an ECTS-Course (three points) that helps employees in leading positions of SMEs from the field of IT to become IT process managers. The course has been selected as Best Practice, see a detailed description at the end of this report.

In terms of support of entrepreneurship, possibly the most relevant initiative for the topic of the present report is ECN Network, a platform for interdisciplinary networking and promotion of entrepreneurship in the university sector, set up jointly by six Vienna universities, the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO), Mingo (the start-up initiative of the City of Vienna), eSPARK (a joint initiative of RSA, a public research institute, and the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation of the Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Festo (a major Austrian manufacturer of factory and process automation). Its main goal is to increase the number of sustainable multidisciplinary start-ups originating from universities by: creating awareness of entrepreneurship in the university sector; boosting networking between students from different disciplines and universities; and provision of the skills necessary for starting a business. ECN Network offers:

Entrepreneurship Avenue, a unique event series designed to inspire, encourage and support young people to start their own business;

an online "Entrepreneurial Skills Check";

links to tools for entrepreneurs such as start-up apps, databases of financial support schemes, business plan software etc.;

multimedia content such as video presentations of successful entrepreneurs;

information about entrepreneurship education programmes at universities in Vienna;

information about Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs.

Another major initiative is AplusB (Academia plus Business), a funding programme developed, implemented and managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT). AplusB aims to bring about a sustainable increase in the number of innovative, technology-oriented spin-offs from the academic sector – an area which has traditionally been underdeveloped in Austria. Objectives include:

Ensuring a sustainable increase in the number of academic spin-offs;

enhancing the quality of these new companies (i.e. their technology and knowledge intensity), as well as their likelihood to succeed;

increasing the potential for spin-offs from universities, Fachhochschule colleges and non-university research institutions;

enhancing the exploitation of research results by business;

supporting other technology transfer measures.

The programme funds the so-called AplusB-Centres (incubators) providing professional support for scientists in the challenging process of turning a good idea into a viable business. This involves both counselling and financial assistance during the actual start-up phase as well as establishing the idea of entrepreneurship more firmly in academic theory and practice. Nine such AplusB-Centres were established across Austria in which innovative start-ups are counselled and coached. Training and


10 / 23

education for entrepreneurship, including digital entrepreneurship, plays a major role in the process.

Other initiatives of some relevance to the e-leadership skills issue include:

the Phoenix Award, awarded annually by the Development Bank for Entrepreneurs; it amounts to a grant of up to € 10,000 to support start-ups that engage in technology transfer between universities and SMEs in the field of high-technology.

u:start (including the Business Plan Award), an initiative by the government (Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth) together with the University of Vienna. It seeks to foster entrepreneurial attitudes among young graduates through training and mentoring on how to successfully start a company.

Country Report: Austria - Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship

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4 Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship

Exhibit 1: High-level assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship

No / Type Title of policy / initiative Main stakeholder(s)

Stakeholders from: Assessment:

Go

vern

men

t

Bu

sin

ess

Un

ion

s/ N

GO

s

Edu

cati

on

MSP

fit

(0

-2)

Targ

et f

it (

0-2

)

Po

licy

fit

(0-2

)

Sco

pe

/

Co

nti

nu

ity

(0-2

)

Mat

uri

ty (

0-2

)

Policy 1 Strategy for Research, Technology and Innovation [2011-]

Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technologies --- --- --- --- --- 0-1 --- 2 1

Policy 2 ICT of the Future (IKT der Zukunft) [2012-]

Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technologies

--- --- --- --- --- 0-1 --- 1 1

Policy 3 ICT Strategy 2014-2018 Coordinated by Kompetenzzentrum Internetgesellschaft (KIG)

--- --- --- --- --- 1 --- 2 0-1

Policy 4 Austrian Internet Declaration [2010]

Kompetenzzentrum Internetgesellschaft (KIG)

--- --- --- --- --- 1 --- 1 2

Initiative 1 AplusB (Academia plus Business) [2002-]

Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technologies Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

2 1 1 2 2

Initiative 2 Go Silicon Valley [xxx] Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Federal Ministry of Economy 1 1 2 1 2

Initiative 3 Management auf Zeit (MAZ) / Management for a Time

Austria Wirtschaftsservice (Austrian Business Authority) 1 0-1 1 1 2

Initiative 4 AWS First Austria Wirtschaftsservice (Austrian Business Authority, AWS) 1 1 2 1 0

Initiative 5 impulse programme Austria Wirtschaftsservice (Austrian Business Authority, AWS) 1 1 2 0-1 2

Initiative 6 Innovation Assistants for SMEs [1998-]

Land Oberösterreich, CATT Innovation Management GmbH, TMG Upper Austria Business Agency

1 1 1 1 2

Country Report: Austria - Assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on development of skills in e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship

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No / Type Title of policy / initiative Main stakeholder(s)

Stakeholders from: Assessment:

Go

vern

men

t

Bu

sin

ess

Un

ion

s/ N

GO

s

Edu

cati

on

MSP

fit

(0

-2)

Targ

et f

it (

0-2

)

Po

licy

fit

(0-2

)

Sco

pe

/

Co

nti

nu

ity

(0-2

)

Mat

uri

ty (

0-2

)

Initiative 7 ECN Network 6 universities in Vienna, Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO), Mingo, eSPARK, Festo

2 1 2 2 1

Country Report: Austria - Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives

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5 Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives

From the policies and initiatives mentioned above, the following has been selected as candidate for best practice.

5.1 Go Silicon Valley

This technology Initiative offers up to 16 selected Austrian companies the opportunity to undergo a three-month business programme at a Business Accelerator in Silicon Valley (either Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale or nestGSV in Redwood City). Go Silicon Valley, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, seeks to enable Austrian SMEs to enter the US market and gain access to potential collaborators and risk capital. After selection by a US jury consisting of financial and industry experts, each SME can avail of the comprehensive services of the Silicon Valley based business accelerator company over a period of three months, including:

A temporary office with Silicon Valley address;

Training in US business practices;

Networking with partner companies, venture capital firms, angel investors;

Preparation of market entry in the USA;

A mentoring programme.

To qualify, candidates must have a breakthrough business idea in the IT sector (ideally also patentable), which is available at least in prototype form and which has been tested under close-to-market conditions. One or two representatives with decision-making power (founder, CEO, CIO, etc.) can spend three months in Silicon Valley. Over the past four years 72 ICT companies participated in the "Go Silicon Valley" technology initiative, one in five of which founded a new company or subsidiary in the USA as a result. Five companies received venture capital. For 2014/2015, 17 additional companies have qualified, underlining the potential of small and innovative companies in Austria.

5.2 ECN Network

The ECN Network is a platform for interdisciplinary networking and promotion of entrepreneurship in the university sector, set up jointly by six Vienna universities, the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO), Mingo (the start-up initiative of the City of Vienna), eSPARK (a joint initiative of RSA, a public research institute, and the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation of the Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Festo (a major Austrian manufacturer of factory and process automation). Its main goal is to increase the number of sustainable multidisciplinary start-ups originating from universities by: creating awareness of entrepreneurship in the university sector; boosting networking between students from different disciplines and universities; and provision of the skills necessary for starting a business. ECN Network offers:

Entrepreneurship Avenue, a unique event series “designed to inspire, encourage and support young people to start their own business”. In the course of four workshops and a final conference day, participants can gain insights into entrepreneurial life from various start-ups and can experience first-hand what working on a business idea is like. Participants can attend the entire event series or register for the conference individually. Participation is free.

An online "Entrepreneurial Skills Check", a self-evaluation survey that gives feedback on the roles a person is capable to take in a start-up as well as the additional competences required. The Skills Check was developed by Research Studio eSPARK and is structured into 8 areas of

Country Report: Austria - Best practice policy and stakeholder initiatives

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relevance to entrepreneurship. Taking the survey lasts about 20 minutes. The result is not an overall fitness score or such, but a personal entrepreneurial profile.

“Werkstatt”, i.e. links to tools for entrepreneurs such as start-up apps, databases of financial support schemes, business plan software etc.;

“Gründer TV”, i.e. multimedia content such as video presentations of successful entrepreneurs;

Access to entrepreneurship courses, i.e. relevant education programmes at universities in Vienna;

Information about Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs.

Country Report: Austria - Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Austria

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6 Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Austria

Title of study Program Danube Professional MBA Business Performance Management

Title of study degree Professional MBA

Level of degree MBA

Name of programme provider

Danube University Krems

Responsible institution

Department for Management and Economics

URL http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/en/studium/businessintelligencemba/index.php

Target group

Entry requirements:

a) Austrian or equivalent foreign university degree (Magister, Bachelor, Master); minimum of 3 years professional experience (including a minimum of 1 year experience in a leading position); minimum age: 25.

b) Minimum of 7 years of professional experience (including a minimum of 2 years experience in a leading position) as an equivalent qualification to a university degree (see: a); minimum age: 27

c) Adequate knowledge of the English language

Payment / fees 22850€

Duration 2 years – part-time

Quality assurance & accreditation processes

Many MBA programs of Danube Business School are FIBAA accredited, accreditations at other associations are submitted and in progress. Detailed information as below.

ECTS credits / other credits

90 ECTS

Title of study Program Professional MBA Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Title of study degree Professional MBA

Level of degree MBA


Vienna University of Technology, Vienna University of Economics and Business

URL http://cec.tuwien.ac.at/programme/business_school/professional_mba_entrepreneurship_innovation/

Target group

Target group:

The MBA program is primarily targeted towards those individuals who operate at the interface between technology and business, or who wish to do so in the future. This particularly includes

- (potential) executives, who have positioned themselves as innovation leaders

- aspiring and current entrepreneurs with a technological background - engineers, scientists and specialists in product marketing or product

controlling with managerial experience - high-potentials aiming at preparing themselves for an innovation

http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/en/studium/businessintelligencemba/index.php

http://cec.tuwien.ac.at/programme/business_school/professional_mba_entrepreneurship_innovation/

http://cec.tuwien.ac.at/programme/business_school/professional_mba_entrepreneurship_innovation/

Country Report: Austria - Examples of e-leadership education in Higher Education in Austria

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orientated managerial function

Entry requirements:

To apply for the Professional MBA, you must hold an undergraduate degree, have a minimum of three years of relevant work experience and proficiency in written and spoken English.


Duration 18 months + thesis, part-time. Blocked seminars of 3 to 6 days

Quality assurance & accreditation processes

AMBA, FIBAA, and EQUIS (accreditation of the WU)

Learning outcomes

This MBA program imparts comprehensive and practice oriented management knowledge and leadership competence with a special focus on

- sources of innovation- - innovation strategies- - the marketing of innovation - organization of innovation - financing and controlling of innovation - entrepreneurial leadership

Title of study Program Zertifizierte/r IT-Prozessmanager/in (Certified / IT Process Manager)

Title of study degree ECTS Certificate


FH Kufstein

Responsible institution FH Kufstein

URL http://www.fh-kufstein.ac.at/Post-Graduate-Weiterbildung/IT-Prozessmanagement/Zertifizierte-r-IT-Prozessmanager-in

Target group

Staff of SMEs in the IT industry:

Executives and Experts from all IT areas

IT Project Managers

CTOs

ERP Project Staff


Duration 4-days

Learning outcomes Provision of relevant knowledge and contents for IT process management

ECTS credits / other credits

3 ECTS

http://www.fh-kufstein.ac.at/Post-Graduate-Weiterbildung/IT-Prozessmanagement/Zertifizierte-r-IT-Prozessmanager-in

http://www.fh-kufstein.ac.at/Post-Graduate-Weiterbildung/IT-Prozessmanagement/Zertifizierte-r-IT-Prozessmanager-in

Country Report: Austria - Methodology

17 / 23

Methodology

European e-Leadership Scoreboard

The scoreboard attempts to offer an approach to monitoring and assessing issues related to e-leadership skills development, such as: education offers, workforce potential, exploitation opportunities, and enabling policies or other driving mechanisms. It compares at Member State level the e-leadership “performance” of EU28 Member states across several building blocks, thereby allowing for comparisons on relative strengths and weaknesses of e-leadership ecosystems between countries, with the major goal of informing and enabling policy discussions at national and EU level.

The e-leadership scoreboard is an evolving model to be further refined through input from academic / experts debates and feedback from other interested parties. It comprises a series of indicators using data from both primary and secondary sources. It is based on a straightforward yet comprehensive framework for measuring determinants of demand and supply for e-leadership skills in each country. Conceptually, the e-leadership scoreboard comprises four levels, 28 indicators; 8 building blocks; 4 dimensions, which can be aggregated to receive an overall e -leadership Index (eLI).

The overall e-leadership performance in each of the country has been summarized into a scoreboard, and further on into a composite indicator (e-leadership index). These raised a number of challenges related to the quality of the data selected and to their combination into a single indicator. A number of steps were taken to assure the quality of the data and the reliability of the e-leadership index. The steps followed are explained in more details below:

Step 1: Identifying and addressing outliers

Mean and standard deviations have been calculated for all indicators among all countries included in the scoreboard. Outliers have been identified as the absolute z-values larger than 3. Relative to the case, the values distorting the variable distribution (positive/negative outliers) have been replaced by maximum/minimum values observed in each single indicator. Beforehand, some indicators have been standardized using population data in order to avoid any country-size effects in the dataset sample.

Step 2: Setting reference year

A reference year is set depending on the data availability of each indicator for each of the countries considered. Overall, for most of the indicators the reference year is lagging 1-3 years behind the timing the e-leadership scoreboard refers to. In this case, the reference year for most of the indicators of the 2014 e-leadership scoreboard will be lying between years 2011 to 2013.

Step 3: Treatment of missing data

When dealing with the missing values, we distinguish among two different cases which influence data imputation procedure:

Missing at random: If data is not available for a year-in-between, we replace data using the value for the previous year / latest year available.

Missing completely: For countries which data is completely missing for the entire time series, no imputation is effort carried out. In these cases the indicator is left empty, marked as not available (‘n/a’), and not considered in the calculation of the county scores.


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Table 1: e-Leadership scoreboard indicators

Indicator Definition and scopeLatest data

availableSource

Number of Master's or Exec Ed level

programmes with a mix of ICT and

business

Definition: combination programmes that have as target group specialist or junior / middle management are professional-

oriented and have a mix of business and IT. Either at regular consecutive MSc level, or are aimed at specialist subjects only (e.g.

new media, marketing, logistics, communications, e-health etc.

Measure: per 100,000 population aged 20-59

2013 empirica


Definition: E-leadership candidate programmes - programmes that are clearly aimed at experienced professionals with leadership

roles, which usually already expect a high level of IT skills and significant business experience.

Measure: per 100,000 of workforce with potential e-leadership skills

2014 empirica

Enterprises that provided training to

ICT/IT specialists to develop/upgrade

their ICT skills

Definition: Enterprises who provided training to develop/upgrade ICT skills of their personnel: for ICT/IT specialists (NACE Rev. 2).

Measure: % of enterprises2012

Eurostat Information society statistics

Code: isoc_ske_ittn2

Quality of management schoolsDefinition: In your country, how would you assess the quality of business schools

Measure: [1 = extremely poor—among the worst in the world; 7 = excellent—among the 2012–13 weighted average2013 World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey

Line managersDefinition: ISCO-08 (1211, 1213,1219, 1221, 1222, 1223)

Measure: as % of total workforce2013 LFS

ICT managers, architects and analystsDefinition: ISCO-08 (1330, 2421, 2511)


e-Leadership pipeline 1:ICT

practitioners - professional level

Definition:ISCO-08 (2152, 2153, 5356, 2434, 5212, 2513, 2514, 2519, 2512, 2522, 2523, 2529)


e-Leadership pipeline 2-1: ICT

graduates

Definition:Count of first degrees in ISCED 5A and first qualifications in 5B. The number of students entering the labour force in a

given year does not equal but is approximated by this number of graduates, as many will go on to second or further degrees

(master, PhD).

Measure: per 1,000 population aged 20-24

2012Eusostat

Code: [educ_grad5]

e-Leadership pipeline 2-2: Business

administration graduates

Definition: Count of first degrees in ISCED 5A and first qualifications in 5B in business and administration.

Measure: per 1000 population aged 20-24 2012

Erurostat

Code: [educ_grad5]

High growth enterprises n ICT sector

Definition: High growth enterprises (growth by 10% or more) and related employment by NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Information and

communication (J).

Measure: Number of high growth enterprises measured in employment (growth by 10% or more)

2012Eurostat

Code: [bd_9pm_r2]

High growth enterprises in ICT

intensive sectors

Definition: High growth enterprises (growth by 10% or more) and related employment by NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Manufacture of

computer, electronic and optical products (C26), Manufacture of electrical equipment (C27), Manufacture of machinery and

equipment n.e.c. (C28), Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (C29), Manufacture of other transport

equipment (C30), Professional, scientific and technical activities (M).

Measure: Number of high growth enterprises measured in employment (growth by 10% or more)

2012Eurostat

Code: [bd_9pm_r2]


Definition: Number of persons employed in the following NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical

products (C26), Information and communication (J).

Measure: as % of total employment

2011 Eruostat


Definition: Number of persons employed in the following NACE Rev. 2 sectors: Manufacture of electrical equipment (C27),

Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. (C28), Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (C29),

Manufacture of other transport equipment (C30), Professional, scientific and technical activities (M).

Measure: as % of total employment

2011 Eruostat

Enterprises that employed ICT/IT

specialists

Definition: Enterprises that employed ICT/IT specialists (NACE Rev. 2)


Eurostat

Code: [isoc_ske_itspen2]


Definition: In your country, how widespread are well-developed and deep clusters (geographic concentrations of firms, suppliers,

producers of related specialized institutions in a particular field)?

Measure: [1 = nonexistent; 7 = widespread in many fields] | 2012–13 weighted average

2013 World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey

Capacity for innovationDefinition:In your country, to what extent do companies have the capacity to innovate?

Measure: [1 = not at all; 7 = to a great extent] | 2013 World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey

Firm-level technology absorption Definition: In your country, to what extent do businesses adopt new technology?

Measure: [1 = not at all; 7 = adopt extensively] | 2012–13 weighted average2013 World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey

Impact of ICT on new services and

products

Definition: To what extent are ICTs creating new business models, services and products in your country?

Measure: [1 = not at all; 7 = a significant extent] | 2011–2012 weighted average2012 World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey

Availability of latest technologiesDefinition: In your country, to what extent are the latest technologies available?

Measure: [1 = not available at all; 7 = widely available] | 2012–13 weighted averageAvailability of latest technologies2013 World Economic Forum, Executive Opinion Survey

Enterprises using social networksDefinition: Use social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo, Yammer, etc.)


Eurostat

Code: [isoc_cismt]

Enterprises using RFID technologiesDefinition: Enterprises using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies


Eurostat

Code: [isoc_ci_cd_en2]

ICT Practitioner Skills

Definition: Level of national policy and stakeholder activity on ICT Practitioner Skills

Measure: 1 - 5 (1 = "No relevant policy or stake-holder activities of significant scope and size have been identified."; 5 = "A master

strategy is in place.)

2013 empirica

e-Leadership e-Leadership education

and training

Definition: Level of national policy and stakeholder activity on e-Leadership education and training



2014 empirica


Definition: Level of national policy and stakeholder activity on Skills for digital entrepreneurship



2014 empirica

National policy and stakeholder initiatives

e-leadership skilling

e-leadership skilled professionals

e-leadership pipeline

Business environment

Innovation opportunities

Technology trends


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Step 4: Calculating re-scaled scores

Min-max normalisation method was adopted to adjust for differences in terms of units of measurement and ranges of variation. All 28 variables have been normalised into the [0-10] range, with higher scores representing better performance for the indicators.

The following normalisation formula has been applied:

Where:

Xi = country score

XMin = sample minimum

XMax = sample maximum

Xi, 0 to 10 = the data point i normalized between 0 and 10

Step 5: Calculating composite e-leadership index

The e-leadership Index for each country is calculated as a weighted average of the rescaled scores for every indicator included in the scoreboard. The weighting approach used distributes different weights to each of the building blocks, based on the results obtained from a regression analysis which assesses relationships between each building block indicators’ (independent variable) and estimated number of e-leaders for each 28 Member States (dependent variable). The rationale behind this analysis is to explore and assess relationships between indicators’ performance and potential presence of e-Leaders.

Identification of policies and stakeholder initiatives on e-leadership skills

To gather information on and evaluate the current e-leadership skills policy and initiative landscape and try to assess the impact of relevant policies at EU and national level, a significant amount of information needed to be systematically collected. The challenge has not only been that the information owners are heterogeneous (including actors in the public sector, the private sector, e.g. the IT industry, and educational organisations), but also the geographic scope of the exercise, as the study focused on activities in all 28 Member States (and major regions, if relevant). The collected information included, in particular, factual information about ongoing and completed activities at the European level and in EU Member States (e.g. information about the types of initiatives, the stakeholders involved and the governance model applied), as well as views of stakeholders and experts that have been involved in such activities regarding the outcome of these activities.

Our activities consisted mainly of:

a survey of relevant national policies in the e-leadership skills domain, and

a survey of initiatives and multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) at Member State level in this domain, with the focus as before.

The data was collected with the support, where found appropriate, of a network of national correspondents covering all 28 Member States of the EU.

Information gathering using templates where appropriate is divided into three steps.

In a first step it focused on the general policy context in the different countries. The aim has been to give a brief overview of the overall structure of the policy system and programmes and the key stakeholders active in this area. In this section, national correspondents were guided to refer to and


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mention the policy programmes of relevance for e-leadership skills and to provide an overview of how these are embedded and integrated in the overall policy context.

The work built on already existing literature and studies available from previous projects, statistical sources and the proposers’ expertise and experiences gained in the precursor and previous projects and service contracts. The analysis was enhanced by most recent literature and studies.

In a second step, more in-depth data has been gathered on the major policies and initiatives targeting creation of e-skills and e-leadership skills which had been identified in the previous step. The template was brief, with the following points to be addressed:

Name of policy, programme, initiative

Overall objectives

Specific objectives

Targets

Main characteristics

Policy evaluation: Monitoring and measurement system in place

Results achieved (versus objectives and targets)

The output of this activity included descriptions of the respective policies and initiatives on the basis of a standardised template, consisting of about 5 pages of text in tabular format and a preliminary assessment with regard to some benchmarking indicators (see below for a description of the benchmarking approach).

At an early stage of the project (Phase I) empirica developed a data gathering guide and template for use by national correspondents to gather the relevant information. This was followed by contacting national correspondents and providing them with a Guide / Toolkit containing background information, guidelines and instructions for how to conduct the research, and the data capture instruments (description templates and questionnaires, as applicable). National correspondents in each Member State were asked to identify key actors and experts in the fields of e-skills and e-leadership skills and to interview them, as well as to undertake desk research.

In order to avoid work duplication and to achieve best value for money, national correspondents were supplied with pre-filled data templates wherever available based on the instruments used for precursor studies, which they were then asked to validate, update and complement as appropriate.

Benchmarking and assessment of policies and stakeholder initiatives on e-leadership skills

Indices for Member States' level of policy activity

National policy activity was explored through an investigation on national policy and stakeholder initiatives that have a bearing on skills development in the e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship area. Findings are summarised in the form of two indices for policies & initiatives addressing e-leadership skills of SMEs and skills for digital entrepreneurship, respectively. Index values have not been mechanistically derived using checklists but rather through a qualitative assessment of the significance and importance of each policy and activity.


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Index values are to be interpreted as follows:

Table 2: Scoring format for assessment of national policy and stakeholder activities

Score

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership Skills for

SMEs

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital

Entrepreneurship

No relevant policy or stakeholder activities of significant scope and size have been identified. Policy debate is non-existent or sketchy.

No relevant policy or stakeholder activities of significant scope and size have been identified. Policy debate is non-existent or sketchy.

There are little policy or stakeholder activities which explicitly deal with e-leadership skills, but related topics have entered the policy debate. Measures are in place, e.g. training of SMEs in strategic use of ICT for innovation. Education providers show clear signs of awareness.

There are little policy or stakeholder activities which explicitly deal with skills for digital entrepreneurship, but related topics have entered the policy debate, e.g. in the context of efforts to boost entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. Education providers show clear signs of awareness.

Some major policy and stakeholder activities, but coordination/integration, scope and sustainability are limited. Policy debate is well developed but still limited to insiders rather than the main target groups. Education providers offer relevant courses/programmes.

Some major policy and stakeholder activities, but coordination/integration, scope and sustainability are limited. Policy debate is well developed but still limited to insiders rather than the main target groups. Education providers offer relevant courses/programmes.

Training for e-leadership is fully embedded in policy strategies (e.g. e-skills or SME strategies) and action plans are in place. The policy debate is well developed and involves all key target groups. SME demand for training courses is met by supply. Some shortcomings e.g. in terms of sustainability, monitoring, scalability, coverage.

Training for digital entrepreneurship is fully embedded in policy strategies on entrepreneur-ship, and action plans are in place. The policy debate is well developed and involves all key target groups. Entrepreneur demand for training courses is met by supply. Some shortcomings e.g. in terms of sustainability, monitoring, scalability, coverage.

A master strategy is in place and there are not only various relevant policies and stakeholder initiatives, but these are also well integrated at national and sectoral level. Buy-in from all relevant stakeholders has been obtained.

A master strategy is in place and there are not only various relevant policies and stakeholder initiatives, but these are also well integrated at national and sectoral level. Buy-in from all relevant stakeholders has been obtained.

Preliminary results, as reproduced in the present document, will be validated through a major online survey using a sample of >300 stakeholder representatives and experts covering all 28 EU Member States.

Methodology for Benchmarking policies and initiatives

For identification of existing policies and initiatives that are of relevance to the e-leadership issue we have made use of a SWOT analysis approach (strengths – weaknesses – opportunities – threats). A SWOT analysis combines the assessment of external developments that cannot be directly influenced by the organisation in focus (e.g. the overall market development) with an analysis of its internal specific situation (e.g. its capabilities, product quality and price, market position). Factors specific to the firm are classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), depending on how the situation is in comparison to key competitors with regard to the selected evaluation criteria. External developments (e.g. market trends) are then matched with the organisation's specific strengths and weaknesses, which leads to conclusions on opportunities (O) or threats (T). A SWOT analysis helps organisations allocating their resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which they operate. As such, the instrument is often used for (longer-term) strategy formulation.


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The unit of observation in the present study is policies and stakeholder initiatives. The methodology for benchmarking these is described below. The analysis of strengths and weaknesses was conducted in a multi-step process for which various sets of criteria are being applied. In order to arrive at a shortlist of candidates from the initial total set of up-and-running policies and stakeholder initiatives identified by the National Correspondents, an evaluation scheme based on the following criteria was used:

Table 3: Criteria for selecting outstanding policies and stakeholder initiatives for shortlisting

Selection criteria Evaluation scheme

Partnership

approach of the

policy or

initiative

(“MSP fit”)

To what extent does the policy or initiative make use of a "multi-stakeholder partner-

ship" approach?

Each case is given a score on a scale of 3 values:

HIGH (2) The policy or stakeholder initiative fully complies with the MSP definition, i.e. it

engages all main stakeholders that are of relevance for a certain e-leadership

skills related issue. The partnership involves all or most of the following:

government (at national, regional and/or local level), business, education

providers, social partners and possibly the civic sector (e.g. NGOs).

MEDIUM (1) The policy or stakeholder initiative has some involvement of several partners

from the government, business, social partners and/or education sector, but not

all main stakeholders which are of relevance for a certain e-skills related issue

are engaged.

LOW (0) The policy or stakeholder initiative is initiated and operated mainly by one / only

a few partners from only one, at most two sectors (government, business, social

partners, education) and it appears that some key stakeholders who are of

relevance for the e-skills related issue in question are not involved.

Target and

approach of the

policy or

initiative

(“Target fit”)

To what extent does the policy or stakeholder initiative target skills development in the

e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship area5?


HIGH (2) The policy or stakeholder initiative has a clear focus on skills development in the e-leadership and/or digital entrepreneurship area

MEDIUM (1) The policy or stakeholder initiative addresses skills development in the e-leadership and/or digital entrepreneurship area, but its main focus is more traditional (e.g. on general leadership or entrepreneurship skills).

LOW (0) The policy or stakeholder initiative deals with “digital literacy” of the

general population or subgroups hereof (e.g. unemployed, disabled

people), but does not address ICT practitioner skills and/or e-Leadership

skills.

Embeddedness in

the general policy

context

("Policy fit”)

To what extent is the policy or stakeholder initiative embedded in a broader policy

context?


HIGH (2) The policy or stakeholder initiative is strongly embedded in a relevant

national or regional policy context (such as a skills strategy or an

innovation action plan).

5 Rather than entrepreneurship skills in general, or leadership skills in general


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Selection criteria Evaluation scheme

MEDIUM (1) There are some links of the policy or stakeholder initiative to general

skills and innovation related policy programmes.

LOW (0) The policy or stakeholder initiative is poorly embedded, i.e. links to

general skills and innovation related policy programmes are very limited.

It is likely to remain a one-off activity of limited duration.

Size and scope of

the policy or

initiative

("Scope and

continuity”)

Are the size and scope of the policy or stakeholder initiative sufficient to make it

relevant to national skills development in the e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship

field?

Each initiative is given a score on a scale of 3 values:

HIGH (2) The policy or stakeholder initiative has a size (in terms of budget,

number of stakeholders involved, target group reach, or similar) and

scope (e.g. sectors and occupations covered) which makes it highly

relevant to related developments in the whole country. Its duration is

not limited to a one-off project, but there is (planned to be) a continuity

of activities over many years.

MEDIUM (1) The policy or stakeholder initiative has a size and scope which means it is

of some relevance to related developments in the whole country. Its

duration may be limited to a one-off project, but its goals are continued

through other means.

LOW (0) Size and scope of the policy or stakeholder initiative are a too limited to

make it relevant to related developments in the whole country, or its

duration is limited to a one-off project without any continuation or

follow-on activities.

Level of

experience with

the policy or

initiative

("Maturity”)

Has the policy or stakeholder initiative been in operation for long enough to make it

possible to assess performance and to learn from its experience?


HIGH (2) The policy or stakeholder initiative has achieved a major part of its

operational goals already, i.e. it has been in operation for long enough to

allow for assessment.

MEDIUM (1) The policy or stakeholder initiative has commenced already but is at an

early stage of implementation.

LOW (0) The policy or stakeholder initiative is still at the planning stage, i.e. no

experience is available yet.

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