Average importance of various means of protecting the competitive advantage of new or improved products and processes in large firms and SMEs (scale: 1 = not at all important; 5 = very important)
| Products | Processes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How important are the following means of protecting the competitive advantages of new or improved products and processes on average for your company? | Large firms (std. dev.) | SMEs (std. dev.) | Large firms (std. dev.) | SMEs (std. dev.) |
| (a) Patents | 3.57 (1.38) | 3.29 (1.20) | 2.52 (1.41) | 2.67 (1.40) |
| (b) Secrecy | 3.74 (0.99) | 4.07 (0.96) | 3.58 (1.30) | 3.68 (1.22) |
| (c) Complexity of product or process design | 3.70 (0.96) | 3.72 (1.05) | 3.49 (1.24) | 3.38 (1.00) |
| (d) Keeping qualified personnel in the firm | 4.38 (0.62) | 4.42 (0.91) | 4.16 (0.86) | 4.23 (0.84) |
| (e) Creation of lead times by other means than (a) – (d) | 3.73 (0.88) | 3.63 (0.83) | 3.19 (1.06) | 3.35 (1.01) |
| (f) Cost reductions in production | 3.88 (1.06) | 3.58 (1.16) | 4.02 (0.90) | 3.64 (1.14) |
| (g) Complementary sales | 3.17 (0.99) | 3.10 (0.92) | 2.82 (1.09) | 2.68 (1.29) |
| (h) Complementary manufacturing | 2.50 (0.94) | 2.48 (0.76) | 2.54 (1.08) | 2.33 (0.94) |
| (i) Marketing and after-sales service | 3.64 (0.86) | 3.74 (1.14) | 3.06 (1.15) | 2.96 (1.32) |
| (j) Creation of costs for customers to switch supplier | 3.13 (1.03) | 2.88 (1.36) | 2.88 (0.95) | 2.56 (1.46) |
| (k) Securing formal contractual control over important actors in the value chain (key suppliers and customers) by contracting or integration (e.g. through M&As) | 3.14 (1.04) | 3.34 (1.12) | 3.11 (1.10) | 2.92 (1.13) |
| (l) Securing informal control over important actors in the value chain (e.g. through trust and personal relations) | 3.40 (1.02) | 3.72 (1.05) | 3.12 (1.03) | 3.50 (1.04) |
| Products | Processes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How important are the following means of protecting the competitive advantages of new or improved products and processes on average for your company? | Large firms (std. dev.) | SMEs (std. dev.) | Large firms (std. dev.) | SMEs (std. dev.) |
| (a) Patents | 3.57 (1.38) | 3.29 (1.20) | 2.52 (1.41) | 2.67 (1.40) |
| (b) Secrecy | 3.74 (0.99) | 4.07 (0.96) | 3.58 (1.30) | 3.68 (1.22) |
| (c) Complexity of product or process design | 3.70 (0.96) | 3.72 (1.05) | 3.49 (1.24) | 3.38 (1.00) |
| (d) Keeping qualified personnel in the firm | 4.38 (0.62) | 4.42 (0.91) | 4.16 (0.86) | 4.23 (0.84) |
| (e) Creation of lead times by other means than (a) – (d) | 3.73 (0.88) | 3.63 (0.83) | 3.19 (1.06) | 3.35 (1.01) |
| (f) Cost reductions in production | 3.88 (1.06) | 3.58 (1.16) | 4.02 (0.90) | 3.64 (1.14) |
| (g) Complementary sales | 3.17 (0.99) | 3.10 (0.92) | 2.82 (1.09) | 2.68 (1.29) |
| (h) Complementary manufacturing | 2.50 (0.94) | 2.48 (0.76) | 2.54 (1.08) | 2.33 (0.94) |
| (i) Marketing and after-sales service | 3.64 (0.86) | 3.74 (1.14) | 3.06 (1.15) | 2.96 (1.32) |
| (j) Creation of costs for customers to switch supplier | 3.13 (1.03) | 2.88 (1.36) | 2.88 (0.95) | 2.56 (1.46) |
| (k) Securing formal contractual control over important actors in the value chain (key suppliers and customers) by contracting or integration (e.g. through M&As) | 3.14 (1.04) | 3.34 (1.12) | 3.11 (1.10) | 2.92 (1.13) |
| (l) Securing informal control over important actors in the value chain (e.g. through trust and personal relations) | 3.40 (1.02) | 3.72 (1.05) | 3.12 (1.03) | 3.50 (1.04) |
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