Future Challenges for Innovations in SMEs in the Baltic Sea Region

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up for the majority of all enterprises in the Baltic Sea Region and can thus be considered the economic backbone. To stay competitive versus low labour cost countries, these companies must maintain and increase a high level of innovation. To learn more about the current innovations in SMEs and how to promote them, a comprehensive survey has been conducted in 11 countries with 608 participants, among them 248 SMEs, 88 universities, 58 Business Chambers and 54 administrations. The collected data allows highly interesting conclusions, comparing innovative companies with non-innovative companies. The most distinctive hindrances for innovation in SMEs are identified and discussed. A clear difference between well- developed companies, that are interested more in soft innovations (personnel) and less developed countries that focus more on product innovations can be concluded. Also countries like Sweden or Denmark have other expectations than Russia or Poland. Education and Qualification are of utmost importance for innovative SMEs.