Networking for Innovation: Pre-Feasibility Study for Transfer of Foreign Technology to Polish Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Introduction

Poland in the first 10 years of post-Communist transition has undoubted economic reform successes to its credit: substantial macroeconomic stabilization, the dynamic growth of the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) both in production and services as well as the privatization of a large portion of the formerly state-owned sector, and the achievement of growth rates among the highest in Europe (both east and west). One of the areas where Poland continues to lag considerably, however, even in comparison with its nearest competitors, Hungary and the Czech Republic, is in the area of technological upgrading and innovation. Much of the post-Communist growth in Poland has been of a relatively crude character, produced by small and medium-sized firms having unsophisticated technological profiles but able to grow through exploitation of market niches for consumer goods and services long neglected by the previous system.