IMP³rove Innovation Management Support Services in Hungary

First Analysis of the Up-take of IMP³rove Innovation
Management Support Services 2012-2013 within the
Operative Programme Financed by the EU
February 2015
IMP³rove Innovation
Management Support
Services in Hungary

www.improve-innovation.eu; IMP³rove is a registered trademark 20 Februar 2015 2
Table of Content
Management Summary 3
The IMP³rove Innovation Management Support Services 4
The IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy 4
The IMP³rove Approach – a Holistic Approach to Better Innovation
Management 5
IMP³rove in Hungary – a Short Overview 9
Impact from the IMP³rove Services within the Operative
Programme in Hungary 11
IMP³rove Services Rendered in Hungary 11
Impact of the IMP³rove Services on Hungarian Companies 12
Reach of the IMP³rove Services in Hungary between 2012 and 2013 12
Scores of the Hungarian SMEs that Completed the IMP³rove Assessment
between 2012 and 2013 14
Hungarian Company Winning the International IMP³rove Award 2013 15
Feedback on the IMP³rove Services by Assessed Companies, Consultants
and Business Advisors 15
IMP³rove Services as Starting Point for an Effective Innovation Eco-System
in Hungary 18
Measuring the impact of the IMP³rove Services within the
Operative Program 20
Table of figures 21
List of Abbreviations 22
Contact 23

IMP³rove Innovation Management Support Services for Hungary 2012-2013
Management Summary
The Hungarian Government completed the Operative Programme financed by the European Union
2007 – 2013. In some calls since 2012, companies received extra points in the evaluation phase if
they submitted the IMP³rove Assessment report (www.improve-innovation.eu) as part of their
application. After closing the program, the Ministry “NEMZETGAZDASÁGI MINISZTÉRIUM
GAZDASÁGFEJLESZTÉSI PROGRAMOK VÉGREHAJTÁSÁÉRT, FELELŐS HELYETTES
ÁLLAMTITKÁRSÁG” requested a short feedback from the IMP³rove – European Innovation
Management Academy (non-profit) as the organization offering the IMP³rove support services. The
high-level feedback should focus on the participating companies that benefitted from the IMP³rove
services in the period from 2012- 2013.
During the period from 2012 – 2013, 173 SMEs completed the IMP³rove Assessment and 65
consultants and business advisors were trained to assist the companies in completing the IMP³rove
Assessment successfully. We assume that most of these companies also applied for funding
provided by the Operative Program.
The level of satisfaction with the IMP³rove services is high, with a noted 96 percent of the IMP³rove
trained consultants and business advisors who will recommend the IMP³rove services to their clients
and business network partners. The companies that benefitted from the IMP³rove services, on
average, gave a score of 5.6 (maximum 7 being very high) that the IMP³rove Assessment enhanced
their innovation management performance.
The IMP³rove Assessment is designed as an online benchmarking tool. Consultants and business
advisors are trained by the IMP³rove - European Innovation Management Academy to guide the
companies in personal meetings through the five key dimensions of innovation management. Thus,
the completion of the online assessment is designed as a learning experience for the management of
the company. The IMP³rove Approach then requires the consultant or business advisor to analyse
the detailed IMP³rove benchmarking reports. In a workshops with the company, they provide
feedback to on the company’s strengths and weaknesses in innovation management as basis to
develop and implement the improvement measures.
The calls launched in the context of the Operative Programme only incentivized the completion of the
IMP³rove Assessment but not the definition and implementation of measures to improve the
innovation management performance and competitiveness of the company. This should however
become part of future innovation policies. Only then will they have a strong and measurable impact.

The IMP³rove Innovation Management
Support Services
The IMP³rove innovation management support services are offered by the IMP³rove – European
Innovation Management Academy and build on a holistic approach to innovation management.
The IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy
The IMP³rove - European Innovation Management Academy, non-profit, www.improve-innovation.eu
offers innovation management support services to enterprises, consultants and intermediaries. It also
provides financial actors, policy makers and academia with consulting support and technical
assistance related to innovation and innovation management. The services include innovation
management benchmarking for enterprises, training and certification in innovation management,
research on innovation management issues and promotion of best practices in innovation
management. With its global network, the IMP³rove Academy has set the standard for innovation
management assessment. The IMP³rove- European Innovation Management Academy emerged
from the European Commission's flagship program "IMP³rove". It was supported by the European
Commission's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and receives continued
support by Horizon 2020.
Figure 1: Overview on IMP³rove innovation management support services
For a more extensive overview, the IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy offers
• Enterprises a comprehensive online innovation management assessment that compares the
company’s score with those of their competitors. Thus, the company gains insights in their
innovation management performance and competitiveness. The IMP³rove innovation management
benchmarking approach is compliant with the European standards on innovation management

(CEN TS 16555-11
). IMP³rove workshops and training courses on innovation management related
topics offered to enterprises focus on high business impact.
• Business advisors such as consultants or intermediaries are offered training, certification as well as
approaches and tools for better innovation management support, mainly to SMEs. The training and
certification program enhances the consultants’, intermediaries’ and business advisors’ proficiency
in innovation management and innovation management support. Focus of the training is on
improving the SME’s competitiveness and sustainable growth from innovation. Therefore, the tools
for consultants, intermediaries and business advisors include the online benchmarking that starts
with the IMP³rove Assessment and can be detailed with the IMP³rove Root/Cause Analysis and the
IMP³rove sustainability-driven innovation management assessment. Furthermore, example of case
studies and approaches to improve the various dimensions of innovation management at SMEs are
offered to these innovation management support service providers.
• Policy makers are offered technical assistance, such as developing effective innovation
management support programs. This usually includes the design and implementation of innovation
management policies, design and implementation of national, regional or sectoral innovation
awards, impact evaluation of innovation policies and programs.
• Financial actors receive support and tools to enhance the value of the enterprises they invest in by
improving those companies’ innovation management performance and competitiveness.
• Academia gains insights in innovation management performance and benchmarks. The program
“IMP³rove for Students” combines the academic education in innovation management with practical
experience of an innovation management assessment at an SME
The IMP³rove Approach – a Holistic Approach to Better Innovation
Management
Sustainable and profitable growth of companies is only feasible with a continuous flow of successful
innovation projects. Managing innovation, therefore, is a skill that each company needs to develop.
Based on the experience with numerous enterprises, innovation management requires skills in five
key dimensions:
• Developing the innovation strategy
• Establishing and fostering an innovation organization and culture
• Managing the innovation life cycle processes for short time to market and short time to profit
• Leveraging the innovation enabling factors such as IP and knowledge management, controlling of
innovation projects, etc.
• Continuously improving the innovation results, mainly profitable growth from innovation in terms of
growth in revenue, in profit and in number of employees
These five key dimensions of innovation management are illustrated in the figure below.
1
The managing director of the IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy, Dr. Eva Diedrichs, is
also the convener of the CEN TC 389 Working Group 3 “Innovation Management Assessment”, and head of
the German delegation to the CEN TC 389 Innovation Management, as well as to the ISO TC 279 Innovation
Management System

Figure 2: The A.T. Kearney House of Innovation
With the focus on innovation results, the IMP³rove services differentiate from other approaches that
focus either more on research and development (R&D) but not on innovation, or on technologies that
are pre-requisite for innovation.
The IMP³rove innovation management assessment is embedded in a process that aims for
continuous improvement of the SME’s competitiveness and profitable growth.
The IMP³rove online assessment is already a learning experience for the SME. Getting a
comprehensive picture of the key dimensions of innovation management by completing the questions
for each of these dimensions helps the management of the SME to learn what is included in a holistic
approach to hence leverage innovation management for competitiveness.

Figure 3: The four steps of the IMP³rove process to support the SME’s continuous
improvement for competitiveness and sustainable growth
The IMP³rove Assessment reports additionally highlight the SME’s strengths and weaknesses in
relation to the growth champions and the average. Thus, the SME gains transparency on the
competitive position and their innovation management capabilities in relation to their competitors on a
national or international scale.
Figure 4: IMP³rove Assessment – benchmarking with the Growth Champions

During a feedback workshop, the results of the IMP³rove benchmarking are analysed by the
IMP³rove consultant/ business advisor and discussed together with the SME management. As a
result, concrete measures are defined to improve the SMEs business performance and innovation
management capabilities.
The IMP³rove online platform will invite the SME automatically after 12 months to a recurring
IMP³rove Assessment to evaluate the achieved improvements and to gain insights in the actual
competitive situation.
For policy makers the IMP³rove approach allows the comparison of the SMEs’ innovation
management performance by industry sector, size or age class on national and international scale.
The insights on the innovation management capabilities on firm level in an aggregated form
complement the normal statistical analyses that innovation policies are currently based on.

IMP³rove in Hungary – a Short Overview
Hungary as an EU Member State was included in the IMP³rove project from the very beginning. As of
January 2015, there are 272 Hungarian SMEs that have benefited from the IMP³rove innovation
management benchmarking services and 65 IMP³rove trained consultants and business advisors
who have assisted at least one SME in completing the IMP³rove Assessment.
In 2007, the first SMEs were included in the IMP³rove project to develop better innovation
management support services.
Execution of operative programme
in Hungary Introduction of
extra points for
innovation
management
assessment
1. EU program “Enhancing Innovation Management Capacity of SMEs”
Source: IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy; Data January 2015
Use of the IMP³rove Assessment by Hungarian SMEs per year
108
65
73
14
272
2015
(status
Jan.)
2
2014201320122011
7
2010
1
2009
0
2008
2
2007 Total
Support of SMEs
financed by EU
(IMP³rove project)
Complementary
impulse by support
of SMEs financed
by EU¹
Figure 5: Use of the IMP³rove Assessment by Hungarian SMEs
In 2009, the European Commission’s DG Regio introduced IMP³rove to the Hungarian Managing
Authority of the Economic Development Operational Programme. In some calls since 2012 for public
funding, SMEs could obtain “extra points” if they provided the IMP³rove Assessment report. Hence in
2012, the IMP³rove Assessment was completed by more than 100 Hungarian SMEs with the
assistance of an IMP³rove trained consultant or business advisor to differentiate their application for
public funding.
Since 2010, Hungarian consultants and business advisors showed interest in joining the IMP³rove
international network of innovation management support service providers. They were trained in the
IMP³rove Approach and how to best leverage it for creating impact on the SMEs’ business
performance.

65
Execution of operative programme
in Hungary
EU funded
programme¹
2010
2%
Total2014
37%
2013
20%
2012
23%
2011
14%
1: “Enhancing Innovation Management Capacity of SMEs” managed by EASME
Development of the Hungarian Network of IMP³rove trained
Consultants and Business Advisors
Figure 6: Development of the Hungarian network of IMP³rove trained consultants and
business advisors
The launch of the European Union’s programme on “Enhancing Innovation Management Capacity of
SMEs” stimulated the interest of members of the Enterprise Europe Network partners in Hungary to
join the IMP³rove network and get trained in this approach for better innovation management support
for SMEs.

Impact from the IMP³rove Services
within the Operative Programme in
Hungary
Given the general level of proficiency in innovation management, Hungary already has a solid
position but there remains potential for further improvement. Currently, it is ranked on position 35 in
the Global Innovation Index report 20142
following Latvia and outperforming the UAE. In this context,
the IMP³rove innovation management support services can contribute to the further development of
innovation management capabilities both on the SME level as well as on the level of innovation
management support providers.
IMP³rove Services Rendered in Hungary
By providing support during the innovation management assessment and highlighting the strengths
and weaknesses of the SME’s innovation management capabilities, the companies learned about the
key success factors of innovation management. In addition they can learn from others in regards to
further developing their competitiveness. As of January 2015, 272 Hungarian companies successfully
completed the IMP³rove Assessment on innovation management. Out of these 272 companies, 33
completed the IMP³rove Root/Cause Analysis to gain a better understanding of the underlying
reasons why competitors might be better in innovation management. 25 Hungarian companies were
interested in sustainability driven innovation management (SDIM) and benchmarked themselves
against their competitors in this area to learn how sustainability can be leveraged as driver for
innovation and how sustainable their innovation management is.
Figure 7: IMP³rove services delivered in Hungary
2
Global Innovation Index Report 2014 – The Human Factor in Innovation:
https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/content.aspx?page=gii-full-report-2014

Most of the Hungarian companies involved an IMP³rove trained consultant or business advisor to
perform the IMP³rove assessments. The 65 IMP³rove trained consultants participated in basic
training on innovation management and some of them also on innovation management consulting.
With the SMEs and the IMP³rove trained consultants and business advisors, a first community for an
IMP³rove powered innovation eco-system is established.
Impact of the IMP³rove Services on Hungarian Companies
The impact of the IMP³rove services on Hungarian companies is described by reach and by
innovation management capabilities. Furthermore, the positive feedback that has been provided by
the assessed companies as well as by the IMP³rove trained consultants and business advisors is
consolidated in the below sections.
Reach of the IMP³rove Services in Hungary between 2012 and 2013
The SMEs that benefitted from the IMP³rove services mainly came from the commercial centers in
Hungary - with the highest population coming from the Budapest area.
Number of Hungarian SMEs benefitting from the IMP³rove services between
2012 and 2013 by postal code area
N = 173; first digit of postal codes provided by SMEs are indicated per region.
67
1
3
8
12
4
6
18
7
12
19
8
9
10
5
52
22
Figure 8: Geographic distribution of SMEs benefitting from IMP³rove between 2012
and 2013
The split by industry sector shows a high population in the knowledge intensive service sector
followed by the sector of machinery and equipment including plant construction and the
ICT/Electrical/ Optical sector. The SMEs that benefitted from the IMP³rove Assessment are from the
smaller segment of SMEs. This translates to the majority having less than 20 employees whilst only
very few are from the segment of 100 to 205 employees as illustrated by the below figures.

8
8
7
1
108
59
(55%)
31
(29%)
5
5
2013
65
28
(43%)
17
(26%)
3
1
2012
Bio Technology
Textile
Space and Aeronautics, Automotive
Knowledge intensive services
Machinery / equipment
ICT / Electrical / Optical
Food / beverages
9
7
2013
65
42
(65%)
16
(25%)
2012
108
53
(49%)
46
(43%)
21 - 100
<= 20
101 - 250
Distribution by industry Distribution by company size class
Companies by Industry and Size Class
Figure 9: Overview on assessed Hungarian SMEs by industry and size class
The population of the Hungarian SMEs in the international IMP³rove benchmarking database shows
an equal size of companies that are in their first decade since foundation and companies that are 11
or more years old.
Split of Hungarian Companies benefitting from the IMP³rove
services between 2012 and 2013 by age in years
6-10
22%
>25
2%
11-25
47%
<=5
28%
Figure 10: Split of Hungarian companies that benefitted from the IMP³rove Services
between 2012 and 2013
The evaluation of these companies has been based on the five dimensions of the IMP³rove
Assessment. The results and scores of these companies are presented in the following chapter.

Scores of the Hungarian SMEs that Completed the IMP³rove Assessment between
2012 and 2013
The companies that completed the IMP³rove Assessment between 2012 and 2013 are compared to
other companies within their size class based on the five key dimensions of innovation management.
The benchmark is defined by the average of the 10 percent of the sample that reached the highest
score in the dimensions “Innovation results”. This score is calculated based on the growth of the
SME during the last 4 years in terms of revenue, profit, number of employees and organic growth
(e.g. not by acquisitions).
The charts below show that all companies in the sample – growth champions and average SMEs –
have room for improvement in all dimensions. Small SMEs with up to 20 employees score lower than
the larger SMEs with 20 to 100 employees in terms of innovation strategy, innovation organization
and culture, innovation life cycle processes and innovation enabling factors. A reason for this can be
the fact that the larger SMEs have already in place some features for managing innovation.
In terms of growth in revenue, profit, and in number of employees, the smaller SMEs tend to achieve
a higher value than the cohort of the larger companies would. This is related to the fact that the
growth is measured in percentages and not in absolute values. Therefore, smaller companies with
less than 20 employees can achieve a substantial growth rate in number of employees only by
having an addition of one or two staff members. This could already translate to a 10 to 20 percent
growth - while a company with 100 employees would need to hire 10 to 20 employees to reach the
same level of growth.
In the dimensions of innovation strategy and innovation culture, there is hardly a difference between
the “Growth Champions” and the average within the two cohorts. In the cohort of the larger SMEs,
the growth champions outperform the average in the management of the innovation life cycle
processes and a little less but still in the dimension of innovation enabling factors.
62%
68%
42%43%
30%
63%
68%
54%
46%
49%
Innovation strategy
Innovation
organization and
culture
Innovation life
cycle processes
Enabling
factors
Innovation
results
Overview of IMP³rove Assessment Results of Hungarian SMEs (scores)
Companies having up to 20 FTE Companies having 21-100 FTE
Average
Growth Champions (leading 10% of companies in revenue growth, profit growth, employee growth and organic development)
1
2
34
5
1
2
59%
63%
40%38%
34%
59%
62%
43%43%
60%
Innovation strategy
Innovation
organization and
culture
Innovation life
cycle processes
Enabling
factors
Innovation
results
34
5
Note: 18 companies in the segment 101-250 employees do not meet the minimum sample size for benchmarking
Figure 11: Overview on IMP³rove Assessment results achieved by Hungarian
companies between 2012 and 2013
Only 10 companies have grown to more than 20 employees within the first 5 years and only 6
companies managed to grow to more than 50 employees within the first 10 years. Overall, the growth
in income from sales over the last four years - from the time the benchmarking took place - was

rather high with an average rate of 14.2 percent in 2012 and 10.8 percent in 2013 (see figure below).
This shows that the IMP³rove benchmarking approach has managed to reach particularly high-
growth in companies.
2012
10.8
14.2
2013
Growth in income from sales per year
(%, average over past four years)
11.6
20132012
12.8
Growth in employment per year
(%, average over past four years)
Note: Sample size in 2012: 112; sample size in 2013: 67
Figure 12: Average growth rate in income from sales and in employment
The growth in number of employees also slightly declined from 2012 (12.8%) to 2013 (11.6%). The
companies’ ambition to grow is rather conservative where the majority state, ”We don’t take giant
steps; however, we seek to make rather small changes to existing products, processes, services
and/or business models to add value”. Only a small group strives “for radical innovation by making
significant changes in the business model products, services and processes of the organization to
fundamentally change the competitive environment”3
Hungarian Company Winning the International IMP³rove Award 2013
In 2013, the International IMP³rove Award was launched for the first time. The winner of this contest
was the Hungarian company IMPREGLON. They received the International IMP³rove Award from Dr.
Sven Schade, Project Officer for IMP³rove at the European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry,
during the INSME Annual Conference in Izmir, Turkey.
The criteria for this award were superior growth from innovation and excellence in innovation
management. In this respect, IMPREGLON was a growth champion and outperformed other
competitors in this contest.
Feedback on the IMP³rove Services by Assessed Companies, Consultants and
Business Advisors
An integral part of the IMP³rove services is to collect regular feedback from the various user groups.
Companies using the IMP³rove benchmarking services are invited to provide their short-term
feedback immediately after completion of the IMP³rove Assessment and then nine (9) month later as
3
Source: IMP³rove database; Registration forms completed by the companies

part of the “long-term feedback” that measures the impact of the IMP³rove services received. The
IMP³rove trained consultants and business advisors are also invited to provide their feedback.
1. How do you rate the overall benefits of the IMP³rove
Assessment for your organisation?
2. Did the IMP³rove Assessment meet your firm's needs and
your expectations?
3. To what extent could you derive improvement measures from
the results of the IMP³rove Assessment?
4. Would you agree that the IMP³rove Assessment enhanced
your innovation management performance?
1. How do you rate the impact of the IMP³rove services?
2. Did the assessment help you to quickly identify strengths and
weaknesses of the enterprise’s innovation management
performance?
3. Did the benchmarking report provide you with sufficient
insights into the enterprise’s innovation management
performance?
4. I think the benchmarking report covers all innovation
management topics relevant for enterprises
5. I would recommend the IMP³rove services to my clients and
within my business network without hesitation
1. How do you rate the overall benefit of the IMP³rove services
for your organization?
2. Did the questions in the IMP³rove questionnaire address your
needs?
3. How useful was the information provided in the
benchmarking report for your organization?
4. How do you rate the IMP³rove consultant's added value
during the assessment?
5. To what extent did the IMP³rove consultant address the
issues of your firm during the assessment?
Type of
Feedback
Eco-system
actors
Short-term
(within three
months)
Innovation consultants/
advisors
Companies
Long-term
(one year
later)
Types of feedback and quantitative questions1
1. Focus on assisted assessment involving consultants and innovation advisors; complementarily, feedback on non-assisted
assessments are available
21
3
92 answers 69 answers
6 answers
Figure 13: Feedback on IMP³rove services from companies and advisors
The following examples will highlight the high satisfaction levels from consultants and business
advisors as well as from companies.
On a scale of 1 (very limited) to 7 (very high) the IMP³rove trained consultants and business advisors
ranked the impact of the IMP³rove services on average with 5.8 out of maximum 7. They were even
more satisfied with the IMP³rove Assessment and the IMP³rove benchmarking report whereby both
helped them become more effective and efficient in their innovation management support services.
Question Average Rating
How do you rate the impact of the IMP³rove services? 5.8
Did the assessment help you to quickly identify strengths and weaknesses of the
enterprise’s innovation management performance? 6.0
Did the benchmarking report provide you with sufficient insights into the enterprise’s
innovation management performance? 6.0
Short-term feedback by consultants and business advisors
(Likert Scale: 1: Very limited; …; 7: very high)
Average score between two and five Average score below twoAverage score above fiveAverage score above six
1
Share of consultants/advisors
stating:
“I think the benchmarking report covers
all innovation management topics
relevant for enterprises”
Share of consultants/advisors
agreeing:
“I would recommend the IMP³rove
services to my clients and within my
business network without hesitation”
96% 95%
Figure 14: Consultants’ and business advisors’ impact rating of the IMP³rove services

Almost all consultants and business advisors (96%) would recommend the IMP³rove services to their
clients and business network without hesitation.
A similar positive feedback is provided by the companies that have completed the IMP³rove
Assessment. They rated these services with at least 5.2 out of maximum 7.
How do you rate the overall benefit of the IMP³rove services for your organization? 5.3
Did the questions in the IMP³rove questionnaire address your needs? 5.2
How useful was the information provided in the benchmarking report for your
organization? 5.3
How do you rate the IMP³rove consultant's added value during the assessment? 6.1
To which extent did the IMP³rove consultant address the issues of your firm during
the assessment? 6.1
Short-term feedback by company
2
A1
Figure 15: Companies’ rating of the IMP³rove services’ short-term impact
The companies rated the support provided by the IMP³rove trained consultants and business
advisors on average on a very high score of 6.1 out of maximum 7.
Even nine (9) months after the IMP³rove services had been rendered to the companies, they had
scored the impact of the IMP³rove Assessment on their innovation management performance on
average very high with a score of 5.6 out of maximum 7. And the overall benefit of the IMP³rove
Assessment reached a score of 5.1 out of maximum 7.
How do you rate the overall benefits of the IMP³rove Assessment for your
organization? 5.1
Did the IMP³rove Assessment meet your firm's needs and your expectations? 5.3
To what extent could you derive improvement measures from the results of the
IMP³rove Assessment? 5.6
Would you agree that the IMP³rove Assessment enhanced your innovation
management performance? 5.6
Long-term feedback by company
3
Figure 16: Companies’ rating of the IMP³rove services’ long-term impact
The presented results indicate the achieved benefits for companies and innovation management
support providers. Further analysis of these results, also in comparison with the international

population of the IMP³rove benchmarking database, can be provided upon request by the IMP³rove –
European Innovation Management Academy.
IMP³rove Services as Starting Point for an Effective Innovation Eco-System in
Hungary
The introduction of the IMP³rove innovation management support services have contributed to the
development of the innovation eco-system in Hungary. Key players in this system have been
involved and now have a common basis to develop this eco-system further.
Enterprises
Enterprises
Developing the Innovation Eco-System
Source: IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy 2015
Education in innovation management:
IMP³rove for Students©
Benchmarking and improvement
for competitiveness
Training and
coaching in better
innovation
management
consulting
Learning how to
develop effective
innovation
policies
Learning how to
best support
companies in
innovation
management
Identifying the
investment
targets with high
growth potential
Consultants Intermediaries
Academia
Financial actorsPolicy makers
Enterprises
Figure 17: IMP³rove powered innovation eco-system
With the EU funded programme “Enhancing Innovation Management Capacity of SMEs” where
Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) partners are expected to render effective innovation management
support services, a good basis has already been established in Hungary. This programme facilitates
the integration of publicly funded business advisors (EEN partners) with private consultants. Both
types of innovation management support providers have been involved in the IMP³rove services in
Hungary.
Furthermore, IMP³rove being compliant with the European standards on innovation management
offers the (Hungarian) policy makers the opportunity to gain insight into the international
competitiveness of the Hungarian companies in terms of innovation management. Even detailed
level benchmarks can be provided such as the share of export (as an indicator for
internationalization), or the number of long-term innovation projects defined in a specific sector by
companies in a defined country or by companies of a defined number of employees (size).
Developing the innovation eco-system requires more in-depth support for SMEs. Assessing/
benchmarking the innovation management of a company is only a first step. The IMP³rove process
integrates the continuous improvement of a company’s innovation management capabilities. This
part has not been fully exploited by the companies in Hungary for several reasons:
• There were no incentives for companies to follow the entire process from innovation management
assessment to improvement and to continuously monitor their competitiveness and growth from
innovation as they received extra points only for submitting the IMP³rove Assessment report

• The companies addressed by the Operative Program were mainly SMEs – target group that
usually does not invest in developing their innovation management capabilities
• The local consultants and business advisors focused on supporting the SMEs in writing their
proposal/ application for the public funds. The consultants and business advisors did not
concentrate on value-adding support services that would have a direct impact on the development
of the SMEs’ innovation management capabilities on site of the SMEs.
These observations should build the basis for the design and implementation of an effective impact
measurement approach and for the future design of innovation policies.

Measuring the impact of the IMP³rove
Services within the Operative Program
The above results provide only some first high-level insights into the impact of the Operative
Program. However, a more in-depth impact study should be initiated.
This impact study should define clear impact measures to be assessed, and compare three
reference groups:
• Companies that have received funding as well as the additional points for submitting the IMP³rove
benchmarking report.
• Companies that have received public funding without the IMP³rove benchmarking.
• Companies that have not at all received public funding.
This impact study should build on the complete IMP³rove benchmarking approach – from innovation
management assessment to defining and implementing the improvement measures – for the
following reasons:
• The IMP³rove Approach focuses on the sustainable growth of companies from innovation.
• The IMP³rove benchmarking database allows for comparison with the SMEs from various industry
sectors and from other (European) countries.
• The IMP³rove Approach will create direct impact on the SMEs innovation management
capabilities and performance.
• Using the IMP³rove Approach will leverage and further develop the Hungarian IMP³rove powered
innovation eco-system by integrating all stakeholders.
• The IMP³rove Approach is compliant with the EU standards on innovation management.
Such an impact study will provide the national authorities in Hungary as well as the European
Commission with a sober picture on the impact of the Operative Programme. At the same time, it will
help to design effective innovation policies in the future. It will also further develop the
competitiveness of Hungarian companies and the Hungarian innovation eco-system.

Table of figures
Figure 1: Overview on IMP³rove innovation management support services 4
Figure 2: The A.T. Kearney House of Innovation 6
Figure 5: Use of the IMP³rove Assessment by Hungarian SMEs 9
Figure 6: Development of the Hungarian network of IMP³rove trained consultants and business advisors 10
Figure 7: IMP³rove services delivered in Hungary 11
Figure 8: Geographic distribution of SMEs benefitting from IMP³rove between 2012 and 2013 12
Figure 9: Overview on assessed Hungarian SMEs by industry and size class 13
Figure 10: Split of Hungarian companies that benefitted from the IMP³rove Services between 2012 and 2013 13
Figure 11: Overview on IMP³rove Assessment results achieved by Hungarian companies between 2012 and 2013 14
Figure 12: Average growth rate in income from sales and in employment 15
Figure 13: Feedback on IMP³rove services from companies and advisors 16
Figure 14: Consultants’ and business advisors’ impact rating of the IMP³rove services 16
Figure 15: Companies’ rating of the IMP³rove services’ short-term impact 17
Figure 16: Companies’ rating of the IMP³rove services’ long-term impact 17
Figure 17: IMP³rove powered innovation eco-system 18

List of Abbreviations
EEN = Enterprise Europe Network
EU = European Union
IMP³rove = IMProving Innovation Management Performance with sustainable IMPact
SME = Small and Medium Enterprise

Contact
IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy EWIV (non profit)
attn.: Eva Diedrichs, Martin Ruppert
Dreischeibenhaus 1
D- 40211 Dusseldorf
Germany
Email: eva.diedrichs@atkearney.com; martin.ruppert@atkearney.com
Tel.: +49 211 13 77-0
Web-site: www.improve-innovation.eu

IMP³rove Innovation Management Support Services in Hungary

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