Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Andrea Kő, Péter Fehér and Krisztián Varga
management but also shared resource planning tools and platforms, as well. Organisations usually
quote its importance in collaborative research or development projects, or in international
collaborations.
The survey showed, and <strong>the</strong> case studies reflected, that organisations are waiting for <strong>the</strong> maturity <strong>of</strong>
tendering and procurement solutions, although some pioneers already started <strong>the</strong>se activities.
Figure 8: Evaluation <strong>of</strong> possible e-business solutions for SMEs (average on scale 1-5)
3.4 Role <strong>of</strong> associations
Plan resources
Share edition <strong>of</strong> document
Document management
Document import/export
Integrated electronic <strong>of</strong>fer
Common tender preparation
The work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> SMEs is helped through pr<strong>of</strong>essional organisations. The research aimed to explore
<strong>the</strong> requirements for <strong>the</strong>se associations, and <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fered services. Most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> possible <strong>of</strong>fered
services are assessed slightly above average, generally supporting networking and knowledge
sharing, but <strong>the</strong>re is two significantly different factors:
SMEs require strong support to appear in international markets. These companies lack both <strong>the</strong>
knowledge and competence to lead a successful internalisation strategy, <strong>the</strong>refore require help
from business associations
Despite financing is as valid and continuous problem <strong>of</strong> SMEs, <strong>the</strong> requirement for support on
achieving public funds is below average. As it was seen in <strong>the</strong> case studies, organisations are
participating in public programs, but without <strong>the</strong> help <strong>of</strong> business associations. Instead relying on
<strong>the</strong>ir own expertise, or collaborating with specialised consultants to gain funds.
Support to internationalization for a
sector/district
Promotion <strong>of</strong> innovative technologies
Promotion <strong>of</strong> a service sector to o<strong>the</strong>r
sectors
Promotion <strong>of</strong> horizontal aggregation for
purchasing and resource sharing
Sectoral events to promote networking
and knowledge update
Promotion <strong>of</strong> vertical aggregation for new
products
Support to access public funding for
enterprise networks
Figure 9: Evaluation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> sectorial and o<strong>the</strong>r pr<strong>of</strong>essional associations (average on scale 1-
5)
532
2,96
2,84
3,37
2,36
3,61
3,81
3,79
3,28
3,16
3,16
3,14
4,28
3,44