SAMENVATTING EUROPEES
ONDERNEMINGSBELEID
Femke De Wachter
2020-2021
, Part 1: enterprise and entrepreneurship: a policy issue?
Chapter 1: entrepreneuership: a state of mind
1) Much wider concept than enterprise
Entrepreneurship = a mindset
Definition by Macchiavelli: Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little
difference between obstacle and opportunity, and who are able to turn both to their advantage.
2) Entrepreneurs stricto sensu
= those who start up a business, are not so independent as common sense might suggest.
Depends on many stakeholders
The one boss is replaced by multiple stakeholders’ network to whom the entrepreneur is
accountable
3) Becoming an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you can stop working and delegate work to others
“no guts, no glory”
! everyone should be entrepreneurial! = crucial for the welfare of society and its economic growth
Chapter 2: entrepreneurship culture
Business climate = the conditions within which firms are created and developed
Entrepreneurship culture = involves motivation issues and capacity.
Business climate Entrepreneurship culture
Macro-economic conditions Attitudes
Easy access to finance Culture
Taxation issues Failure and bankruptcy issues
Exploitation of the internal market Education
Employment and environmental legislation Training
Administrative burden Research and innovation
Entrepreneurship is?
(babson college): any attempt at new business or new venture creation, such as self-employment, a
new business organization, or the expansion of an existing business by an individual, a team or an
established business.
Measurement: the number of new entries, estimation of the active population participation in new
business creation. The number of persons launching start-up ect. Are added together in order to
calculate the total entrepreneurial activity, the TEA index.
World can be divided in 3 categories: (1) where entrepreneurship is considered a way of life, (2) is
considered a fairly normal activity, (3) is considered an anomaly
GEM= global entrepreneurship monitor
Concludes that in most European countries entrepreneurship remains a cultural an structural
anomaly
Proportion companies for reasons of opportunity > companies for necessity (IN USA)
1
, Lack of an entrepreneurial culture in Europe
People who have failed in their ventures aren’t granted a second chance
o Develop the right legal instruments
Gem study : entrepreneurship is function of many factors: entrepreneurial framework
conditions
Policymakers make shift from SME to entrepreneurship policy
Intrapreneurship: is a system which allows an employee to act like an entrepreneur within an
organization.
Disruptive innovation: is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and
eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-
leading firms, products, and alliances.
o Large companies’ size and wulture make this difficult to execute
Chapter 3: enterprise policy: the four objecti ves
Growth of a company depends on:
1) Labour
2) Capital
3) Intangibles (such as investment rediness, mindset, innovation and entrepreneurship)
Only condition required: enterprise policy should now be reoriented towards those intangibles,
leaving behind the classical subsidy-oriented policy.
Basic strategy of an enterprise= survive or to consolidate
Majority of Belgian companies under-utilise their growth potential and are lacking the guts to
grow.
Lack of finance, risk-averse mentality
Companies are also often declared bankrupt, other companies decide to do the same but delocate to
another country, this cost a lot of jobs!!
The four objectives of enterprise policy
Objectives Policy
Create more companies Start-up policy
Optimize growth potential Growth enablers policy
Prevent bankruptcy Bankruptcy and second chance policy
Avoid delocalization and offshoring Retention and reshoring policy
3.1. ENTERPRISE POLICY AT EUROPEAN LEVEL
Best way to understand the EU’s role is to start by identifying its limits; the following three principles
of operation are relevant:
(1) Private sector first:
- Public involvement should in no way be a substitute for the private sector, nor should it
provoke any kind of cannibalism.
- Priority should be given to the functioning of the market.
2
, (2) Subsidiarity:
= the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those
tasks which cannot be performed at a local level.
- What can be done efficiently at a lower regional level should not be done at European level.
(3) Co-decision procedure:
- Commission works within a multiannual framework that covers up to seven years, such as
COSME (competitiveness for enterprises and SMEs) programme
Hard to be ractive when new economies or financial circumstances arise
The objectives of the EP at European level:
1) Increase competitiveness, Europeanisation and internationalization
2) Create a better environment
Commission relies on various tools:
1) Communications, recommendations and directives to Member States
2) Exchange of experience, best practices and benchmarking exercises.
3) Pilot schemes, which aim to have demonstrative effect
4) Direct financial scheme
2. BENCHMARKING
= the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best
practices from other companies.
Policy main challenges:
1) Promoting entrepreneurship
2) Encouraging a regulatory and business environment
3) Improving the financial environment for SMEs
4) Enhancing the competitiveness
5) Ensuring that business support networks and services to companies are provided and
coordinated
Benchmarking is focused on six fields of intervention:
1) Education
2) Training
3) Access to finance
4) Access to Research and innovation
5) Improved visibility of support services
6) Better public administration
The benchmarking approach comprises five steps:
1) Identification of problems
2) Definition of the main field development
3) Implementation
4) Adoption
5) Follow-up
3
ONDERNEMINGSBELEID
Femke De Wachter
2020-2021
, Part 1: enterprise and entrepreneurship: a policy issue?
Chapter 1: entrepreneuership: a state of mind
1) Much wider concept than enterprise
Entrepreneurship = a mindset
Definition by Macchiavelli: Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little
difference between obstacle and opportunity, and who are able to turn both to their advantage.
2) Entrepreneurs stricto sensu
= those who start up a business, are not so independent as common sense might suggest.
Depends on many stakeholders
The one boss is replaced by multiple stakeholders’ network to whom the entrepreneur is
accountable
3) Becoming an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you can stop working and delegate work to others
“no guts, no glory”
! everyone should be entrepreneurial! = crucial for the welfare of society and its economic growth
Chapter 2: entrepreneurship culture
Business climate = the conditions within which firms are created and developed
Entrepreneurship culture = involves motivation issues and capacity.
Business climate Entrepreneurship culture
Macro-economic conditions Attitudes
Easy access to finance Culture
Taxation issues Failure and bankruptcy issues
Exploitation of the internal market Education
Employment and environmental legislation Training
Administrative burden Research and innovation
Entrepreneurship is?
(babson college): any attempt at new business or new venture creation, such as self-employment, a
new business organization, or the expansion of an existing business by an individual, a team or an
established business.
Measurement: the number of new entries, estimation of the active population participation in new
business creation. The number of persons launching start-up ect. Are added together in order to
calculate the total entrepreneurial activity, the TEA index.
World can be divided in 3 categories: (1) where entrepreneurship is considered a way of life, (2) is
considered a fairly normal activity, (3) is considered an anomaly
GEM= global entrepreneurship monitor
Concludes that in most European countries entrepreneurship remains a cultural an structural
anomaly
Proportion companies for reasons of opportunity > companies for necessity (IN USA)
1
, Lack of an entrepreneurial culture in Europe
People who have failed in their ventures aren’t granted a second chance
o Develop the right legal instruments
Gem study : entrepreneurship is function of many factors: entrepreneurial framework
conditions
Policymakers make shift from SME to entrepreneurship policy
Intrapreneurship: is a system which allows an employee to act like an entrepreneur within an
organization.
Disruptive innovation: is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and
eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-
leading firms, products, and alliances.
o Large companies’ size and wulture make this difficult to execute
Chapter 3: enterprise policy: the four objecti ves
Growth of a company depends on:
1) Labour
2) Capital
3) Intangibles (such as investment rediness, mindset, innovation and entrepreneurship)
Only condition required: enterprise policy should now be reoriented towards those intangibles,
leaving behind the classical subsidy-oriented policy.
Basic strategy of an enterprise= survive or to consolidate
Majority of Belgian companies under-utilise their growth potential and are lacking the guts to
grow.
Lack of finance, risk-averse mentality
Companies are also often declared bankrupt, other companies decide to do the same but delocate to
another country, this cost a lot of jobs!!
The four objectives of enterprise policy
Objectives Policy
Create more companies Start-up policy
Optimize growth potential Growth enablers policy
Prevent bankruptcy Bankruptcy and second chance policy
Avoid delocalization and offshoring Retention and reshoring policy
3.1. ENTERPRISE POLICY AT EUROPEAN LEVEL
Best way to understand the EU’s role is to start by identifying its limits; the following three principles
of operation are relevant:
(1) Private sector first:
- Public involvement should in no way be a substitute for the private sector, nor should it
provoke any kind of cannibalism.
- Priority should be given to the functioning of the market.
2
, (2) Subsidiarity:
= the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those
tasks which cannot be performed at a local level.
- What can be done efficiently at a lower regional level should not be done at European level.
(3) Co-decision procedure:
- Commission works within a multiannual framework that covers up to seven years, such as
COSME (competitiveness for enterprises and SMEs) programme
Hard to be ractive when new economies or financial circumstances arise
The objectives of the EP at European level:
1) Increase competitiveness, Europeanisation and internationalization
2) Create a better environment
Commission relies on various tools:
1) Communications, recommendations and directives to Member States
2) Exchange of experience, best practices and benchmarking exercises.
3) Pilot schemes, which aim to have demonstrative effect
4) Direct financial scheme
2. BENCHMARKING
= the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best
practices from other companies.
Policy main challenges:
1) Promoting entrepreneurship
2) Encouraging a regulatory and business environment
3) Improving the financial environment for SMEs
4) Enhancing the competitiveness
5) Ensuring that business support networks and services to companies are provided and
coordinated
Benchmarking is focused on six fields of intervention:
1) Education
2) Training
3) Access to finance
4) Access to Research and innovation
5) Improved visibility of support services
6) Better public administration
The benchmarking approach comprises five steps:
1) Identification of problems
2) Definition of the main field development
3) Implementation
4) Adoption
5) Follow-up
3
