Summary of the impact

The impact in this case is based on 20 years of research, dissemination and interactions with policy-makers and practitioners. It culminated in the OECD/APEC Athens action plan (2008) which currently drives global policy on support for SME internationalisation, the establishment of a new School of Entrepreneurship and Management at the Romanian Academy of Economic Studies and generated 132 new entrepreneurial businesses (2010-13). This led to a Barclays-funded project in South Africa (2012) to support the internationalisation of 30 local businesses. The research has therefore resulted in improved SME performance and entrepreneurial management which drives economic growth nationally and globally.

Summary of the impact

This case study relates to the impact of research by the University of Cumbria's Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED) on the regional impacts of inward investors on supply chains and the effectiveness of policies designed to grow regional clusters. On the basis of publications, Professor Frank Peck (Director of CRED) was appointed Expert Evaluator for a sequence of EU FP7 "Regions of Knowledge" project proposals (2007-2011), and subsequently invited to join an EU Expert Group examining the role of clusters in Smart Specialisation Strategies in EU Regions. This work has demonstrated that existing cluster initiatives can justifiably be used as a means of implementing smart specialization. As a result, regions are being encouraged to retain cluster strategies as integral parts of EU regional and innovation policies for the 2014 - 2020 programming period.

Summary of the impact

International evidence suggests that small firms provide the main source of new jobs in almost all economies. Policy support can be important in fostering and facilitating SME growth. Dr Kevin Mole, Professor Stephen Roper and Professor David Storey have helped the UK government and regional economic development agencies to develop, implement and evaluate new policy initiatives for supporting SME growth. Building on the UK research, and partnering with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Professor Roper has shaped SME policy development and evaluation in the Western Balkans as countries have sought to upgrade their SME support regimes and align their policy frameworks to those of the European Community.

Summary of the impact

This international research project, based on the work of a consortium of five European countries led by the University of Salford in the area of Enterprise Cultural Heritage (ECH), (the term describing an organisation's history and its creations that have the potential to uniquely innovate and differentiate their products and services), demonstrates the following impact:

• Developing and integrating the ECH training concept in Change Management, Brand Management, Heritage Management and Intellectual Property Rights training material in five languages;
• Developing online training material under Creative Commons Attribution License for free use and re-distribution available through social media such as SlideShare and Wikipedia, accessed c.30,000 times;
• Generating economic and social benefits internationally and leading to a transfer project in the Leonardo da Vinci Development of Innovation scheme entitled Quality & Innovation in Vocational Training for Enterprise Cultural Heritage management.

Summary of the impact

This case study refers to the work in supporting SMEs' e-business adoption undertaken by staff in the Business and Information Systems Research Centre (BISC) led by Professor Duan. Our research was supported by a number of EU funded projects, including VEGNET (knowledge transfer in e-supply chains), TRIMAR (e-marketing for SMEs), TRICTSME (e-commerce in SMEs), LFEC (Languages for e-commerce), Webstep (Business website design for SMEs), amongst others. SMEs are the principal beneficiaries of all these projects, with our research impacts on SMEs including:

• An increased level of e-business adoption in SMEs
• Improved e-business performance and management capacity at regional and international level
• Influences on policy making, raised awareness and debate among business communities and policy makers as regards the sharing of know-how and best practice with international business partners
• Follow-on projects funded by EU to realise the research impact (e.g. three rounds of Webstep project and TRIMAR).

Summary of the impact

Impacts include:

1. Providing tools, processes, events by which SMEs can engage with universities
2. Allowing SMEs and universities to jointly create technology roadmaps and engage in knowledge transfer
3. Encouraging SMEs to become involved in R&D projects by providing tools to National Contact Points (NCPs).

Through repeat-funded projects, Business and Information Systems Research Centre (BISC) has developed strong European collaborations with Research Technology Developers (RTDs), SMEs and public body partners. Funded projects have addressed European R&D dissemination and use in health-based SMEs; knowledge transfer in the environmental sector; and knowledge transfer in manufacturing.

Summary of the impact

Research within the School's Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy (GEP) on the characteristics of UK exporting and non-exporting firms has been used by the UK's trade promotion agencies, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to improve the design and effectiveness of the firm-specific policies they use to increase export performance.

The research has been used to provide an evidence base against which to judge the rationale for and effectiveness of export promotion and to develop new schemes. The research has led to a better understanding of the different types of barriers to exporting faced by different types of UK firms, and the role of previous export experience in lowering these barriers. This evidence base has both informed the design of the UK's export policy and has helped to fashion a specific, new trade promotion scheme (Gateways to Global Growth) launched by the UK in 2009.

Summary of the impact

Bradford research led to the development of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) model which fed into the formulation of international policy tools: namely the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (PRAI) and the Indicators for Measuring and Maximizing Economic Value Added and Job Creation from Private Investment in Specific Value Chains (IMMEV). PRAI was adopted by the Group of 20 (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in 2010 and is currently in use to determine relevant national policies aiming to attract investment in agriculture, in Africa and South East Asia. IMMEV is used to support the Development Pillar of G20 and its use is currently implemented in six countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Laos, Mongolia and Mozambique).

Summary of the impact

Goddard's research in the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) has:

• revealed what enables and what constrains (i) regions seeking to mobilise universities in support of their development goals and (ii) universities' abilities to engage with their local communities;
• provided evidence that has enabled policy makers to give greater prominence within the European Structural Funds to the contribution that universities can make to their regions and the delivery of the Europe 2020 agenda of `smart, sustainable and inclusive growth'.

Summary of the impact

Since its inception in 2005, Bangor Business School's Centre for Business Research (CBR) has developed a research agenda focusing on the North West Wales (NWW) EU convergence region, which is dominated by Small-to-Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) with a distinctively bilingual (Welsh/English) flavour operating in a rural setting. This research has had a significant impact on both local and regional economies by changing the strategies for innovation and growth of individual SME's. The achieved impact came in the form of tangible growth (5% in one instance), successful bidding & grant acquisition (£400K in one case), improved marketing and customer-management, and enhanced knowledge transfer partnerships, which are reflected in greater employment opportunities as evidenced from the supportive statements of the main users of this research