Nowadays, firms competitiveness is highly dependent from innovation capacity. Especially SMEs in non-technological industries struggle in establishing innovation capacity and fostering innovation culture. Practice shows that even firms with extensive resources to establish systems and programs, struggle with establishing effective inclusive innovation culture (Sweeney &Imaretska 2018). Often investing in explaining relevance of innovation to employees, building systems for engagement, employing specialists to implement complex innovation programs, doesn’t translate to expected increase in innovativeness. It’s because organic innovation, crucial for SMEs and even more for no/low tech SMEs, starts with everyday behaviors. How people interact? What they do when someone comes up with new ideas? How they react to mistakes, failures or successes of their own or others? Do behaviors change when leaders are around? Etc. The behavioral and cognitive aspects are at heart of WINN project. In SMEs internal processes and culture are in general highly dependent on behaviors and beliefs of entrepreneur or small executive team (Zucchella&Siano 2014, Coyle 2017). It’s leader role to cultivate environment encouraging and supporting engagement in innovation. To this end, SMEs leaders need to understand relevance of inclusive innovation and the need for ability to establish proinnovative environment within their SME, but also adapt to new leader roles - enabling the team to solve problems rather than micromanage, ensure there is no double standards depending on hierarchy, sex, department etc., encourage collaboration, activate knowledge resources of all workers etc. For that purpose, WINN project focuses on development of specific capacitation program that will prepare SMEs executives to behave innovatively and spread innovation culture across their organisations. It specifically aims at ensuring that SMEs leaders in no/low tech industries are prepared to lead for innovation, by developing proper mindset and adapting their behaviors and beliefs to allow authentic leadership for innovation. Due to the issue complex requirements, the WINN project will offer strongly customizable self-development path in form of practical daily workouts resulting from 5 intellectual outputs: - WINN customization methodology (IO1) will focus on diagnosing users week areas and individual barriers in scope of their innovation capacity and underline specific aspects requiring improvements. - WINN Workouts Methodology (IO2) to provide users daily workouts adopted to personalized needs for behavioral and cognitive change regarding individual mindset, behaviours and biases to maximize proinnovative behaviors and beliefs. - WINN Wokouts Toolkit (IO3) for supporting practice-based learning will include pool of exercises, cases, motivational stories and short readings to support implementation of the workouts, iconographics, videos etc. for increasing interactivity and impact of the program. - WINN Mobile App (IO4) - a tool for integrated delivery of WINN Program to final users. The APP will provide direct access to interactive learning process responding to SMEs needs and will ensure easy delivery to any participant across EU. It will ensure effective self-development but also the ability to provide users (in non-time-consuming way) daily updates and learning tools along their development path. - WINN lesson learnt report (IO5) will gather partners and stakeholders experience and knowledge, results of WINN piloting phase and lessons learned to produce a comprehensive guide how to effectively support building innovation mindset and behavioral change to foster inclusive innovation culture in SMEs. Development and testing of the solution will be conducted within 5 working packages: 1 management and coordination, 2 Communication and Dissemination, 3 Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality Management, 4 Solution development, 5 Piloting. Within that framework, based on close partners collaboration, knowledge exchange and inclusion of stakeholders in results design and improvements, WINN is expected to result in highly innovative approach and tools for supporting needed behavioral and cognitive capacitation for innovation of SMEs managers in no/low tech sectors. WINN IOs and learning will be delivered to main target group via Mobile App (120 pilot users) providing daily innovation workouts to SMEs manager directly from the level of their smart phones to ensure maximally time efficient development. More, the methodology and learning will be broadly distributed among SMEs support organisations and adult educators to increase their capacity to provide support in the area to SMEs leaders. WINN methodology focuses on integration of strongly practical and target-group oriented development tools and strong communication and dissemination of results, including building a network of organization with direct interest in engagement in filling the gap in SMEs competencies.
By implementing this project, the partners wanted aimed at: • Enhance and train cognitive and behavioral development in innovation of the SME executives/managers with low/no tech knowledge. • Build culture of innovation on the SME market. • Develop a learning process based on self-learning and interactivity • Creating a tool to boost SMEs innovative capabilities. Meanwhile, by implementing the project, the 6 partners wanted to contribute with their experience and expertise to the development of contents for the project, as well as to enrich their portfolio of training and SME consultancy offer for adults.
Innovation is among main pillars of EU competitiveness. To lead successful organisations with inclusive innovative culture, managers need to change the way they think and behave. That will allow to engage all employees in building innovativeness and competitiveness of their firms. WINN project matched the profile of all the partners, as we have contact to many SME support organizations addressing the need of a lack of innovative culture in many SMEs. Supporting SMEs in our regions is our overall organizational goal and the WINN project developed a tool that will help us in working towards this goal in the future. Other needs we have addressed through WINN project are: • To address European SMEs' dearth of an innovation culture • Assist managers in fostering inclusive and creative enterprises • Promote innovation and competitiveness among all employees • Ensuring open, international innovation transfer • Lack of opportunities for SME executives lacking knowledge, skills • Lack of innovation mindset The need to support local entrepreneurs and larger players such as (Development Agencies and Chambers of Commerce and Industry) by providing IT solutions/ mobile application supporting the development of entrepreneurship and innovation.