The use of foresight information in small and medium-sized enterprises - the role of intermediary organisations

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satu Rinkinen ◽  
Martti Mäkimattila
Keyword(s):  
Intermediary Organisations

scholarly journals Caught in the middle? Creating and contesting intermediary spaces in low-carbon transitions

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-133
Author(s):  
Bregje van Veelen
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Governance ◽  
The Status ◽  
Intermediary Organisations

The distributed nature of renewable energy has given rise to new forms and scales of energy governance, in particular the emerging role of households and community organisations in generating and distributing renewable energy. Accompanying this trend has been the emergence of intermediary organisations, whose role it is to mediate between these actors cf. the market and the state, with the aim to move from local experimentation to widespread transformational change. While in recent years a significant body of research has emerged that has considered intermediary functions, less is known about intermediary spaces. By tracing how intermediary spaces are shaped, negotiated, protected, and expanded, this article makes three contributions to the literature on energy governance and low-carbon intermediaries. First, a focus on the relational nature of intermediary spaces challenges the community/state binary in energy governance. Second, it highlights the power dynamics behind these emergent relational spaces; showing such spaces are not neutral, but produced through social relations within and beyond them, affecting the functions that intermediaries seek to fulfil. Third, it provides an understanding of how the ever-changing nature of intermediary spaces can also enable new spaces for action to emerge and challenge the status quo.

scholarly journals Who really acts as an entrepreneur in the science commercialisation process: the role of knowledge transfer intermediary organisations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Szulczewska-Remi ◽  
Hanna Nowak-Mizgalska
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Intermediary Organisations

Purpose Consistent with the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to recognise the complementary entrepreneurial role of knowledge transfer intermediary organisations in the context of two Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries: Poland and the Czech Republic. Design/methodology/approach The aim was achieved through empirical studies relying on multiple-case study methodology and cross-case analysis covering 21 cases of commercialisation intermediary institutions. It was assumed that institutional and geographical conditions can impact the knowledge-based opportunity exploitation between different national economies. Findings Research confirmed that scientists in Poland and the Czech Republic are the central figures of the commercialisation process in terms of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition; however, they need support from intermediary organisations in many other entrepreneurial activities. The history of knowledge commercialisation and its intermediating entities in these countries is relatively young and spin-off company creation is not a common practice. Expertise knowledge, creativity and self-confidence admitted, by the respondents in both countries, can be an optimistic sign for the future efforts in fostering innovativeness of CEE countries. Stronger support of formal institutional framework and policies in those countries is expected. Originality/value Science commercialisation has lately attracted much attention, but only a few studies have tried to develop conceptual frameworks considering knowledge-based entrepreneurship and knowledge commercialisation in their relations and subsequential roles. Also, over the past couple of years literature in this area has expanded mainly relying on observations in the USA and Western European countries. Hence, this study allowed to collect findings from CEE countries for which data are still insufficient but can significantly contribute to the theory development. Also, some recommendations for policymakers arise from this study. Further research could validate the results in an extensive quantitative study.

scholarly journals The role of innovation intermediary organisations in forming value creating meetings: the agri-food firm perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Lisa Blix Germundsson ◽  
Per Frankelius ◽  
Charlotte Norrman
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Food Sector ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
A Value ◽  
Innovation Intermediaries ◽  
Value Creation Process ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Intermediary Organisations

The aim of this study is to explore the concept of value creating meetings that connect agri-food firms with other crucial actors with whom they can collaborate or co-innovate, and related to this, examine the role of innovation intermediary organisations in the forming of such value creating meetings. The research design involves three case studies of intermediary organisations, within the agri-food sector in Sweden, each with an adherent case of a value creating meeting. The method comprises data collected through documents, interviews and insider accounts. The findings include the notion that three factors – problem, professionals and platform – are important to combine in order to facilitate value creation. We also show that intermediaries play an important role in the value creation process and that this process could be summarised into four steps: problem recognition, contact creation, dialogue facilitation and value creation. We elaborate on the role of innovation intermediaries, give examples of how value creating meetings could be arranged and what such meetings can lead to in case of outcome. Practical implications for policy makers and agri-food business firms include that intermediary organisations can play an important bridging role in a complex and fragmented context, offering contacts, networks and value creating meetings for targeted actors. Intermediary organisations need to focus on forming value creating meetings, work actively across sectoral boundaries, and allocate adequate resources for mediating efforts.

The challenge of intermediary coordination in smallholder sugarcane production in Tanzania

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Eliapenda Mmari
Keyword(s):  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Market Institutions ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
Market Linkage ◽  
Increase In Productivity ◽  
Efficiency And Productivity ◽  
Intermediary Organisations

AbstractOrthodox approaches to development view the market as a key institution for driving economic transformation and for fostering innovation and competitiveness. The working of markets alone, however, does not always lead to improved outcomes such as increase in productivity or production efficiency in the context of smallholders. The role of non-market institutions, therefore, remains important. This paper examines the role of intermediary coordination in addressing constraints to efficiency and productivity of smallholder sugarcane producers in Tanzania. It also makes a contrastive analysis of a different organisational arrangement for smallholder sugarcane producers in Malawi. The key proposition is that while intermediary organisations of cane outgrowers in Tanzania have played a significant role in promoting effective market linkage, an increase in productivity required for competitiveness is limited by the lack of effective horizontal coordination.

scholarly journals Cooperation, technical education and politics in early agricultural policy in Catalonia (1914–24)

Rural History ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-222
Author(s):  
Jordi Planas
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Policy ◽  
Technical Education ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Agricultural Cooperatives ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Building Project ◽  
Intermediary Organisations

Abstract After the crisis of the late nineteenth century, the role of the state in European agriculture expanded to many new areas: education and technical innovation; commercial policies and market regulations; farm support policies, and sometimes interventions in property rights. The development of these policies was a difficult and costly process, without the intervention of intermediary organisations like agricultural cooperatives and farmers’ associations. This article analyses the early agricultural policy in Catalonia (Spain) and the role of cooperatives in its implementation. It argues that this regional case was quite exceptional in the early twentieth-century Spanish context, where state intervention in agriculture was extremely limited. In 1914, an autonomous government was set up in Catalonia, and a modern agricultural policy was introduced in which technical education and cooperatives played a crucial role, as well as politics. The agricultural policy promoted and developed by the Catalan government was part of a state-building project based on a regionalist ideology.

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