Study on e-leadership skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises : final report.
Date: 2015-12-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Subjects: digital literacy, digital technology, information technology, innovation, professional qualifications, small and medium-sized enterprises, vocational training

e-Leadership Skills 
for Small and Medium Sized 
Enterprises 

Final Report 

Written by  

TOBIAS HÜSING 

ERIONA DASHJA 

KARSTEN GAREIS 

WERNER B. KORTE 

TOBIAS STABENOW 

PHILLIP MARKUS 

November 2015 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In cooperation with: 

INSEAD 

IE Business School 

Henley Business School 

Aarhus University 

New Bulgarian University 

Antwerp Management School 

European Foundation for 
Management Development 

IDC Europe 

PIN-SME 

CIONET 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs 
Directorate Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing  
Unit F/3  KETs, Digital Manufacturing and Interoperability 

Contact: André Richier 

E-mail: GROW-F3@ec.europa.eu  

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

e-Leadership Skills for  
Small and Medium Sized 
Enterprises 

Final Report 

Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs  
Study on e-leadership skills for SMEs   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015 

ISBN 978-92-79-36384-9 
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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

About this document  

is 

This  document 
the  Final  Report  of  work  under  a  service  contract,  Tender  No. 
288/PP/ENT/CIP/13/C/N01C012,  of  the European  Commission on "e-Leadership  Skills for  Small  and 
Medium  Sized  Enterprises".  Work  under  this  contract  was  carried  out  between  January  2014  and 
September 2015. 

About e-Leadership for SMEs 

The  European  Commission  DG  ENTR  has  launched  the  service  contract  on  „e-Leadership  Skills  for 
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises“ in January 2014 with a consortium led by empirica. The aim is 
to  develop  targeted  actions  for  start-ups  and  fast  growing  SMEs  to  provide  them  with  relevant  e-
leadership  skills  and  qualifications  for  entrepreneurs,  managers  and  advanced  ICT  users  that  are 
recognized trans-nationally.  

It  is  a  contribution  to  the  follow  up  of  the  Commission’s  Communication  on  “e-Skills  for  the  21st 
Century” which presents an EU long term e-skills agenda, of “The Digital Agenda for Europe” and of 
the Communication “Towards a Job-rich Recovery”. It is also contributing to the “Grand Coalition for 
Digital  Jobs”  which  has  been  launched  by  the  Commission  in  2013  and  the  “Digital  Single  Market 
Strategy” from 2015.  

Disclaimer 

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of 
the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the 
Commission is responsible for the information provided in this document. 

About empirica GmbH 

empirica  is  an  internationally  active  research  and  consulting  firm  concentrating  on  concept 
development, the application and development of new information and communication technology 
and the information society. The institute has a permanent staff from a range of disciplines, including 
economic,  social  and  political  sciences,  IT  engineering  and  computer  science.  This  mix  of 
qualifications  combined  with  a  well-established  network  of  international  partners  allows  easy 
formation  of  interdisciplinary  and  international  teams  well-tuned  to  study  implications  of  the 
information society for citizens, businesses and governments. 

For further information, contact: 

empirica 

Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH 

Oxfordstr. 2 

53111 Bonn 

Germany 

Tel: (+49-228) 98530-0 * e-Mail: info@empirica.com * Web: www.empirica.com  

Bonn, November 2015 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Table of Contents 

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................. 11 

e-Leadership skills ........................................................................................................................................ 11 

Developing e-Leadership education offers for SMEs and entrepreneurs ................................................... 12 

A framework for e-Leadership Education ................................................................................................................................... 14 
The e-Leadership Course Demonstrations .................................................................................................................................. 17 

Researching the European e-Leadership landscape .................................................................................... 18 

e-Leadership skills providers ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 
E-leadership policies and stakeholder initiatives in Europe ........................................................................................................ 21 
Technology trends ....................................................................................................................................................................... 24 

Quantifying e-Leadership ............................................................................................................................ 28 

Dissemination and events ........................................................................................................................... 31 

Policy Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 32 

Recommendation 1 – Research and Training .............................................................................................. 32 

Recommendation 2 – Stakeholder Coordination ........................................................................................ 34 

Recommendation 3 – Monitoring and benchmarking ................................................................................ 34 

Recommendation 4 –Policy Commitment ................................................................................................... 36 

1 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 37 

1.1 

1.2 

1.3 

e-Leadership as an evolving business need and policy concern ................................................... 37 

Accomplishments .......................................................................................................................... 38 

Defining e-Leadership skills ........................................................................................................... 39 

2 

Developing e-Leadership education programmes .......................................................................... 46 

2.1 

e-Leadership skills requirements and education offers ................................................................ 46 

2.1.1 
2.1.2 

Content requirements ........................................................................................................................................... 47 
Format requirements ............................................................................................................................................ 50 

2.2 

A framework for e-Leadership education ...................................................................................... 51 

2.2.1 
2.2.2 
2.2.3 
2.2.4 

Defining e-Leadership training and education ....................................................................................................... 52 
Format requirements of SMEs and entrepreneurs ................................................................................................ 53 
Content, format and skills level diversity requires diverse pathways to e-leadership .......................................... 53 
A description format for education programmes based on identified requirements ........................................... 54 

2.3 

The e-Leadership Course Demonstrations .................................................................................... 56 

The Agile University Approach: a series of short e-Leadership courses by New Bulgarian University .................. 56 
Modular half-day courses about SME growth, social media marketing and business analytics at Aarhus University 64 
Adaptation of two existing long programmes to fit the needs of SMEs at Antwerp Management School ........... 71 

2.3.1 
2.3.2 
2.3.3 
2.3.4 
introducing e-Leadership to SMEs .............................................................................................................................................. 76 
2.3.5 
Instituto de Empresa Business School ......................................................................................................................................... 88 

A Business School Executive Education  Programme for SMEs,  two workshops at Henley Business School and a  MOOC 

An e-Leadership familiarisation event for SMEs also live broadcast over Internet and a full SME digital innovation class at 

3 

Researching the European e-Leadership landscape ........................................................................ 97 

3.1 

e-Leadership skills providers ......................................................................................................... 97 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

3.1.1 
3.1.2 
3.1.3 

3.1.4 
3.1.5 

Higher & Executive Education activities .............................................................................................................. 101 
Stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership skills ...................................................................................................... 107 

Candidates for best practice in policy and stakeholder initiatives on skills for e-Leadership and digital entrepreneurship
110 
Other institutions and actors providing e-Leadership training and education .................................................... 114 
The role of self-learning ....................................................................................................................................... 117 

3.2 

e-Leadership policies in Europe ................................................................................................... 118 

3.2.1 
3.2.2 

Policies at Member State level ............................................................................................................................ 118 
Summary assessment of national level policies and stakeholders activities on e-leadership ............................. 121 

3.3 

3.4 

3.4.1 
3.4.2 
3.4.3 
3.4.4 

ICT cluster and hub regions ......................................................................................................... 131 

Technology trends ....................................................................................................................... 134 

Approach to the analysis of technology trend impact on skills ........................................................................... 135 
Identification and selection of main technology trends ...................................................................................... 135 
Impacts on the demand of ICT practitioner skills ................................................................................................ 137 
Impacts on the demand of e-Leadership skills .................................................................................................... 139 

4 

Quantifying e-Leadership ............................................................................................................ 141 

4.1 

4.2 

4.3 

e-Leadership skills quantification approaches ............................................................................ 141 

The e-Leadership Scoreboard and e-Leadership Index ............................................................... 146 

European e-Leadership Scoreboard ............................................................................................ 146 

4.3.1 
4.3.2 

Conceptual framework ........................................................................................................................................ 147 
Selection criteria .................................................................................................................................................. 149 

4.4 

The e-Leadership Index (eLI)........................................................................................................ 150 

5 

Dissemination and events ........................................................................................................... 154 

5.1 

5.2 

5.3 

Local initiative triggered across Europe ...................................................................................... 154 

The Digital and e-Leadership Skills Conference 2015 .................................................................. 155 

The e-Leadership Regional Cluster Events ................................................................................... 159 

5.3.1 
5.3.2 

An overview ......................................................................................................................................................... 159 
Events across Europe – highlights ....................................................................................................................... 159 

5.4 

Publications and presentations ................................................................................................... 167 

5.4.1 
5.4.2 
5.4.3 
5.4.4 
5.4.5 
5.4.6 
5.4.7 

Overview .............................................................................................................................................................. 167 
Scientific publications .......................................................................................................................................... 171 
Magazine articles ................................................................................................................................................. 176 
Other documents and publications ..................................................................................................................... 185 
Events - Presentations at workshops, conferences, sessions, meetings, briefings, interviews ........................... 186 
The European e-Leadership Skills for SMEs Initiative at ECIS 2015 ..................................................................... 193 
Brochure .............................................................................................................................................................. 194 

6 

Policy recommendations ............................................................................................................. 195 

6.1 

6.2 

6.3 

6.4 

Recommendation 1 – New Training Programmes ....................................................................... 195 

Recommendation 2 – Stakeholder Coordination ........................................................................ 197 

Recommendation 3 – Monitoring and benchmarking ................................................................ 197 

Recommendation 4 –Policy Commitment ................................................................................... 199 

Annex – Methodologies ........................................................................................................................ 200 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Methodology of a European Landscape of e-Leadership Higher Education Courses and MOOCs ........... 200 

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................. 200 
E-Learning courses, MOOCs ...................................................................................................................................................... 207 

European e-Leadership Scoreboard Methodology .................................................................................... 217 

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................. 218 
Assessing different weighting approaches ................................................................................................................................ 218 
Sensitivity of results on weighting ............................................................................................................................................ 220 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

List of Tables  

Table 1-1: e-Leadership component e-CF competences, ranked ................................................................................................. 43 
Table 2-1: Skills requirements as elicited per in SME research mapped to e-CF competences ................................................... 48 
Table 2-2: New Bulgarian University - Strategy Development for ICT Intensive Organizations ................................................... 57 
Table 2-3: New Bulgarian University - Cyber Security and Resilient Business ............................................................................. 58 
Table 2-4: New Bulgarian University – IT Marketing .................................................................................................................... 59 
Table 2-5: New Bulgarian University – Cloud Technology ............................................................................................................ 60 
Table 2-6: New Bulgarian University – TSP Executive Strategy .................................................................................................... 61 
Table 2-7: New Bulgarian University – Leading a Development Team ........................................................................................ 62 
Table 2-8: Social Media Strategy demonstration at Aarhus University ........................................................................................ 64 
Table 2-9: Business Analytics demonstration at Aarhus University ............................................................................................. 66 
Table 2-10: Planning/Managing for Growth demonstration at Aarhus University ...................................................................... 67 
Table 2-11: Partner management/ virtual business networks demonstration at Aarhus University........................................... 69 
Table 2-12: Executive Master of IT Governance & Assurance demonstration at Antwerp Management School ....................... 71 
Table 2-13: Executive Master of Enterprise IT Architecture demonstration at Antwerp Management School .......................... 74 
Table 2-14: Business and IT alignment demonstration at Henley Business School ..................................................................... 77 
Table 2-15: ‘Winning at Customer Development’ Sales demonstration at Henley Business School ........................................... 79 
Table 2-16: Initially planned “e-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business Architecture” Demonstration at Henley 

Business School ...................................................................................................................................................... 83 
Table 2-17: IE Business School - Digital Innovation: A Strategic View of IT and Innovation for SMEs ......................................... 88 
Table 2-18:  IE Business School - Management of Digital Innovation and IT Governance ........................................................... 92 
able 3-1: Actors and methods of e-Leadership skills provision .................................................................................................... 99 
Table 3-2: Means of e-Leadership skills provision ...................................................................................................................... 100 
Table 3-3: Summary assessment of national policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-leadership / digital entrepreneurship 

education and training ......................................................................................................................................... 121 
Table 3-4: Top performing regions according to the EIPE Composite Indicator (EIPE CI>41) .................................................... 131 
Table 3-5: Identification of main trends based on main sources ............................................................................................... 136 
Table 3-6: Summary of main demand trends of ICT Practitioners skills ..................................................................................... 137 
Table 3-7: Summary of main demand trends of e-Leadership skills and SMEs implications ..................................................... 139 
Table 4-1: Staff involved in proposing and as clients of IT projects ........................................................................................... 143 
Table 4-2: Weighting of e-Leadership Index building blocks ...................................................................................................... 150 
Table 4-3: Ranking of e-Leadership Index and its building blocks .............................................................................................. 151 
Table 5-1: Publications, articles and media appearances .......................................................................................................... 178 
Table 5-2: Presentations given and participation at dissemination events ............................................................................... 187 
Table 6-1: Long List of European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs

 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 202 
Table 6-2: Analysis of European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs 205 
Table 6-3: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - technical or technology related MOOCS ....................................... 208 
Table 6-4: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - IT management / MIS related MOOCS ......................................... 210 
Table 6-5: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Business / e-business and management related MOOCS ............. 211 
Table 6-6: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Start-up / entrepreneurship related MOOCS ............................... 211 
Table 6-7: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Digital transformation and innovation related MOOCS ................ 213 
Table 6-8: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Strategy and leadership related MOOCS ...................................... 213 
Table 6-9: Analysis of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills .................................................................................................. 214 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

List of Figures 

Figure 1-1: The e-Leadership triangle ........................................................................................................................................... 40 
Figure 1-2: Mapping key e-CF e-Leadership competences .......................................................................................................... 45 
Figure 2-1: Entrepreneurial and fast growing SMEs’ competence requirements gathered through qualitative research .......... 47 
Figure 2-2: Format requirements of fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups .............................................................. 51 
Figure 2-3: Research based foundation of the design of educational offers ............................................................................... 52 
Figure 2-4: The e-leadership journey as a framework for e-leadership business demand and educational offers – mapped 

against the demonstrations developed during the service contract ..................................................................... 54 
Figure 2-5: Process for designing and describing e-leadership demonstrations .......................................................................... 55 
Figure 3-1: e-Leadership training by labour market impact potential, enterprise life cycle and type of  e-Leadership skills ..... 97 
Figure 3-2: e-Leadership training methods or providers by labour market impact potential and enterprise life cycle stage ..... 98 
Figure 3-3: Percentage of SMEs that named each an “important” source of learning in their company in the in the areas of e-

leadership skills .................................................................................................................................................... 101 
Figure 3-4: Relevant MOOCs found during research .................................................................................................................. 103 
Figure 3-5: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs by type of 

programme and target fit SME or entrepreneurship .......................................................................................... 104 

Figure 3-6: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs by type of 

school ................................................................................................................................................................... 105 
Figure 3-7: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs ................. 105 
Figure 3-8: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs by target 

group focused ...................................................................................................................................................... 106 

Figure 3-9: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs by 

technology focus .................................................................................................................................................. 106 
Figure 3-10: National Policies for e-Leadership education and training; and Digital Entrepreneurship .................................... 130 
Figure 4-1: The Quantification of e-Leadership Skills in Europe 2015........................................................................................ 144 
Figure 4-2: The Quantification of e-Leadership Skills and internal clients to innovative projects in Europe 2013-2015 .......... 144 
Figure 4-3: e-Leadership forecast for Europe (EU28) 2015 – 2020 ............................................................................................ 145 
Figure 4-4: Sketch of likely significant factors in a country’s e-Leadership production and demand system ............................ 146 
Figure 4-5: Draft Framework of an e-Leadership Scoreboard .................................................................................................... 148 
Figure 4-6: e-Leadership Index Member State Results .............................................................................................................. 151 
Figure 4-7: e-Leadership Index and Networked Readiness Index .............................................................................................. 152 
Figure 4-8: e-Leadership Index and GDP per Head .................................................................................................................... 153 
Figure 5-1: Regional cluster events of both e-Leadership Skills initiatives across Europe ......................................................... 154 
Figure 5-2: Reported Communication Activities ........................................................................................................................ 168 
Figure 5-3: Website screenshot of e-Leadership workshop at ECIS 2015 .................................................................................. 193 
Figure 5-4: Front page of the brochure ...................................................................................................................................... 194 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Executive Summary 

e-Leadership skills  

e-Leaders  are  people  capable  of  driving  successful  innovation  and  capitalising  on  advances  in 
information and communication technologies. Sufficient supply of e-leadership skills to the economy 
is  believed  to  foster  economic  growth  and  create  jobs  through  its  key  role  in  identifying  and 
exploiting  innovation  opportunities.  e-Leadership  skills  include  the  competences  which  enable  an 
individual to initiate and guide ICT-related innovation at all levels of enterprise, from the start-up to 
the largest of corporations, from private to public. 

e-Leaders  are  both  business  and  digitally  savvy,  and  exhibit  a  capability  to  lead  strategically.  They 
might  be  ICT  leaders  who  are  also  business-savvy  or  business  leaders  who  are  digitally-savvy.  E-
leadership involves leading and managing e-skilled professionals as well as other professionals.  

The e-Leadership triangle 

The three domains of skills Digital skills, business skills and strategic leadership skills can be further 
specified by enumerating skills that exemplify e-leadership in these areas.  

e-Leadership  skills  needs  are  rather  diverse  across  industries,  enterprise  sizes  and  life-cycle  stages. 
Also  due  to  the  dynamics  of  technological  developments  in  ICT  (and,  although  perhaps  to  a  lesser 
degree, in entrepreneurship and management science) will evolve over time. E-leadership skills are 
combinations of a sufficient number and level of skills from all three domains.  

The  vast  majority  of  e-leadership  skills  and  competences  in  the  three  domains  are  covered,  in 
differing degrees of specificity, by the European e-Competence Framework, e-CF. Competences that 
are  arguably  not  covered  well  by  the  e-CF  include  industry  specific  knowledge,  skills  and 
competences  (such  as  the  knowledge  about  the  automotive  sector  that  an  e-leader  in  that  sector 
needs.  Also,  product  specific  knowledge,  skills  and  competences  (which  may  also  be  company 
specific)  are  not  covered  by  the  e-CF.  As  the  e-CF  is  a  generic  tool,  including  these  competences 
would clearly stretch it beyond its purpose.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Key e-leadership competences have been defined in the process of drafting e-leadership curriculum 
profiles1, namely 

 

 

 

 

Lead interdisciplinary staff 

Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models   

Envision and drive organizational change for business performance   

Influence stakeholders across boundaries in the firm’s eco-systems 

Developing e-Leadership education offers for SMEs and 
entrepreneurs 

e-Leadership  Skill  Requirements  by  SMEs  and  Entrepreneurs  have  been  researched  in  close 
interaction  with  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs  through  interviews  and  surveys.  Requirements  of  e-
leadership education appear very diverse, yet some patterns emerge from the analysis. Fast growing 
SMEs  and  entrepreneurs  have  many  competence  needs  that  could  be  translated  into  training  and 
education offers in the three skill areas that constitute e-leadership: IT savvy, business acumen and 
strategic leadership skills. 

The following picture contains the competence requirements gathered through qualitative research.  

Entrepreneurial and fast growing SMEs’ competence requirements gathered through qualitative research  

Our surveys show, regarding content of potential e-leadership education offers to be developed, that 
many SMEs actually  need  leaders with  very strong, also  practical, hands-on, ICT skills. Whereas in 
the  corporate  world,  the  ICT  skills  requirements  of  leaders  often  can  be  described  as  an  excellent 
understanding of ICT capabilities (knowing what is possible, being able to budget, source and allocate 
work to be done), leaders in (some) SMEs tend to be more closely involved in the production of their 
ICT based product or service (or ICT supported other business function such as finance, marketing, 
accounting etc.) 

1   Robinson,  Simon  et  al.:  New  Curricula  for  e-Leadership  Skills:  Guidelines  and  Quality  Labels  for  New  Curricula  for  e-Leadership  Skills  in 

Europe. Final Report 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Another  significant  finding  is  that  many  SMEs  rely  heavily  on  outsourcing  for  their  ICT  needs. 
Outsourcing recipients may be consultancies, vendors or other partner enterprises in the value chain. 
While the e-leadership definition includes being able to lead qualified interdisciplinary staff to exploit 
ICT  best,  an  eminent  finding  for  e-leadership  requirement  in  SMEs  therefore  is  to  lead  qualified 
interdisciplinary staff and consultants, contractors and vendors and other partners.  

In  terms  of  technical  content  needed  most,  cloud  computing,  big  data/data  analytics  and  mobile 
apps development have been mentioned as those technology trends that result in increased training 
included  software 
and  education  needs  for  SMEs.  Other  more  technical  skills  mentioned 
development,  mobile  application  and  web  development  including  skills  in  PHP,  Flash,  Java,  Java 
Script etc.; 3D animation; ERP systems; (Big) data tools such as SQL, Hadoop, Python and Django. 

ICT  management  trainings  that  were  found  most  useful  include  Enterprise  Architecture,  ICT 
governance and ICT Management. 

Regarding other e-leadership skills required, answers were quite diverse and trainings could cover a 
full range of topics. Communication skills were mentioned, an understanding of the customers and 
the market, as well as change management and project management, business development and 
sales and marketing.  

When  mapping the skills  requirements  with  the  e-CF,  it  becomes  apparent  that  fast  growing SMEs 
and entrepreneurial start-ups notion of e-leadership skills needed is not necessarily in line with our 
presumptions.  Many  skills  needed  can  be  classified  into  areas  of  the  e-CF  that  are  not  part  of  the 
core e-Leadership definition. 

Requirements that do not fit well into the e-CF classification were: 

 

 

 

Creativity  

Being an independent learner 

Financial skills  

Format 

Regarding  the  format  of  the  e-leadership  education,  it  is  useful  to  look  at  how  e-leadership  skills 
have so far been acquainted by the SMEs interviewed. 

There is, obviously, a need for a basis of deep technical and business skills that, however, is usually 
not attained by sending current employees to training, but that in most cases the founders and key 
staff bring to the enterprise as they start or enter the company. These e-leadership skills may have 
been  obtained  through  MSc.  /PhD  and/or  MBA  programmes  and  previous  work  experience 
elsewhere. This needs to be mentioned here so as not to give the impression that e-leadership for 
SMEs could rely solely on shorter, focussed trainings, which many SMEs have reported to favour over 
longer programmes when up-skilling their staff. 

e-Leadership skills are usually not gained through learning alone, but require learning that builds on 
previous  professional  practitioner  and  management  experience.  Therefore 
long,  academic 
programmes, such as MBA and MSc. programmes are usually offered to people with work experience 
and  as  part-time  studies  for  workers  who  typically  already  have  at  least  a  first  academic  degree. 
There is a need for these kinds of programmes even for SMEs. Our scanning of the education market 
and landscape that is presented in chapter 0 has found quite a number of these “long” professional 
oriented combination programmes capable of providing e-leadership skills. 

On  the  other  hand,  SMEs  have  expressed,  in  our  interviews  and  surveys,  the  need  for  short, 
targeted,  affordable  and  sometimes  even  ad-hoc  trainings.  These  trainings  can  be  technical  or 
business  skills  related,  which  makes  the  programmes  not  per-se  “e-leadership  type”  programmes 
(i.e. combining ICT and business) but can contribute to a person’s e-leadership skills nevertheless by 
adding missing e-leadership skills components to an existing individual skills portfolio.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Format requirements of fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups 

Format requirements of fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups 

Importance of self-learning 

Day to day requirements of short trainings, coaching, consultancy 

Few days, flexible hours 

Targeted, „no nonsense“ 

Affordable 

SME Leaders need strong, practical, hands-on ICT skills 

But: founders and employees have deep HE background 

Importance of Higher Education in hiring decisions 

Importance of work experience 

A framework for e-Leadership Education 

SMEs  and  start-up  companies  are  very  diverse  in  terms  of  technological,  organisational  and  value 
chain set-up and hence differ considerably regarding their needs for fostering e-leadership skills. A 
framework  for  e-leadership  offers  has  been  developed  taking  into  account  the  different  strands  of 
work carried out under the present service contract. 

The following picture describes our effort to lay a foundation for the design of educational offers. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Research based foundation of the design of educational offers 

Defining e-Leadership training and education 

From a conceptual perspective, it is to be clarified what makes an offer an e-leadership offer. Several 
perspectives can be applied: 

 

 

 

Target group fit: the offer is targeted towards business owners and entrepreneurs rather than 
professionals.  If  professionals  are  included,  they  are  found  at  an  advanced  skills  level  with 
decision  making  powers.  For  medium  sized  enterprises,  the  target  group  is  to  be  found  at 
executive level. 

IT applicability: If the subject is not IT itself, its applicability to an IT based enterprise should be 
visibly part of the curriculum 

Skill level fit: the learning outcomes are at a level above bachelor degree level, i.e. they might 
be (parts of) modules taught in an MSc course. 

Conceptually, it is reasonable to request that these three criteria are met: target group, skill level and 
IT applicability.  

Additionally,  at  least  one  as  well  as  at  least  one  of  the  following  criteria  should  be  found  in  the 
education offer:  

 

 

 

Innovation focus: the business innovation/transformation potential of a particular issue is part 
of the offer 

Business relevance:  rather than being a purely academic exercise, the focus is on application 
in a professional or organisational context 

Strategic relevance: the strategic significance of technology for business is taught alongside its 
“technical” application. 

Due  to  the  size  of  SMEs,  there  is  further  a  need  often  for  e-leaders  to  have  also  strong,  practical, 
hands-on ICT  skills  in areas  that may  be in design and operation  and  not  necessarily  considered  e-
leadership in larger organisations. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Emphasising  speedy  innovation  in  very  small  teams  in  techniques  such  as  rapid  prototyping,  agile 
methods and constant experimentation such as A/B testing (all of which also exist increasingly in the 
corporate world) may require that decision making is delegated to those involved in the innovation 
production  processes,  meaning  that  especially  in  smaller  and  entrepreneurial  entities,  but  also 
increasingly in larger organisation which delegate to small teams, “e-leadership” may combine design 
and development with strategic decision making. 

Format requirements of SMEs and entrepreneurs 

A  number  of  requirements  regarding  the  format  and  operational  details  of  training  and  education 
provision were evident from the qualitative research, namely the importance of self-learning, the day 
to day requirements at work allowing only short trainings, or even one-to-one coaching. Consultancy 
projects are often used to transfer knowledge and gain competences.  

There is thus a preference for affordable training of a few days with flexible hours of attending, and 
much targeted towards currently acute business problems. 

At  the  same  time  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  founders  and  key  employees  often  have  a  deep 
Higher  Education  background.  Hence,  both  targeted  training  as  well  as  a  broad  and  deep 
foundational education is important in finding e-leadership. 

Content, format and skills level diversity requires diverse pathways to e-
leadership  

E-leadership profiles of SME leaders can usually not be attained as the result of just graduating from 
an  e-leadership  programme.  Rather,  e-leaderships  usually  is  the  (planned  or  unplanned)  result  of 
different working experiences during a career, of education and training and even of more informal 
learning experience such as mentoring and coaching. 

As  e-leadership  skills  depth  evolves  and  develops,  enterprises’  e-leadership  needs  will  usually  be 
either  about  taking  the  next  step  (sometimes  leap-frog)  on  the  e-leadership  ladder,  or  about 
diversifying and complementing existing skills at the same level. 

The  journey  here  may  go  from  awareness  and  curiosity  to  developing  a  vision  for  digital 
transformation  and  innovation  potential.  Vision  will  have  to  be  translated  into  a  plan  including 
prioritisation  and  giving  direction  for  implementation.  Specific  and  generic  skills  and  competences 
which may be lacking at the moment will need to be developed or hired. 

This e-leadership journey is reflected in the educational offers by higher Education. Higher Education 
may use their attractiveness and reputation to get entrepreneurs and SMEs listen to them and hence 
serve  as  eye  openers  for  trends  and  opportunities.  Through  information  events  and  open  (MOOC 
like) mass lectures they may familiarise the target group and slowly make them develop their vision. 
In this process, SMEs and entrepreneurs may become prospects for selling Higher Education offers. 
In  more  focused  or  even  customised  events,  individual  needs  assessment  based  on  the  individual 
business case and skills portfolio may be undertaken.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

The e-leadership journey as a framework for e-leadership business demand and educational offers – mapped 
against the demonstrations developed during the service contract 

At this point, it may be decided which offering of Higher Education is most suitable for the customer. 
If the demand is of broad scope and needs to be implemented in-house immediately, it may be best 
to hire a graduate from an advanced, deep e-leadership programme. If implementation can wait or 
will evolve with the staff to be sent to educational offers, a longer professionally oriented education 
programme may be the right choice. 

If only punctual skills gaps are to be filled short training may be sufficient, and it has to be decided 
which  format  suits  best:  self-learning,  MOOC,  or  classroom  teaching.  Apart  from  training  and 
education,  individual  coaching  may  be  offered,  companywide  consulting  or  where  more  than  one 
company  are  involved,  knowledge  and  problem  solving  may  be  co-created,  moderated  by  the 
educational institution. 

The e-Leadership Course Demonstrations  

Based  on  the  conceptual,  theoretical  and  empirical  research  of  requirements  via  interviews  and 
surveys  of  SMEs  and  an  assessment  of  technological  trends  most  likely  to  affect  the  e-leadership 
skills  needed  in  SMEs  and  entrepreneurial  companies,  we  have  developed  demonstrations  of  e-
Leadership  courses  for  SMEs.  The  demonstration  at  the  five  academic  institutions,  which  cover  a 
significant share of the requirements researched, are fully described in the body of this report. 

e-Leadership  demonstrations  include  new  ways  and  formats  of  teaching,  from  very  short  to  full 
programme, MOOCs and video lessons, an agile curriculum and a co-creation approach, defining the 
learning  outcomes  in  close  cooperation  with  the  learners  and  their  employers.  e-Leadership 
demonstrations are oriented along the described e-Leadership journey and lessons learnt are ready 
for dissemination and adoption elsewhere. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Researching the European e-Leadership landscape 

e-Leadership skills providers  

E-leadership  skills  in  start-ups  and  fast  growing  SMEs  are  fostered  in  a  variety  of  ways.    Higher 
Education  and  commercial  training  providers  offer  a  variety  of  courses  and  programmes,  online  or 
offline. There are also non-commercial or semi-commercial providers who offer courses and learning 
material.  Consulting  and  coaching  might  be  best  suited  to  be  tailored  to  the  specific  needs  of  the 
enterprise  and  are  offered  also  by  commercial  enterprises  as  well  as  in  the  framework  of  multi-
stakeholder  partnerships.  The  following  figure  tries  to  give  an  overview  and  assessment  of  fitness-
for-purpose with regard to fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial entities. 

The  main  analytic  axes  of  ‘market  for  e-Leadership  skills’  can  be  described  by  the  ‘type  of  e-
leadership skills training on offer’, the ‘target group and the impact potential’ through ‘scalability’. 

e-Leadership training by labour market impact potential, enterprise life cycle and type of  
e-Leadership skills  

e-Leadership  offers  can  be  generic  and  encompassing,  thereby  training  e-Leadership  generalists 
which are often needed in the corporate world with a long term goal of strategic digital leadership or 
they  can  be  focussed  on  specific  tasks,  problems  or  opportunities  which  are  addressed  in  very 
specific training offers. 

e-Leadership offers may be distinguished by the potential size of their target group and thereby the 
teacher-intensity of training. A MOOC can potentially reach millions of learners at a time; class room 
teaching is at a smaller scale as it is limited by the class room capacity whereas consulting requires a 
very small ratio of “recipients” per “instructor”.  

These  dimensions  are  obviously  correlated,  as  generic  topics  naturally  lend  themselves  to  bigger 
audiences, whereas issue specific consulting will sensibly have a limited audience. 

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Innovation vs./+ transformation:Enterprise Life Cycle StageStart-UpScale-UpCorporateSMEGenericSpecificE-Leadership SkillsMassmarket:•MOOCs•Material bypublishers/ communities•Standard /mainstreamHE programmes(e.g. MIS, MBA)•Standard entrepreneurshipeducationatHEIModularisation:•Vendor/producttraining•Traditional trainingproviders‘ offers(commercialorprofession/industrybodies)•Certification•Modular HE /ExecEdoffersCustomisation:•Co-createdcurricula•Pull learningHE /ExecEdoffers–shortcoursemenus•Accelerator/ incubator/ TTO etc. trainingsIndividualised:•Co-creationoffersbyHE / ExecEd•Consulting /coaching•VC orotherinterimmanagement 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Empirically, many professional life-long learning and training opportunities are picked up to a greater 
extent by corporate rather than SME or start-up clients. The following picture shows this relationship 
(as an ideal-typical generalisation, it has to be stressed). 

 e-Leadership training methods or providers by labour market impact potential and enterprise life cycle stage 

A  survey  of  118  SMEs  was  carried  out  between  March  and  May  out  2015  to  ask  for  their  learning 
practice. Respondents came from university contacts in high growth SMEs that had been contacted 
earlier on for the initial survey in 2014, but also from membership of the associations PIN-SME and 
EYIF, who have been closely engaged in the work of this service contract. 

Almost  half  of  the  enterprises  who  responded  come  from  Denmark  through  contacts  with  Arhus 
University, so some bias may be present in the responses.  

Of the 118 SMEs who responded, 114 reported at least one “important” source of learning among 
the item list of 12 learning sources presented. On average, each SME named six sources. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Percentage of SMEs that named each an “important” source of learning in their company in the in the areas 
of e-leadership skills 

N=118, online survey by empirica 3-5 2015 

The  results  of  our  qualitative  and  quantitative  SME  research  especially  in  terms  of  the  format 
requirements have been to emphasize: 

 

 

 

 

 

The importance of self-learning 

The requirements of short trainings, coaching, consultancy 

The necessity to restrict absence from work for training to a few days including flexible hours 
of learning 

Targeted, „no nonsense“ content of training courses and 

Affordable prices. 

Although  we  confirmed  that  SME  leaders  need  strong,  practical,  hands-on  ICT  skills  and  an  ICT 
in  Higher  Education,  nevertheless  the  bottleneck  experienced  by  SMEs  and 
background 
entrepreneurial firms is for the above list of requirements. 

For  the  time  being,  the  lack  of  significant  numbers  of  programmes  fit  to  meet  the  requirement  at 
Higher Education institutions leaves some doubts that universities and business schools are seen by 
SMEs as the right parties to deliver against these requirements. 

This concern is not to discourage Higher Education institutions from offering programmes that meet 
the requirements, as the demonstrations carried out by university and business school partners who 
take  account  of  requirements  by  offering  short,  targeted  and,  at  least  some  of  them,  also  very 
affordable courses accomplished.  

For  the  time  being  however,  as  is  reinforced  by  the  findings  of  the  education  landscape  scanning, 
universities  in  general  (beyond  partner  universities)  cannot  offer  courses  on  the  scale  (in  terms  of 
learners that can be served) that is necessary for entrepreneurs and fast growing SMEs. 

Other actors offering training therefore must be considered, including MOOCS  and extra-university 
(or university but extra-curricular) suppliers.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

E-leadership policies and stakeholder initiatives in Europe 

Policy and stakeholder activities concerning e-leadership skills and skills for digital entrepreneurship 
have been analysed. The results of the scoring along two indices, the "e-Leadership Activity Index" 
and a "Digital Entrepreneurship Activity Index", are presented below. 

e-Leadership policies in Member States  

Policies on e-leadership skills 

Providing SMEs and entrepreneurs with the skills for e-leadership still tends to be treated as a policy 
objective  secondary  to  more  well-established  primary  policy  objectives  such  as  take-up  of  digital 
technologies;  basic  digital  user  skills;  adoption  of  e-government  and  e-business;  access  to  venture 
capital; or start-up subsidies. However, the 2007 e-Skills Agenda and subsequent e-leadership skills 
initiatives  by  the  European  Commission  have  triggered  some  Member  States  to  engage  in  public 
debates and helped develop appropriate responses. 

Today,  only  eight  Member  States  show  strong  policy  initiative  for  e-leadership  education  and 
training: Ireland, the U.K., Italy and Denmark as well as Belgium, Spain, Malta and the Netherlands. In 
the other Member States, extent and consistency of policy-making is still limited and most countries 
lack a master strategy and continuous attention to e-leadership in policy-making.  

The multi-stakeholder partnership (MSP) has been proven a highly useful if not necessary approach 
in the e-skills domain. MSPs convene private-sector  partners (industry, employers from the private 
sector)  and  partners  from  the  traditional  education  system  and  build  on  the  idea  that  the  private 
sectors can complement and extend services provided by the public sector by bringing in resources 
and insider knowledge. 

Multi-stakeholder partnerships are not as well developed yet in the e-leadership field as compared to 
other segments of the e-skills domain, such as digital literacy and ICT practitioner skills. This calls for 
key stakeholders to agree on effective action, help promote awareness of the e-leadership skills topic 
and implement measures for boosting supply of and participation in related training. 

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 ATBEBGCYCZDEDKEEESFIFRGRHRHUIEITLTLULVMTNLPLPTROSESISKUK0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.500.511.522.533.544.55National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital EntrepreneurshipNational policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education and training 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Stakeholder initiatives on e-leadership skills 

Policy actions described above provide the framework for a large number of stakeholder initiatives 
that  address  promotion  of  e-leadership  skills,  either  explicitly  or  –  as  is  most  often  the  case  –  by 
implication.  Our  analysis  suggests  that  these  stakeholder  initiatives  can  be  clustered  according  to 
their main focus and approach in the following groups: 

  Development of dedicated course programmes on e-leadership: Business schools and public 
universities  have  started  to  experiment  with  developing  and  offering  courses  addressing  the 
need  for  e-leadership  skills,  as 
is  demonstrated  by  the  snapshot  of  up-and-running 
programmes  contained  in  the  present  report.  Such  offers  are  often  the  outcome  of  strong 
cooperation  between  business  sector  and  education  providers,  e.g.  in  the  case  of  the  U.K.'s 
Tech Industry Gold degrees, the ICS Leadership Development Programme in Ireland, and the 
Intensive Training and Masters Programmes in Knowledge Based Entrepreneurship in Malta. 
A  partnership  approach  appears  necessary,  in  particular,  to  align  curricula  with  employer 
needs within the scope of what is realistically feasible. Developments are still in their infancy, 
though, and results about the success of available course programmes are not available yet.  
  New  types  of  education  programmes  for  extra  occupational  learning:  In  response  to  a 
perceived  lack  of  education  offers  which  suit  the  demands  of  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs 
regarding  duration  and  costs,  stakeholders  in  some  Member  States  have  established  new 
types  of  programmes  for  extra  occupational  education.  Examples  include  London's  Mobile 
Academy,  "a  new  style  of  programme  intended  specifically  to  address  the  challenges  of 
teaching a very rapidly changing subject [...] offering a collaborative learning environment to 
get  an  overall  grounding  in  business,  design  and  how  to  work  with  technology."  Other 
examples include THNK, the Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership, Cranfield University’s 
IT  Leadership  Programme;  and  the  British  Computer  Society  Digital  Leader  coaching 
programme. 

 

 

 

e-Learning and MOOCs for e-leadership training: In the economically less developed Member 
States,  good  experience  has  been  made  with  the  use  of  e-learning  platforms  dedicated  to 
courses  in  e-business  and  e-leadership,  e.g.  the  Start-Up  initiative  in  Greece  and  the 
Akademia  PARP  and  e-Business  Academy  in  Poland.  Athens  University  of  Economics  and 
Business  recently  launched  a  MOOC  for  training  in  digital  entrepreneurship.  In  France,  the 
Conservatoire  National  des  Arts  et  Métiers  (CNAM)  has  implemented  a  range  of  MOOCs 
targeting prospective entrepreneurs and employees seeking to acquire leadership skills in the 
French-speaking world. 

inventions  developed  from  university  research 

e-Leadership  education  provided  in  the  context  of  university  spin-off  programmes:  Many 
i.e.  the 
universities  now  have  units  or  subsidiaries  which  promote  spin-off  activity, 
into 
transformation  of  technological 
commercially viable products or processes. Their objective is to equip students and staff who 
have promising business ideas with all the support and infrastructure they need to turn these 
into fully-fledged start-up operations. In the case of ICT-driven  business cases, this of course 
needs to include training in e-leadership, for which such centres have the advantage of being 
able  to  draw  upon  their  parent  university's  resources.  Outstanding  examples  include  the 
Henley  Accelerator  in  the  U.K.  In  Austria,  the  ECN  Network,  a  platform  for  interdisciplinary 
networking and promotion of entrepreneurship in the university sector in the Vienna region, 
impresses by the great range of stakeholders involved, including all major universities as well 
as public and business sector partners. 

e-Leadership  excellence  schemes:  The  only  prominent  example  of  this  type  if  Germany's 
Software  Campus,  cooperation  between  government,  education  and  industry  that  supports 
young ICT researchers of outstanding promise. Each participant works on an academic project 
with  direct  applicability  in  a  major  German  company,  which  is  fully  funded  by  the  academy. 
Participants  also  receive  high  quality  leadership  training  via  mentoring  support  from  an 
experienced  manager,  and  have  access  to  excellent  opportunities  for  networking  and  career 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

 

 

 

 

 

 

building. This type of initiative is unlikely to be of direct benefit to SMEs, but it can be expected 
that some of the participants will, once they have finished their studies, choose starting their 
own  company  rather  than  joining  an  established  "big  player".  Ireland  is  planning  to  follow 
Software Campus’ example in its attempts to initiate a similar programme. 

Subsidised  or free provision  of e-leadership training to SMEs:  Business development bodies 
have tried to lower the barrier for SMEs to participate in training courses by subsidising part or 
all  of  the  direct  costs.  This  approach  is  increasingly  used  for  training  in  e-leadership  skills  as 
well, e.g. in Northern Ireland. 

Voucher  schemes:  Some  Member  States  have  set  up  voucher  schemes  to  make  it  easy  and 
affordable  for  SMEs  to  obtain  consultancy  and  training,  e.g.  the  Innovationscheckar  from 
Sweden's VINNOVA and Enterprise Ireland's Innovation Voucher. Denmark's  voucher scheme 
makes  it  more  affordable  for  SMEs  to  engage  in  a  research-based  business  development 
project  with  a  public  sector  research  institution,  e.g.  a  university.  The  objective  here  is  to 
transfer  knowledge  from  technological  research  to  SME.  Voucher  schemes  in  general 
represent  an  attempt  to  ease  SMEs'  concerns  about  the  administrative  hassle  involved  in 
obtaining low sums of public funding. 

Self-assessment tools: In some Member States SMEs are invited to self-assess their leadership 
capabilities (including e-leadership skills) through an online tool provided. A good example is 
Northern Ireland's LMSA online diagnostic tool. The SME IT Capability framework developed by 
Ireland's IVI allows for a more in-depth assessment of "key IT areas or critical capabilities". 

Business plan contests, start-up awards and the like: At both national and international level, 
and  especially  in  the  Member  States  of  Eastern  Europe,  contests  and  awards  are  a  much-
favoured instrument for addressing the perceived shortage in leadership skills among young, 
highly educated persons, and for motivating individuals with strong potential to take the first 
step  towards  entrepreneurship.  More  and  more  of  these  initiatives  focus  on  digital 
entrepreneurship and e-leadership. Contests and awards owe their attractiveness to the fact 
that they are comparatively inexpensive, favoured by sponsors, and easy to promote. On the 
downside, they are incapable of offering the consistent and comprehensive support needed if 
a country seeks to equip its digital entrepreneurs with a sufficient e-leadership skills base.  

e-Leadership  education  in  the  context  of  business  incubator  and  accelerator  schemes:  The 
growing number of start-up incubators and accelerators which focus exclusively or mainly on 
digital  businesses  play  a  key  role 
in  the  transfer  of  e-leadership  skills  to  fledgling 
entrepreneurs. This most often takes place via consultancy and mentoring, but in some cases 
also through education courses which are offered in cooperation with established providers of 
management  education.  Outstanding  examples  include:  :  Infopole  Cluster  TIC  in  Belgium's 
Walloon region; WAYRA, the accelerator programme launched by Spain's Telefonica; Telenet 
Idealabs in Belgium; and the European Entrepreneurship Foundation in Hungary.2 
Promotion  of  e-leadership  skills  to  students:  Some  initiatives  target  students  and  young 
employees who are interested in developing their leadership skills, often in the digital domain. 
Examples  include  Austria's  AWS  First,  the  Bulgarian  Young  Leaders  Program  (BYLP)  and 
Finland-based  Demola.  A  particularly  interesting  case  is  the  Future  Leaders  Development 
Program  in  Greece,  which  brings  together  newly  graduated  students  and  NGOs  to  solve  a 
particular leadership challenge. Croatia's eStudent NGO is run by and for advanced university 
students. Germany's Student2Start-up initiative offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to select 
a specific challenge from their everyday business and make it subject of a university working 
group in which students develop innovative solutions. 

 

Insight  and  awareness  raising:  We  found  some  initiatives  for  raising  awareness  among 
stakeholders and the wider public about the need for e-leadership skills. Other initiatives seek 

2  

Since to qualify for being accepted by an incubator or accelerator scheme involves being able to convince evaluators of the quality of one's 
business idea, there are many similarities and overlaps between this and the previous type of initiative. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

to gain a common understanding of the definition of e-leadership skills and their relevance in 
practice:  in  France,  for  example,  the  Pasc@line  Association  conducted  a  representative 
business survey to investigate the issue in much detail.  

Initiatives focussing on women: In addition to the policy-driven initiatives for increasing women's participation in 
the  ICT-driven  economy,  there  are  also  NGOs  and  industry-driven  initiatives  for  promoting  women  who  seek 
leadership  positions  in  ICT.  Examples  include  the  UK-based  everywoman  in  Technology  Leadership  Academy, 
which has evolved into a global membership organisation.  

Technology trends 

ICT  trends  expected  to  affect  the  demand  of  e-skills  and  specifically  e-leadership  skills  in  the  next 
decade,  and  the  evolution  of  the  mix  of  skills  requested  by  emerging  innovation,  including  SMEs, 
have been researched by IDC for this report.  

The  main  focus  is  on  high  tech  and  high  growth  SMEs  (Gazelles),  who  particularly  need  ICT  and  e-
leadership  skills  to  enhance  competitiveness  and  being  or  continuing  to  be  successful.  The  leading 
question is the impact of technology trends on skills. 

The selection of the most important trends was based on the following criteria: 

 

 

They  are  disruptive  technologies,  according  to  the  definition  provided  by  McKinsey,  that  is 
they  are  still  rapidly  advancing,  they  have  a  broad  potential  scope  of  impact,  may  affect 
significant economic value, and they can dramatically change the status quo of the market; 

Their  development  is  profoundly  changing  the  mix  of  skills  requested  in  the  new  ICT 
environment,  driving  demand  for  new  specialized  skills  to  design,  develop  and  deploy  new 
digital services, decreasing demand for operational and practical ICT skills, particularly in user 
industries,  and  stimulating  an  overarching  demand  for  e-leadership  skills,  in  order  to  exploit 
the new technologies for business growth. 

 

These characteristics are documented by at least two separate sources.  

All  the  main  sources  agree  in  identifying  the  following  technologies  as  the  most  important  trends 
affecting the ICT market and the socio-economic system in the next 10 years: 

  Mobility:  The  incredibly  rapid  penetration  of  mobile  devices  and  technologies  in  the  market 
and the broad phenomenon of leveraging mobile solutions in the business environment; 

 

 

 

 

Cloud computing: the disruptive delivery model of software and ICT services, based on flexible 
and on-demand business models; 

Big  data  analytics:  a  new  generation  of  technologies  and  architectures,  designed  to 
economically extract value from very large volumes of a wide variety of data, by enabling high 
velocity capture, discovery, and/or analysis; 

Social  media  technologies:  the  use  of  social  media  within  and  outside  the  enterprise, 
implementing  social  marketing  techniques  and  facilitating  collaboration  and  knowledge 
sharing; 

Internet  of Things:  A  dynamic global  network  infrastructure  with  self-configuring capabilities 
based  on  standard  and  interoperable  communication  protocols  where  physical  and  virtual 
“things” have identities, physical attributes, and virtual personalities, use intelligent interfaces, 
and are seamlessly integrated into the information network. 

In  addition  the  following  trends  have  been  selected  for  their  impact  on  market  dynamics  and  the 
demand of skills 

 

Customer  Experience  IT  (CXIT)  refers  to  the  IT-related  investments  required  to  manage  and 
optimise the customer's (or a citizen's) experience with an organisation. This is a new concept 
reflecting the increasing convergence of innovative IT (mobile, social technologies, cloud, Big 
Data,  IoT)  into  applications  and  services  centred  on  the  customer  experience,  implemented 
through investments made by business managers other than CIOs.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

 

IT  security:  given  the  increasing  dependency  of  European  organizations  on  ICT  systems,  and 
the growing complexity of connected environments, there is strong demand for and diffusion 
of software and tools to ensure systems security at all levels; 

Finally, all these studies underline the relevance of the convergence of these new technologies and 
their cumulative effect on the market.  

Impacts on the demand of ICT practitioner skills 

In summary, these are the main considerations: 

  High  level  ICT  practitioner  skills  are  in  increasing  demand,  but  this  is  coupled  with  lower 
demand  for  traditional  technical  skills,  particularly  in  the  infrastructure  and  traditional  IT 
management area.  

 

 

 

 

A revival of hardware innovation (driven by hyperscale data centres, storage, and all the new 
devices  connected  to  the  IoT)  stimulates  demand  for  highly  specific  hardware-related  and 
systems management skills particularly in the ICT industry.  

The  demand  for  highly  specialized  resources  tends  to  move  from  the  ICT  users  to  the  ICT 
vendors, while the profiles required by ICT users become more business-oriented and project-
oriented,  with  a  strong  focus  on  the  design  of  new  services  and  apps,  and  the  ability  to 
outsource/ rely on standardized platforms and services; 

The applications skills area is the most dynamic, naturally so given the emergence of the so-
called  “apps  economy”.  This  builds  on  software  skills  but  with  very  innovative  demands, 
including the capability to manage a flexible and never-ending apps process.  

The  emergence  of  highly  integrated,  automated  and  scalable  infrastructures  is  driving  new 
demand for standardization and interoperability skills (within the ICT industry) and capability 
to understand, select and manage standards and interoperability (within the ICT user industry). 
^ 

Summary of main demand trends of ICT Practitioners skills 

ICT Industry 

ICT User Industries 

Infra-
structure 

Increased Demand 

Design, development and 
management of data 
centres and cloud 
services  

Integration of fixed-
mobile systems (BYOD 
management) 

Data protection/ Privacy 
protection/ new IT 
security challenges 

Systems management 
skills for highly 
integrated, automated 
and scalable 
infrastructures (IoT) 

Design and management 
of end-to-end protection 
of emerging smart 
networks and cyber 
infrastructures 

Reduced 
Demand 

Operational 
skills to 
manage and 
maintain 
corporate IT 
systems 

Maintenanc
e and 
support of 
legacy 
systems 
(PCs, 
desktops...) 

Reduced 
Demand 

Operational 
skills to 
manage and 
maintain 
corporate IT 
systems 

Maintenanc
e and 
support of 
legacy 
systems 
(PCs, 
desktops...) 

Increased Demand 

Selection, configuration, 
combination, orchestration 
of cloud services, either 
public, private or hybrid 

Integration of fixed-mobile 
systems (BYOD management) 

Systems management skills 
for highly integrated, 
automated and scalable 
infrastructures (IoT) 

Data protection/ Privacy 
protection/ new IT security 
challenges 

Implementation and 
management of end-to-end 
protection of emerging smart 
networks and cyber 
infrastructures 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

ICT Industry 

ICT User Industries 

Application 

General 

Increased Demand 

Development and 
implementation of apps/ 
services based on 
mobility/cloud/Big Data/ 
Social Media/ IoT 

Business data analytics, 
Data scientists, Big Data 
skills 

Apps, web, IT service 
development for 
customer-centred design 
and deployment (CXIT) 

Skills to design and 
implement sophisticated 
identity and access 
management solutions 

Skills on standardisation/ 
IT regulation/ 
interoperability 
developments  

Ownership of skills 
certification 

Reduced 
Demand 

Maintenanc
e of legacy 
applications 

Traditional 
IT 
manageme
nt skills 
focused on 
proprietary 
systems and 
custom 
developme
nts 

Increased Demand 

Development and 
implementation of apps/ 
services based on 
mobility/cloud/Big Data/ 
Social Media/ IoT + industry 
knowledge 

Business data analytics, Data 
scientists , Big Data skills 

Apps, web, IT service 
development for customer-
centred design and 
deployment (CXIT) 

IT asset management and 
governance expertise  

Implementation of 
sophisticated identity and 
access management 
solutions 

Skills on standardisation/ IT 
regulation/ interoperability 
developments  

Ownership of skills 
certification 

R&D 

Sophisticated R&D and 
development skills 
(especially for 
interoperability and 
standardization 
challenges) 

None 
evident 

Sophisticated R&D and 
development skills, focused 
on industry needs 

Impacts on the demand of e-Leadership skills 

Reduced 
Demand 

Maintenanc
e of legacy 
applications 

Traditional 
IT security 
skills by 
public cloud 
users 

Traditional 
IT 
manageme
nt skills 
focused on 
proprietary 
systems and 
custom 
developme
nts 

None 
evident 

In  summary,  the  emerging  demand  for  e-leadership  skills  is  driven  by  the  digital  transformation 
process of enterprises and the cumulative impact of main technology innovation trends. In our view, 
e-leadership  skills  can  be  articulated  in  three  main  strands,  complementary  to  each  other:  general 
management skills, hybrid business-IT skills, and industry specific skills.  

Summary of main demand trends of e-Leadership skills and SMEs implications 

General 
Management 

Emerging Demand 

Implications for High tech, high growth 
SMEs 

Strategic management of business and 
contractual relationships with IT 
suppliers - partners - subcontractors – 
clients over extended value chain/ digital 
ecosystems 

In-depth understanding of IT offshoring/ 

Strategic management of the role of the 
company in the digital ecosystem with 
specific attention to SMEs vulnerabilities 
(insufficient IPR protection, for example).  

Ability to outsource/delegate necessary 
IT services and make appropriate 

26 / 228 

 
 
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Hybrid 
Business/ IT 

Industry Specific 

Emerging Demand 

outsourcing issues and cost-benefits 
balance to make informed choices 

Strategic Management of interaction 
between CIOs and business line 
managers  

Strategic management of company 
information and data flows, including 
design and development of “data supply 
chains” to leverage company’s data and 
partners’ data and make them usable 

Combination of business analytics skills 
with industry-specific skills and 
understanding of IoT issues 

Strategic management of data 
protection/privacy issues 

In-depth understanding of industry-
specific business development 
opportunities driven by IT innovation  

Combination of business analytics skills 
with industry-specific skills and 
understanding of IT innovation 
implications for business processes 

Ability to use IT for customer-centred 
apps and services (CXIT) within specific 
industry 

Implications for High tech, high growth 
SMEs 

buy/train decisions of necessary skills 

Similar demand, since customer 
expectations will be similar 

“Native” digital companies (e.g. web 
entrepreneurs) may have innate e-
leadership skills in this area  

Challenge to source/ maintain scarce 
specialist skills, particularly data analytics 
and data scientists skills 

Similar demand, since customer 
expectations will be similar 

Risk of missing e-leadership skills 
necessary for competitive advantage; 
relative relevance linked to business 
model 

The main drivers of demand are the following: 

  With  the  diffusion  of  cloud,  IoT,  CXIT  the  enterprise  perimeter  is  no  longer  clearly  defined. 
Therefore,  the  e-leader  must  have  strategic  management  skills  of  business,  technical, 
operational  and  contractual  relationships  with  IT  suppliers,  partners,  clients  over  extended 
value  chain/  digital  ecosystems,  as  well  as  with  other  business  line  managers  in  their 
organization.  The  key  word  is  strategic  management:  the  e-leader  action  must  build  on  a 
strategic vision of the business evolution and transformation. 

 

 

The demand for hybrid business/IT skills is driven by the need to exploit IT for business growth 
opportunities, including in particular the ability to grow and nurture an apps system, to build a 
“data supply chain” with the organization’s data flows, and to manage in the appropriate way 
data and privacy protection issues.  

The demand for industry-specific e-leadership skills is focused on the in-depth understanding 
of  sector  business  development  opportunities  driven  by  IT  innovation,  particularly  for 
customer-centred IT systems and processes.  

Looking closely at the implications for high-tech and high-growth SMEs the following considerations 
emerge: 

  High-tech  and  high-growth  SMEs  will  have  similar  e-leadership  skills  needs  than  large 
enterprises, because customer expectations and requirements will be similar, but at a different 
scale  level  and  with  different  viewpoints.  For  example,  they  will  also  need  to  manage 
relationships in the digital value chain, but from the point of view of a junior partner.  

  Depending on their size and business model they may not need a CIO: the e-leaderships skills 
may  be  those  of  the  entrepreneur  himself.  Actually,  “native”  digital  enterprises  (web 

27 / 228 

  
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

entrepreneurs)  may  have  “innate”  e-leadership  skills  and  leapfrog  other  companies  with  a 
creative  use  of  IT  innovation.  Nevertheless,  they  still  may  not  have  the  full  range  of  e-
leadership skills needed. 

 

SMEs will face harsher choices in terms of sourcing their needed e-leadership skills: buy, hire 
or  train  existing  employees?  Given  their  limited  resources,  they  will  have  to  be  careful  and 
invest well in the priority skills most functional to their business model. 

Quantifying e-Leadership 

Demand is growing throughout European industry to improve the quality of e-leadership. While no 
official statistics exist to date regarding the demand or supply of e-Leadership skills, an estimate for 
the year 2013 quantifies the number of innovative e-leadership3 positions in Europe to be in an order 
of magnitude of 568,000 workers. Extrapolating growth trends to today, there are probably 620,000 
innovation e-Leaders in Europe in 2015. A majority of almost 60% comes from the business units in 
companies and not from IT departments.  

The Quantification of e-Leadership Skills in Europe 2014 

Source: empirica, Survey NL, UK, DE 2013. Data for EU, grossed up using Structural Business Statistics 
(Eurostat) 

3  

T. Hüsing, W.B. Korte, E. Dashja (2015): E-skills and e-leadership skills 2020. Trends and forecasts for the  European ICT professional and 
digital 
labour  market.  empirica  Working  Paper.  Bonn:  http://leadership2015.eu/fileadmin/LEAD/Working_Paper_-
_Supply_demand_forecast_2015_a.pdf  

leadership 

28 / 228 

 
                                                            
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

e-Leadership forecast for Europe (EU28) 2015 – 2020 

d
n
a
m
e
d
d
n
a

s
b
o
J

:
s
r
e
d
a
e
L
-
e

l
a
i
t
n
e
t
o
p

800.000

700.000

683.000 

651.000 

600.000

620.000 

776.000 

746.000 

715.000 

500.000

400.000

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Forecasting e-leadership demand even further into the future, we rely on estimated growth rates in 
analogy  to  the  most  highly  skilled  ICT  positions,  for  which  such  estimations  exist4;  we  expect  e-
leadership demand to rise by on average 4.6% until 20205. Demand is estimated to reach 776,000 in 
2020. 

Taking  account  of  expansion  and  replacement  demand,  Europe  will  so  need  200,000  to  250,000 
additional  innovation  e-leaders  by  2020,  or  40,000  to  50,000  per  year.  Still,  estimates  are  not  as 
evidence based as desirable and therefore it was decided to augment this data by a collection of e-
Leadership ”eco-system” data linked with the demand or supply of e-Leadership skills through the e-
Leadership scoreboard.  

All dimensions of e-Leadership at a glance – the e-Leadership scoreboard 

The e-leadership scoreboard monitors and assesses progress in e-leadership skills development and 
e-leadership prosperity, covering areas that make up the e-leadership eco-system, such as:  

  e-Leadership education,  
  Quantity of the workforce with e-leadership potential 
  Structural variables enabling the exploitation opportunities of e-leadership, and  
  e-Leadership enabling policies or other driving mechanisms.  
The  scoreboard  uses  indicators  from  both  primary  and  secondary  sources.  It  compares  the  e-
leadership  “performance”  of  EU  Member  States,  identifies  relative  strengths  and  weaknesses  of  e-
leadership eco-systems between countries, and informs policy discussion at national and EU level. 

The  conceptual  model  on  which  the  scoreboard  hinges  is  straightforward  and  comprehensive, 
measuring those phenomena which are likely to affect demand and supply for e-leadership skills in 
each  country.  The  scoreboard  permits  insights  in  how  countries  perform  in  distinct  e-leadership 
related  domains,  which  translate  into  abilities  to  exploit  innovation  opportunities  for  business 
growth and suggests avenues for future activity. 

In total 24 indicators are organised in four dimensions, and divided into several building blocks. 

4  
5  

ICT management, architecture and analysis skills. Demand for these jobs is forecast to rise from 1.94 million (2013) to 2.65 million (2020).  

T. Hüsing, W.B. Korte, E. Dashja (2015): E-skills and e-leadership skills 2020. Trends and forecasts for the European ICT professional and 
digital leadership labour market. empirica Working Paper. Bonn: http://leadership2015.eu/fileadmin/LEAD/Working_Paper_-
_Supply_demand_forecast_2015_a.pdf 

29 / 228 

 
                                                            
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

The  national  scoreboards  are  an  integral  part  of  28  Country  Reports  for  each  EU  Member  State, 
providing a snapshot of the national situations on e-leadership policies, initiatives, practices, training, 
higher and executive education, and the scoreboard.  

Country  Reports  can  be  downloaded  at  http://leadership2015.eu/documents/  and  http://eskills-
lead.eu/documents/.   

Benchmarking EU Member States -- The e-Leadership Index 

The e-Leadership Index combines each of the different dimensions of the e-leadership scoreboard in 
order  to  monitor  and  benchmark  EU  Member  States.  It  so  tries  to  amalgamate  into  one  figure 
different indicators relating to the business and policy climate, infrastructure and related outcomes 
on  e-leadership.  The  Index  is  intended  to  contribute  to  the  much  needed  development  of  metrics 
and  identifications  of  policies  and  good  practices  for  better  measuring  and  understanding  e-
leadership. Individual countries can use the e-Leadership Index to monitor performance over time or 
benchmark domestic developments against other countries, identify role models and start learning 
about how different policies may affect e-leadership practice. 

European Map of e-Leadership Index quartiles 

Important cluster. Rank in EU. “ICT 
Pole of Excellence“ (JRC 2014 - de 
Prato/Nepelski) 

Ranks 1-10 
Ranks 11-20 
Significant 
national 
main cluster 
ranking >20 

30 / 228 

FI
UK
IE
NL
SE
DK
BE
LU
MT
DE
FR
AT
EE
SI
EU
ES
LT
CZ
HR
LV
HU
PT
CY
SK
PL
GR
BG
IT
RO

7,0 

6,9 

6,8 

6,4 

6,3 

5,9 

5,8 

5,7 

5,4 

5,3 

5,3 

5,2 

4,6 

4,6 

4,4 

4,3 

4,1 

3,8 

3,7 

3,4 

3,2 

3,2 

3,2 

3,0 

2,7 

2,4 

2,4 

2,4 

1,2 

 
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

The e-Leadership index correlates highly with GDP data as well as with technology related indicators 
such as the Networked Readiness Index (of the World Economic Forum), but it is instructive to look 
at the deviations of technology and GDP trends lines, indicating which countries perform “better” or 
“worse”  than  indicated  by  economic  and  technology  maturity.  Especially  Ireland,  but  also  Belgium 
and  the  UK  appear  to  positively  deviate  from  the  “trend”  of  higher  e-leadership  maturity  being 
associated  with  both  higher  economic  power  and  higher  digital  maturity  and  exhibit  higher  than 
expected e-leadership. 

e-Leadership Index and Networked Readiness Index 

e-Leadership Index and GDP per Head 

4
1
0
2
x
e
d
n

I

i

s
s
e
n
d
a
e
R
d
e
k
r
o
w
t
e
N

6,0

5,5

5,0

4,5

4,0

3,5

eLI lower than  
expected from NRI 

FI 

SE 
NL 

LU 
DE  DK 

UK 

EE 

AT 
FR 
MT 

BE 

IE 

PT 
CY 

LV 

LT 

ES 

SI 

CZ 
HR 

HU 

PL 

SK 

IT 
GR 
BG 

3

4
e-Leadership Index 

5

RO 

0

1

2

35.000

30.000

d
a
e
h
/
)
P
P
P
(
P
D
G

25.000

20.000

eLI lower than  
expected from GDP 

IE 

NL 
SE 

AT 
DE  DK 
BE 

IT 

GR 

CY 

PT 

SK 

ES 

CZ 

SI 

LT 

EE 

PL 

HU 
LV 

HR 

BG 

FI 
UK 

FR 

MT 

Higher eLI than  
expected from GDP 

6

7

8

3

2
4
e-Leadership Index 

5

Higher eLI than  
expected from NRI 

15.000

RO 

6

7

8

10.000

0

1

Source NRI: www.weforum.org  

Source GDP: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ 
Luxemburg was excluded (GDP 68500, eLI 5.7). 

Dissemination and events 

The  initiative  carried  out  a  series  of  events  promoting  e-leadership  skill  requirements  in  the 
workplace  of  SMEs  and  start-ups  in  2015.  The  events  across  Europe  have  generated  great  interest 
and mobilised growing strength of activity among all stakeholder groups. 

Activities  centred  on  a  series  of  regional  cluster  events  across  Europe  whereby  the  first  initiative 
engaged over 1200 experts, stakeholders and policy-makers in 10 events while the 7 regional cluster 
events of second initiative were attended by around 600 experts. Both initiatives each organised a 
high-level  conference  in  Brussels,  which  together  attracted  some  600  participants  from  across  the 
EU.  

Furthermore, the two day conference on Digital and e-Leadership Skills showed how two European 
Commission  initiatives  are  fostering  talent  and  excellence  in  Europe,  how  the  skills  gap  should  be 
tackled  and  the  essential  elements  in  the  development  and  promotion  of  e-leadership.  The 
conference took place in Brussels on 1st – 2nd June, 2015. 

All  partners  have  been  active  and  continue  to  be  active  in  disseminating  results  of  the  work  using 
different format: scientific publications, magazine articles, news items, presentations, book chapters, 
blog  entries  etc. An  overview of  the partner  dissemination activities  is  provided in the body  of  the 
sections further below.  

Among other activities noteworthy, the initiative successfully organized a pre-conference workshop 
at  the  renowned  ECIS  conference  which  took  place  in  Münster,  Germany  in  2015.  The  day-long 
workshop entitled “E-Leadership: the new frontier of management’” took place on May 26th, 2015.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Policy Recommendations 

The following recommendations are proposed for ensuring Europe has sufficient e-leadership skills in 
the  near  future.  They  are  to  be  taken  forward  by  stakeholders  in  industry  and  academia,  and  by 
government and other stakeholders at Member State level and by the European Union institutions. 
They provide a roadmap for action on e-leadership skills at all levels in Europe.  

Recommendation 1 – Research and Training  

Research  has  revealed  a  lack  of  e-leadership  training  programmes  and  courses  addressed  to  SMEs 
and start-ups in Europe. This applies to higher and executive education, training providers and online 
and blended learning providers. None of these players currently has a sufficient portfolio of solutions 
to address the need for providing e-leadership skills in an integrated, well recognised and accredited 
format. In addition, they still need to prove fit for such type of training. 

Universities and business schools in Europe need to undergo a fundamental transformation as they 
will be expected to take on the role of academic level life-long-training providers for professionals in 
addition to being purely higher education institutions. They are now well aware of this challenge and 
progress is slow. Time has come for bolder actions. They will increasingly have to deal with  

 

 

 

 

new online-driven education providers entering the education and training market, a  

diverse international student community with changing ‘shopping’ behaviour and  

increasingly demanding training offered in highly specific modules which can be combined in a 
mix-and-match fashion (‘boutique students’) also asking for  

hybrid  learning  models  for  a  new  learning  quality  (e.g.  gamification,  virtual  collaboration 
environments, online examination and tests, personalised learning offers etc.). 

Research has shown that  e-leaders, in  particular in SMEs and start-ups, are  moving toward the so-
called  pull-learning  strategy  and  define  and  acquire  the  professional  knowledge  they  need  via  a 

32 / 228 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

variety  of  channels  such  as  Massive  Open  Online  Courses  (MOOCs),  blended  education,  and  short 
courses. 

Promoting  and  developing  cooperation  between  higher  education  and  industry/business  is  at  the 
core  of  the  EU’s  Agenda  for  Modernising  Higher  Education  and  a  central  feature  of  the  Erasmus+ 
programme (2014-2020), in particular via the Strategic and Knowledge Alliances. These are designed 
to  provide  structured  partnerships  for  collaborative  projects  between  higher  education  and  the 
business/industrial sector. 

Recommended Actions 

  Training providers, higher and executive training providers and consultants etc. to further elaborate and 

promote e-leadership and utilise the opportunities for e-leadership training course / programme 
development and provision for SMEs and start-up executives  

  Training and education providers, Chambers of Commerce, intermediaries, sectoral associations etc. to 

build strategic alliances with industry to design and offer suitable e-leadership programmes  

  Stakeholders to develop new training programmes building on the experiences of the European 

initiatives on e-Leadership  and the curriculum guidelines, profiles, labelling and course examples 
(including experiments on online learning formats combined with traditional course formats in the 
(further) development of suitable e-leadership training)  

  Training providers to adapt existing programmes and courses, extract topics and develop these in a way 
that they meet the demand of SMEs and start-ups for e-leadership ‘modules’, serving specific skills 
demands and meeting the ‘appetite’ and ‘shopping’ behaviour of this profile of learners, including hybrid 
learning models (such as MOOCs etc.) 

  Universities and business schools to implement the life-long-learning paradigm and become life-long-
learning training providers offering executive education and training programmes and courses of 
different type and size to an increasingly more diverse community at all working life-cycle stages 

 

Investigate opportunities and develop and implement faster third party certification and accreditations 
opportunities (including joint certification opportunities by industry and universities) attractive to target 
groups in a professional career    

Funding opportunities for implementation 

Utilise the European Commission funding opportunities offered through: 

•  Erasmus+ Programme (http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/index_en.htm),   

•  Horizon 2020 e.g. Innovative Training Networks of Individual Fellowships 

(http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/),  

•  CEN Workshop on ICT Skills (http://www.cen.eu/work/areas/ict/eeducation/pages/ws-ict-

skills.aspx)  

•  EU Structural and Social Funds (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/ and 

http://ec.europa.eu/esf/).  

•  Access to Finance portal: http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/funding-grants/access-to-

finance/ 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

EUROPEAN E-LEADERSHIP 

CURRICULUM GUIDELINES AND PROFILES 

QUALITY LABEL AND SELF-EVALUATION TOOL 

Access them here:  

www.eskills-guide.eu 

www.eskills-lead.eu 

Recommendation 2 – Stakeholder Coordination 

Given  the  current  speed  of  developments,  there  is  a  need  to  continue  mobilising  stakeholders  at 
national  and  European  level  to  foster  the  promotion,  governance  and  cooperation  activities  on  e-
leadership.  

Awareness  of  e-leadership  skill  requirements  and  demand  as  well  as  related  policy  initiatives  and 
actions are not equally distributed across Europe. Communication activities at all levels need to be 
increased.  Synergy  with  the  pan-Europe  "e-Skills  for  Jobs"  and  "Watify"  campaigns  (2015-2016), 
future initiatives on skills and training and the "Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs" should be sought. 

Recommended Actions 

  Mobilise stakeholders to foster promotion, governance and cooperation activities on e-leadership in a 

coherent and efficient manner 

  Ensure active involvement and interaction of key stakeholders  

  Encourage action by Member State national governments, stakeholders and associations, including 

associations of training providers and Higher Education 

 

Industry to develop and work under a long-term perspective which requires partnerships and 
cooperation with other stakeholders, whereby also the sector associations not only from IT industry but 
also IT user industry should play a role 

  Universities, business schools (including those organised in the EIT Digital), employment organisations 

and active employers and unions to promote widespread use of the European guidelines and profiles for 
new curricula for e-leadership skills and contribute to their expansion and maintenance 

  Encourage stakeholders to become active partners in the establishment of an efficient governance 

structure 

  Develop and propose a suitable governance model for digital education and training supply and move 

towards implementation and operation with relevant stakeholders 

Recommendation 3 – Monitoring and benchmarking  

improvements  to  promote  a  better 
Current  quantitative  data  and  statistics  need  further 
understanding of the dynamics of the demand and supply of e-leadership skills. Existing data sets do 
not  match  the  concept  of  e-leadership.  New  and  better  data  would  help  to  define  priorities  and 
measure progress.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Digital leadership skills as the combination of a set of business, digital and strategic skills cannot be 
easily quantified using existing data sets. Existing skills surveys such as PIAAC6 use a much too broad 
set of skills indicators  to  be useful for e-leadership related purposes. There is also no occupational 
matching  of  ISCO  categories  to  e-Leadership  skilled  occupations.  Market  Surveys  are  costly  and 
hence  often  too  small  to  make  comparable  statements  about  countries.  In  this  respect  Big  Data 
analytics could be a promising field which need pioneers to be explored.  

Regular policy monitoring and benchmarking in the e-leadership area - as has been practiced since 
2007 by the European Commission and several Member States (e.g. United Kingdom) regarding ICT 
practitioners  skills  –  would  provide  the  information  policy  makers  need  on  strengths  and 
weaknesses,  threats  and  opportunities  necessary  for  policy  development  and  encourage  policy 
developers in countries aspiring to improve their performance. The European Commission is willing 
to  continue  these  efforts  (including  also  digital  entrepreneurship  policy  monitoring  activities)  at 
regular intervals to measure progress of its policy activities. 

The analysis  of  labour  market developments  should become  an  integral  part  of  this  activity  due to 
disruption  in  technology,  labour  markets  and  business  models  challenges  industry,  policy  action, 
education  and  training  systems  and  other  institutions.  The  digital  skills  required  and  the  ways  of 
teaching, training and learning them will keep changing as enterprises are faced with a world-wide 
competition for digital talent. 

Best practice  policy  and  initiatives  showcases  allow  European  stakeholders  to  learn  from examples 
and experiences of other stakeholders and help moving forward with well developed strategies and 
avoid  making  mistakes  of  previous  initiatives  and  partnerships.  Competition  for  talent  is  an 
international and world-wide phenomenon. It is therefore recommended to extend monitoring and 
benchmarking activities to also cover other countries including Japan, US and Canada but also China 
and other countries in Asia and Latin America. 

Involvement could take the form of a close cooperation of the European Commission, Eurostat and 
EU Member State governments with relevant government representatives and from related agencies 
and  institutions  in  these  countries  outside  Europe.  The  establishment  of  cooperation  mechanisms 
with  likewise  countries  should  address  agreement  on  definitions  and  metrics,  development  of 
common sets of indicators and methodological approaches for gathering the necessary data, survey 
execution and data analysis but also attempts for homogenisation of already existing data sources. 

Recommended Actions 

 

Identify new data sources for information on demand and supply of e-leadership skills, including social 
media data and big data analytics, to establish a comprehensive monitoring and forecasting system 

  Ensure that definitions of e-leadership skills are adapted to new business and technological 

developments and remain appropriate to policy making 

  Analyse relevant Eurostat data (project trends, ensure homogenous data across EU) 

  Exchange monitoring practice with other regions, such as Asia and North-America 

  Develop innovative approaches estimating e-leadership supply and demand figures for establishing pan-
European and national observatory mechanisms to allow for a continuous monitoring and benchmarking 

  Follow up regularly new activities in the field of digital leadership in the world and analyse new trends 

and developments and their relevance and impact for Europe 

  Facilitate exchange of information and of best practices on a worldwide basis with the most advanced 

Universities, business schools, consulting organisations etc. in the field of digital leadership  

  Continue identifying and promoting best practice policies and multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives  

  Disseminate widely benchmarking results and best practice examples and encourage the development of  

(online) platforms around these for the mutual benefit of policy makers and stakeholders 

6   Cf. OECD 2015: New Skills for the Digital Economy: Measuring the Demand for ICT Skills at Work for an application of PIAAC results. 

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Recommendation 4 –Policy Commitment 

There is a broad agreement among European stakeholders and policy makers that digital leadership 
and  entrepreneurship  will  be  key  policy  topics  in  Europe  over  the  coming  years  especially  in  the 
context  of  the  digital  transformation  of  the  economy.  The  report  of  the  Strategic  Policy  Forum  on 
"Digital  Transformation  of  European 
includes  a  set  of  policy 
recommendations for the digital transformation in the EU including the development of e-leadership. 
The  European  Commission  has  been  instrumental  to  launch  initiatives  on  e-leadership  skills  since 
2013 and the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Watify campaign in 2015.   

Industry  and  Enterprises" 

Activities  and  initiatives  are  only  slowly  emerging  at  nation  level.  First  examples  and  best  practice 
cases  have  been  identified  and  are  showcased  on  different  European  Commission  web  portals. 
National  policy  makers  and  stakeholder  now  need  to  become  more  active  and  show  a  strong 
commitment, implement necessary infrastructures and initiatives and operate these in each Member 
State whereby these should be well anchored in national policies addressing these topics 

Recommended Actions 

  National policy makers and stakeholders to demonstrate commitment towards e-leadership skills and 

digital entrepreneurship and scale up their efforts in a longer term perspective 

  National funds and programmes to be specifically oriented towards promotion of digital transformation 

and the related skills required including those for digital innovation leadership 

  EU Member States to consider using European structural and investment funds, i.e. the European 

Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund, to invest in training and lifelong learning projects 
helping SMEs to make the transition to the digital economy more quickly  

  National governments and stakeholders to implement rapidly best practice experiences in making best 

use of such funds from highly successful projects  

  Member States to streamline and build upon existing funding programmes at EU and national levels to 
train as well as re-train and match skilled people with companies – especially SMEs – in need of those 
skills 

  The European Commission to gather information from relevant projects supported through these funds 

and showcasing best practice cases on the EUROPA web portal for others to learn from 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

1 

Introduction 

The programme of work under the service contract “e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized 
Enterprises”,  commissioned  by  the  European  Commission,  develops  targeted  actions  for  start-ups 
and  fast  growing  SMEs  to  provide  them  with  relevant  e-leadership  skills  and  qualifications  for 
entrepreneurs, managers and advanced ICT users that are recognized trans-nationally.  

1.1 

e-Leadership as an evolving business need and policy 
concern 

The discussion about the skills and in particular e-leadership skills Europe needs in order to become 
more  innovative  and  competitive  has  only  just  started.  The  European  Commission  was  first  when 
organising  the  European  conference  on  ‘e-Leadership:  Skills  for  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  - 
Focusing on identifying the needs of Europe in terms of high-level skills for the global digital economy 
by 2020’ which took place on 5 February 2013 at the INSEAD Europe Campus in Fontainebleau. This 
lead to the e-leadership initiative of the European Commission with its foundations laid in the e-skills 
service  contract  on  ‘e-Skills  for  Competitiveness  and  Innovation:  Vision,  Roadmap  and  Foresight 
Scenarios’ which was concluded earlier in 2013. 

In  the  meantime  the  topic  is  also  featured  by  many  influential  experts  including  those  from 
prestigious consulting companies. The authors of a recent McKinsey report7 for instance quoting the 
results from a survey which ran in April 2013 state that C-level executives “are stepping up their own 
involvement in shaping and driving digital strategies” and that “senior executives are now supporting 
and getting involved in digital initiatives”. They also make clear that “the success (or failure) of these 
programs ultimately relies on organisation and leadership” and that “leadership is the most decisive 
factor  for  a  digital  program’s  success  or  failure”.  However,  survey  respondents  indicate  concerns 
about  finding  the  talent  their  companies  need  to  realize  their  digital  goals.  What  is  required 
according  to  the  C-suite  executives  is  the  right  combination  of  skills:  “technical,  functional  and 
business  skills  are  all  critical  for  digital  programs”.  This  corresponds  to  what  the  European 
Commission has termed ‘e-leadership skills’. 

It  is  against  this  background  that  the  service  contract  ‘e-Leadership  Skills:  for  Small  and  Medium 
Sized  Enterprises’  has  developed  targeted  actions  for  start-ups  and  fast  growing  SMEs  to  provide 
them with relevant e-leadership skills.  

The two main target groups are: 

 

 

People:  entrepreneurs,  managers  and  ICT  professionals  and  advanced  users  who  need  to 
acquire e-leadership skills; 

Enterprises: SMEs, start-ups and gazelles in all sectors – enterprises with fast growing potential 
seeking to develop cross-border business and/or competitive advantages with ICT. 

Technological trends such as cloud computing, mobility based business and operating models, social 
technology, the internet of things and big data require new e-leadership skills of business leaders as 
we begin to understand the impact on new business models. 

The main focus of this service contract is on e-leadership which is defined as the accomplishment of a 
goal  that  relies  on  information  and  communication  technologies  (ICT)  through  the  direction  of 
human  resources  and  uses  of  ICT.  It  is  a  type  of  leadership,  distinguished  by  the  type  of  goal  that 
needs to be accomplished and what resources a leader must coordinate and align. In the case of e-

7   Brown, B., Sikes, J., Willmott, P.: Bullish on digital: McKinsey Global results. McKinsey & Company, 2013 

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leadership,  both  the  goal  and  the  resources  involve  using  ICT.  An  e-leader  is  both  business  and 
digital-savvy.8 

Each set of activities demands either strategic understanding (knowing what is possible) or practical 
understanding  (knowing  how  to  do  the  possible)  of  a  set  of  skills.  Depending  on  what  sets  of 
activities  an  e-leader  is  responsible  for,  s/he  will  need  to  have  a  strategic  understanding  of  some 
areas of expertise and a practical understanding of other areas of expertise. 

The  focus  of  the  present  service  contract  is  on  e-leadership  skills  for  SMEs  and  entrepreneurship 
(start-ups).  It  is  the  direct  continuation  of  the  currently  running  European  Commission  precursor 
service  contract  on 
‘Curricula  Guidelines  and  Quality  Labels  fostering  e-leadership  skills’ 
(www.eskills-guide.eu) where the focus is on large corporations and enterprises and where CIOs and 
business executives  have been selected as the ‘leader’ so start with and as the target groups of e-
leadership programme and course development and demonstration.  

1.2 

Accomplishments 

During the course of work of the service contract, the consortium has managed to: 

 

Sharpen  the  definition  of  e-leadership  through  stakeholder  dialogue  in  workshops  and  other 
events,  spelling  out  e-leadership  skills  in  three  component  areas  of  ICT,  business  and 
leadership  skills  and  describing  e-leadership  skills  in  the  terms  of  European  e-Competence 
Framework (e-CF) 

  Develop metrics of e-leadership based on data collected and secondary data sources, compile 
this  in  an  e-Leadership  scoreboard  and  further  condense  this  information  into  a  concise  e-
Leadership  index  benchmarking  countries  on  the  basis  of  existing  indicators  as  a  basis  for 
policy making; 

  Gather user requirements for e-leadership training and education through  

o 

In-depth interviews, following a semi structured interview guideline, with almost 50 gazelle or 
prominent and highly successful SMEs 

o  An online survey of SMEs and entrepreneurs to gather their views and feedback regarding the 

best e-leadership courses and MOOCs; 

o  A second online survey aiming specifically at ways and sources of learning in high-growth and 

entrepreneurial SMEs  

  Develop  and  successfully  demonstrate  to  an  SME  audience  new  and  better  approaches  to 
deliver e-leadership skills. These specific, newly developed or profoundly adapted e-leadership 
courses and programmes for SMEs and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) were taught in 
five business schools and universities in five countries.  

 

 

Research  and  communicate  an  overview  of  the  European  e-leadership  policy  landscape; 
eliciting best practice and success stories to allow policy makers and stakeholder to benchlearn 
and  hone  e-leadership  practice  in  their  domains.  Policies,  industry-led  initiatives  and  multi-
stakeholder partnerships are benchmarked in key performance indicators in all Member States  
Research9 and match against e-leadership criteria the European landscape of Higher Education 
(also MOOC) programmes for e-leadership skills in SMEs for entrepreneurs. 

  Organise seven regional cluster events across Europe, gathering over hundreds of participants 
from  the  business  community,  innovative  employers,  especially  from  SMEs  and  start-ups, 

8   Originating from Fonstad, Nils 2013: Chapter “e-Leadership skills” in Hüsing et al.: e-Leadership: e-Skills for Competitiveness and Innovation 

Vision, Roadmap and Foresight Scenarios. Report: “Vision, Roadmap and Foresight Scenarios for Europe 2012-2020”. 

9  

It  was  originally  foreseen  to  organise  a  competition  for  the  10  best  e-leadership  courses  (also  MOOCs)  which  was  however  not  further 
pursued after inspection of the stock taking results for a lack of truly best practice. 

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entrepreneurs,  current  and  aspiring  e-leaders,  professional  associations,  Universities  and 
Business Schools as well as policy-makers interested in promoting digital innovation. 

  Disseminate widely the results of this research including through  

o  business and academic publications,  

o  Successfully  proposing  and  staging  a  dedicated  e-Leadership  workshop  into  the  premier 
academic information systems event in the European region, ECIS in May 2015 in Münster, 

o  Several presentations of lessons learnt from best practice at conferences and cluster events,  

o  Promotion activities using social networks and media and a  

o  promotional  brochure  (upcoming)  developed  and  produced  in  24  official  languages  of  the 

European Union with the English version being printed 

 

Keep  up,  throughout  the  course  of  the  service  contract,  a  stakeholder  dialogue,  including 
through  five  expert  workshops  with  more  than  100  participants  to  present  and  critically 
discuss its approach and results 

  Organise a high-profile conference, the first European Conference on Digital and Key Enabling 
Technologies skills10 which was held in Brussels on 1 and 2 June 2015. The event was organised 
in partnership with the KETs skills initiative, aimed to produce a "vision and sectoral pilot on 
skills for key enabling technologies". 

1.3 

Defining e-Leadership skills 

e-Leaders  are  people  capable  of  driving  successful  innovation  and  capitalising  on  advances  in 
information and communication technologies. Sufficient supply of e-leadership skills to the economy 
is  believed  to  foster  economic  growth  and  create  jobs  through  its  key  role  in  identifying  and 
exploiting innovation opportunities. e-Leadership skills have been defined11 as  

“skills which enable people to lead staff towards identifying and designing business models and 
exploiting  key  innovation  opportunities,  making  best  use  of  ICT  and  delivering  value  to  their 
organisations”. 

e-Leadership  skills  include  the  competences  which  enable  an  individual  to  initiate  and  guide  ICT-
related innovation at all levels of enterprise, from the start-up to the largest of corporations, from 
private to public. 

Demand  is  growing  throughout  European  industry  to  improve  the  quality  of  e-leadership,  covering 
organisation leadership in digital innovation to deliver business value. Recent research has confirmed 
that the shortage of e-leadership skills across Europe is significant, calling for action. 
Work under the CWA 1623412 understands e-leadership as 

Within the e-CF context, e-leadership is used as a specific expression of leadership. The “e” is 
used  as  an  all-inclusive  acronym  relating  to  combinations  of  ICT  and  business,  including  all 
technical  ICT  fields,  all  business  fields  and  activities  by  enterprises  or  people  in  developing, 
using, supplying, servicing etc. and related to all competences on all levels. The combination of 
‘e’ and leadership in the e-CF means: the ability to initiate and to instigate innovative processes 
by  convincing  others  to  collaborate  and  to  apply  entrepreneurial  spirit  in  support  of 
transformational processes driven by technology. 

10   http://leadership2015.eu/ 
11   Robinson,  Simon  et  al.:  New  Curricula  for  e-Leadership  Skills:  Guidelines  and  Quality  Labels  for  New  Curricula  for  e-Leadership  Skills  in 

Europe. Final Report 

12   See: “User guide for the application of the European e-Competence Framework 3.0 - A common European Framework for ICT Professionals 
http://ecompetences.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/User-guide-for-the-application-of-the-e-CF-

sectors” 

all 

in 
3.0_CEN_CWA_16234-2_2014.pdf, p.36 

industry 

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The definition above can here be seen as the rationale of dealing with e-leadership skills, namely, in a 
very  simplified  version,  using  ICT  to  be  innovative.  This  definition  is  in  line  with  the  e-leadership 
description by Fonstad (201313) who states:  

E-leadership is the accomplishment of a goal that relies on ICT through the direction of human 
resources and uses of ICT.  
Following Kruse (201314) this could be refined into: 

E-leadership  is  a  process  of  social  influence,  which  maximizes  the  efforts  of  others  and  takes 
advantage of vast ICT knowledge and skills, towards the achievement of a goal. 

E-leadership  is  thus  a  type  of  leadership  that  is  distinguished  by  the  type  of  goal  that  needs  to  be 
accomplished  and  by  the  resources  a  leader  must  coordinate  and  align.  Both  the  goal  and  the 
resources  involve  using  ICT.  e-Leaders  are  thus  both  business  and  digital  savvy.  They  might  be  ICT 
leaders  who  are  also  business-savvy  or  business  leaders  who  are  digital-savvy.  E-leadership  will 
involve leading and managing e-skilled professionals as well as other professionals. We take on the 
notion of e-leaders being leaders with a T-shaped portfolio of skills: both business and digital-savvy 
and  argue  that  the  T-shaped  portfolio  should  be  broken  down  into  two  sets  of  vertical  expertise 
skills, namely digital and market skills and one set of horizontal/transversal expertise, namely that of 
developing organizations, which requires strategic and tactical skills. 

Figure 1-1: The e-Leadership triangle 

Going  further  into  the  details  of  defining  e-leadership  skills  actual  skills  and  competences  can  be 
explicated which taken together define e-leadership.  

The three domains of skills digital skills, business skills and strategic leadership skills can be further 
specified by enumerating skills that exemplify e-leadership in these areas.  

13   Fonstad,  Nils  2013:  Chapter  “e-Leadership  skills”  in  Hüsing  et  al.:  e-Leadership:  e-Skills  for  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Vision, 

Roadmap and Foresight Scenarios. Final Report of the study “Vision, Roadmap and Foresight Scenarios for Europe 2012-2020”  

14    Kruse, Kevin 2013: What is Leadership. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/. 

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Market and business skills (”Business savvy”) will include  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specific knowledge of the domain and industry the company operates in and its requirements 
as well as  

its  capability  to  provide  functional  expertise  based  on  deep  and  broad  knowledge  and 
understanding of business processes, flows and related concepts coupled with a  

profound understanding of the product features, technology and emerging markets;  

understanding of customers and the ability to identify the right strategic direction that builds 
value and the  

ability  to  manage  technology-driven  challenges  and  opportunities  taking  advantage  and 
making best use of ICT developments and trends by  

exploiting innovation in identifying and designing new business models that deliver value to 
the organisation. 

Strategic  leadership  skills  are  a  set  of  intrapersonal  and  interpersonal  skills  that  effectively  drive 
tactical  actions,  strategic  thinking  and  decision  making  towards  an  organisation’s  improved 
performance and value built upon exploiting innovation using ICT. They represent a combination of 
forward  looking  strategic  skills  with  here-and-now  tactical  ones  gained  through  past  experiences15. 
Through  strategic  skills  one  will  chart  the  course  and  make  agile  alterations  in  line  with  the 
organisation's  long-term  purpose  and  goals  (strategic  skills)  in  combination  with  the  aptitude  to 
effectively  deploy  actions  and  tactics  leading  to  a  successful  implementation  of  the  right  strategy 
targeting the desired objective (tactical skills).  
Strategic leadership skills build intrapersonal traits such as: 161718 

 

 

Intrinsic motivation for achievement and innovation; 

Being capable of developing a compelling vision;  

  Making  sense  of  a  situation:  determine  the  deeper  meaning/significance  of  what  is  being 

expressed; 

 

Ability to anticipate problems/challenges and seek innovative opportunities; 

  Novel and adaptive thinking capabilities; 
 

Ability to organise and lead by effectively using past experiences; 

 

Ability  to  take  a  step  back  and  grant  autonomy  to  the  leader’s  own  network  (the  leader  as 
participant and enabler). 

Strategic and tactical skills also include interpersonal skills (interacting with, influencing and enabling 
other people): 192021 

 

 

Effectively  and  persuasively  communicate  an  innovation  idea,  to  propose  an  innovation 
project and guiding that innovation project to success; 

Ability and motivation to lead qualified staff from different disciplines towards identifying and 
designing business models and create a highly effective team out of them; 

15   Cooper, C.D., Scandura, T.A., and Schriesheim, C. A. (2005): Looking forward but learning from our past: Potential challenges to developing 

authentic leadership theory and authentic leaders. The Leadership Quarterly 16 (2005) 475–493. 

16   See also: Hogan, R., and Kaiser, R.B. (2005): What We Know about Leadership. Review of General Psychology 2005, Vol. 9, No. 2, 169–180;  
17    Kruse, 

http://www.forum-gute-

Katastrophal? 

Lompetent, 

Kollektiv 

Führung 

Zukunft 

(2014): 

Peter 

oder 

von 

– 

fuehrung.de/sites/default/files/peter_kruse_layout.pdf, 7-13. 

18   Yukl, G. 2010. Leadership in Organizations. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.  199-211. 
19   See also: Mumford, T. V., Campion, M. A., and Morgeson, F. P. (2007): The leadership skills strataplex: Leadership skill requirements across 

organizational levels. The Leadership Quarterly 18 (2007) 154–166. 

20   Kruse, 

Peter 

(2014): 

Zukunft 

von 

Führung 

– 

Lompetent, 

Kollektiv 

oder 

Katastrophal? 

http://www.forum-gute-

fuehrung.de/sites/default/files/peter_kruse_layout.pdf 7-13. 

21   Yukl, G. 2010. Leadership in Organizations. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.  199-211. 

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 

 

Ability to understand the feelings, attitudes, and motives of others; 

Building  and  aligning  relationships  across  boundaries:  Not  so  much  intra  organizational 
communication across departments, but communication across the boundaries of the firm, in 
an eco-systems (service providers (IT,  non-IT), consortium partners, freelancers, supply chain 
relations in vertical markets, e.g. relationship to corporate, powerful customers). 

e-Leadership  skills  needs  are  rather  diverse  across  industries,  enterprise  sizes  and  life-cycle  stages. 
Also  due  to  the  dynamics  of  technological  developments  in  ICT  (and,  although  perhaps  to  a  lesser 
degree, in entrepreneurship and management science) will evolve over time. E-leadership skills are 
combinations of a sufficient number and level of skills from all three domains.  

This highlights the challenges of increasing complexity leaders are facing. e-Leaders will not be able 
to solve problems alone but instead have to take advantage of the expertise his or her own network 
provides. The leader enables his network to reduce complexity and in return receives a reasonable 
basis for decisions. Therefore it is needed to grant autonomy to staff and network. Kruse22 outlines 
this  further  when  he  says  that  a  collective  form  of  thinking,  building  patterns  and  reflecting  is 
needed. 

We  argue  that  the  vast  majority  of  e-leadership  skills  and  competences  in  the  three  domains  are 
covered, in differing degrees of specificity, by the European e-Competence Framework, e-CF. 

Competences  that  are  arguably  not  covered  well  by  the  e-CF  include  industry  specific  knowledge, 
skills and competences (such as the knowledge about the automotive sector that an e-leader in that 
sector  needs.  In  addition,  product  specific  knowledge,  skills  and  competences  (which  may  also  be 
company  specific)  are  not  covered  by  the  e-CF.  As  the  e-CF  is  a  generic  tool,  including  these 
competences would clearly stretch it beyond its purpose.  

Key e-leadership competences have been defined in the process of drafting e-leadership curriculum 
profiles23, namely 

 

 

 

 

Lead interdisciplinary staff 

Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models   

Envision and drive organizational change for business performance   

Influence stakeholders across boundaries in the firm’s eco-systems 

These  key  e-leadership  competences  can  be  mapped  onto  the  e-CF  and  the  core  e-leadership 
component  of  the  e-CF  elicited.  Close  reading  of  the  e-CF  competence  descriptions,  knowledge 
examples and skills examples is used to map each against the four core e-Leadership skills. Up to four 
points  (‘+’  below)  are  given  for  each  and  a  ranking  is  done  by  simply  adding  up  the  points.  The 
following table is the result.  

22  Robinson, Simon et al.: (forthcoming): New Curricula for e-Leadership Skills: Guidelines and Quality Labels for New Curricula for e-Leadership 

Skills in Europe. Final Report. 

23    Robinson,  Simon  et  al.:  (forthcoming):  New  Curricula  for  e-Leadership  Skills:  Guidelines  and  Quality  Labels  for  New  Curricula  for  e-

Leadership Skills in Europe. Final Report. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Table 1-1: e-Leadership component e-CF competences, ranked 

f
f
a
t
s
y
r
a
n

i
l

p
i
c
s
i
d
r
e
t
n

i

d
a
e
L

+++ 

n
o
i
t
a
c
o

l
F
C
-
e

A.1  (Plan) 

E.7  (Manage) 

++++ 

E.2  (Manage) 

++++ 

A.9  (Plan) 

A.7  (Plan) 

A.3  (Plan) 

A.5  (Plan) 

E.3  (Manage) 

E.4  (Manage) 

D.11  (Enable) 

E.9  (Manage) 

E.8  (Manage) 

E.5  (Manage) 

A.4  (Plan) 

D.1  (Enable) 

D.2 (Enable) 

D.10 (Enable) 

B.6  (Build) 

B.1  (Build) 

D.6 (Enable) 

C.4  (Run) 

D.7  (Enable) 

D.4 (Enable) 

B.2  (Build) 

C.3  (Run) 

A.2 (Plan) 

D.8 (Enable) 

E.1 (Manage) 

B.4  (Build) 

B.3  (Build) 

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++ 

+ 

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43 / 228 

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31 

IS and Business Strategy 
alignment 
Business Change 
Management 
Project and portfolio 
management 
Innovating 

Technology Trend 
Monitoring 
Business Plan 
Development 
Architecture Design 

Risk management 

Relationship Management 

Needs Identification 

IS Governance 

Information Security 
Management 
Process improvement 

Product/Service Planning 

Information Security 
Strategy Development 
ICT quality strategy 
development 
Information and 
Knowledge Management 
Systems Engineering 

Application development 

Channel Management 

Problem management 

Sales Management 

Purchasing 

Component integration 

Service delivery 

Service Level 
Management 
Contract Management 

Forecast Development 

Solution Deployment 

Testing 

Personnel Development 

ICT quality management 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

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Sales Proposal 
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Sustainable Development 

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Documentation 
Production 
Education and Training 
Provision 

D.5 (Enable) 

C.2 (Run) 

D.12 (Enable) 

A.8 (Plan) 

C.1 (Run) 

A.6 (Plan) 

B.5  (Build) 

D.3 (Enable) 

If one maps the top e-leadership competences from the e-CF around the key objective of using ICT 
for innovation, the following picture emerges. 

44 / 228 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Figure 1-2: Mapping key e-CF e-Leadership competences24  

IS 
and 
Busi
ness 
Stra
tegy 

IS 
gov
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nce 

Strategy 

Risk 
man
age
men
t 

Info

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Secu

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Stra

ICT 

Qua

lity 

Stra

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Dev

Innovation / Transformation 

Inno
vati
ng 

Tech 
tren
d 
mon
itori
ng

Nee
ds 
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n

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ness 
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elop
men

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duct 
/ 
serv
ice 
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Creation / Implementation 

ems 

itect

icati

Appl

on 

dev

elop

men

Proj
ect / 
port
folio 
man
age

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cess 
imp
rov
em
ent

Legend: 

Rela
tion
ship 
man
age
men

Management 

Cha
nge 
man
age
men
t

24   For  the  e-CF  taxonomy,  see:  http://ecompetences.eu.  The  current  version  (3.0)  -  released  in  December  2013  -  does  not  fully  cover  the 

definition of e-Leadership. This will be addressed in the new version. 

45 / 228 

Arch

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Desi

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Info

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secu

rity 

man

Syst

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neer

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Info

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& 

Kno

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

e-CF 
Loca
tion: 
Plan 

e-CF 
Loca
tion: 
Man
age 

e-CF 
Loca
tion: 
Ena
ble 

e-CF 
Loca
tion: 
Buil
d 

e-Leadership relevance ranking of e-CF compentences 

Three  sets  of  skills  were  found  missing  in  the  course  of  work  with  the  e-CF  to  fully  describe  e-
leadership skills:  

 

Intrapersonal skills (attitudes or traits) such as  

o  Creativity  

o  Developing a vision, making sense of a situation 

o  Being an independent learner 

 

Industry  or  functional  (line-of-business)  skills    as  well  as  enterprise  or  product  specific  skills, 
such as  

o  Financial skills,  

o  HR skills,  

o  Marketing,  

o  Manufacturing and operations skills. (Especially marketing and financial skills  were found to 

be of particular importance to start-ups.) 

 

Competences specific to entrepreneurs, such as  

o  convincing investors 

o  other start-up specific skills. 

46 / 228 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

2 

Developing e-Leadership education 
programmes 

To  address  the  lack  of  e-leadership  education  fit  for  fast  growing  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs,  five 
partner universities and business schools set out to engage with gazelle and entrepreneurial SMEs to 
gather  and  discuss  their  training  and  education  needs  and  requirements  and  develop  educational 
programmes accordingly. 

2.1 

e-Leadership skills requirements and education offers 

The  e-leadership  skills  of  fast  growing  and  entrepreneurial  SMEs  have  been  researched  in  close 
interaction  with  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs  through  interviews  and  surveys.  A  series  of  in  depth 
interviews was followed by an online survey of high growth SMEs. Results were discussed internally 
and in expert workshops. Upon recommendation of the Steering Committee, this research was even 
further  enhanced  by  a  short  online  survey  about  the  actual  learning  practice  in  high  growth  and 
entrepreneurial SMEs.  

This analysis contributes much needed insights into e-leaders and SMEs. It has enabled the academic 
partners to engage with SMEs and co-create important insights into what kinds of leaders SMEs rely 
on to ensure they can use ICT to develop, grow and compete.25 There is a dearth of research on how 
SMEs use ICT to develop, grow and compete, and even less research on what kinds of leaders they 
rely  on  to  use  ICT  effectively.26  What  little  research  does  exist  on  SMEs  reveals  that  SMEs  take  a 
distinct  approach  to  running  a  business  and  to  managing  ICT;  it  cautions  assuming  that  critical 
success factors for large firms apply in a straightforward manner to SMEs. This work represents an 
important step forward towards helping business schools and SMEs collaborate and develop insights 
and  a  common  language  for  SMEs  to  access  and  foster  leaders  who  are  both  business  and  digital 
savvy (“e-leaders”) and who ensure SMEs use ICT effectively. 

During  the  first  6  months  of  the  work,  Academic  Partners  engaged  with  and  collected  data  from 
SMEs in the following two complementary methods. 

1.  Academic Partners interviewed almost 50 successful SMEs to learn about past and future role(s) 

of e-leaders in those organizations; 

2.  Based  on  past  research  and  the  insights  from  the  interviews,  Academic  Partners  developed  an 
online survey. While almost 1000 SMEs viewed the survey, to maximize the quality of the results, 
almost 300 completed surveys were used for comprehensive analysis. 

3.  A  second  online  survey  aiming  specifically  at  ways  and  sources  of  learning  in  high-growth  and 

entrepreneurial SMEs was carried out from March to May 2015. 

The interview data consist of data collected from over 50 successful SMEs and the subsequent survey 
was developed based on past research and data from these interviews of successful SMEs. 

The survey was piloted by staff from PIN-SME with experience both working in and advising SMEs. 
The following key insights emerged after analysing the data from both methods. 

25   The  Academic  Partners  are,  in  alphabetical  order:  Aarhus  Business  School  (Denmark);  Antwerp  Management  School  (Belgium);  Henley 
Business  School  (United  Kingdom);  IE  Business  School  (Spain);  and  New  Bulgarian  University  (Bulgaria).  In  addition,  during  the  first  6 
months  of  the  project,  INSEAD  actively  participated.  During  the  remainder  of  the  project,  the  Academic  Partners  will  be  designing  and 
conducting training demonstrations to help people from SMEs become more effective e-leaders.  

26   Even as recently as July 2014, an opinion piece published in the Financial Times argued the following. “We have to create a space in which 
the  dialogue  between  business  schools  and  small  businesses  can  take  place,  because  there  are  genuine  and  important  synergies  to  be 
exploited […] In short, we should be doing everything possible to encourage academics, students and small business owners to co-create 
knowledge. Business schools and MSEs have much to learn from each  other; but at the moment, sadly, we are simply not speaking the 
same language.” (Greenman, A. (2014). “Business schools thinking big at the expense of small enterprises.” Financial Times. 14 July 2014. 

47 / 228 

                                                            
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

2.1.1  Content requirements 

SMEs  and  entrepreneurs  requirements  of  e-leadership  education  appear  very  diverse,  yet  some 
patterns emerge from the analysis so far. 

Fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurs have expressed many competence needs during our research 
that could be translated into training and education offers in the three skill areas that constitute e-
leadership: IT savvy, business acumen and strategic leadership skills. 

The following picture contains the competence requirements gathered through qualitative research.  

Figure 2-1: Entrepreneurial and fast growing SMEs’ competence requirements gathered through qualitative 
research  

e-Leadership  can be simplified  as  a  combination  of  leadership,  business  and  digital  savvy,  whereby 
the traditional separation between ICT and other business functions entails that specialisation often 
means  leaders  have  deep  skills  in  one  area  and  savvy  in  another.  Our  surveys  show,  regarding 
content  of  potential  e-leadership education  offers  to  be  developed,  that  many  SMEs  actually need 
leaders with very strong, also practical, hands-on, ICT skills. Whereas in the corporate world, the ICT 
skills requirements of leaders often can be described as an excellent understanding of ICT capabilities 
(knowing  what  is  possible,  being  able  to  budget,  source  and  allocate  work  to  be  done),  leaders  in 
(some) SMEs tend to be more closely involved in the production of their ICT based product or service 
(or ICT supported other business function such as finance, marketing, accounting etc.) 

Another  significant  finding  is  that  many  SMEs  rely  heavily  on  outsourcing  for  their  ICT  needs. 
Outsourcing recipients may be consultancies, vendors or other partner enterprises in the value chain. 
While the e-leadership definition includes being able to lead qualified interdisciplinary staff to exploit 
ICT  best,  an  eminent  finding  for  e-leadership  requirement  in  SMEs  therefore  is  to  lead  qualified 
interdisciplinary staff and consultants, contractors and vendors and other partners.  

In  terms  of  technical  content  needed  most,  cloud  computing,  big  data/data  analytics  and  mobile 
apps development have been mentioned as those technology trends that result in increased training 
included  software 
and  education  needs  for  SMEs.  Other  more  technical  skills  mentioned 
development,  mobile  application  and  web  development  including  skills  in  PHP,  Flash,  Java,  Java 
Script etc.; 3D animation; ERP systems; (Big) data tools such as SQL, Hadoop, Python and Django. 

48 / 228 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

ICT  management  trainings  that  were  found  most  useful  include  Enterprise  Architecture,  ICT 
governance and ICT Management. 

Regarding other e-leadership skills required, answers were quite diverse and trainings could cover a 
full range of topics. Communication skills were mentioned, an understanding of the customers and 
the market, as well as change management and project management, business development and 
sales and marketing.  

When  mapping the skills  requirements  with  the  e-CF,  it  becomes  apparent  that  fast  growing SMEs 
and entrepreneurial start-ups notion of e-leadership skills needed is not necessarily in line with our 
presumptions.  Many  skills  needed  can  be  classified  into  areas  of  the  e-CF  that  are  not  part  of  the 
core e-Leadership definition as used in Figure 1-2 

Requirements that do not fit well into the e-CF classification were: 

 

 

 

Creativity  

Being an independent learner 

Financial skills  

Table 2-1: Skills requirements as elicited per in SME research mapped to e-CF competences 

 e-CF competence 

i

p
h
s
r
e
d
a
e
L
-
e

k
n
a
R

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o
i
t
a
c
o

l

F
C
-
e

IS and Business Strategy alignment 

A.1  (Plan) 

Project and portfolio management 

E.2  (Manage) 

Business Change Management 

E.7  (Manage) 

Innovating 

Business Plan Development 

Architecture Design 

A.9  (Plan) 

A.3  (Plan) 

A.5  (Plan) 

Technology Trend Monitoring 

A.7  (Plan) 

1 

2 

2 

4 

5 

5 

5 

Requirement expressed as 

  “Business Development”  

  Project management 

  Organisational change 

  Creativity 

  Business Development 

  “Business Development”  

IT architecture,  platform architecture 

 

 

  “transform customer's needs request to 

Needs Identification 

D.11  (Enable) 

8 

solution” 

  Business analytics skills 

Risk management 

E.3  (Manage) 

8 

 

Relationship Management 

E.4  (Manage) 

8 

communicator” 

  Social media;  

  “understand customer's needs and business” 

  “Approach people, being a good 

Product/Service Planning 

A.4  (Plan) 

11 

  Cultures, internationalization 

  Team leading 

  Partnership establishment  

  Agile methodology 

  Project management 

Process improvement 

E.5  (Manage) 

11 

  Business analytics skills 

49 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

 e-CF competence 

n
o
i
t
a
c
o

l

F
C
-
e

Information Security Management 

E.8  (Manage) 

IS Governance 

Information Security Strategy 
Development 

E.9  (Manage) 

D.1  (Enable) 

i

p
h
s
r
e
d
a
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L
-
e

k
n
a
R

11 

11 

15 

Requirement expressed as 

 

  Knowledge of complex business systems 

  Security skills 

ICT quality strategy development 

D.2 (Enable) 

15 

 

Application development 

B.1  (Build) 

17 

  Mobile apps development;  

 

interaction design;  

  Python, SQL, Django, Hadoop; image 
processing; java, javascript, PHP 

Systems Engineering 

B.6  (Build) 

17 

 

IT architecture,  platform architecture 

Channel Management 

D.6 (Enable) 

17 

  Business Development 

  Partnership establishment  

  Customer relations 

  Sales 

Information and Knowledge 
Management 

Problem management 

Purchasing 

D.10 (Enable) 

17 

 

C.4  (Run) 

D.4 (Enable) 

21 

21 

  Being an independent learner 

 

Sales Management 

D.7  (Enable) 

21 

  Customer relations 

  “understand customer's needs and business” 

Service Level Management 

A.2 (Plan) 

Component integration 

Testing 

B.2  (Build) 

B.3  (Build) 

24 

24 

24 

Solution Deployment 

B.4  (Build) 

24 

  Sales 

 

  Cloud computing; Big data/data analytics 

  Usability design; interaction design; 

  Cloud computing; VMWARE; Virtualization 

  Big data/data analytics; Python, SQL, Django, 

Hadoop;  

 

image processing; 

  Usability design; 

 

java, javascript; Web development, flash 
development; PHP 

  ERP system  

Service delivery 

C.3  (Run) 

24 

  Web, cloud and mobile technologies 

Contract Management 

D.8 (Enable) 

24 

  Partnership establishment  

  Customer relations 

  Big data/data analytics  

Forecast Development 

E.1 (Manage) 

24 

  Foreseeing, forecasting future needs for 

information 

50 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

 e-CF competence 

i

p
h
s
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a
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-
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k
n
a
R

n
o
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F
C
-
e

Requirement expressed as 

  Business analytics skills 

  Market analysis 

Sustainable Development 

Change Support 

A.8 (Plan) 

C.2 (Run) 

31 

31 

 

 

Sales Proposal Development 

D.5 (Enable) 

31 

  Partnership establishment  

  Business Development 

  Sales 

Personnel Development 

D.9  (Enable) 

31 

 

Digital Marketing 

D.12 (Enable) 

31 

  Social media; “understand customer's needs 

and business” 

  Business Development 

  Market analysis 

  Strategic marketing , marketing skills 

  Customer relations 

ICT quality management 

E.6  (Manage) 

31 

 

Application design 

A.6 (Plan) 

37 

  Usability design; interaction design 

  Business Development  

  Agile methodology 

Documentation Production 

B.5  (Build) 

User support 

C.1 (Run) 

Education and Training Provision 

D.3 (Enable) 

37 

37 

37 

 

 

 

2.1.2  Format requirements 

Regarding  the  format  of  the  e-leadership  education,  it  is  useful  to  look  at  how  e-leadership  skills 
have so far been acquainted by the SMEs interviewed. 

There is, obviously, a need for a basis of deep technical and business skills that, however, is usually 
not attained by sending current employees to training, but that in most cases the founders and key 
staff bring to the enterprise as they start or enter the company. These e-leadership skills may have 
been  obtained  through  MSc.  /PhD  and/or  MBA  programmes  and  previous  work  experience 
elsewhere. This needs to be mentioned here so as not to give the impression that e-leadership for 
SMEs could rely solely on shorter, focussed trainings, which many SMEs have reported to favour over 
longer programmes when up-skilling their staff. 

e-Leadership skills are usually not gained through learning alone, but require learning that builds on 
previous  professional  practitioner  and  management  experience.  Therefore 
long,  academic 
programmes, such as MBA and MSc. programmes are usually offered to people with work experience 
and  as  part-time  studies  for  workers  who  typically  already  have  at  least  a  first  academic  degree. 
There is a need for these kinds of programmes even for SMEs. Our scanning of the education market 
and landscape that is presented in chapter 0 has found quite a number of these “long” professional 
oriented combination programmes capable of providing e-leadership skills. 

51 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

On  the  other  hand,  SMEs  have  expressed,  in  our  interviews  and  surveys,  the  need  for  short, 
targeted,  affordable  and  sometimes  even  ad-hoc  trainings.  These  trainings  can  be  technical  or 
business  skills  related,  which  makes  the  programmes  not  per-se  “e-leadership  type”  programmes 
(i.e. combining ICT and business) but can contribute to a person’s e-leadership skills nevertheless by 
adding missing e-leadership skills components to an existing individual skills portfolio.  

Figure 2-2: Format requirements of fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups 

Format requirements of fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups 

Importance of self-learning 

Day to day requirements of short trainings, coaching, consultancy 

Few days, flexible hours 

Targeted, „no nonsense“ 

Affordable 

SME Leaders need strong, practical, hands-on ICT skills 

But: founders and employees have deep HE background 

Importance of Higher Education in hiring decisions 

Importance of work experience 

2.2 

A framework for e-Leadership education 

SMEs  and  start-up  companies  are  very  diverse  in  terms  of  technological,  organisational  and  value 
chain set-up and hence differ considerably regarding their needs for fostering e-leadership skills. A 
framework  for  e-leadership  offers  has  been  developed  taking  into  account  the  different  strands  of 
work carried out under the present service contract. 

Starting from the e-leadership skills definition, any education for e-leadership should obviously serve 
the  first  order  goal  of  exploiting  ICT  for  innovation.  As  e-leadership  constitutes  a  merger  of  three 
competence  areas,  e-leadership  offers  may  address  all  three  areas,  or  focus  on  one  or  two  of  the 
areas when they complement existing skills and competences.  

e-Leadership  at  any  historical  time  will  happen  in  a  given  techno-historical  context,  exploiting 
nascent  or  recently  emerged  technological  trends  that  are  ready  for  deployment.  Therefore,  e-
leadership  will  have  to  adapt  to  the  moving  frontier  of  ICT  development  and  experiment  with  its 
deployment  in  the  market.  For  the  current  status  we  have  described  five  major  trends  in  our 
technology research, which obviously need to be revisited and kept up to date on a continuous basis. 

It has then been our task to engage with successful SMEs, many of which are fast growing gazelles 
eager to expand their activities across borders. We have carried out in depth research of their needs 
for skills and barriers they experience to feed this insight into the design of educational offers. 

Finally, we have looked at existing initiatives, offers and policies to foster e-leadership in SMEs and 
entrepreneurs,  either  from  Higher  Education,  (national)  policy  or  stakeholder  groups.  Here  our 
motivation was to learn from current practice and detect gaps of unmet e-leadership education and 
support demand. 

The following picture describes our effort to lay a foundation for the design of educational offers. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Figure 2-3: Research based foundation of the design of educational offers 

2.2.1  Defining e-Leadership training and education 

As outlined in chapter 1, e-Leadership can be described as a combination of leadership, business and 
digital  savvy,  whereby  the  traditional  separation  between  ICT  and  other  business  functions  entails 
that specialisation often means leaders have deep skills in one area and savvy in another.  

From  a  conceptual  perspective,  it  is  self-evident  that  not  all  educational  offers  dealing  with  these 
issues can be seen as contributing to e-leadership. It is hence to be clarified what makes an offer an 
e-leadership offer. Several perspectives can be applied: 

 

 

 

Target group fit: the offer is targeted towards business owners and entrepreneurs rather than 
professionals.  If  professionals  are  included,  they  are  found  at  an  advanced  skills  level  with 
decision  making  powers.  For  medium  sized  enterprises,  the  target  group  is  to  be  found  at 
executive level. 

IT applicability: If the subject is not IT itself, its applicability to an IT based enterprise should be 
visibly part of the curriculum 

Skill level fit: the learning outcomes are at a level above bachelor degree level, i.e. they might 
be (parts of) modules taught in an MSc course. 

Conceptually, it is reasonable to request that these three criteria are met: target group, skill level and 
IT applicability.  

Additionally,  at  least  one  as  well  as  at  least  one  of  the  following  criteria  should  be  found  in  the 
education offer:  

 

 

Innovation focus: the business innovation/transformation potential of a particular issue is part 
of the offer 

Business relevance:  rather than being a purely academic exercise, the focus is on application 
in a professional or organisational context 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

 

Strategic relevance: the strategic significance of technology for business is taught alongside its 
“technical” application. 

Due  to  the  size  of  SMEs,  there  is  further  a  need  often  for  e-leaders  to  have  also  strong,  practical, 
hands-on ICT  skills  in areas  that may  be in design and operation  and  not  necessarily  considered  e-
leadership in larger organisations. 

Emphasising  speedy  innovation  in  very  small  teams  in  techniques  such  as  rapid  prototyping,  agile 
methods and constant experimentation such as A/B testing (all of which also exist increasingly in the 
corporate world) may require that decision making is delegated to those involved in the innovation 
production  processes,  meaning  that  especially  in  smaller  and  entrepreneurial  entities,  but  also 
increasingly in larger organisation which delegate to small teams, “e-leadership” may combine design 
and development with strategic decision making. 

2.2.2  Format requirements of SMEs and entrepreneurs 

A  number  of  requirements  regarding  the  format  and  operational  details  of  training  and  education 
provision were evident from the qualitative research, namely the importance of self-learning, the day 
to day requirements at work allowing only short trainings, or even one-to-one coaching. Consultancy 
projects are often used to transfer knowledge and gain competences.  

There is thus a preference for affordable training of a few days with flexible hours of attending, and 
much targeted towards currently acute business problems. 

At  the  same  time  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  founders  and  key  employees  often  have  a  deep 
Higher  Education  background.  Hence,  both  targeted  training  as  well  as  a  broad  and  deep 
foundational education is important in finding e-leadership. 

2.2.3  Content, format and skills level diversity requires diverse 

pathways to e-leadership  

E-leadership profiles of SME leaders can usually not be attained as the result of just graduating from 
an  e-leadership  programme.  Rather,  e-leaderships  usually  is  the  (planned  or  unplanned)  result  of 
different working experiences during a career, of education and training and even of more informal 
learning experience such as mentoring and coaching. 

As  e-leadership  skills  depth  evolves  and  develops,  enterprises’  e-leadership  needs  will  usually  be 
either  about  taking  the  next  step  (sometimes  leap-frog)  on  the  e-leadership  ladder,  or  about 
diversifying and complementing existing skills at the same level. 

The  journey  here  may  go  from  awareness  and  curiosity  to  developing  a  vision  for  digital 
transformation  and  innovation  potential.  Vision  will  have  to  be  translated  into  a  plan  including 
prioritisation  and  giving  direction  for  implementation.  Specific  and  generic  skills  and  competences 
which may be lacking at the moment will need to be developed or hired. 

This e-leadership journey is reflected in the educational offers by Higher Education. Higher Education 
may use their attractiveness and reputation to get entrepreneurs and SMEs listen to them and hence 
serve  as  eye  openers  for  trends  and  opportunities.  Through  information  events  and  open  (MOOC 
like) mass lectures they may familiarise the target group and slowly make them develop their vision. 
In this process, SMEs and entrepreneurs may become prospects for selling Higher Education offers. 
In  more  focused  or  even  customised  events,  individual  needs  assessment  based  on  the  individual 
business case and skills portfolio may be undertaken.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Figure 2-4: The e-leadership journey as a framework for e-leadership business demand and educational 
offers – mapped against the demonstrations developed during the service contract 

At this point, it may be decided which offering of Higher Education is most suitable for the customer. 
If the demand is of broad scope and needs to be implemented in-house immediately, it may be best 
to hire a graduate from an advanced, deep e-leadership programme. If implementation can wait or 
will evolve with the staff to be sent to educational offers, a longer professionally oriented education 
programme may be the right choice. 

If only punctual skills gaps are to be filled short training may be sufficient, and it has to be decided 
which format suits best: self-learning, MOOC, or classroom teaching. 

Apart from training and education, individual coaching may be offered,  companywide consulting or 
where  more  than  one  company  are  involved,  knowledge  and  problem  solving  may  be  co-created, 
moderated by the educational institution. 

2.2.4  A description format for education programmes based on 

identified requirements 

From the description of e-leadership requirements, we have developed a description format for the 
demonstrations, as specified in the following figure. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Figure 2-5: Process for designing and describing e-leadership demonstrations 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Identify 
requirements 

Design education 
programme / course 

Provide Demonstration 

Target : 

 SMEs offering ICT-
enabled services  

 SMEs offering other non-
ICT related services 
DIFFERENT 
REQUIREMENTS 

Requirement for e-
leadership: 

Leaning more towards ICT 

•
•

•

•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•

Cloud computing; VMWARE; Virtualization 
Big data/data analytics; Python, Django, 
Hadoop; image processing; SQL  
Mobile apps development; usability 
design; java, javascript, interaction design 
Social media 
Security skills 
Web development, flash development; 
PHP 
ERP system  
IT architecture,  platform architecture 
Agile methodology 
Project management 
Knowledge of complex business systems 

Leaning more towards business & market 
Business Development 
Business analytics skills 
Process optimisation  
Organisational change 
Partnership establishment  
Financial skills  
Market analysis 
Strategic marketing , marketing skills 
Customer relations 
Sales  

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Leaning more towards strategy, personal and 

interpersonal competences 

•

•

•

Foreseeing, forecasting future needs for 
information 
Business savvy, understand customer's 
needs and business , transform this 
request to solution 
Approach people, being a good 

DIFFERENT EDUCATION 
PROGRAMMES / COURSES 

Demon
stration 
Progra

DEMONSTRATIONS 
Demon
stration 
Progra

Education programme / 
course for e-leadership: 
(description format) 

Institution  
Title 

1.
2.
3. Responding to which requirements 
Format (incl. formats like video 
4.
lecture, webinar, MOOCs) 
5.
Start 
6. Costs 
7.
Partners 
8. Duration 
9. Number of participants / target, 

actual 

10. Feedback process 
11. Credits 
12. Embeddedness into existing degree 

programmes 

13. Certificate 
14. Participant profile at entry 
15. Participant aspired roles 
16. Modules / classes / sessions (format 
/ to be agreed - e.g. names as 
offered in syllabus) 
17. Learning outcomes 
18. Mapping to generic e-Leadership 
learning outcomes, e-Leadership 
skills/competences, e-Leadership 
component e-CF e-skills  

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•

•

•

•

•

Demonstration: 
Aarhus University (DK): 

•

•
•
•

Partner management/ virtual business 
networks 
Social Media Marketing 
Business Analytics 
Planning/Managing for Growth 

Antwerp: School of Management (BE) 

• MITGA 
• Masterclass IT leadership etc. 
•
•

 MEITA 
Platform 
New Bulgarian University (BG): 

•

•
•
•
•
•

Strategy Development for ICT Intensive 
Organizations 
Cyber Security And Resilient Business 
IT Marketing  
Cloud Technology  
TSP Executive Strategy  
Leading a Development Team  

Henley Business School (UK): 

•

Leading your company to high 
performance growth 

IE Business School (ES): 

•

•

Digital Innovation: A Strategic View of IT 
and Innovation for SMEs 
Program in management of Digital 
Innovation and IT Governance 

 
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

2.3 

The e-Leadership Course Demonstrations  

Based  on  the  conceptual,  theoretical  and  empirical  research  of  requirements  via  interviews  and 
surveys  of  SMEs  and  an  assessment  of  technological  trends  most  likely  to  affect  the  e-leadership 
skills  needed  in  SMEs  and  entrepreneurial  companies,  we  have  developed  demonstrations  of  e-
Leadership courses for SMEs. 

The  following  tables  describe  the  demonstration  at  the  five  academic  institutions,  which  cover  a 
significant share of the researched list of requirements. 

2.3.1  The Agile University Approach: a series of short e-
Leadership courses by New Bulgarian University  

At  the  heart  of  the  development  work  at  NBU  is  the  insight 
that  

 

 

SMEs  need  the  knowledge  and  skills  the  university 
offers but  

do not recognize the HEI as life-long learning providers. 

To tackle this challenge, course development at the New  

is 

focussing  on 

Bulgarian  University 
implementing  a 
continuous  process  of  curriculum  improvement  based  very 
much  on  agile  methodology  of  incremental  innovation  in 
sprints.  The  current  operating  model  of  traditional  Higher 
Education  follows  very  much  the  waterfall  model  of  career 
evolution  –  plan  your  career,  select  2-4  years  undergraduate 
or  graduate  programme,   study  it  all    -  then  check  if  it  is 
applicable in the industry (and suitable for you).  

While  larger  corporations  might  have  the  human  resource 
management plans that allow for a similar duration (under the optimistic assumption that the Higher 
Education institutions deliver to students the knowledge and skills requested by the industry) SMEs 
desperately  need  more  flexibility  and  short-termism  (and  without  doubt,  large  corporations  would 
benefit from such a model as well).  

Copyright: New Bulgarian University 2015 

SMEs  need  flexibility  –  which  can  be  catered  for  if  Higher  Education  starts  to  follow  agility  based 
curriculum development. Therefore, the Agile University will face these needs, which NBU set out to 
implement during the work of this service contract:  

Instead of two to four years of a fixed (or as good as fixed) educational programme:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the beginning of the educational process the SMEs will define the strategic goal and  

the business needs they have at this moment 

SMEs will consult with the University and  

A short term educational offer will be prepared to face these needs.  

A modular list of potential offerings will be drafted 

From  all  the  proposed  educational  modules  the  SMEs  will  select  the  ones  that  bring  the 
highest value to their business, and then  

The "educational sprint" will start 

At the end of the sprint there will be a sprint review (check what is accomplished) and sprint 
retrospective (analyze the process and think of improvements) 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

 

 

Then the business needs of the SME are re-evaluated against the strategic goal (with the new 
knowledge and at the new moment in time) and  

A new modular list of educational offers will be drafted that will face the new needs and bring 
the highest value for the SMEs business.  

Sprint duration - depending on the SMEs’ needs of agility  – will be rather or even extremely short, 
from a  week  (for  weekend trainings)  to  a  semester  (for  businesses  that  could afford  the  3  months 
time). 

This process of sprint and review may go on continuously as the strategic goal will evolve. So a truly 
life-long learning approach can be addressed in close SME-university cooperation, with ever changing 
learning outcomes but a rather stable process.  

As  modules  are  accumulated,  at  some  point  it  may  result  in  a  degree  diploma  under  the  Bologna 
convention to certify that a certain level of knowledge and skills was reached. 

The six demonstrations developed under this work programme are a mix of hands-on, technical and 
strategy related course, mirroring the needs and requirements researched with the target group: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strategy Development for ICT Intensive Organizations 

Cyber Security And Resilient Business 

IT Marketing 

Cloud Technology 

TSP (Total Software Process) Executive Strategy  

Leading a Development Team 

Modules accumulated may at some point result in a degree diploma under the Bologna convention 
to certify that a certain level of knowledge and skills was reached. 

Demonstration “Strategy Development for ICT Intensive Organizations” 

Table 2-2: New Bulgarian University - Strategy Development for ICT Intensive Organizations 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Title of demonstration 

Strategy Development for ICT Intensive Organizations 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Identified need of knowledge and skills about: Business and Strategic 
management skills  

The course also meets the request for short and flexible programmes as it is 
designed as a modular programme. 

Participant profile at 
entry 

IT Professionals  

Students with industry experience 

First and second level leaders 

Participant aspired 
roles 

IT Professionals  

First and second level leaders 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

 

 

ICT enabled Balanced Strategy as a tool for achieving business success 

Importance of strategy quality and strategy execution 

  Formulating, translating and agreeing on the strategy 

  Align the organization and ICT operations to the corporate strategy  

  Balanced Scorecard (BSC) implementation roadmap 

Learning outcomes 

Strategic business and operating models 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

 

IS and Business Strategy alignment; A.1  (Plan) 

Lectures + project  

Including  1 short video – subject overview 

10 hours lectures + 20 hours project work (new format for NBU) 

4 January 2015 

Standard university fee for 3 credits course 

2 days (4 January, 11 February 2015) 

Number of participants 

44 

Feedback process 

Standard NBU online feedback form 

Credits 

3 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

M.Sc. IT Project Management – I term 

Certificate 

yes 

Lessons learnt 

Continuity 

The feedback for the content and the new format was 88% positive. Short 
intensive learning formats are appreciated by the participants. 

Sustainable.  
An agile approach to continuous adaptation is envisaged to be continued 

Demonstration “Cyber Security and Resilient Business” 

Table 2-3: New Bulgarian University - Cyber Security and Resilient Business 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Title of 
demonstration 

Cyber Security and Resilient Business 

Responding to 
which requirements 

Identified need of knowledge and skills about: Business and Strategic management 
skills, Information Security Management 

The course also meets the request for short and flexible programmes as it is designed 
as a modular programme. 

Participant profile 
at entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

IT Professionals  

Students with industry experience 

First and second level leaders 

IT Professionals  

First and second level leaders 

  Operational risks and resilience management in IT systems and services 

  CERT-RMM model 

  Protect and Sustain. Information Security Attributes – CIA. 

  Anatomy of the cyber-attacks. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

  Risk management and risk policies for BYOD 

Learning outcomes 

Information Management and Security 

E-Leadership 
learning outcomes 
and e-CF mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

Number of 
participants 

  Risk management; E.3  (Manage) 

 

Information Security Management: E.8  (Manage) 

30 hours lectures and case studies 

Including  1 short video – subject overview 

8 February, 14-15 February 2015 

Standard university fee for 3 credits course 

3 days 

19 

Feedback process 

Standard NBU online feedback form 

Credits 

3 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

M.Sc. IT Project Management – I term 

Certificate 

yes 

Lessons learnt 

Hands-on experience with cyber vulnerabilities increases participants’ awareness and 
understanding of the subject matter. Experienced participants utilize case studies for 
systematizing and summarizing published and own experience and knowledge 

Continuity 

Sustainable. 

An agile approach to continuous adaptation is envisaged to be continued 

Demonstration “IT Marketing” 

Table 2-4: New Bulgarian University – IT Marketing  

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Title of demonstration 

IT Marketing 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

Identified need of knowledge and skills about: Sales and Marketing 

Experienced Users 

Students just after B.Sc. degree  

Developers and SME IT 

Experienced Users 

Students just after B.Sc. degree  

Developers and SME IT 

  Digital marketing tools  

 

 

 Digital media  

 Innovative digital marketing 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Learning outcomes 

Exploit and innovate digital marketing trends 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models  

30 hours lectures and case studies 

Including  1 short video – subject overview 

October 2015 – February 2016 (weekly) 

Standard university fee for 3 credits course 

3 months 

Number of participants 

Feedback process 

Standard NBU online feedback form 

Credits 

3 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

M.Sc. Internet Software Technologies – III term 

Certificate 

yes 

Lessons learnt 

Continuity 

An agile approach to continuous adaptation is envisaged to be continued 

Demonstration “Cloud Technology” 

Table 2-5: New Bulgarian University – Cloud Technology  

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Title of demonstration 

Cloud Technology 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

Identified need of knowledge and skills about: Cloud Computing 

Experienced Users 

Students just after B.Sc. degree  

Developers and SME IT 

Experienced Users 

Developers and SME IT 

  Cloud computing 

  Software as a Service 

  Migration challenges 

Learning outcomes 

Exploit cloud technology trends 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models  

  Solution Deployment; B.4  (Build) 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Lectures + classroom exercises + project work  

30 hours lectures and case studies 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

October 2014 – February 2015 (weekly)  

Standard university fee for 3 credits course 

3 months  

Number of participants 

27 

Feedback process 

Standard NBU online feedback form 

Credits 

3 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

M.Sc. Internet Software Technologies – I term 

Certificate 

yes 

Lessons learnt 

Standard course. 

Continuity 

Sustainable 

An agile approach to continuous adaptation is envisaged to be continued 

Demonstration “TSP Executive Strategy” 

Table 2-6: New Bulgarian University – TSP Executive Strategy 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Title of demonstration 

TSP Executive Strategy 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Identified need of knowledge and skills about: Business Process Management 
Strategy, IT Project Management Strategy 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

SME CEOs, CIOs, CTOs – decision makers 

SME CEOs, CIOs, CTOs – decision makers 

  Strategic perspective of the software business, its problems and possible 

solutions to those problems 

  Rational management  

  Quality during software development 

 

Introducing TSP into an organization 

Learning outcomes 

  Lead inter-disciplinary staff and build capability to improve ICT business 

performance.  

  Manage projects to achieve optimal performance conforming to original 

specifications. Establish and operate an ICT quality approach compliant with 
the organization’s culture. 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

  Project and portfolio management; E.2  (Manage) 

 

ICT quality management; E.6  (Manage) 

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Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

6 hours lectures and case studies 

Including  1 short video – subject overview 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

7 November 2014 

Standard university fee for 1 credit course 

Sofia Business Park 

1/2 day training 

Number of participants 

10 

Feedback process 

SEI standard feedback form 

Credits 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

Certificate 

Lessons learnt 

1 

No 

yes 

Educational formats for decision makers differ from the educational formats for 
participants involved in implementation and development processes. Information 
overload is expected and desired.  

Continuity 

Will be offered again.  

An agile approach to continuous adaptation is envisaged to be continued 

Demonstration “Leading a Development Team” 

Table 2-7: New Bulgarian University – Leading a Development Team 

Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

Title of demonstration 

Leading a Development Team 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Identified need of knowledge and skills about: Business Process Management, IT 
Project Management 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

SME first and second level managers 

SME first and second level managers 

  TSP Overview 

  Process Discipline 

  Managing the Plan 

  Managing Quality 

Learning outcomes 

  Lead inter-disciplinary staff and build capability to improve ICT business 

performance.  

  Manage projects to achieve optimal performance conforming to original 

specifications. Establish and operate an ICT quality approach compliant with 
the organization’s culture 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

  Lead inter-disciplinary staff  

  Project and portfolio management; E.2  (Manage) 

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Institution  

New Bulgarian University 

 

ICT quality management; E.6  (Manage) 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Lectures + exercises + case studies 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

June 2014 run as pilot, done in again in November  

Business: Standard university fee for NBU/SEI 3 3 credits course 

Sofia Business Park 

3 days training 

Number of participants 

26 – (June 2014 – 8, November 2014 – 18) 

Feedback process 

SEI standard feedback form 

Credits 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

Certificate 

Lessons learnt 

3 

No 

yes 

Pace and timing are crucial for digesting new processes and innovative points of 
view towards everyday professional routine. 

Continuity 

Sustainable 

An agile approach to continuous adaptation is envisaged to be continued 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

2.3.2  Modular half-day courses about SME growth, social media 

marketing and business analytics at Aarhus University 

Aarhus University has developed four courses based on the 
requirement  capture  under  this  work  programme.  Courses 
developed  at  Aarhus  are  addressing  the  need  for  very 
condensed  knowledge  transfer  in  SMEs  –  compressing 
content as much as possible to achieve the relevant leaning 
outcomes in half-day courses. These courses were marketed 
widely  among  the  University’s  SME  ecosystem  and  three 
courses could be taught under real life circumstances.  

Feedback  was  quite  positive  and  it  is  intended  to  continue 
to offer and continually adapt these courses. 

Aarhus University also produced a banner to promote their 
e-leadership  activities  among  local  visitors  as  well  as  for 
events and for advertising their courses, which were named 
‘e-leadership  series’  (see  picture  below).  There  are  two 
copies, which are placed in the executive education halls of 
the School of Business of Aarhus University. 

Demonstration “Social Media Strategy” 

Social Media skills have been frequently expressed as a concern of SMEs during our several research 
activities.  This  course  addresses  the  need  for  strategic  decision  around  social  media  behaviour  in 
SMEs. 

Table 2-8: Social Media Strategy demonstration at Aarhus University 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

Title of demonstration 

Social Media Strategy 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Social Media Strategy has been expressed as a skills requirement in the SME 
research prior to the demonstration planning. 

Flexibility has been expressed as a design requirement in the SME research prior 
to the demonstration planning. 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks, of which 
participants can pick 2. There is no prior knowledge or education needed, nor are 
the tracks interdependent. Thus, practitioners can themselves flexibly identify 
what can be most helpful and directly applicable to their situation. 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

SME decision makers 

SME decision makers 

The main topics and concepts represented are as follows: 

  Social Media Marketing 

  Main concepts in communication and collaboration 

  Digital economies and strategies for obtaining sustainable competitive 

advantages 

  Search engine optimization and marketing 

  Cases studies on specific concepts (e.g. virtual communities, reputation 

services, social bookmarking) 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

Learning outcomes 

  Understand how social media may enable communication and collaboration 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

  Design social media strategies for particular organizational objectives and 

resources 

  Plan responsible social media adoption taking into consideration benefits and 

risks 

  Explore the potential business applications of other social media tools 

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models 

  Digital Marketing; D.12 (Enable) 

The courses are designed as a mix of theoretical learning blocks mixed with highly 
interactive, “hands-on” blocks (case-analysis, problem solving exercises, 
discussion groups). 

A focus is put on best practice cases, so that practitioners can immediately relate 
to their own situation. 

External guest speakers (of successful SMEs) are invited to give presentations 
about specific topics. 

Cases are drawn from the SME environment to make sure they are relevant. 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

23.04.2015 

950DKK (< 140 EUR) 

- 

1/2 day 

Number of participants 

8 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

Sara Ølholm, AC, Institut for Datalogi, AU 

Sven Kristensen, Direktør, SK Management 

Lene Dahl Pedersen, Marketingchef, Dahl Pedersen A/S 

Ann Eg Mølhave, Forskningsgruppekoordinator og kommunikationsansvarlig, 
Institut for Datalogi, AU 

Marianne Dammand Iversen, Kommunikationsansvarlig, Institut for Datalogi, AU 

Louise Møller Kjeldager, Kulturformidler, Pavillonen 

Laila Steenfat, Communications Specialist, Solar A/S 

Mette Damgaard Sejthen, Kommunikationsmedarbejder, Folkeuniversitet i Aarhus 

Feedback process 

Standardized feedback forms and verbal feedback 

Credits 

No 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks 

Certificate 

Certificate of participation 

Lessons learnt 

Tight program in a ½ day track, participants ask for more depth in specific topics 

Hands-on, practical examples for direct operationalization are asked for. 

Continuity 

Feedback of course is used when designing future practitioner trainings. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Demonstration “Business Analytics” 

Big  data  is  an  issue  for  SMEs  as  well  if  they  want  a  data  driven  approach  to  winning  customers  or 
innovation and transformation. 

Table 2-9: Business Analytics demonstration at Aarhus University 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

Title of demonstration 

Strategic Business Analytics 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Big data / analytics topic itself has been expressed as a skills requirement in the 
SME research prior to the demonstration planning. 

Flexibility has been expressed as a design requirement in the SME research prior 
to the demonstration planning. 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks, of which 
participants can pick 2. There is no prior knowledge or education needed, nor are 
the tracks interdependent. Thus, practitioners can themselves flexibly identify 
what can be most helpful and directly applicable to their situation. 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

SME decision makers 

SME decision makers 

The main topics and concepts represented are as follows: 

 

Information systems strategy and organizational change 

  Databases and data warehousing 

  Online analytical processing and reporting 

  Predictive analytics 

  Decision support systems 

Learning outcomes 

  Understand the impact of process design and data design on the functioning of 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

an organization 

 

Judge the influence of different types of (enterprise) information systems on 
processes and data 

  Know how to leverage internal and external data to achieve organizational 

objectives 

 

Identify the information needs of organizational decision makers and address 
them through the selection and deployment of information systems 

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models 

 

IS and Business Strategy alignment; A.1  (Plan) 

  Needs Identification; D.11  (Enable) 

The courses are designed as a mix of theoretical learning blocks mixed with highly 
interactive, “hands-on” blocks (case-analysis, problem solving exercises, 
discussion groups). 

A focus is put on best practice cases, so that practitioners can immediately relate 
to their own situation. 

External guest speakers (of successful SMEs) are invited to give presentations 
about specific topics. 

Cases are drawn from the SME environment to make sure they are relevant. 

Start  

Costs 

15.05.2015 

950DKK (< 140 EUR) 

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Institution  

Aarhus University 

Partners 

Duration 

- 

1/2 day 

Number of participants 

14 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

Casper Jensen, Danske Commodities A/S 

Trader Lars Kristensen, Danske Commodities A/S 

Driton Hyseni, AAK 

Bi Specialist Martha Skjellerup 

Kirstine Emilie Gaard Sørensen 

Camilla Reseke 

Eksportchef Michael Jensen, ANYgroup ApS 

Direktør Gert Borg, Albireo 

Magdalena Janiak 

Dino Bjelosevic 

Consulting Manager, CPM, Tina Kragelund, Affecto 

Business Consultant Peter Ehlers, Affecto 

CPM Consultant Lars Thomey, Affecto 

Mikkel Kristensen, Affecto 

Feedback process 

Standardized feedback forms and verbal feedback 

Credits 

No 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks 

Certificate 

Certificate of participation 

Lessons learnt 

Participants have problems translating strategy into operational goals 

Guest speaker from industry with practice examples helps illustrate topics 

University as educational provider for such courses is uncommon and not 
expected 

Need for strategic topics is underestimated by SMEs – many discussions and 
decision are focused on operational topics due to resource and time constraints 

Very diverse background of participants – hard to create a “common sandbox” 
AND share new knowledge in only 4h 

Some practitioners ask for in-depth training on specific areas rather than 
overview  

Continuity 

Feedback of course is used when designing future practitioner trainings. 

Demonstration “Planning/Managing for Growth” 

Managing  growth  is  by  its  nature  a  topic  particularly  pertinent  to  scale-ups  but  rarely  gets  the 
attention it deserves. This course addresses the need for planning for growth. 

Table 2-10: Planning/Managing for Growth demonstration at Aarhus University 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

Title of demonstration 

Planning/Managing for Growth 

Responding to which 

The topic has been expressed as a skills requirement in the SME research prior to 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

requirements 

Aarhus University 

the demonstration planning. 

Flexibility has been expressed as a design requirement in the SME research prior 
to the demonstration planning. 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks, of which 
participants can pick 2. There is no prior knowledge or education needed, nor are 
the tracks interdependent. Thus, practitioners can themselves flexibly identify 
what can be most helpful and directly applicable to their situation. 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

SME decision makers 

SME decision makers 

The main topics and concepts represented are as follows: 

  Risks and pitfalls for fast growing firms 

  Scalable management strategies 

 

IS governance and strategy alignment 

Learning outcomes 

  Analyse the dynamic needs of a company in relation to its size and growth 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

expectations 

  Decide on different IS strategies to support organizational growth 

  Create a scalable management model that allows growth 

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models 

  Envision and drive organizational change for business performance 

 

IS and Business Strategy alignment; A.1  (Plan) 

The courses will be designed as a mix of theoretical learning blocks mixed with 
highly interactive, “hands-on” blocks (case-analysis, problem solving exercises, 
discussion groups). 

A focus will be put on best practice cases, so that practitioners can immediately 
relate to their own situation. 

External guest speakers (of successful SMEs) will be invited to give presentations 
about specific topics. 

Cases will be drawn from the SME environment to make sure they are relevant. 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

30.04.2015 

950DKK (< 140 EUR) 

- 

1/2 day 

Number of participants 

7 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

Tuan Do, direktør, Mediehus Danmark Aps 

Denni Pultz-Gottfredsen, konsulent, Innovationsakademiet  

Thomas W. Fagerberg, konsulent, SalgDanmark Aps 

Povl Erik Rostgaard Andersen, direktør, Rostgaard Andersen Holding Aps 

Morten Kragh Jensen, Indehaver, ProCore ApS 

Driton Hyseni, AAK 

Olga Sauer, Business Development Manager, TeeJet Technologies  

Feedback process 

Standardized feedback forms and verbal feedback 

Credits 

No 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks 

Certificate 

Certificate of participation 

Lessons learnt 

Introduction to book ”ReStrategy” with a guideline how to strategize was 
considered very helpful by many participants 

More real life examples would be helpful 

Courses have to be “down to earth” with a clear toolset on how to approach 
problems in practice 

Take-aways have to be clear and put into context of business problems 

Continuity 

Feedback of course is used when designing future practitioner trainings. 

Demonstration “Partner management/ virtual business networks” 

Table 2-11: Partner management/ virtual business networks demonstration at Aarhus University 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

Title of demonstration 

Partner management/ virtual business networks 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Partner management has been expressed as a skills requirement in the SME 
research prior to the demonstration planning. 

Flexibility has been expressed as a design requirement in the SME research prior 
to the demonstration planning. 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks, of which 
participants can pick 2. There is no prior knowledge or education needed, nor are 
the tracks interdependent. Thus, practitioners can themselves flexibly identify 
what can be most helpful and directly applicable to their situation. 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

SME decision makers 

SME decision makers 

The main topics and concepts represented are as follows: 

  Partner management/virtual business networks 

 

 

 

Introduction to the main concepts: SCM, Partner Relationship Management 

Information flow, trust, power and shared success 

IS tools to support interaction and collaboration 

Learning outcomes 

  Effectively manage and improve a company’s partner network 

  Analyse critical deficiencies and areas for improvement within a network 

 

Identify potential risk areas within a company’s network 

  Capitalizing on highly effective internal and external relationships 

 

Influence stakeholders across boundaries in the firm’s eco-systems 

  Relationship Management; E4  (Manage) 

The courses are designed as a mix of theoretical learning blocks mixed with highly 
interactive, “hands-on” blocks (case-analysis, problem solving exercises, 
discussion groups). 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Aarhus University 

A focus is put on best practice cases, so that practitioners can immediately relate 
to their own situation. 

External guest speakers (of successful SMEs) are invited to give presentations 
about specific topics. 

Cases are drawn from the SME environment to make sure they are relevant. 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

Postponed, depending on registration 

950DKK (< 140 EUR) 

- 

1/2 day 

Number of participants 

Target 15 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

Feedback process 

Credits 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

- 

- 

No 

The course is designed as a modular program with 4 different tracks 

Certificate 

Certificate of participation 

Lessons learnt 

Course planned but not held due to lack of interest/participants 

Continuity 

- 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

2.3.3  Adaptation of two existing long programmes to fit the 
needs of SMEs at Antwerp Management School  

While there is a dearth of offerings of short term, flexible courses, the need for profound and deep 
education in business critical IT remains, also for SMEs and entrepreneurs. This is particularly true for 
IT  security,  architecture  and  governance.  While  there  are  some  offers  at  universities  and  business 
schools  in  Europe  that  address  these  topics  with  an  e-Leadership  perspective  (i.e.,  targeting 
experienced senior practitioners and leaders and connecting IT to business strategy and innovation), 
no such offers exist specifically for smaller and younger enterprises. 

This  is  where  Antwerp  Management  School  sees  its  contribution  to  the  work  under  this  service 
contract. Both Executive Master programmes, in IT governance and in Enterprise Architecture,  had 
existed before, but were not paying special attention to the needs of the SME and entrepreneurial 
target group.  

By engaging in the SME research Antwerp Management School was able to adapt the curriculum of 
the  Master  programmes  and  included  a  much  more  interactive  and  customising  approach  to 
teaching an existing Masters programme.  

Based on the research findings, it was decided to give individual coaching a much bigger share of the 
curriculum, locating the service nearer towards the consultancy side of the spectrum. 

Demonstration “Executive Master of IT Governance & Assurance” 

Table 2-12: Executive Master of IT Governance & Assurance demonstration at Antwerp Management School 

Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

Title of demonstration 

Executive Master of IT Governance & Assurance 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Information Technology (IT) has become pervasive in current dynamic and often 
turbulent business environments. An increasingly educated and assertive set of 
stakeholders is concerned about the sound assurance and governance of IT, 
focusing at how business benefits can be realized out of IT-enabled innovation 
and how IT related business risks are managed. Despite the multitude of models 
and frameworks available in the professional domain around concepts as IT 
Governance, Management and Assurance, organizations also face the challenge 
of putting these ideas into practice. Because there are obviously no simple 
solutions, many organizations are looking for advanced expertise grounded in 
research. To meet this demand, the Antwerp Management School and Maastricht 
University School of Business & Economics have established a unique partnership 
to offer a state-of-the-art executive master in IT governance and assurance. 

The demonstration is piloting an existing taught course/programme which has 
been revisited taking into account the results of requirement research 

Interactive, focus on sharing experiences and translating knowledge towards the 
practice field through inclusion of SMEs in broader group,  coaching, group 
assignments and master project.  The program is delivered in a modular structure, 
to better reach out to the SME community (see figure below) 

This programme shares modules with the Executive Master of Enterprise IT 
Architecture (see figure below).  

Teaching is delivered in blocks of two days (Thursday, 14-22h; Friday, 9-17h), 
every three weeks. 

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Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

Launched in 2001, revised based on Guide & Lead program in October 2014, 
addressing adherence to e-CF, coaching and modularity of the program to reach 
out to the SME audience. 

19500 euro 

Maastricht University, TIAS, EuroCIO 

For full master degree: Two year, part-time  

Participants can also enrol for separate module, each of about 10 days) 

Number of participants 

The program has joint modules with other programs, target group is 25-30.  

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

Feedback process 

Examples of recent graduates and students : 
NIBC Bank (+/- 550 employees)  Banking 
Digi-Consult (1 employee)  consulting in digital challenges 

This program is accredited by NVAO and AACSB. Multiple quality and feedback 
processes are installed to ensure quality, assurance of learning and compliance 
with both academic standards and requirements of the professional field. Link to 
practice community is also ensured through the active involved of the alumni 
society around these programs. 

Credits 

60 ECTS 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

Very strong embeddedness into the existing Executive Master of IT Governance 
and Assurance. The applicability for SMEs is ensured through the individual 
coaching approach in the courses and the development of the master project. 
This master project needs to address a complex organizational challenge in the 
own specific environment of the SME, and is to be solved grounded in science and 
rooted in practice. 

Certificate 

Master of Science 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Professionals who are involved in IT governance and assurance such as: Business 
process owners, Business consultants, Operational auditors, IT auditors, IT 
assurance professionals, CIOs, IT managers, IT quality managers, Information 
security managers, Information managers and Business/IT relationship managers. 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

Management and leadership roles in IT governance & assurance. 

  Business and IT Strategy and Leadership 

  Corporate Governance, risk and control 

  Governance and management of IT 

 

Information Security Management 

  Master project 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

Learning outcomes 

After attending this program:  

  You will have broadened and deepened your knowledge of general 
management and IT governance, management and assurance. 

  You can identify and communicate the organization's IT related business value 

opportunities and risks 

  You are able to prepare and make management decisions in the domains of 

governance, audit, control and security of IT 

  You can execute IT related governance, management and audit/assurance 

projects 

  You can apply the international IT governance and assurance framework COBIT 

5 

  You will deliver a master project that will be relevant for your day-to-day work 

and grounded in research 

  You will receive an official and internationally recognized Antwerp 

Management master’s degree and a University Certificate of Maastricht 
University School of Business & Economics. 

  You will be prepared to successfully obtain professional certifications such as 
“Certified DEMO Professional” and ISACA’s CISA, CISM, CRISC and CGEIT 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

IS and Business Strategy alignment 

Technology Trend Monitoring 

Business Change Management 

Project and portfolio management 

Risk management 

Architecture Design 

IS Governance 

Relationship Management 

Information Security Management 

Process improvement 

Problem management 

Information and Knowledge Management 

Personnel Development 

Needs Identification 

Information Security Strategy Development 

ICT quality management 

Product/Service Planning 

Service delivery 

Innovating 

Application development 

ICT quality strategy development 

Service Level Management 

Solution Deployment 

Testing 

Change Support 

User support 

Application design 

Documentation Production 

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A.1  (Plan) 

A.7  (Plan) 

E.7  (Manage) 

E.2  (Manage) 

E.3  (Manage) 

A.5  (Plan) 

E.9  (Manage) 

E.4  (Manage) 

E.8  (Manage) 

E.5  (Manage) 

C.4  (Run) 

D.10 (Enable) 

D.9  (Enable) 

D.11  (Enable) 

D.1  (Enable) 

E.6  (Manage) 

A.4  (Plan) 

C.3  (Run) 

A.9  (Plan) 

B.1  (Build) 

D.2 (Enable) 

A.2 (Plan) 

B.4  (Build) 

B.3  (Build) 

C.2 (Run) 

C.1 (Run) 

A.6 (Plan) 

B.5  (Build) 

e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

Lessons learnt 

Testimonial 

“SME’s have similar business functions and legal obligations as their corporate 
peers but often lack the transactional volumes to automate the processing of it 
which can underpin a business case. The availability of Management Information 
Systems for the SME market has come a long way since the beginning of the 21st 
century. The business model, by means of Cloud Services, is changing rapidly, 
allowing SME’s to adopt these systems in an ever increasing trend of digitalization 
and electronic collaboration. They will benefit most from cloud services 
integration over the various application domains that are aligned with their 
business functions. The governance, design and assurance of such business 
application architecture requires a holistic approach of the enterprise the SME 
represents. The MITGA & MEITA tracks at the Antwerp Management School 
provide that holistic approach, allowing its graduates to guide SME’s with the 
business change resulting from the adoption to this new way of working.” 

New initiative: Executive Master of IT Management 

Based on the demand in the market, a new “major” of this program will be 
launched as of 2015, called “Executive Master of IT Management” (see picture 
above). This program will provide a bird-eye’s view on IT management, sharing 
modules from both the executive master of IT governance & assurance and the 
executive master of enterprise IT architecture. 

Continuity 

Every academic year, a next group is launched. Participants can also enrol for one 
or more module. 

Demonstration “Executive Master of Enterprise IT Architecture” 

Table 2-13: Executive Master of Enterprise IT Architecture demonstration at Antwerp Management School  

Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

Title of demonstration 

Executive Master of Enterprise IT Architecture 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Organizations increasingly recognize the importance of a sound and flexible 
enterprise design and operation – in which information systems are progressively 
playing a crucial role – for realizing agility and strategic success. Despite the 
multitude of models and frameworks available in the professional domain, 
enterprises still face the challenge of putting these ideas into practice. 

Because there are obviously no simple solutions, many enterprises are looking for 
advanced expertise grounded in research. To meet this demand, Antwerp 
Management School and Maastricht University School of Business & Economics 
have established a unique partnership to offer a state-of-the-art Executive Master 
of Enterprise IT architecture. This international program proceeds from where the 
applied research of the Antwerp Management School, School of Business & 
Economics, and its international research partners leaves off, with the goal of 
offering sustainable, innovative and well founded concepts with proven practical 
applicability. 

The demonstration is piloting an existing taught course/programme which has 
been revisited taking into account the results of requirement research 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Professionals with experience involved in enterprise IT architecture such as: 
enterprise architects, business analysts, IT analysts, business architects, IT 
architects, IT developers and information managers. 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Professionals with experience involved in enterprise IT architecture such as: 
enterprise architects, business analysts, IT analysts, business architects, IT 
architects, IT developers and information managers 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

 

IT Leadership 

  Enterprise Architecture 

 

IT Architecture 

  Risk and Information Security Management 

  Change, people and innovation management 

  Master project 

Learning outcomes 

After attending this program 

  You will have broadened and deepened your knowledge of general 

management and IT management 

  You can leverage information technology to help innovate the enterprise. You 
can design and implement the enterprise in a unified and integrated manner 
(including process models) required to realize the enterprise strategy serving 
its customers well and fluently collaborating with its partners 

  You can design and implement solid and evolvable IT systems 

  You are able to integrate enterprise and IT architecture aspects with areas of 

enterprise and IT governance and value management 

  You will deliver a master project that will be relevant for your day-to-day work 

and grounded in research 

  You can build a professional career as enterprise IT architect 

  You will receive an official and internationally recognized Antwerp 

Management master’s degree and a University Certificate of Maastricht 
University School of Business & Economics. 

  You will be prepared to successfully obtain professional certifications such as 
“Certified DEMO Professional” and ISACA’s CISA, CISM, CRISC and CGEIT 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Interactive, focus on sharing experiences and translating knowledge towards the 
practice field of the SME through coaching, group assignments and master 
project.  

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

Started in October 2014 

19500 euro 

- 

Two year, part-time 

Number of participants 

Target 15 

Feedback process 

detailed feedback will be gathered 

Credits 

No 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

Very strong embeddedness into the existing Executive Master of Enterprise IT 
Architecture. The applicability for SMEs is ensured through the individual 
coaching approach in the courses and the development of the master project. 
This master project needs to address a complex organizational challenge in the 
own specific environment of the SME, and is to be solved grounded in science and 
rooted in practice.  

Certificate 

Master of Science 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

  Lead interdisciplinary staff  

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models 

  Envision and drive organizational change for business performance 

 

Influence stakeholders across boundaries in the firm’s eco-systems 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Antwerp Management School 

 

IS and Business Strategy alignment; A.1  (Plan) 

  Business Change Management; E.7  (Manage) 

  Risk management; E.3  (Manage) 

  Architecture Design; A.5  (Plan) 

 

 

 

IS Governance; E.9  (Manage) 

Information Security Management; E.8  (Manage) 

Information Security Strategy Development; D.1  (Enable) 

Lessons learnt 

Testimonial: 

"SME's are the engine for growth in Europe and SME's are confronted with 
increasing complexity, operating in a digitalized world. To master this complexity 
and to improve project success, SME's call for no-nonsense IT knowledge workers 
who understand their business. I graduated at the MEITA track at the Antwerp 
Management School. I got inspired by the baseline of governance and 
architecture towards IT value. Since then, I have been able to inspire many of my 
SME customers to have an engineering approach to mastering complexity. By the 
way, you do not lose the ability to walk the talk by going to the university."  

New initiative: Executive Master of IT Management 

Based on the demand in the market, a new “major” of this program will be 
launched as of 2015, called “Executive Master of IT Management” (see picture 
above). This program will provide a bird-eye’s view on IT management, sharing 
modules from both the executive master of IT governance & assurance and the 
executive master of enterprise IT architecture. 

Continuity 

Every academic year, a next group is launched. Participants can also enrol for one 
or more module. 

2.3.4  A Business School Executive Education Programme for 
SMEs, two workshops at Henley Business School and a 
MOOC introducing e-Leadership to SMEs 

The “e-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business Architecture” programme at Henley business 
school was developed targeting the needs of SMEs, but was not carried out eventually due to a lack 
of demand. It will continue to be on offer at Henley and is currently marketed in a package with the 
other Executive education programmes “Be Exceptional” (section SME programmes) in the brochure 
which is available at http://www.henley.ac.uk/forms/executive-education-brochure-request.aspx . 

As  a  consequence  when  it  became  likely  that  the  programme  would  not  be  carried  out,  Henley 
decided  to  hold  two  workshops  with  the  target  group  to  “demonstrate”  its  application  in  real  life 
situation. 

A  business  and  IT  alignment  course  was  redesigned  to  fit  an  SME  audience  as  well.  In  addition,  a 
MOOC is currently being produced which is described further below. 

A lesson to be learnt from the inability to attract a sufficient number of participants to the course is 
that  a  programme  with  a  price  tag  of  more  than  2000  GBP  (already  allowing  for  the  discount 
available per the Growth Accelerator) is very hard to market currently. 

Demonstration “Business and IT alignment” 

This course was redesigned to fit an SME audience. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 2-14: Business and IT alignment demonstration at Henley Business School  

Institution  

Henley Business School 

Title of demonstration 

Business and IT alignment 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Participant profile at 
entry 

IT capabilities are critical in any business organisations. Business effectiveness and 
efficiency will to a large extent reply on the IT capabilities in the organisation. A 
company sets its business strategies and objectives which IT systems are enablers 
for the company to realise. To make the company competitive, business and IT 
systems must be aligned. Such alignment takes place at strategic and operational 
levels.  

This course aims to respond the requirements from companies in terms of 
understanding and appreciation of the importance of business and IT alignment; 
ability to analyse the requirements and gaps in the alignment; and techniques and 
skills in planning and implementation of business and IT alignment at strategic 
and operational level, specifically in terms of business processes and services.  

IT professional, business manager, business analyst, graduate student 

Participant aspired 
roles 

IT professional, business manager, business analyst, business architect, systems 
architect 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

  Business strategies and operations 

 

IT portfolio analysis and planning 

  Business and IT alignment 

Learning outcomes 

  Articulation of business strategies and operations 

  Capability and skills for analysing the current IT portfolio 

  Appreciation of importance of business and IT alignment at strategic and 

operational levels 

  Capability and skills for business and IT alignment 

  A.1. IS and Business Strategy Alignment.  

  Through the course we aim to bring the participants to the Proficiency Level 4 
– to provide leadership to the construction and implementation of long term 
innovative IS solutions. 

A mix of seminar, discussion, case studies and participative coursework. 

27 April 2015 

Equivalent to £2000 

Henley Business School with support from Cap Gemini  

5 days 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

Number of participants 

17 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

OFCOM, PTT ICT Solutions, International Institute of Buffalo, BOX, PwC, IBM Lab 
Business Services & Solutions (China), ADP China 

Feedback process 

Paper-based and digital evaluation form (through the use of Blackboard) 

Credits 

10 ECTs  

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

Part of the MSc Business Technology Consulting, as well as a standalone module 
for Executive Education 

Certificate 

Yes 

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Lessons learnt 

Most participants wanted to learn methods, techniques and skills that they can 
use in their practice. Therefore, we provided a rich set of “toolkits” (e.g. clearly 
designed processes of analysis and template) which they really welcome. 

They liked to use a case study throughout the course, and worked under the 
supervision on the different stages of the “lifecycle”. 

They liked group work to share experience and ideas between the participants.  

Theoretical underpinning is important in the course to establish participants’ 
confidence in what they learn, but it must be highly relevant to the core and kept 
in good balance.  

Continuity 

This course will be part of the programme of the MSc Business Technology 
Consulting which will be offered every year.  

The course will also become a standalone CPD programme to be offered through 
Henley Business School’s Executive Educational portfolio to industry (including 
SME in particular) in the UK and Europe.  

Marketing will be through the University of Reading’s paper-based and digital 
prospectus; as well as Henley Business School’s Executive Education Programmes. 

The content will be reviewed and updated regularly by the teaching and research 
team. This module receives substantial input from Cap Gemini in terms of guest 
lectures, case studies and supervision to practical projects.  

Demonstration “Workshop: ‘Winning at Customer Development’ Sales” 

The ‘Winning at Customer Development’ Sales Workshop which is delivered by the Henley Business 
School  and  supported  by  the  Business  Growth  Hub  and  Santander  offers  SMEs  a  practical  one  day 
session on selling and how to win, retain and develop customers. 

The ability to sell is arguably the most important skill in business. If you cannot sell, do not think that 
you will succeed in business. Selling features in everything we do in life. Whether you are persuading 
your colleague about your great idea for a new product or service or the customer to subscribe to 
your  company's  on  line  service,  being  able  to  sell  will  help  you  succeed.  Success  comes  when  you 
make a sale. 

For  an  SME  selling  is  what  makes  the  difference  as  does  having  a  sales  strategy  that  defines  how 
selling activities are to be organised. 

Importantly selling skills can be learnt and are essential skills for SME customer facing staff to have. 

The workshop helped participants raise their understanding of selling, provide techniques of ‘how to 
sell’  and  explain  the  selling  process  from  prospecting  to  pitching  to  overcoming  objections  and 
closing  a  sale  and  also  enable  participants  to  prepare  and  deliver  a  powerful  USP  for  the  SME’s 
product or service. 

The workshop, which will include practical exercises, will be delivered by Jerk Sikorski, Entrepreneur 
and Business Development Lead & Executive in Residence, Stuart Morris, Entrepreneur and Lecturer 
in Entrepreneurship and Dr. Max Belitski, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Henley Business School. 

The programme for the Sales Workshop is: 

• Part 1 Know what Customer Development is about 

• Part 2 Embrace Customer Orientation 

• Part 3 Winning at Customer Development through Effective e-competencies 

• Part 4 Build a strong Sales Value Proposition 

• Part 5 Develop your Essential Selling Skills and engage in the Selling Process 

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The workshop has been a full day event which combines lecture style delivery and practical exercises 
throughout the day to heighten learning and understand of selling and its critical role in winning and 
retaining customers. 

The event is for customer facing staff of SMEs who deal with customers from day to day that includes 
senior members of the management team who have limited sales experience, account managers and 
customer development staff. 

The workshop is for SMEs only and places are limited to one person per SME. The Sales Workshop 
will help  make a  difference  to  SMEs  in  their  pursuit  of  growth  and  demonstrate that  collaboration 
with the University of Reading can have a transformative effect on SMEs. 

It is offered in partnership with the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP Business Growth Hub 

Table 2-15: ‘Winning at Customer Development’ Sales demonstration at Henley Business School  

Institution  

Henley Business School 

Title of demonstration 

‘Winning at Customer Development’ Sales Workshop  

Responding to which 
requirements 

The ability to sell is arguably the most important skill in business. If you cannot 
sell, do not think that you will succeed in business. Selling features in everything 
we do in life. Whether you are persuading your colleague about your great idea 
for a new product or service or the customer to subscribe to your company's on 
line service, being able to sell will help you succeed. For an SME selling is what 
makes the difference as does having a sales strategy that defines how selling 
activities are to be organised. For an SME exploiting the existing technologies to 
win the competitive advantage is what makes the difference between new digital 
sales and traditional sales. Having an IT strategy for an SME defines how ICT and 
selling strategies are embedded and aligned and the development of specific e-
skills are to be organised.  

A one day practical workshop helps participants raise their understanding of 
winning and developing new customers as well as retaining the existing 
customers. It provides techniques of ‘how to sell’ and explain the selling process. 
It raises the awareness of necessary and desirable e-skills and e-competences to 
enable participants to prepare and deliver a powerful sales value proposition for 
the SME’s product or service.  

Participant profile at 
entry 

C-level with experience involved in enterprise IT architecture such as: enterprise 
architects, business analysts, IT analysts, business architects, IT architects, IT 
developers and information managers. 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

Corporate management and sales professionals in SMEs (C-level) 

Session 1: What is customer development? 

Session 2: The practice of Customer Orientation 

Session 3: Developing the ‘sales value proposition’ 

Session 4: The selling process and developing the essential selling skills 

Parts 3 and 4 link developing the ‘sales value proposition’ using e-CF 
competences. Part 4 in particular raises the awareness of e-skills needed to win 
and retain the customers. 

Learning outcomes 

  Capability and e-skills for developing customers and “sales value proposition”. 

  Making a difference to SMEs in their pursuit of growth using sophisticated e-

competences and e-skills.   

 

Increase sales with effective e-competences and skills 

  Design effective e-commerce strategies 

  Capability to further exploit digital technologies and understand digital trends 

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which requires e-skills 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

Through a series of workshops we aim to bring the participants to the Proficiency 
Level 4 which enables developing key e-competences at Key e-competencies in 
regard to use of IT, social media, digital marketing, Internet and Internet 
resources, Software (incl. SaaS), Applications, Mobile communications and Data 
analytics.  

We target to achieve the following e-Leadership learning outcomes within the e-
CF dimension: 

Plan: e-competences related to customer research and needs identification, 
Product and Service development and / Solutions Planning  

A.3. Business plan Development; A.9. Innovating; D.11 Need identification 

Build: e-competences related to sales leads generation, sales strategy and sales 
value proposition development and testing: 

B.3. Testing; B4. Solution deployment  

Run: e-competences related to customer service delivery and risk management: 

C.1. User support; C.3. Service Delivery; C.4. Problem management 

Enable: e-competences related to sales order processing, training and 
Development, customer acquisition channel operation: 

D.3. Education and Training Provision; D.5. Sales Proposal Development;          

D.6. Channel management; D.7. sales management; D.11 Need identification 

Manage: e-competences related to customer relationship, sales and contract 
management:  

E.3. Risk management related to C.1. User support 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

A mix of guest speakers presentation in an open forum format, case studies and a 
number of practical exercises on a day and while preparing for a workshop 

Start  

13 April 2015 

http://www.henley.ac.uk/news/news-item/winning-at-customer-development-
workshop-13-april-2015/  

18 June 2015 

http://www.henley.ac.uk/events/winning-at-customer-development-sales-
workshop-thursday-18-june-2015  

Free of charge for SMEs 

Thames Valley Berkshire LEP Business Growth Hub, Santander, The Henley Centre 
for Entrepreneurship  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

a practical one day session, running every 2 months at Henley 

Number of participants 

14 SME C-level participants 13 April session) up to 25 SMEs places available at 
each workshop 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

Feedback process 

Case Communications (Director), Murray McIntosh (Consultant), Jaeger (Store 
Manager), Challenges Abroad (Manager), Connect Reading (Director), Elite Hotels 
(Business Development Manager), WPL Ltd (Divisional Director Products), Studio 
Graphene Ltd (Chief analyst), Branche d'Olive (Co-Founder/Director), Air Pack 
Systems (Sales Executive), 1hq (CEO), Sherwin Currid Acc. (Director), Sacla UK Ltd 
(Commercial Executive), Doves Farm Foods (Commercial Manager) 

 SMEs posted lots of positive comments in their feedback on the workshop:  
'Helped me to understand key steps to better selling' Peter Mallett, Sacla UK Ltd 
'An informative and enjoyable workshop' Claire Wright, Connect Reading  
'Great Speakers, great workshop! It exceeded my expectations'  Carolinade de 
Andrade, Jaeger  

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'A very well structured and presented workshop' Dave Parkinson, WPL Ltd  
'I felt I learned new processes today, I also developed my knowledge' Daniel Clark, 
Elite Hotels 

Feedback on SME characteristics and e-competences was collected and attached 
to this demonstration. 

Credits 

No credits 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

The workshop is embedded into a series of SMEs development workshops at 
Henley Business School (e.g. Customer development, The practice of Customer 
Orientation, Developing the ‘sales value proposition’, Developing the essential 
selling skills , Talks on Enterprise development, Boosting business performance on 
Knowledge Transfer partnerships and other  

http://www.henley.ac.uk/research/research-centres/henley-centre-for-
entrepreneurship/SP7  

Certificate 

Certificate of participation 

Lessons learnt 

Continuity 

The workshop on April 13, which ran for the full day, brought together a wide 
range of SMEs to raise their understanding of selling, provide techniques of ‘how 
to sell’ and explain the selling process. In addition, the workshop featured new 
sessions on how e-competencies can make a difference to winning and 
developing customers. The workshop has demonstrated a strong collaboration 
between the SMEs and Faculty at the University of Reading which can have a 
transformative effect on SMEs. 

This workshop is a part of Henley Business school strategy of SME outreach which 
is offered on a regular 2 months basis. Undergraduate and postgraduate students 
from a number of programmes across the five schools at Henley are invited to 
attend the workshop and share the ideas. This ensures continuity and a diverse 
pull of opinions   and ideas on how e-skills could be used more effectively to boost 
sales.  

The e-leadership component of the workshop is reviewed and updated regularly 
has become an integral part of “sales value proposition” and customer 
development workshops at Henley Business school with its time share in a 
workshop planning to grow taken up to 50% by November 2015.  

Marketing is done at the Henley Business school Events website and Executive 
Education Programmes website. 

Demonstration “e-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business 
Architecture” 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Excerpt from the Executive education 
programmes brochure “Be Exceptional” by 
Henley Business School 

The  “e-Leadership  Skills:  New  Technology  and 
Business  Architecture”  programme  at  Henley 
business  school  was  developed  taking 
into 
account the theoretical and empirical findings of 
the  body  of  work  carried  out  under  this  service 
contract. It was not carried out eventually due to 
a  lack  of  demand,  but  will  continue  to  be  on 
offer  at  Henley.  It  is  currently  marketed  in  a 
package  with  the  other  Executive  education 
programmes  “Be  Exceptional”  (section  SME 
programmes)  in  the  brochure  which  is  available 
http://www.henley.ac.uk/forms/executive-
at 
education-brochure-request.aspx . 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 2-16: Initially planned “e-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business Architecture” Demonstration 
at Henley Business School  

Institution  

Henley Business School 

Title of demonstration 

e-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business Architecture 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

http://www.henley.ac.uk/executive-education/e-leadership-skills-new-
technology-and-business-architecture  

Develop e-leadership skills, identify the issues that may be a challenge to high-
performance growth, gain a competitive advantage through effective ICT 
management; identify the role of digital and IT strategies in your organisation, use 
of IT and digital strategies as a strategic vs. survival tool, study and analyse 
practical applications within the businesses – people, marketing, strategy, finance 
and ICT^ 

E-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business Architecture focuses on how 
to: 

  Accelerate your company’s growth and innovation through the development 

of effective e-leadership skills 

  Boost your organisation’s performance and competitiveness through 

integrating new technologies into your business architecture 

 

Increase your turnover through effective e-leadership 

  Enhance business performance through system integration and design 

  Empower and lead creative teams 

  Design effective e-commerce strategies 

  Clearly identify roles, responsibilities and accountability in management 

  Exploit digital trends 

 

Identify key investment-readiness processes 

Entry level / Bachelor or master degree 

SMEs 

Industries / employer types: Any (IT and other) 

Leaders in the SMEs typically carrying out more than one leadership role. SME 
leadership is complex and e-Leadership – the integration of a range of new 
technologies into the business – is often left behind. We challenge it with our 
executive course. 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

The module is divided in 4 sessions (days) and one day case study and a home 
reading. 

Day 1 - Introduction & Understanding the SME space in the Digital economy. 

 

Is your business talking to you? We introduce participants to the purposes of 
the programme, outlining definitions of e-leadership and the Digital economy, 
innovation and entrepreneurship. We focus on issues of systems integration 
and design - managing risk in a complex environment, giving summary results 
of the recent EU-funded research programmes on e-Leadership. 

  Agile thinking in a complex environment. Managing creativity and innovation – 
leading creative teams, conducive environments for ideas innovation. Leading 
teams through change. 

Day 2. E-leadership in business for SME 

We aim to improve business performance for the SMEs by introducing the key 
concepts of e-leadership, alignment of business and IT, technology for business 
with relevant case studies. 

Day 3: e-Leadership in Innovation 

This aims to elaborate the understanding of innovation in the SMEs with a heavy 

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focus on implementation of business / IT strategy. A set of competences are 
reviewed which help e-leader to initiate and drive innovation using ICT 

Day 4. Process, Systems Planning and Application 

  Business needs – reflection / presentation, mapping the needs of the 

organization. 

  Steps to investment readiness. E-commerce, integrated financial feedback for 

management planning and decision making with key stakeholders. 

  Conclusion: Effective e-leadership strategies for growth. 

  Embedding solutions and designs for growth. 

  Enabling individuals and teams 

  Leading teams through change 

Develop e-leadership skills: management skills, hybrid market-ICT skills, industry-
specific skills; Identify the issues that may be a challenge to growth; Identify the 
risk to the organisation in leaving matters unchallenged; The benefits in gaining 
competitive advantage through effective ICT management; Identify the role of IT 
in organisation: Leadership, competitive advantage and Operation effectiveness; 
Study and discuss practical applications within the businesses – people, 
marketing, strategy, finance and ICT;  

  Key words: Digital literacy - Information and communication technologies (ICT) 

in driving productivity, financial readiness & growth. 

Learning outcomes 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

  Lead interdisciplinary staff  

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models 

  Envision and drive organizational change for business performance 

  E-CF competences that will be touched are 

 

IS and Business Strategy alignment; A.1  (Plan) 

  Technology Trend Monitoring; A.7  (Plan) 

  Business Plan Development; A.3  (Plan) 

  Business Change Management; E.7  (Manage) 

  Project and portfolio management; E.2  (Manage) 

  Architecture Design; A.5  (Plan) 

 

IS Governance; E.9  (Manage) 

  Process improvement; E.5  (Manage) 

  Problem management; C.4  (Run) 

 

Information and Knowledge Management; D.10 (Enable) 

  Needs Identification; D.11  (Enable) 

 

ICT quality management; E.6  (Manage) 

  Product/Service Planning;A.4  (Plan) 

 

 

Innovating; A.9  (Plan) 

ICT quality strategy development; D.2 (Enable) 

  Solution Deployment; B.4  (Build) 

Sessions, team work, homework, case studies 

IoT was envisaged for 8-9 June 2015 + 22-23 June 2015 

Total programme cost: £4250.00 

A grant of £2000 per person is available to Growth Accelerator members 

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Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Start  

Costs 

e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

Henley Business School 

Partners 

Duration 

Microsoft, Cisco, other partners 

2+2 days 

Number of participants 

14+ 

Feedback process 

Participant feedback (standard procedure) 

Credits 

No 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

Not into a degree programme, but part of the Henley Accelerator programme on 
Executive education for small to medium sized enterprises (SME) to grow their 
businesses more quickly in an ever changing competitive environment with 
practical hands on experience having worked with innovative fast growing SMEs 
for the last ten years. These programmes offer a rewarding, challenging and 
stretching experience by combining some conceptual skills from an MBA with a 
practical understanding of how to overcome ever increasing barriers to growth. 

Certificate 

Yes 

Lessons learnt 

Continuity 

A lesson to be learnt from the inability to attract a sufficient number of 
participants to the course is that a programme with a price tag of more than 2000 
GBP (already allowing for the discount available per the Growth Accelerator) is 
very hard to market currently. 

The programme will become a part of the offered programmes at the Henley 
Accelerator on Executive education taught jointly by two schools: Leadership, 
Organisation and Business; Business Informatics, Systems and Accounting School. 

Demonstration MOOC “e-Leadership: Innovation, Technology and Information 
Management” 

Institution  

Henley Business School 

Title of demonstration  Working Title:  e-Leadership: Innovation, Technology and Information 

Management 

Responding to which 
requirements 

Research shows that companies that invest in new technologies, such as big data, 
mobile applications and the internet of things, as well as the digital skills of their 
staff, significantly increase their sales and competitiveness.  

Align business and IT to improve competitiveness 

This free online course will help you realise these benefits in your organisation, by 
better understanding how to plan, manage, design, enable and implement new 
digital technologies.  

Learn with experts from Henley Business School 

The course is delivered by Henley Business School - a triple accredited, world-
renowned business school, which is part of the University of Reading. 

You will learn from a variety of videos, articles, discussions, quizzes and activities 
based on your own experiences. You will be encouraged to share examples of 
managing (and being managed) with other learners, and to reflect on more 
effective approaches. 

e-Leadership is an ideal taster course for those thinking of pursuing an executive 
education, masters degree or MBA. 

Participant profile at 

Post-experience (Executive Education) 

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entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Henley Business School 

This  course  is  aimed  at  top  and  middle  management  in  any  type  and  size  of 
organization;  both  commercial  and  not-for-profit.  They  do  not  need  any  prior 
expert  knowledge  of  management  theory  or  hands-on  technology  skills  to  get 
started. 

Professionals: Career advancement. 

This course will help learners to develop their e-competencies that can help the 
business improve at winning customers and knowledge management within five 
main areas: 

  Planning: capability to carry internet marketing, Customer Sales Planning, 
Research and Needs Identification, Product Solutions Planning, Sales Leads 
Generation 

  Building: Value Proposition Development, Testing, IT Strategy Development,  

  Running: Customer Service Delivery, Problem Management,  Risk Management 

  Enabling: Processing Orders, Training and Development , Customer Acquisition 

Channel Operations using new technologies  

Managing: CRM, Account and HR Management, Sales Management, Contract 
Management 

Learning outcomes 

This course will help learners: 

 

 

increase sales and return on investment using new technologies; 

leverage business investment in skills and new technologies  

  design effective e-business and e-enterprise strategies; 

  build creative and dynamic teams using new technologies; 

 

incorporate emerging technologies into your business architecture; 

  align business and IT to improve competitiveness; 

  and design / redesign business models that deliver value to your customers. 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

MOOC 

Duration 

3 weeks. Approximately 3 hours of study per week. 

Number of participants 

Expected number of joiners: 7500 

Marketing 
Considerations 

Unique Selling Point: This is currently the first online course to focus on how new 
digital technologies can increase the sales and competitiveness of any type and 
size of organization including commercial and not-for-profit organisations. 

Technology and Information management is a global issue. Organisations around 
the world struggle with the same issues and work with the same technologies. 

This course is based on Henley’s collaborative research with the European 
Commission and partners including Aarhus University, INSEAD, IE Business School, 
Antwerp School of Management, New Bulgarian University, European Foundation 
for Management Development, PIN-SME, IDC Europe and Empirica. As such it 
takes an international approach and brings international experience to support 
learners. 

The course is delivered by Henley Business School - a triple accredited, world-
renowned business school, which is part of the University of Reading. 

Globally-recognised research from Henley Business School and University of 
Reading faculty and 17 leading research centres delivers real insights into the 
challenges and opportunities that face organisations and individuals in the 21st 
century.   

Team of practitioners the world-class academic researchers from Business 
Informatics, Systems and Accounting School and Leadership, Organisation and 

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Henley Business School 

Behavior School at Henley Business School will provide their expertise in this 
course. 

These Schools have created a community of collaborative applied research 
centres through which we will bring together academics, practitioners, 
organisations and their executives to contribute to this course,  

Our Team includes two Professors who are Head of Schools and two experts. Each 
Team member holds a PhD from the world Top 1% Universities. The Team speaks 
internationally at a variety of universities and conferences based on academic and 
private expertise in Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Leadership and 
Business Information Systems. Team members have worked with local UK 
businesses across sectors, with an emphasis on IT to enhance university-private-
public partnerships, knowledge transfer and business development 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

2.3.5  An e-Leadership familiarisation event for SMEs also live 
broadcast over Internet and a full SME digital innovation 
class at Instituto de Empresa Business School  

IE  Business  School  demonstrated  two  SME  offers  which  were  based  on  the  insight  that  “Pull 
Learning” is key for SMEs. Students showed a clear preference for short and focused courses, giving 
them some degree of personalization in their educational experience. In demonstrations, IE set out 
to  exploit  a  variety  of  formats,  including  F2F,  webinars,  videoconferences,  discussion  boards,  and 
SPOCs (small, private online courses, as opposed to MOOCs, massive open online courses). 

In  the  case  of  SPOCs,  students  showed  a  preference  for  initially  having  F2F  sessions  with  the 
instructors, so that a preliminary working relationship is established.  

Students  re-emphasised  he  importance  of  real  and  practical  business  cases.  IE  catered  for  this 
requirement, looking into new and building on their existing case study fund. In both demonstrators, 
bringing guests talking about challenges in their companies was considered extremely valuable. The 
demonstrator  on  Digital  Innovation  and  IT  Governance  included  an  “E-leader  Coach”,  CIOs  from 
leading companies in Spain. 

Demonstration “Digital Innovation: A Strategic View of IT and Innovation for 
SMEs” 

Table 2-17: IE Business School - Digital Innovation: A Strategic View of IT and Innovation for SMEs 

Institution  

IE Business School 

Title of demonstration 

Digital Innovation: A Strategic View of IT and Innovation for SMEs 

Responding to which 
requirements 

IT and innovation as a whole can help a SME become more competitive through 
changes in strategy and direction, as well as improvements in efficiency and 
effectiveness. In this course, we review the IT value proposition and study how 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Institution  

IE Business School 

transformation in technology provides value. 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

The course will be taught at IE Business Schools Campus in Madrid, Spain  

The course will be taught by three professors from IE Business School: Alvaro 
Arenas, Jose Esteves and Silvia Leal. 

The delivery method will be face-to-face, and the language of the course will be 
Spanish. 

We plan to transmit the course via Internet, so interested companies in Spain and 
elsewhere could join in 

26 March 2015 

We have not envisaged charging for the course at the moment.  

All companies participating in the project interviews and survey will be invited to 
participate in the course. 

Three SMEs that have participated in the project interviews (leading SMEs in 
Spain), presented their experience on digital innovation and e-skill development. 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

Duration 

1 full day 

Number of participants 

22 attendees + Internet streaming 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

SMEs / Start-ups 

CARTUNECE INVESTMENTS, Financial Sector. 

INFORMA D&B, Marketing Consulting Company 

ONRETRIEVAL, IT Sector. Spanish company specialized in retrieving data. 
Onretrieval shared their best practices during the third session of the course.  

SOLIUM, IT consultancy that provides cloud and mobility solutions.  

SURUS INVERSA, a successful SME whose main activities are the settlement of 
industrial assets through an online auction portal, also reverse logistics and 
environmental management. They also shared their best practices.  

TICKETBIS is a platform of sale and purchase of tickets. It was established only few 
years ago (2010) and since then has grown impressively. It is a gazelle. They also 
shared their best practices. 

ViLynx. IT sector 

Large Organisations 

BANCO SANTANDER, Financial Sector. Santander remained the largest bank in the 
euro zone in 2014, with attributable profit of 5.8 billion euros (+33%). It is the 
eleventh largest bank in the world in terms of market capitalisation: 88.041 billion 
euros. 

LIBERBANK SA., Financial Sector. 

LILLY, pharmaceutical company. Lilly has had a significant presence in Europe, 
with two major research sites in the UK and Spain, in addition to an extensive 
manufacturing network.  

L'ORÉAL, a world leader in beauty, L’Oréal is present in 130 countries on five 
continents.  

MEDIASET ESPAÑA, Spanish television network and media production company. It 
is the largest television network in Spain. 

SANOFI PASTEUR MSD, Sanofi Pasteur MSD is a European joint venture formed 
between Sanofi Pasteur (the vaccine division of Sanofi) and Merck (known as MSD 

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outside the United States and Canada). For the second year in a row, Sanofi 
Pasteur MSD Spain has been recognized by the Great Place to Work® organization 
among the 50 companies in Spain classified as "Great Places to Work". 

Organisations Promoting Entrepreneurship 

Area 31, IE Business School. Area 31 leverages the obsession of IE Business School 
for entrepreneurship, our expertise and our community of successful 
entrepreneurs and investors to create the most exciting environment for our 
alumni’s startups. 

GOBIERNO CASTILLA LA MANCHA, Public Sector.  

Feedback process 

Survey at the end of programme 

Credits 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

No 

No 

Certificate 

Attendance Certificate 

Participant profile at 
entry 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

No pre-requisite required for taking the course. 

The target audience will be SMEs managers and employees in the way to get 
managerial positions. 

SME CEOs, CIOs (decision makers) 

  The course comprises five sessions, each session lasting 80 minutes 

  Session 1. Welcome to Digital Economy 

  Session 2. IT Trends and Transformation with IT 

  Session 3. E-Leadership and Skills for Innovating in a Digital World 

  Session 4. Innovation Models 

  Session 5. Innovation in Action 

Learning outcomes 

  Session 1. Welcome to Digital Economy 

  Understanding how technology is shaping productivity, innovation and the 

generation of value. 

  Analyzing the impact of the digital economy in business and society. 

  Session 2. IT Trends and Transformation with IT 

  Review of emerging technologies such as Internet of Things, Clouds and Big 

Data, and mobile apps, and their impact in today business world. 

  Understanding why some companies move faster than other when confronting 

emerging technologies. 

  Understanding how organisations can exploit emerging technologies for 

competitive advantages. 

  Session 3. E-Leadership and Skills for Innovating in a Digital World 

  From inno-leadership to e-Leadership.  

  The inspiring inno-leader profile.  

  Creative ecosystem, motivation and innovative profile.  

 

ICT Skills in the e-Leader.  

  European Commission's view. 

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 
  Speaker: Cyril Pierre, Chief Marketing Operator (CMO), Ticketbis 

  Chairperson: Silvia Leal, Academic Director Digital Innovation and IT 

Governance Executive Programme, IE Business School. 

  Panellists: María Díaz, Marketing Director at Surus Inversa & Myldred Laya, 
Senior Marketing Manager, Spain and Portugal at Salesforce Spain and 
Marketing Director at OnRetrieval.  

  Session 4. Innovation Models 

  How successful companies get innovative.  

  Concept of innovation. 

  Disruptive and breakthrough innovation. 

  Can we manage innovation? 

  A process view of innovation. 

  Assumptions and barriers to innovations. 

  Diffusion of Innovations. 

  New forms of innovation: co-creation. 

  Session 5. Innovation in Action  

  Three key points: organizing for innovation, managing innovation culture and 

measuring innovation.  

  State of the arts metrics and methodologies for innovation management. 

  Exploit digital trends to innovate strategic business and operating models 

  Envision and drive organizational change for business performance 

  Technology Trend Monitoring; A.7  (Plan) 

 

 

ICT quality management; E.6  (Manage) 

Innovating; A.9  (Plan) 

Overall, the main objective of the course (raising awareness of the importance of 
e-leadership skills in today's digital world) was met. 

Thanks to the feedback survey, we know that many of the attendees 
acknowledged the importance of these skills in the digital world we are now living 
in. Also, they commented on how these skills are critical for the creation of value 
through ICT. 

Another strong point of the course was the inclusion of best practices of 
successful SMEs like Onretrieval, Ticketbis and Surus Inversa.  

On the other hand, when we asked the attendees how the course can be 
improved in the future, they mentioned two main ideas: to do a longer course 

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E-Leadership learning 
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mapping 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

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and to include more practical cases. This last point is very interesting because 
they wanted practical cases but tailored to their own company's needs. 

Continuity 

We are currently evaluating the continuity of the Digital Innovation Course with 
the Executive Education Department.  

We plan to extend the duration of the course for at least three days.  

Not only will it be face to face and online streaming, but also, we plan to extend 
the session on best practices so other companies can share their experiences.  

Demonstration “Management of Digital Innovation and IT Governance” 

Table 2-18:  IE Business School - Management of Digital Innovation and IT Governance 

Institution  

IE Business School 

Title of demonstration   Management of Digital Innovation and IT Governance 

Responding to which 
requirements 

The traditional role of the CIO, managing information and IT systems has 
transformed to be one of creating new competitive advantage and new business 
opportunities. 

The Innovation and Transformation trough ICT curriculum addresses these 
challenges and aims to increase the capability of experienced CIO's to engage with 
key stakeholders in linking strategy, ICT developments, change and value. The 
focus is both on developing professional competence and enhancing behavioural 
skills. 

Teaching / delivery 
methods 

Blended: face to face combined with e-learning. The programme includes SPOCs 
(Small Private Online Courses) and classical blended combining face-to-face and 
online discussion forums. 

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SPOC by Prof. Salvador Aragón, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO),  

IE Business School, on Strategy and Governance 

Discussion forum by Prof. Jose Esteves on Innovation Management 

Start  

Costs 

Partners 

November 2014 to June 2015 

15.900 € 

Duration 

7 months 

Number of participants 

20 participants 

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Students of the Programme attending a session 

SME / entrepreneur 
participants include 

SMEs /Start-ups 

AVANZA. Leading SME in the transport sector 
(http://www.avanzabus.com/web/default.aspx) 

HDI NETSOFT. SME in the ICT sector. 

INFOKODE CONCEPT. Spanish start-up in the IT consulting sector. 

PAPELEA. Spanish start-up helping companies in managing governmental 
regulations (http://www.papelea.com/)  

REALE SEGUROS. Insurance sector 

Large Organisations 

KPMG CONSULTING. Multinational in the consulting sector 

LOGISFASHION. Leading logistic operator for the fashion and textile sectors. 

QLIK. Multinational in the software sector 

RICOH. Multinational in the printers and photocopy machine sector 

TELEFONICA. Main Spanish telecommunication operator 

Others 

MADRID CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

Feedback process 

Survey at the end of programme, and for each course/subject 

Credits 

Embeddedness into 
existing degree 
programmes 

No 

No 

Certificate 

Accreditation Diploma 

Participant profile at 
entry 

IT Professionals (members of the technology departments as managers, project 
managers, Analyst, IT consultants, etc.). Professionals in the field of innovation 

Participant aspired 
roles 

Modules / classes / 
sessions 

CEOs, CIOs, CTOs 

  Digital Strategy and IT Governance module. 

  The alignment of business and IT has long been recognized as a key issue for 

global managers. This course will explain how to do it efficiently by combining 
different perspectives: corporate, organizational, technical, economic and 
social. Besides other aspects, we will analyse the critical success factors to 
design and lead a technological strategy capable of generating new 
competitive advantages and successful business models. Sub-module 2 

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(Security and Technological Risks): Due to the increasing importance of IT 
security, the demand of professionals with the right skills is growing. This 
profile includes the knowledge and skills of defining, implementing and 
managing the security solutions, as well as the knowledge of how to design 
and implement security policies and procedures. This course will explain 
widely recognized standards and the best techniques for safe governability 
and also analyse the most recent trends through research cases and recent 
news. 

  Market Certifications for ICT Employability. 

  We offer the students an overview of the ICT certifications and train them to 

get two of them: Lean IT and Sourcing Fundamentals. 

  Digital Innovation and ICT Trends module.  

 

In 2020, new ICT trends such as the Internet of things, Green ICT, Mobility, Big 
Data or social technologies will become areas of particular importance for 
business. This course will provide business and technology leaders with a deep 
analysis of the main IT trends and a profound understanding of how to use 
them to achieve business goals. Sub-module 2 (Digital Innovation): The 
organizational innovative potential needs to be handled efficiently to lead to 
excellence and to create new and disruptive business models. This course will 
provide the students with the required knowledge and tools to lead the 
innovation process in their companies or as entrepreneurs. 

  Digital Entrepreneurship. 

  The new ICT trends have got a key role on the global business and have 

become a very interesting playground for entrepreneurs. This course will offer 
students a complete understanding of these new trends, coming challenges 
and key players in this field, so they even can become one of them and start to 
write the future of this industry. Additionally, this module will prepare those 
students interested in creating their own companies to do it successfully and 
supported. 

  Become an e-leader. 

  This module provides methodologies and essential tools for entrepreneurs, 
managers and team leaders in need of inventing and reinventing to find the 
transforming boost in their own motor strength. In a few words, it includes the 
traditional teaching materials in soft skills such as communication or 
leadership, but also new methodologies in areas like stress managing and 
mindfulness. 

  Conferences and networking cycle. 

  The programme includes a conferences and networking cycle designed and 
executed with the collaboration of CIONET members. The objective is that 
students get not only the "traditional knowledge" but also the tips, best 
practices and advices from the first line of professionals in the market. Besides, 
they get interesting contacts for their adventures or new professional careers. 

  How to generate new business with technology; understand the system of 
digital entrepreneurship; gain knowledge and experience in lean IT and 
outsourcing; understanding new ICT trends and how they are becoming the 
engine of generating new competitive advantages; and develop leadership 
skills. 

  Envision and drive organizational change for business performance. 

 

IS and Business Strategy alignment; A.1.  

  Business Plan Development; A3.  

  Architecture Design; A.5.  

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Learning outcomes 

E-Leadership learning 
outcomes and e-CF 
mapping 

e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

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  Technology Trend Monitoring; A7. 

  Sustainable Development; A.8. 

 

Innovating; A.9. 

  Systems Engineering; B.6. 

  Service Delivery; C.3. 

 

Information Security Strategy Development; D.1.  

  Purchasing; D.4.  

  Project and Portfolio Management; E.2.  

  Risk Management; E.3.  

  Business Change Management; E.7.  

 

IS Governance; E.9.  

  Service Level Management; A.2.  

  Application Design; A.6.  

 

Lessons learnt 

Students  come  to  the  programme  with  the  main  objective  of  receiving  ICT 
training, taking advantage of the programme global vision, something difficult to 
obtain  in  their  day-to-day  activities.  In  other  words,  they  come  to  supplement 
their knowledge, in particular in the ICT area. However, the final feedback is that 
the main outcome of the programme is to improve their ability to innovate and 
lead.  A  change  in  expectations  occurs  derived  from  their  experience  in  the 
programme. 

Continuity 

This programme is part of the IE Business School’ executive education 
(http://www.ie.edu/es/execed/psidgti).  

The Programme has been very successful and the Executive Education 
Department of IE Business School has already confirmed its continuity next year. 

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3 

Researching the European e-Leadership 
landscape 

3.1 

e-Leadership skills providers  

E-leadership  skills  in  start-ups  and  fast  growing  SMEs  are  fostered  in  a  variety  of  ways.    Higher 
Education  and  commercial  training  providers  offer  a  variety  of  courses  and  programmes,  online  or 
offline. There are also non-commercial or semi-commercial providers who offer courses and learning 
material.  Consulting  and  coaching  might  be  best  suited  to  be  tailored  to  the  specific  needs  of  the 
enterprise  and  are  offered  also  by  commercial  enterprises  as  well  as  in  the  framework  of  multi-
stakeholder  partnerships.  The  following  figure  tries  to  give  an  overview  and  assessment  of  fitness-
for-purpose with regard to fast growing SMEs and entrepreneurial entities. 

The  main  analytic  axes  of  ‘market  for  e-Leadership  skills’  can  be  described  by  the  ‘type  of  e-
leadership skills training on offer’, the ‘target group and the impact potential’ through ‘scalability’. 

Figure 3-1: e-Leadership training by labour market impact potential, enterprise life cycle and type of  
e-Leadership skills  

e-Leadership  offers  can  be  generic  and  encompassing,  thereby  training  e-Leadership  generalists 
which are often needed in the corporate world with a long term goal of strategic digital leadership or 
they  can  be  focussed  on  specific  tasks,  problems  or  opportunities  which  are  addressed  in  very 
specific training offers. 

e-Leadership  offers  may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  distinguished  by  the  potential  size  of  their    target 
group  and  thereby  the  teacher-intensity  of  training.  A  MOOC  can  potentially  reach  millions  of 

99 / 228 

Innovation vs./+ transformation:Enterprise Life Cycle StageStart-UpScale-UpCorporateSMEGenericSpecificE-Leadership SkillsMassmarket:•MOOCs•Material bypublishers/ communities•Standard /mainstreamHE programmes(e.g. MIS, MBA)•Standard entrepreneurshipeducationatHEIModularisation:•Vendor/producttraining•Traditional trainingproviders‘ offers(commercialorprofession/industrybodies)•Certification•Modular HE /ExecEdoffersCustomisation:•Co-createdcurricula•Pull learningHE /ExecEdoffers–shortcoursemenus•Accelerator/ incubator/ TTO etc. trainingsIndividualised:•Co-creationoffersbyHE / ExecEd•Consulting /coaching•VC orotherinterimmanagement 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

learners at a time, class room teaching is at a smaller scale as it is limited by the class room capacity 
whereas consulting requires a very small ratio of “recipients” per “instructor”.  

These  dimensions  are  obviously  correlated,  as  generic  topics  naturally  lend  themselves  to  bigger 
audiences, whereas issue specific consulting will sensibly have a limited audience. 

Empirically, many professional life-long learning and training opportunities are picked up to a greater 
extent by corporate rather than SME or start-up clients. The following picture shows this relationship 
(as an ideal-typical generalisation, it has to be stressed). 

Figure 3-2: e-Leadership training methods or providers by labour market impact potential and enterprise life 
cycle stage 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

able 3-1: Actors and methods of e-Leadership skills provision 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 3-2: Means of e-Leadership skills provision 

Type 

Description 

E-Leadership 
skills fit  

Higher & Executive 
Education short courses 

e-Leadership courses targeted at SMEs and start-ups by 
Universities and Business Schools 

Coaching and consulting 

Problem oriented external consulting by SME/Start-Up 
experts by SME / Start-Up Consultancies 

E-Learning courses, 
MOOCs 

Interactive, supervised e-learning with feedback, exchange 
among learners, assignments and examinations by 
Universities, MOOC platforms and other e-learning providers 

HE, public or MSP 
entrepreneurship support 

Multi-stakeholder partnerships etc. aimed at fostering e-
leadership skills by Incubators, cluster initiatives, excellence 
schemes; tech transfer offices, spin off support, MSPs 

Learning material 
supporting structured self 
learning 

Self-learning using dedicated sets of learning materials 
(online or offline) by Content providers / publishers 

●●●● 

●●●● 

●●● 

●●● 

●● 

Venture Capital, investor 
interference 

Bringing in external (interim) management/consultants by VC, 
investors 

●●●● 

Higher & Executive 
Education full e-
Leadership programmes 

e-Leadership executive programmes at highest competence 
levels targeted at SMEs and start-ups by Universities and 
Business Schools 

●●●●● 

Professional / managerial 
certification courses  

Such as ITIL, PRINCE2 etc. by training and certification 
providers 

Inclusion of 
entrepreneurship training 
into initial Higher 
Education 

Training courses on e-
leadership related topics 
targeted to SMEs or start-
ups 

Teaching entrepreneurship and e-Leadership in regular 
BA/MSc education by Universities 

offered at industry and professional academies or by 
commercial training providers, e.g., IT professional bodies, 
chambers of commerce by Industry associations and 
professional bodies, training providers 

Support to informal on-
the-job learning  

Encouraging / enabling on-the-job ad-hoc self learning 
(„figuring things out“) on the web / through observation 

Product specific vendor 
seminars, webinars, 
product training 

e.g. from CRM, ERP or other software / service providers by 
vendors 

●● 

●● 

●● 

● 

● 

A  survey  of  118  SMEs  was  carried  out  between  March  and  May  out  2015  to  ask  for  their  learning 
practice. Respondents came from university contacts in high growth SMEs that had been contacted 
earlier on for the initial survey in 2014, but also from membership of the associations PIN-SME and 
EYIF, who have been closely engaged in the work of this service contract. 

Almost  half  of  the  enterprises  who  responded  come  from  Denmark  through  contacts  with  Arhus 
University, so some bias may be present in the responses.  

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Of the 118 SMEs who responded, 114 reported at least one “important” source of learning among 
the item list of 12 learning sources presented. On average, each SME named six sources. 

Figure 3-3: Percentage of SMEs that named each an “important” source of learning in their company in the in 
the areas of e-leadership skills 

N=118, online survey by empirica 3-5 2015 

3.1.1  Higher & Executive Education activities 

Higher  education  institutions27  are  a  primary  source  of  education  activities  that  are  relevant  for  e-
Leadership skills acquisition, yet they are often not seen as the first address to turn to when it comes 
to acute learning needs. 

There appear to be country differences in terms of the image of Universities by entrepreneurs as well 
as  their  self  image  when  it  comes  to  professional  education  and  training.  In  some  countries 
Universities are still seen as primarily responsible for research and initial education, whereas in other 
countries, Universities and other Higher Education institutions see themselves, and are seen, also as 
service  providers  to  the  economy,  delivering  on  skills  and  education  needs  of  professionals  and 
executives.  

Short courses 

During the stocktaking research of Higher Education offers across all Member States, very few short 
courses offered by Higher Education have been identified which fit the criteria set out in our research 
of  the  higher  education  landscape.  It  has  to  be  noted,  however,  that  there  are  some  long 
programmes  that  provide  e-Leadership  skills  (as  reported  in  this  chapter  below)  which  can  be 

27   Many  universities  have  programmes  that  include  entrepreneurship  training  into  initial  Higher  Education.  However,  for  work  under  this 
programme  has  started  off  by  defining  e-leadership  as  leadership  of  professionals  with  business  acumen  and  experience,  we  have  not 
further analysed these activities. 

There  is  also  extra-curricular  activity  in  many  universities.  As  these  activities  often  include  other  stakeholders,  this  is  covered  under 
stakeholder initiatives further below. 

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attended in a modular manner. An example of these programmes that contain a number of modules 
that can be taken as short courses includes the M.Sc. Information Technologies Project Management 
of New Bulgarian University in Sofia, the Master of IT by IT-Vest and others. 

Nevertheless, there is a notable shortage of short, targeted courses which are suitable for the target 
group of this work. Therefore, much of the demonstrations are conceptualised as short HEE courses 
aimed at fast growing SMEs. 

Short courses at Universities that were mentioned by the target group include (verbatim from surveys) 

  Antwerp management school, coursers part of the Enterprise architecture master track 
  Antwerp Management School, Delft University of Technology 
  Courses provided from AAU 
  After education programs for graduates 
  Evening courses 
  Executive education and SMEs one day programmes are appreciated 
  HD-studies. 
  Management courses 
  Relevant for some of our employees. 
  Summer school courses, programmes etc. 
  We have attended a course on Open University. 
  Information Security Management 
  Specific project management courses 
  HD 
  Innovation Academy - NBU  
  IE - E-leadership 
  Programming in C/C++ 
  CISCO academy at TU 
  Expert classes at the Antwerp Management School 
  Usually offered by tech transfer offices or start-up organisations (can be student-led) who offer courses, workshops, guest 

talks, etc. 

  Business Schools programmes, Design programmes 
  Computer Science  

MOOCs and predominantly online courses 

An  online  data  collection  survey  was  carried  out  to  obtain  insight  into  the  online  e-leadership 
education landscape provided by private and public institutions. During research it became clear very 
quickly  that  of  the  MOOCs  found  virtually  none  fulfil  more  than  one  of  the  criteria  developed  to 
assess e-leadership propensity of learning offers.  

This result of our research needs not say that MOOCs do not contribute to e-leadership, as due to the 
short duration and limited content taught MOOCs can be used in a modular manner to support single 
topic  education  needs.  MOOCs  may  not  be  fully  fledged  e-leadership-MOOCs  per  se,  but  may 
nevertheless help e-leaders gain some of the competences needed.  

The detected courses have been checked for specific content and target group. 91 relevant courses 
have  been  identified  which  provide  a  broad  range  of  education  in  the  fields  of  IT  and  Business  for 
continuing education. The full list can be found in the annex.  

It  has  to  be  noted  that  we  could  not  assess  the  MOOCs  any  further  than  at  face  value.  Notable 
MOOCs and e-learning courses form the long list in the Annex are found in the table below.  

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Figure 3-4: Relevant MOOCs found during research 

41 

19 

11 

6 

8 

6 

Business / e-
business and
management
related MOOCS

Digital
transformation
and innovation
related MOOCS

IT management /
MIS related
MOOCS

Start-up /
entrepreneurship
related MOOCS

Strategy and
leadership
related MOOCS

Technical or
technology
related MOOCS

E-Learning courses and MOOCs that were mentioned by the target group include (verbatim from surveys) 

  Cloud computing courses 
  Common knowledge on my main business technologies 
  coursera and other MOOC's are accessible 
  e-learning develop by the company 
  For subjects related the digital economy, e.g. Big Data or 3D printing, online webinars via lidlearning.com 
  General topics like SEO, SEM and writing newsletter - and specific topics like Photoshop and other programs. 
  http://es.slideshare.net/iTTi_news/cgeit-online-review-course-2013-spanish-intro 
  Customer-specific e-learning in security and contract 
  Maybe online 2-3 weeks learning courses, with a certificate provided to prove the course has been undertaken and 

completed. 

  MOOC on various digital items of interest 
  Offers received from various suppliers 
  online e-learning platforms 
  Open SAP 
  Product specific, e.g. for accounting SW, LabView SW etc. 
  MOOCs  
  upgrading IT-specialists 
  webinars, on-line training, e-learning is important as I can do it in my own pace and chose what to prioritise 
  YouTube 
  Best examples are MOOCs, like trainings from Udacity, Udemy 
  Following MOOCs, for example on edX 
  Following Discovery Paths (structured index of contents (book chapters, videos, presentations etc. chosen and bundled by 

an expert in that area). " 

  Free online courses. Last one: cryptography at MIT 
  e.g. EdX courses 
  Coursera many courses since it launched 
  "audible - Great Courses.  
  “unitar" 
  online courses for AngularJS 
  for science tutorials 
  for management advice or case studies 
  Tocosk.com 
  Digital Assembly courses 
  coursera, Udacity, code school 
  MOOC ESSEC about data privacy on internet 
  MOOC 

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Higher & Executive Education full e-Leadership programmes 

A data collection of Higher Education Courses and MOOCs by Higher Education institutions targeted 
at  SMEs  or  entrepreneurs  and  aiming  at  highly  skilled  professionals  was  done  (see  annex  for 
methodology). To be selected into further assessment, three criteria had to be fulfilled: 

 

 

 

Professional orientation - it was assumed when the learner could take part in the programme 
while continuing working. 293 programmes were found professional oriented.  

IT modules included are significant both in scope and depth. Programmes with less than 25% 
of IT content were excluded as well as programmes with modules at beginner skills levels. 

Focus on SMEs and/or entrepreneurs. 241 programmes are aimed at entrepreneurs and 28 at 
SMEs (18 of which at both). 

A final list 56 programmes met all the three criteria28.  

The selected programmes can be classified according to the degree earned after completion of each 
programme. The 56 programmes can be split in 3 Executive Masters, 4 MBAs, 22 Master of Science, 
19  other  Masters  and  8  Non-Master  programmes.  Only  8  of  them  are  short  programmes  with 
duration of 12 months or less. The 8 short programmes are Non-Master (6) and Other Master (2).   

Figure 3-5: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and 
entrepreneurs by type of programme and target fit SME or entrepreneurship 

48 

46 

8 

4 

3 

4 

22 

19 

8 

With a threshold set at 25% of ICT content and a certain share of modules from the business domain 
we were able to determine the educational focus of each programme.  

We  established  3  categories:  greater  focus  on  IT,  focus  on  IT  Management  and  focus  on  Business 
Management – these were assigned at face value. In total, 18 programmes have a greater focus on 
IT, 10 have a greater focus on IT Management, 17 have a greater focus on Business Management, 4 
are focused on both IT and IT Management, 4 are focused on IT and Business Management, 1 has the 
equal focus on IT and Business Management and 1 has an equal focus on all 3 categories.  

Business Schools have been found to be more often providers of e-leadership programmes than IT 
departments or engineering schools. IT schools offer many more combination programmes of IT and 
business, such as IT management programmes, but these are often consecutive Master’s studies to 
be attended mostly by students without any leadership experience.  

28   After  reassessing  the  factsheets  of  the  67  selected  programmes  we  had  to  exclude  11  programmes  due  to  lack  of  information  or  new 

insights on programme content or target group.  

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Figure 3-6: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and 
entrepreneurs by type of school 

32 

24 

6 

IT/engineering school/ dept.

Management/business school/
dept.

Teaching institution / no school
affiliation visible

Figure 3-7: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and 
entrepreneurs 

4 

1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1 

2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2 

11 

6 

4  4 

3 

Source: Desk research. Only programmes meeting all criteria: Significant IT and business learning 
outcomes, professional and leadership orientation, target group SMEs and entrepreneurs. 

In terms of the Higher Educational Landscape and its geographical distribution: 

 

 

The  UK  is  the  leading  country  with  11  already  existing  courses  with  a  tendency  towards  e-
leadership  

Followed by Spain with 6 and Portugal with 4 programmes 

  Most countries have one or more existing e-leadership programmes. 

The international distribution of the already existing e-leadership programmes shows an opportunity 
to deliver e-leadership programmes throughout Europe, albeit at a scale that probably will not satisfy 
the demand of the European economy. As many learners seek English language education providers 
this may partly explain the lead of the UK. 

Furthermore  we  analysed  the  published  information  on  websites  as  to  the  different  target  groups 
the  programmes  announce  to  be  aimed  at.  CIO/head  of  IT,  Business  executives  (non-IT), 
Entrepreneur,  ICT  Consultant,  IT  Architect/Analyst,  Security/Audit,  Developer,  Programme/Project 
managers, Innovation/Transformation.  

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The majority of programmes identified are aimed at or train learners to become programme/ project 
managers (41). 29 programmes claim to prepare learners especially to work in the field of innovation 
and transformation.  

Figure 3-8: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and 
entrepreneurs by target group focused  

11 

11 

13 

13 

11 

12 

6 

41 

29 

Focusing  on  the  programmes  which  contain  IT  content  we  scanned  the  curricula  to  identify  the  IT 
specific  content  and  trends.  The  rather  generic  “E-Business”  is  mentioned  most  often,  followed  by 
Big  Data  and  Cloud  Computing.  There  are  few  leadership  programmes  that  focus  on  mobile 
applications, social media or Internet of Things.  

Figure 3-9: European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and 
entrepreneurs by technology focus 

9 

9 

5 

5 

Big-Data

Cloud Computing

Mobility

Social

13 

1 

IoT

E-Business

The  results  of  our  qualitative  and  quantitative  SME  research,  especially  in  terms  of  the  format 
requirements, have been to emphasize: 

 

 

 

 

 

The importance of self-learning 

The requirements of short trainings, coaching, consultancy 

The necessity to restrict absence from work for training to a few days including flexible hours 
of learning 

Targeted, „no nonsense“ content of training courses and 

Affordable prices. 

Although  we  confirmed  that  SME  leaders  need  strong,  practical,  hands-on  ICT  skills  and  an  ICT 
background 
in  Higher  Education,  nevertheless  the  bottleneck  experienced  by  SMEs  and 
entrepreneurial firms is for the above list of requirements. 

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For  the  time  being,  the  lack  of  significant  numbers  of  programmes  fit  to  meet  the  requirement  at 
Higher Education institutions leaves some doubts that universities and business schools are seen by 
SMEs as the right parties to deliver against these requirements. 

This concern is not to discourage Higher Education institutions from offering programmes that meet 
the requirements,  as  the  demonstrations  as  carried  out  by  university  and  business  school partners 
who take account of requirements by offering short, targeted and, at least some of them, also very 
affordable courses do.  

For  the  time  being  however,  as  is  reinforced  by  the  findings  of  the  education  landscape  scanning, 
universities  in  general  (beyond  partner  universities)  cannot  offer  courses  on  the  scale  (in  terms  of 
learners that can be served) that is necessary for entrepreneurs and fast growing SMEs. 

Other actors offering training therefore must be considered, including MOOCS  and  extra-university 
(or university but extra-curricular) suppliers.  

3.1.2  Stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership skills 

The policy actions described in chapter 3.2 provide the framework for a large number of stakeholder 
initiatives that address promotion of e-leadership skills, either explicitly or – as is most often the case 
– by implication. Our analysis suggests that these stakeholder initiatives can be clustered according 
to their main focus and approach in the following groups: 

  Development of dedicated course programmes on e-leadership: Business schools and public 
universities  have  started  to  experiment  with  developing  and  offering  courses  addressing  the 
is  demonstrated  by  the  snapshot  of  up-and-running 
need  for  e-leadership  skills,  as 
programmes  contained  in  the  present  report.  Such  offers  are  often  the  outcome  of  strong 
cooperation  between  business  sector  and  education  providers,  e.g.  in  the  case  of  the  U.K.'s 
Tech Industry Gold degrees, the ICS Leadership Development Programme in Ireland, and the 
Intensive Training and Masters Programmes in Knowledge Based Entrepreneurship in Malta. 
A  partnership  approach  appears  necessary;  in  particular,  to  align  curricula  with  employer 
needs within the scope of what is realistically feasible. Developments are still in their infancy, 
though, and results about the success of available course programmes are not available yet.  
  New  types  of  education  programmes  for  extra  occupational  learning:  In  response  to  a 
perceived  lack  of  education  offers  which  suit  the  demands  of  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs 
regarding  duration  and  costs,  stakeholders  in  some  Member  States  have  established  new 
types  of  programmes  for  extra  occupational  education.  Examples  include  London's  Mobile 
Academy,  "a  new  style  of  programme  intended  specifically  to  address  the  challenges  of 
teaching a very rapidly changing subject [...] offering a collaborative learning environment to 
get  an  overall  grounding  in  business,  design  and  how  to  work  with  technology."  Other 
examples include THNK, the Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership, Cranfield University’s 
IT  Leadership  Programme;  and  the  British  Computer  Society  Digital  Leader  coaching 
programme. 

 

 

e-Learning and MOOCs for e-leadership training: In the economically less developed Member 
States,  good  experience  has  been  made  with  the  use  of  e-learning  platforms  dedicated  to 
courses  in  e-business  and  e-leadership,  e.g.  the  Start-Up  initiative  in  Greece  and  the 
Akademia  PARP  and  e-Business  Academy  in  Poland.  Athens  University  of  Economics  and 
Business  recently  launched  a  MOOC  for  training  in  digital  entrepreneurship.  In  France,  the 
Conservatoire  National  des  Arts  et  Métiers  (CNAM)  has  implemented  a  range  of  MOOCs 
targeting prospective entrepreneurs and employees seeking to acquire leadership skills in the 
French-speaking world. 

e-Leadership  education  provided  in  the  context  of  university  spin-off  programmes:  Many 
i.e.  the 
universities  now  have  units  or  subsidiaries  which  promote  spin-off  activity, 
transformation  of  technological 
into 
commercially viable products or processes. Their objective is to equip students and staff who 

inventions  developed  from  university  research 

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have promising business ideas with all the support and infrastructure they need to turn these 
into fully-fledged start-up operations. In the case of ICT-driven  business cases, this of course 
needs to include training in e-leadership, for which such centres have the advantage of being 
able  to  draw  upon  their  parent  university's  resources.  Outstanding  examples  include  the 
Henley  Accelerator  in  the  U.K.  In  Austria,  the  ECN  Network,  a  platform  for  interdisciplinary 
networking and promotion of entrepreneurship in the university sector in the Vienna region, 
impresses by the great range of stakeholders involved, including all major universities as well 
as public and business sector partners. 

e-Leadership  excellence  schemes:  The  only  prominent  example  of  this  type  if  Germany's 
Software  Campus,  cooperation  between  government,  education  and  industry  that  supports 
young ICT researchers of outstanding promise. Each participant works on an academic project 
with  direct  applicability  in  a  major  German  company,  which  is  fully  funded  by  the  academy. 
Participants  also  receive  high  quality  leadership  training  via  mentoring  support  from  an 
experienced  manager,  and  have  access  to  excellent  opportunities  for  networking  and  career 
building. This type of initiative is unlikely to be of direct benefit to SMEs, but it can be expected 
that some of the participants will, once they have finished their studies, choose starting their 
own  company  rather  than  joining  an  established  "big  player".  Ireland  is  planning  to  follow 
Software Campus’ example in its attempts to initiate a similar programme. 

Subsidised  or free provision  of e-leadership training to SMEs:  Business development bodies 
have tried to lower the barrier for SMEs to participate in training courses by subsidising part or 
all  of  the  direct  costs.  This  approach  is  increasingly  used  for  training  in  e-leadership  skills  as 
well, e.g. in Northern Ireland. 

Voucher  schemes:  Some  Member  States  have  set  up  voucher  schemes  to  make  it  easy  and 
affordable  for  SMEs  to  obtain  consultancy  and  training,  e.g.  the  Innovationscheckar  from 
Sweden's VINNOVA and Enterprise Ireland's Innovation Voucher. Denmark's  voucher scheme 
makes  it  more  affordable  for  SMEs  to  engage  in  a  research-based  business  development 
project  with  a  public  sector  research  institution,  e.g.  a  university.  The  objective  here  is  to 
transfer  knowledge  from  technological  research  to  SME.  Voucher  schemes  in  general 
represent  an  attempt  to  ease  SMEs'  concerns  about  the  administrative  hassle  involved  in 
obtaining low sums of public funding. 

Self-assessment tools: In some Member States SMEs are invited to self-assess their leadership 
capabilities (including e-leadership skills) through an online tool provided. A good example is 
Northern Ireland's LMSA online diagnostic tool. The SME IT Capability framework developed by 
Ireland's IVI allows for a more in-depth assessment of "key IT areas or critical capabilities". 

Business plan contests, start-up awards and the like: At both national and international level, 
and  especially  in  the  Member  States  of  Eastern  Europe,  contests  and  awards  are  a  much-
favoured instrument for addressing the perceived shortage in leadership skills among young, 
highly educated persons, and for motivating individuals with strong potential to take the first 
step  towards  entrepreneurship.  More  and  more  of  these  initiatives  focus  on  digital 
entrepreneurship and e-leadership. Contests and awards owe their attractiveness to the fact 
that they are comparatively inexpensive, favoured by sponsors, and easy to promote. On the 
downside, they are incapable of offering the consistent and comprehensive support needed if 
a country seeks to equip its digital entrepreneurs with a sufficient e-leadership skills base.  

e-Leadership  education  in  the  context  of  business  incubator  and  accelerator  schemes:  The 
growing number of start-up incubators and accelerators which focus exclusively or mainly on 
digital  businesses  play  a  key  role 
in  the  transfer  of  e-leadership  skills  to  fledgling 
entrepreneurs. This most often takes place via consultancy and mentoring, but in some cases 
also through education courses which are offered in cooperation with established providers of 
management  education.  Outstanding  examples  include:  Infopole  Cluster  TIC  in  Belgium's 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 

 

 

Walloon region; WAYRA, the accelerator programme launched by Spain's Telefonica; Telenet 
Idealabs in Belgium; and the European Entrepreneurship Foundation in Hungary.29 
Promotion  of  e-leadership  skills  to  students:  Some  initiatives  target  students  and  young 
employees who are interested in developing their leadership skills, often in the digital domain. 
Examples  include  Austria's  AWS  First,  the  Bulgarian  Young  Leaders  Program  (BYLP)  and 
Finland-based  Demola.  A  particularly  interesting  case  is  the  Future  Leaders  Development 
Program  in  Greece,  which  brings  together  newly  graduated  students  and  NGOs  to  solve  a 
particular leadership challenge. Croatia's eStudent NGO is run by and for advanced university 
students. Germany's Student2Start-up initiative offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to select 
a specific challenge from their everyday business and make it subject of a university working 
group in which students develop innovative solutions. 

Insight  and  awareness  raising:  We  found  some  initiatives  for  raising  awareness  among 
stakeholders and the wider public about the need for e-leadership skills. Other initiatives seek 
to gain a common understanding of the definition of e-leadership skills and their relevance in 
practice:  in  France,  for  example,  the  Pasc@line  Association  conducted  a  representative 
business survey to investigate the issue in much detail.  

Initiatives  focussing  on  women:  In  addition  to  the  policy-driven  initiatives  for  increasing 
women's  participation  in  the  ICT-driven  economy,  there  are  also  NGOs  and  industry-driven 
initiatives  for  promoting  women  who  seek  leadership  positions  in  ICT.  Examples  include  the 
UK-based  everywoman  in  Technology  Leadership  Academy,  which  has  evolved  into  a  global 
membership organisation.  

Previous  analysis  has  established  evidence  that  the  multi-stakeholder partnership  (MSP) is  a  highly 
useful if not necessary approach towards preparation and operation of successful initiatives in the e-
skills  domain.  MSPs  represents  a  strategic  cooperation  between  private-sector  partners  (industry, 
employers  from the private sector)  and  partners  from  the traditional  education  system,  where  the 
former take over responsibilities which traditionally have been held more or less exclusively by public 
sector institutions. MSPs build on the idea that the private sectors can complement, supplement and 
extend services provided by the public sector by increasing the available resources. 

As  such,  MSPs  are  closely related to  the  more  well-known  public-private partnerships  (PPP), which 
are  usually  defined  as  systems  in  which  a  government  service  is  funded  and  operated  through  a 
partnership  of  government  and  one  or  more  private  sector  companies.  As  opposed  to  PPPs, 
however, MSPs do not necessarily include the public sector – participating non industry partners can 
also come from the civil sector (e.g. trade unions). Another difference between more traditional PPPs 
and  MSPs  is  the  latter’s  emphasis  on  involving  all  key  stakeholders  which  are  of  relevance  for  a 
certain e-skills related issue – rather than just a couple of partners who join forces to stem a fixed-
term assignment. This is seen as the best way to ensure that progress will be self-sustainable and all-
encompassing, as opposed to the piecemeal, uncoordinated approaches which too often dominate 
the modernisation of systems of vocational education in Europe. 

From an industry viewpoint, multi-stakeholder partnerships present the possibility of overcoming the 
traditional polarisation between the public education system, which is the main factor behind supply 
of  (formalised)  skills  on  the  labour  market,  and  private  sector  employers,  which  exert  demand  for 
particular skills, here: competences in e-leadership. 

Our  analysis  suggests  that  multi-stakeholder  partnerships  are  not  as  well  developed  yet  in  the  e-
leadership field when compared to the other segments of the e-skills domain, i.e. digital literacy and 
ICT  practitioner  skills.  This  appears  to  be  a  case  for  policy  intervention,  as  Member  State 
governments  could  urge  key  stakeholders  to  join  forces  and  agree  on  effective  actions  which  will 
help promote awareness of the e-leadership skills topic and implement measures for boosting supply 
of and participation in related training programmes.  

29   Since to qualify for being accepted by an incubator or accelerator scheme involves being able to convince evaluators of the quality of one's 

business idea, there are many similarities and overlaps between this and the previous type of initiative. 

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3.1.3  Candidates for best practice in policy and stakeholder 
initiatives on skills for e-Leadership and digital 
entrepreneurship 

Demola (FI) 

Programme  for  innovative  types  of  collaboration  between  students,  universities  and  business 
partners.  The  Demola  Network  was  launched  in  Tampere,  Finland  in  2008  and  has  subsequently 
expanded  to  Oulu  and  a  number  of  countries  abroad.  Students  participating  in  Demola  work  in  a 
project  with  a  multidisciplinary  team  to  solve  real-life  cases  together  with  partner  companies.  The 
training  can  be  made  part  of  students'  degree  programme.  Projects  and  challenges  are  developed 
jointly  by  companies  and  universities,  often  with  the  purpose  to  market  the  region  as  a  centre  of 
innovation.  The Demola  Tampere unit  carries  out about  100  projects  per year,  in which about  450 
students are involved (40 % of which are from abroad). 

ProAcademy (FI) 

Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), one of 24 Universities of Applied Sciences (formerly 
polytechnics)  in  Finland,  launched  the  ProAcademy  programme  in  entrepreneurship  education  in 
1999  mainly  for  students  from  International  Business,  Business  Administration  and  Business 
Information  Systems  programmes.  It  makes  use  of  team  learning  and  team  entrepreneurship. 
ProAcademy  students  spend  2.5  years  working  as  team  entrepreneurs,  jointly  setting  up  a  real 
company  and  developing  it  through  a  wide  variety  of  projects  generating  real  turnover.  Students 
establish own learning targets individually and as a team, supported by the coach and put down in 
learning contracts. The impact of TAMK's emphasis on entrepreneurship is reflected in the fact 20%–
25% of graduates start a company compared with a figure of less than 5% for all university graduates 
in Finland. Entrepreneurship education at ProAcademy is not limited to digital entrepreneurship, but 
experience  shows  that  many  of  the  projects  undertaken  by  students’  start-ups  take  place  in  the 
digital domain because of lower barriers of entry. 

Survey "E-leadership – What are the competences needed for tomorrow’s e-
leaders?" (FR) 

Pasc@line (a French multi-stakeholder partnership between over 75 higher education institutions – 
mainly  engineering  and  management  schools  –  and  over  1,200  companies  plus  two  sector-specific 
trade unions) conducted a major survey of its members on e-leadership in 2014. The main objective 
behind the survey was to identify the competencies that e-leaders should develop, which, according 
to the authors, demands to a) define e-leadership, b) assess the effects of the digital revolution on 
enterprise  functions  (finance,  HR,  etc.)  c)  assess  the  offer  in  schools  affiliated  to  Pasc@line  and  d) 
develop  trainings  or  training  blocks.  The survey  identified four  ways  in  which the digital  revolution 
impacts  firms’  growth,  development  and  competitiveness,  namely  by  exerting  a  considerable 
influence  on  enterprise  functions  (HR,  Finance,  marketing,  etc.);  users  and  markets;  management 
approaches and practices; and  deployment of technologies. The authors  then analyse  the needs in 
competencies  and  training  for  e-leaders.  This  survey  represents  a  first  effort  to  obtain  empirical 
evidence on the impact of the digital revolution on e-leadership training needs in France.  

Tech  Industry  Gold  degrees,  designed  to  develop  graduates  “with  the  mix  of  high-quality  business, 
technical  and  interpersonal  capabilities  most  in  demand  by  employers”,  are  the  outcome  of 
collaboration between over 70 employers under guidance of the UK’s Tech Partnership, the skills arm 
of  the  Information  Economy  Council.  Tech  Industry  Gold  degrees  are  designed  to  address  pressing 
skills gaps and to develop talent in response to business needs and emerging digital trends. Employer 
involvement in delivery should help to develop the skills and expertise of motivated undergraduates. 
Employers  have  the  opportunity  to  engage  with  students  throughout  their  time  at  university.  This 
helps  to  hone students’  professional and soft skills,  leading to  excellent employment  rates. 99%  of 
Tech Industry Gold graduates feel they are well prepared for employment at the end of their course. 

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Motivation is strong: In 2013 75% of Tech Industry Gold graduates gained firsts or 2.1s, compared to 
51% across all other computing graduates. 

Mobile Academy 

The  Mobile  Academy  is  a  collaboration  between  University  College  London  (UCL)  and  Mobile 
Monday  London.  It  is  a  new  style  of  programme  intended  specifically  to  address  the  challenges  of 
teaching a very rapidly changing subject. Over 180 people have been through the four courses since 
September 2012. The course has been very well received by its participants and many have said that 
their  experience  of  the  programme  has  contributed  to  subsequent  successes.  Moving  in  to  its 
fifth season,  The  Mobile  Academy  offers  a  collaborative  learning  environment  to  get  an  overall 
grounding in business, design and how to work with technology. Participants are encouraged to work 
on a project (alone, or teaming up with others) as they progress through the diverse programme of 
talks,  workshops,  demonstrations  and  clinics.  Sessions  are  delivered  by  industry  professionals  – 
practitioners who have been there and done it. Our alumni have gone on to receive awards, establish 
important  partnerships,  receive  early  stage  funding,  win  competitions,  continue  to  work  with  each 
other,  get  jobs  they  want  and  get  to  the  top  of  the  App  stores.  A  Certificate  of  Continuing 
Professional Development will be awarded to those who complete the course with a minimum 80% 
attendance. Prices start from about €600. 

ECN Network (AT) 

ECN Network is a collaborative platform for promotion of entrepreneurship in the university sector, 
set up jointly by six Vienna universities, the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO), Mingo (the start-up 
initiative of the City of Vienna), eSPARK (a joint initiative of RSA, a public research institute, and the 
Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation of the Vienna University of Economics and Business) and 
Festo (a major Austrian manufacturer of factory and process automation). Its main goal is to boost 
start-up activity at universities in the region, with a strong focus on equipping entrepreneurs with the 
skills needed for successful practice. ECN Network runs ”Entrepreneurship Avenue”, a unique event 
series  designed  to  inspire,  encourage  and  support  young  people  to  start  their  own  business;  an 
online "Entrepreneurial Skills Check"; access to online tools for entrepreneurs such as start-up apps, 
databases  of  financial  support  schemes,  business  plan  software  etc.;  and  of  course  access  to 
entrepreneurship education programmes at universities in Vienna. 

iMinds (BE) 

In  2004,  iMinds  was  founded  by  the  Flemish  Government  as  a  demand-driven  and  independent 
research  institute  to  stimulate  ICT  innovation,  with  particular  emphasis  on  entrepreneurs.  In  this 
perspective,  iMinds  brought  together  companies,  authorities,  and  non-profit  organizations  to  join 
forces  on  research  projects.  iMinds  started  supporting  interdisciplinary  research  for  innovative  ICT 
services  and  applications  within five  application  domains:  Culture &  Media,  Healthy  Society,  Green 
ICT,  Sustainable  Mobility  and  Social  &  Secure  ICT.  In  2011,  supported  by  an  active  ecosystem  of 
entrepreneurs,  financial  organisations,  industrial  partners  and  research  departments  in  the  region, 
the Institute also started to focus more on entrepreneurship in general by offering programmes to 
inspire,  train  and  coach  the  next  generation  of  ICT  entrepreneurs  in  Flanders  (for  example  via  its 
'Entrepreneurship and Valorization' program). Some of the activities in this area include programmes 
designed specifically for student entrepreneurs, workshops on “Opportunity Recognition” and boot 
camps  for  training  and  coaching.  Next  to  this,  iMinds  also  focuses  on  incubation,  acceleration  and 
internationalisation. 

Start-up Estonia (EE) 

The Estonian government initiated Start-up Estonia30 in late 2011, a programme for the promotion of 
business start-ups in high-growth areas with a strong role of ICT. Start-up Estonia is an initiative to 

30   http://www.eas.ee/et/alustavale-ettevotjale/eas-i-lahendused-ja-toetusvoimalused/start-up-eesti/ueldist 

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support  start-ups  in  digital  entrepreneurship  by  helping  local  students  and  researchers  to  develop 
business incentive in the area of ICT. Start-up Estonia brings mentors from around the world in order 
to  share  their  knowledge  with  local  entrepreneurs,  organises  workshops,  open  lectures  and 
networking events to help collaboration and mutually beneficial information sharing. As part of the 
initiative,  study  trips  to  Silicon  Valley  and  annual  international  start-up  conference  Latitude59  are 
supported. The programme is managed by the Estonian Development Fund since 2014, when it took 
over from Enterprise Estonia. In the new funding programming period (2014-2020) the activities of 
Start-up  Estonia  are  directly 
linked  to  the  development  of  e-leadership  skills  and  digital 
entrepreneurship.  The  program  focuses  on  the  development  of  technology  based  start-up 
entrepreneurship in the smart specialisation areas. First, the focus is on the people and accelerating 
the  ideas  (e.g.  idea  generation,  idea  validation,  hackathon).  In  this  context  two  programmes  are 
currently being developed, the Founder Institute, which seeks to help wage earners start their own 
business; and Entrepreneur 1st, which focuses on measures targeting students. Another emphasis is 
on providing better financial support to start-up businesses in the form of early stage seed capital. In 
addition,  the  program  contributes  to  promoting  Estonia  as  a  country  of  destination  for  start-up 
businesses and to the development of an investor network. 

ISDI (Institute for the Internet Development) 

ISDI  is  a  school  for  training  professionals  and  entrepreneurs  in  digital  business,  using  the  latest 
methodologies  and  imparted  by  leading  Internet  professionals.  It  provides  courses  for  CEOs  and 
Director  Generals  as  well  as  students,  (digital)  start  up  entrepreneurs  and  company  employees.  It 
was established in 2009. Already in September of the same year, the first course programme started: 
“Master of Internet Business”. Since then, a number of further training offers have been introduced 
(see  figure  below),  including  PADIB,  the  Top  Management  Programme  in  Internet  Business), 
launched  exclusively  for  Presidents,  Director  Generals  and  CEOs  and  offered  in  three  editions  per 
year (in February, May and November); and the medium-duration DIBEX (Digital Business Executive 
Programme), aimed at marketing, communication, media and advertising executives. 

In  2011  ISDI  signed  an  agreement  with  Deusto  Business  School  in  Bilbao  and  San  Sebastián  to 
provide digital strategy training to students and teachers as part of their MBAs. 

The  internetAcademi,  launched  by  ISDI’s  Business  Angel  Found  in  2013,  is  a  major  e-learning 
platform  for  digital  skills  for  Spain  and  Latin  America  markets.  Its  offer  consists  of  over  50  online 
courses  created  by  experienced staff  using  a  unique  methodology.  Courses  run over  30  days  or  six 
months.31  

In the first half of 2014, ISDI in cooperation with internetAcademi taught the Google Mobile Experts 
Programme at ISDI’s so-called Digital Acceleration Centre (CAD) in Madrid. Financed by Google, the 
course  is  part  of  a  programme  for  mobile  transformation  that  turned  about  more  than  200 

31   http://www.isdi.es/en/node/106 

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professionals  from  the  world  of  digital  marketing  into  mobile  experts.  The  course  programme 
consisted of face-to-face and online seminars (3 modules à 5 hours) and online learning (approx. 120 
hours).  

eStudent (HR) 

eStudent is an association run by and for students and young university lecturers with the ambition 
to change their environment for the better. It is one of the major non-profit organisations in Croatia. 
Many of the activities of eStudent are about equipping fresh graduates with leadership skills in the 
context  of  the  knowledge-based  society  and  economy,  driven  by  innovation.  eStudent  receives 
financial support via sponsorship from major companies such as the UniCredit Group and Nestlé. The 
association has its roots in an initiative of students and young lecturers at the Faculty of Economics at 
University  of  Zagreb,  who  had  the  ambition  that  the  association  should  enable  its  members  to  be 
initiator of change, give them great practical experience and access to a network of knowledge and 
excellence.  The  association  as  a  whole  and  all  projects,  workshops  and  initiatives  are  lead  by  the 
members  themselves.  The  association  has  currently  400  active  members  working  at  the  Faculty  of 
Economics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Faculty of 
Pharmacy  and  Biochemistry,  University  of  Zagreb,  a  project-oriented  organizations  are  all  Croatian 
universities.  The  projects  of  eSTUDENT  are  attended  each  year  by  more  than  5,000  students  from 
across  Croatia;  partnerships  with  more  than  50  renowned  companies  and  organizations  are 
generated; and more than 50,000 people are reached in some way by eStudent projects each year. 
eStudent has already received five Special Chancellor's Award from the University of Zagreb, and five 
of its projects enjoy the official support of the Croatian President, Ivo Josipovic. Among the projects 
of eStudent, the following appear to be of most relevance for the e-leadership topic: 

 

 

 

Business  Plan  Contest  is  a  competition  that  encourages  students  with  entrepreneurial 
ambitions to develop ideas and to their elaboration in the form of a business plan. It has been 
organized for nine consecutive years already. The basic idea of the competition is to provide an 
opportunity for students with a powerful business idea to hone their skills so that it reaches 
the  stage  of  being  suitable  for  implementation  in  the  marketplace.  The  project  promotes 
entrepreneurial learning and business start-ups. 

Case Study Competition: This is a competition in solving real business cases, which are handed 
to  students  from  different  areas  of  interest.  It  gives  all  Croatian  students  the  opportunity  to 
demonstrate  their  knowledge,  ideas  and  opportunities  in  direct  interaction  with  the  best 
Croatian  firms  –  i.e.  potential  future  employers  –  and  being  rewarded  for  it.  While  solving 
cases students work in teams of 2-4 persons, and they can consult with the employee business 
with  the  help  of  a  dedicated  mentor,  as  well  as  professors  and  lecturers  of  the  Faculty. 
Students are thus put in the role of decision-maker for developing and presenting a solution to 
a real-world problem of a renowned Croatian company.  

IC Future Seminar: This is an international summer school on the topic of intellectual capital 
and  leadership.  It  targets  both  Croatian  and  foreign  students  who  want  to  learn  in  a  new, 
unconventional  way  about  intellectual  capital  and  leadership.  The  course  is  made  up  of 
lectures, workshops, discussions, and collaborative work on practical challenges. The focus is 
not only on acquisition of highly applicable knowledge which attendees will find useful in their 
future work and career, but also on developing innovative ideas.  

  Gold Index: This award is by handed out by students to reward and thereby promote all those 
businesses  and  institutions  which  in  one  way  or  the  other  have  a  strong  connection  with 
students,  e.g.  by  supporting  the  projects  of  the  eStudent  association  or  by  offering  students 
participation  in  some  of  their  own  activities.  The  award  represents  a  "roadmap"  to  guide 
companies and institutions on how to develop a partnership with students which is likely to be 
highly beneficial to both parties.  

  App Start Contest: A competition for students about development of mobile applications. 

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3.1.4  Other institutions and actors providing e-Leadership 

training and education  

Consulting, training providers and certification courses 
Coaching  and  consulting  is  pertinent  here  when  it  is  targeting  skills  acquisition  and  learning.  The 
obvious  advantage  of  coaching  and  consulting  over  traditional  courses  is  by  its  very  nature  its 
potential  for  customisation  to  the  needs  of  the  client.  However,  there  are  education  programmes 
that  sit  on  the  fence  between  traditional  higher  education  classes  and  coaching  and  consulting. 
Business  school  approaches  have  always  been  to  let  learners  deal  with  an  existing  challenge  from 
their  professional  lives  and  some  business  schools  go  further  down  this  path  by  offering  very 
personnel  intensive  consultation  sessions  as  part  of  their  curriculum.  The  master  classes  and  MSc- 
programmes of Antwerp Management School are such examples. 

University programmes training SME consultants are rare, but our research found one programme by 
University of Kent which trains IT consultants. 

Professional / managerial certification courses such as ITIL, PRINCE2 etc. may be deemed not being 
exactly  e-leadership but as a prerequisite of e-leadership, and could also be relevant for SMEs and 
start-ups. 

During interviews, we asked what skills transfer mechanisms SMEs exploit when working from consultants. The answers 
include 

  Amu courses 
  The consultants are the best way to get specialized knowledge, fast and contextualized through interaction with 
professional organizations. The great difficulty is to hire consultants, having access to the curriculum, profile and 
achievements and understanding the ability to support the company's goals. 

  Shadowing program learning from them doing analysis, business plan and  
  Implementation of a new project model etc. 
  Hiring a deep knowledge specialist on issues not solved by one of the other methods 
  Internal synergies regarding technical know-how 
  IT experts 
  ITIL education 
  Marketing consultancy supported the organisation with an audit 
  Personalized courses for my company and me. 
  Quality auditors, work environment auditors, finance auditors 
  Strategy creation consultancy 
  Suppliers' caseworks, agencies analytics 
  These people learn fast and see things in real life - what works, what doesn't - serious know how, and the best of them are 

able to adapt the knowledge to your company. 

  Trainings 
  Coaching 
  Mentors 
  Using consultants is often more efficient than generic courses 
  Consultants with missing expertise, we are using specialists in different areas where we not have the knowledge. They can 

give new insight in very specific domains 

  Information security seminars 
  ICEX - Next consultant 
  Consultants have knowledge gained from different areas and industry and can give organisations perspectives of doing 

things differently from best in class practices. 

  Soft skills 

Coaching and mentoring 

  Business coaches to help me and my company develop and "grow". 
  coach programme with in- or external coaches 
  Coaches 
  Coaches used by several leaders in Sales, Marketing and Production mgmt 
  Colleagues! 
  Gives immediate feedback to your explicit needs 
  Help from other employees on how to use systems, follow processes etc. 
  In-house mentoring and coaching 
  Inspirational Leadership coaching 
  Just everyday experience 
  Mentoring from peers or superiors/ task- or team-leads. 
  Senior managers coach or mentor newly employed staff for quickest start up. 
  The same situation as the last item. The difference between coaches and consultants is we have more access to find 

coaches but they have few experience to help. 

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  Training on specific software programs. 
  Yes, some of our employees take MBA and MS in applied sciences, we pull on that 
  You are held accountable for the results of your new learning. 
  From your peers, managers, .. 
  Long talks over coffee with my investors. 
  Other CEOs and executives from other start-ups 
  Endeavour Spain 
  Communication, presentation, organizational skills, cultural differences 
  Language and Mentors 
  mentoring of trainees 
  EAE 
  in-house mentoring 
  I coached interns and new colleagues into coding 
  When you need to participate to a broadcast show for instance 
  Mentor and coaching programmes, e.g. university alumni networks, local business angel groups, etc. 
  "from the leader of the team or at different events 
  advice in general" 
  Is important because it is one on one and provides an environment where both the coach and mentee can tackle 

challenges that individual specific and also mentees benefit from the one on one interaction which provides a better 
working / learning environment 
  be part of open source projects 

Training providers mentioned during interviews include 

  Amu courses 
  Antwerp Management School MITGA MEITA or modules 
  Antwerp management school,  Enterprise architecture master track 
  SAP academy 
  Courses held by private enterprises. E.g. courses Machine Directive and ATEX directive. 
  Customized training provided by the Madrid (Spain) -based think tank "iTTi, Innovation & Technology Trends Institute" 

(www.ittredsinstitute.org) 

  Bluegarden 
  Security courses" 
  It is useful when I don't have time to or the skills to prepare or learn myself easily 
  IT service management, IT project management 
  ITIL education 
  Just to prepare professionals to the market. Is not efficient for seniors. 
  Languages. 
  Learning by being part of a team 
  Learning to give my working day more structure. 
  PRINCE2, product specific for e.g. AFM or microscopes 
  SEO and SEM courses 
  Copywriting 
  Wordpress 
  Communication, presentation, organizational skills, cultural differences 
  Language and Mentors 
  advanced English course 
  Lectures during professional event 
  ”Financial for Non-financials via VOKA” 
  meeting experts of the field 
  EYIF one day course on EC innovation programs for start-up (such as H2020) 
  Are more important for getting theoretical knowledge, but need to be combined with other practical methods of learning. 

Industry and professional academies 
Industry  associations,  professional  bodies  and  chambers  of  commerce  also  offer  hands-on  courses 
for practitioners, sometimes covering e-leadership topics.  

BITKOM  academy  is  an  offer  by  the  German  IT  association  BITKOM  which  offers  seminars  and 
courses for executives as well as professionals. A catalogue of their offers is available here: 

https://www.bitkom-
akademie.de/sites/default/files/Akademie%20Seminarprogramm_1.HJ_2015_online_1.pdf 

Industry and professional academies mentioned during interviews include 

  A few employees go to professional academies - mainly leaders and specialists. 
  Advanced digital technology 
  Are important only for beginners who need more structured information to compose a fairly contextualized opinion. 
  Challenger Sales 

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  Conferences by IDC and CIONET 
  Courses from erhvervsakademier, voksenundervisning etc. 
  Global Knowledge trainings in Mechelen 
  Industry committees, skills training 
  Industry training, industry meetings,  
  Joining colleagues from same industry, having same situation as we have. 
  Leadership programmes 
  Master in cultural communication 
  Master in architecture communication 
  Professional conferences, mentoring by the university profs, consultants and various networking events (visits) 
  Supported a number of managers with professional qualifications such as accounting and management degrees e.g. MBA's 
  Seminars and exhibitions 
  Vendor specific courses for in-house products 
  Vlercik 
  When the subject isn't tool oriented, but needs change of mindset or behaviour then instructors are needed 
  Project management course, ITIL, ... at e.g. Global Knowledge 
  Design patterns 
  IT courses at local academy - e.g. New Horizons 
  SharePoint for end-users by Thomas More 
  SharePoint for key-users by Thomas More 
  Health Economics @ Sciences Po Paris 
  universities or meetings of the industry involved  
  coding classes 
  These are important because they provide theoretical knowledge that is targeted meet the needs of workers within a 

specific industry. 
  Computer Science 

Venture capital 
Venture capital may often transfer e-leadership skills by bringing in interim management. 

Product specific vendor seminars, webinars, product training 
Examples  include  the  Business  Transformation  Academy  by  SAP,  Microsoft’s  Bizspark,  offerings  by 
CISCO, or Salesforce. No further analysis of these offerings has been conducted. At face value, none 
of the trainings mentioned below relate significantly to e-Leadership. 

Product specific vendor seminars, webinars, product training mentioned during interviews include 

  IBC 
  SAP 
  organized by magazines or Meetup.com 
  webinars - mainly from our associate partners on the financial market.  
  Sales training 
  Developer communities and Conferences 
  Learning to use CMS, CRM, apps etc. directly from the source. 
  TheValueChain seminar 
  Webinars by BMC 
  Microsoft, VMWare, Citrix, etc. trainings and exams 
  Training within the area of authoring software for e-Learning, which is our business area 
  Improved knowledge of Applied food science by attending supplier seminars, exchanging ideas with other businesses in 

the industry 

  Invitations from suppliers to participate in update courses/training/seminars 
  Vendor courses in vendor products 
  Technologies as Hyper-V, Windows 2012 R2 optimizations etc. 
  Often are distributors the driving part of this kind of learning (inviting tech-vendors as well) 
  Important to know about specific product used in our company 
  SAP seminars 
  training by suppliers of material and machines 
  Mostly hardware configuration and software supporting the HW 
  New Technologies, new products and methods; best learned at the source. 
  Technical products 
  Safety 
  The market is supported by well-defined players that provide abundant information for decision making. This is 

supplemented by relevant information from research institutes focused on supporting the areas of technology, such as 
IDC, Gartner, Forrester, Bersin etc. 

  Microsoft SQL 2012 Data Modelling and Reporting Services 
  Scientific instrument manufacturers supply training to develop individuals from being a competent user, to being an expert 

in a system 

  technical seminars, it vendor seminars,  

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  Courses in systems functionality 
  Dansk Industri, TACK, Personale&Jura  
  Wordpress and InDesign courses 
  Photoshop 
  Microsoft; Google; Sabadell 
  Microsoft Tech-ed, VMWorld, ... 
  Project management and resource management products 
  SQL server training 
  Oracle, IBM 
  e.g. MS help pages 
  couch instruction 
  Cloud offerings from Microsoft 
  Cloud offerings from Google 
  Platform offerings from Progress 
  How to build your website 
  Google AdWords seminars. 
  webinars done by cloud software used for my company 
  trainings discovered through specialised blogs 
  online webinars and simple trainings 

3.1.5  The role of self-learning 

Ad-hoc  self-learning  was  reported  by  survey  respondents  to  be  of  utmost  importance  for  nearly 
every  high-growth  and  entrepreneurial  SME.  70%  of  respondents  mentioned  this.  Methods 
mentioned  obviously  include  performing  web  searches  to  search  for  problem  fixes,  to  use  social 
media  to  read  and  study  use  cases.  In  addition,  developer  communities  and  websites  and 
conferences  were  mentioned  here.  Also,  finding  and  emulating  someone  or  another  firm  as  an 
example has been mentioned as a very important success factor. 

Some  SMEs  encourage  staff  to  spend  time  on  learning  related  to  issues  that  the  employee  thinks 
important  for 
is 
encouraged to try new practices. 

interference  from  superiors.  Experimentation 

innovation  without  further 

Topics mentioned were, e.g. 

  Learning about the latest tech trends 
  Work legislation and personnel law 
  Various IT tools 
  Finding tips & tricks from fellow companies / competitors. 
  How to work with clients 
  Leadership roles  
  Tips&tricks to problem solving in forums  
  Improving knowledge of legislation  
  Standards and norms  
  Examples of businesses, professionals, academics 
  Interact with key people in each knowledge area  
  New product functionality, new developments  

Sources mentioned were, e.g. 

  Google 
  Twitter, LinkedIn, Flipboard 
  main business magazines like HBR, McKinsey, etc. 
  through the study of e.g. reports, scientific papers etc. available on Government Agency websites, university websites  
  instructional and inspirational videos 
  product specific knowledge 
  Cobit, Sdn@SAP, Microsoft  
  online academy @ msdn.com 
  Free videos on YouTube featuring a public lecture 
  online research, articles, newsletters 
  books 
  Searching online and through database for similar problems and challenges occurring 
  online instructions, manuals and support via chat  
  platforms like Quora or KnowSquare 
  stackoverflow and other similar sources 
  Specific information for errors related to .NET, and information about functionality and libraries 
  Learning VBA by solving tasks using examples found via Google. 
  Reading market reports on e-invoicing to follow trends in digital collaboration 

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  Being confronted with a problem, then doing internet research and speaking to colleagues and contacts in the start-up 

network/ecosystem who have faced similar problems. 

  learning new languages  
  solving new problems 
  discussions with peers, learning from others experiences 

Content providers and publishers 
Some  publishers  are  trying  to  reinvent  their  business  by  becoming  online  content  providers.  LID 
learning is a notable example. 

Topics mentioned were, e.g. 
  leadership development 
  Home studies, reading of relevant books and material, but with the focus on the needed IT skills based on in-house 

systems 

  IT field related trainings 
  Legal courses 
  Learning material that fits the company - example learning about rules and regulation on terror and illegal tax-

transactions. 

  MSDN certification study 
  Seeking information in manuals, process descriptions 
  Self certification kits (e.g. Microsoft) 
  http://www.unitar.org 
  Learning C# 
  Reading dissertations and academic publications in the domain of Enterprise Engineering 
  By following an informal curricular with specific learning goals, a person is able to outline what is important for them to 

achieve while material acts as a guide to achieve this goals. 

  free online learning tools 
  e-learning 

3.2 

e-Leadership policies in Europe 

The present chapter provides an overview of the results from the analysis of policy and stakeholder 
activity  concerning  e-leadership  skills  and  skills  for  digital  entrepreneurship.  Data  collection  was 
carried out in a first wave from April to July 2014, with further research and data validation between 
August and December 2014. 

3.2.1  Policies at Member State level 

The topic of e-leadership education & training is touched upon – more or less explicitly – in a whole 
range  of  policy  fields,  such  as  policies  on:  higher  &  vocational  education;  research  &  innovation; 
entrepreneurship; skills; SMEs; investment support; immigration; and the Digital Agenda, which itself 
represents  a  horizontal  policy  domain  cutting  across  all  the  ones  mentioned  before.  At  the 
intersection  of  these  policies,  the  topics  related  to  e-leadership  skills  attract  increasing  interest  in 
many Member States.  

Only  in  Ireland,  Italy  and  Scotland,  however,  are  measures  for  strengthening  e-leadership  skills 
explicitly mentioned in policy strategies. The general impression from our analysis is that the need for 
providing SMEs and entrepreneurs with the skills for e-leadership is treated as a secondary objective, 
with  limited  need  for  concerted  action  once  the  more  well-established  objectives  of  policy 
intervention (such as take-up of present-day ICTs; basic ICT user skills; adoption of e-government and 
e-business; access to venture capital; start-up subsidies) have been taken care of.  

The policy analysis had to take into account that some Member States feature powerful regions with 
own  policy  strategies  bearing  upon  e-leadership  skills.  This  applies,  in  particular,  to  Belgium, 
Germany, Spain and the U.K.  

Our  analysis  identified  the  following  key  policy  approaches  to  the  topic  of  e-leadership  skills  in 
Europe: 

Policies  on  higher  &  vocational  education:  The  focus  is  on  adapting  existing  and  introducing  new 
programmes  in  higher  and  vocational  education  to  provide  offers  for  acquisition  of  e-leadership 

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skills.  Depending  on  the  established  governance  structures  in  the  area,  some  governments  have 
joined  forces  with  universities  and  other  education  providers  to  initiate  development  of  course 
programmes that meet the needs of the business community, mainly in terms of study duration and 
learning outcomes. In other countries, related developments have taken place without a significant 
degree of policy intervention, as public universities, business schools and the like strive to  develop 
their  competitive  edge  by  offering  course  programmes  that  provide  a  combination  of  executive 
management, business innovation and ICT competencies.  

Research & innovation policies: These policies often include strategic approaches to improving the 
capacity  of  SMEs  to  invest  in  product  or  process  innovation.  Existing  schemes  often  include  the 
transfer of e-leadership knowledge into SMEs, but this happens more often than not through one-to-
one consultancy rather than SME participation in training programmes.  

SME policy: Driven forward by the European Commission's "Small Business Act" (SBA) from 2008, the 
majority  of  Member  States  have  dedicated  policies  in  place  for  supporting  their  stock  of  existing 
SMEs and for making it easier to establish a new business. Many of these also include schemes for 
providing  SMEs  with  more  attractive  and  better  suited  offers  for  participation  in  training  about  e-
leadership, as such training is understood to boost SME competitiveness but often hampered by high 
barriers to uptake. There is a range of instruments available for this purpose, see the next section. e-
Leadership skills  are  also being  provided in  the course  of  subsidy  schemes for  ICT-enabled product 
and  process  innovation,  and  as  part  of  support  packages  for  helping  SMEs  internationalise  their 
operations. Examples include Austria's Go Silicon Valley initiative.  

Entrepreneurship  policy:  Promotion  of  entrepreneurship  has  entered  the  policy  agenda  in  most  if 
interventions  reaches  from  establishment  of 
not  all  Member  States;  the  range  of  policy 
"entrepreneurship  education"  in  school  and  university  curricula32,  over  business  plan  competitions 
and  awards,  to  financial  and  hands-on  support  for  fledgling  start-ups  (similar  to  what  is  offered  to 
SMEs that seek to innovate). It appears that governments tend to avoid putting a special emphasis 
on ICT-driven start-ups, but in practice most promising start-ups will require e-leadership skills to be 
able to grow. Our analysis suggests, however, that most schemes for supporting entrepreneurs give 
only limited attention to training in e-leadership skills.  

Skills policy: Policies dedicated to identification of skills shortages, gaps and mismatches have a long 
tradition in some Member States such as the U.K. and Ireland, while in others skills related issues are 
spread across a range of policies under responsibility of different ministries. Against this background 
the European  Commission’s  Communication  on  “e-Skills for  the 21st Century”,  which presented an 
EU long term e-skills agenda, and in particular the “Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs” launched in 2013 
have had a strong impact on policy-making in many EU countries, especially in those that joined the 
EU  since  2004.  Examples  include  the  Slovak  Republic,  where  the  country’s  national  coalition  for 
digital jobs “Digital Future” and an energetic Digital Champion have resulted in a strong boost to e-
skills policy initiatives, many of which touching upon the issue e-leadership skills. Another example is 
Bulgaria’s Digital National Alliance (DNA) focusing on action towards enhanced digital skills including 
e-leadership skills. 

Employment  policy:  The  available  data  suggest  that  women  are  significantly  underrepresented 
among  both  digital  entrepreneurs  and  ICT  management  positions.  In  line  with  the  general  policy 
objective  to  increase  the  rate  of  female  participation  in  the  labour  market,  a  number  of  Member 
States  have  devised  strategies  for  promoting  a  stronger  role  of  women  in  management  positions, 
including  female  entrepreneurship,  as  this  seems  to  be  an  area  where  a  lot  of  potential  remains 
untapped. Sweden has the "Promoting Women's Entrepreneurship" programme which operates the 
"Golden  Rules  of  Leadership"  initiative.  Germany's  Go  MINT!  "National  Pact  for  Women  in  IT 
Careers" alliance was formed in 2008 already, while Greece has a brand-new Digital Alliance for the 
Employment of Women. Another area where employment policy has a bearing on e-leadership skills 

32   For  instance:  Austria's  programme  for  Entrepreneurship  Education;  Croatia's  Strategy  for  Entrepreneurial  Learning  2010–2014;  Finland’s 

Guidelines for Entrepreneurship Education. 

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is  the  development  and  provision  of  tailored  education  &  training  targeting  graduates  at  risk  of 
unemployment:  In  the  face  of,  on  the  one  hand,  increasing  rates  of  unemployment  also  among 
university graduates and, on the other hand, hard-to-fill vacancies for ICT practitioners who also have 
advanced  business  skills,  some  Member  States  have  attempted  to  channel  graduates  and  other 
jobseekers  towards  ICT  jobs  in  which  e-leadership  is  required.  The  Republic  of  Ireland  has  been 
especially successful in this area. 

Digital  Agenda:  Following  the  example  of  the  Digital  Agenda  for  Europe,  national  policies  that 
address cross-cutting issues concerning ICT take-up and use tend to be called national digital agendas 
today. While these deal most prominently with the underlying technological infrastructure and how 
to  give  everybody  full  access  to  it,  skills  issues  related  to  the  digital  competences  are  a  key 
component in the large majority of national digital agendas in Europe. Of particular importance is the 
development  and  broad  recognition  of  e-skills  frameworks  and  occupational  definitions.  These  go 
back to national level efforts in the 1990s already (e.g. SFIA in the U.K.); they received a strong push 
in  recent  years  with  the  development  of  the  European  e-Competence  Framework  (e-CF).  A  large 
number of schemes for education and certification of e-skills in Europe make use of, or are closely 
aligned  with,  the  e-CF  (e.g.  the  iTalent  standards  in  Malta).  As  is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this 
document, some of the core competences which make up the entirety of "e-leadership skills" have 
been  incorporated  in  the  e-CF,  such  as  A.1.  IS  and  Business  Strategy  Alignment,  A.3.  Business  Plan 
Development,  A.9.  Innovating,  E.7.  Business  Change  Management.  The  process  is  expected  to 
continue regarding both the e-CF and similar or aligned national e-skills frameworks. Inclusion of e-
Leadership  skills  in  competence  and  e-skills  frameworks  will  boost  awareness  about  possible  skills 
shortages in the area; it is also likely to trigger a public debate among stakeholders about whether 
adequate education programmes are in place or how they can be established. A good example for 
this approach is the new Italian Strategy for the Digital Agenda. 

Investment support: The by far most important policy tool for supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs in 
Europe's  less  developed  regions  (which  includes  the  territory  of  all  East  European  Member  States 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  mostly  capital  city  regions,  plus  Croatia  and  large  parts  of  Slovenia, 
Portugal,  Greece,  southern  Italy  and  peripheral  parts  of  the  U.K.)  is  distribution  of  investment 
support  financing  from  the  European  Structural  Funds.  For  each  programming  period,  Member 
States  agree  with  the  European  Commission  on  a  Partnership  Agreement,  which  outlines  the 
country's  overall  strategy  for  how  to  invest  the  funds,  and  a  number  of  Operational  Programmes 
(OPs). For the upcoming 2014-2020 programming period, each Member State is currently33 engaged 
in drafting the OPs, which are the outcome of a lengthy process of public dialogue and negotiation. 
Some of the main beneficiary countries have used this opportunity to include measures for providing 
e-leadership  training  and  education  to  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs.  If  the  measures  suggested  will  be 
approved and successfully executed, they will represent a significant step forward from the common 
practice in previous programming periods, where funding was targeted to training in basic ICT user 
skills and establishment of business development infrastructures such as technology parks and brick-
and-mortar business incubators.  

33   Summer 2014 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

3.2.2  Summary assessment of national level policies and stakeholders activities on e-leadership 

Table 3-3: Summary assessment of national policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-leadership / digital entrepreneurship education and training  

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Czech 
Republic 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

 
Belgium has some policy initiatives which deal with e-leadership skills in all but 
name, and attention to the topic has been growing not only among education 
providers. The Walloon Agency for ICT (AWT) and the Flemish Institute iMinds play 
an important role for creating awareness about e-leadership issues and the need 
to develop related skills in SMEs. Both are multi-stakeholders partnerships with 
strong involvement of the key stakeholders in Wallonia and Flanders, respectively. 

 
The regional governments within their major ICT-related institutions, the Walloon 
Agency for ICT (AWT) and the Flemish Institute iMinds, show some effort to 
promote digital entrepreneurship in their respective region. Together with Agoria 
(Federation of the technology industry) these institutions make up a dense 
support network covering all relevant sectors. Given this infrastructure of 
promotion, Belgium shows strong potential. 

 
Very little policy initiatives are in place which explicitly deal with e-leadership 
skills, but the Operational Programmes for the 2014-2020 funding period provide 
ample opportunities to support training and education for e-leadership in SMEs 
and beyond. The draft OPs demonstrate awareness of the essential role of e-skills 
and ICT for the future economic prospects of Bulgaria. The great support which 
the Digital National Alliance has received also signals that Bulgaria is on making 
good progress. There are various partnerships between the private-sector (e.g. 
BASSCOM, the software industry association) and higher education institutes with 
the goal to better align course programmes with the demands of employers, with 
positive impact on the availability of training for e-leadership. 

 
Policy documents such as the National Strategy for SMEs 2014-2020 pay lip service 
to the need for promotion of entrepreneurship especially in high-tech segments of 
the economy, but most public sector activity appears limited to traditional tools 
such as financial support and training in basic ICT user skills. There is a huge 
number of initiatives by non-governmental stakeholders who seek to fill the 
apparent gap; many of these activities clearly target nascent digital entrepreneurs. 
Examples include Start It Smart and the Bulgarian Young Leaders Program (BYLP). 
The large number of small-budget initiatives bears the risk of fragmentation and 
lack of visibility, however. 

 
The Czech government supports SMEs in ICT-heavy parts of the economy with a 
range of measures, many of which are coupled to funding from the Structural 
Funds as defined in a number of Operational Programmes. Both the OPs for the 
2007-2013 funding period and the new OPs currently being drafted make only very 
indirect reference to e-leadership training and education. Some of the countries 
universities, however, have become active in developing course programmes 
covering e-leadership related skills. 

 
The 2014-2020 SME Support Concept lists a range of support measures targeting 
entrepreneurs, with a focus on ICT-driven, highly innovative start-ups. This opens 
up opportunities for the funding of initiatives dedicated to training in the skills for 
digital entrepreneurship. No such measures appear to be in place at the time of 
writing, though. Some of the country’s start-up incubators and accelerators in the 
ICT domain provide entrepreneurship training, often with a clear focus on digital 
entrepreneurship. 

Denmark 

 
Denmark excels in development and provision of education and training 

 
Denmark has a well-developed system for entrepreneurship support; more and 

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Germany 

Estonia 

Ireland 

e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

programmes that focus on e-leadership. The policy context is provided by the 
Innovation Strategy which puts much emphasis on "a change of culture in 
Denmark's education system", with more focus on innovation and value creation. 
The new Danish Innovation Foundation is expected to make policy implementation 
more effective. Both the Innovation Voucher and the Innovation Assistant 
programme represent interesting approaches to knowledge transfer into SMEs. 

 
Software Campus, an e-Leadership excellence scheme set up in 2012, was among 
the first major initiatives in Europe focusing explicitly on e-leadership skills. It has 
lead to an increased awareness about the need for e-leadership skills and related 
training and education offers. Few of the German government’s policies, however, 
make explicit reference to ICT-related leadership skills. Some universities have 
gone ahead and established e-leadership courses, often in cooperation with newly 
founded affiliate organisations which promote spin-off activities. 

more of the training and mentoring taking place in this context has a focus on e-
leadership. Business incubators, accelerators and clusters are engaged in training 
for digital entrepreneurship. There is, however, an absence of a major strategy or 
initiative explicitly addressing skills of digital entrepreneurship. 

 
Germany has a range of ambitious initiatives targeting entrepreneurs in ICT-driven 
parts of the economy. Wissensfabrik Deutschland is a prime example of a multi-
stakeholder partnership implementing innovative measures for boosting skills for 
ICT-driven entrepreneurship. Related training measures are also provided within 
the context of start-up incubators and accelerators for the digital economy. 

 
Recent multi-stakeholder partnerships in the higher education area have started 
to look into skills for e-leadership. One example is the IT Academy, an initiative for 
boosting the quality and focus of ICT-related higher education in Estonia with a 
strong focus on competitiveness. The key role of the ICT sector for the country's 
economy and self-image means that e-leadership is likely to become a widely 
recognised issue in the near future. The focus of policy-making in the area is on 
start-ups rather than longer established companies. 

 
The country has an effective national system for entrepreneurship support, at the 
centre of which is Enterprise Estonia, a business and regional policy foundation 
established in 2000. Enterprise Estonia is successfully channelling support from the 
EU structural funds into (mainly) ICT-driven start-up businesses, and provides a 
range of training measures for equipping start-ups with the necessary 
entrepreneurship skills. There are, however, so far few activities focusing explicitly 
on digital entrepreneurs. 

 
The Irish government has a dedicated strategy for addressing future demand for 
high-level ICT skills including e-leadership skills, namely the ICT Skills Action Plan, 
last revised in 2014. Implementation is supported by strong multi-stakeholder 
partnership, e.g. the ICT Ireland Skillnet. Conversion and upskilling programmes 
are in place for channelling unemployed university graduates into positions at the 
intersection of business management and ICT (e.g. MSc and Post Graduate 
Diploma in Innovation & Technology). Many Technology Centres engage in 
activities for promotion of skills development in e-leadership and digital 
entrepreneurship, e.g. the Centre for IT Innovation (Innovation Value Institute) 
which has developed an SME IT Capability framework. The ICS Leadership 

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 
Ireland has a range of policies that seek to support business start-ups and 
entrepreneurship, with an increasing focus on the digital domain. The policy 
context is provided by the National Digital Strategy, which explicitly calls for 
measures to "support digital enterprise development". The New Frontiers 
Entrepreneur Development Programme based in 14 campus incubation centres 
across the country is a cornerstone of Ireland's well developed system for 
provision of digital entrepreneurship skills. 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Development Programme is a prime example for an e-leadership course 
programme targeted at the SME market. 

 
e-Leadership skills have hardly entered the policy agenda in Greece. Small-scale, 
non-governmental initiatives such as and Future Leaders and the Microsoft 
Innovation Centre dominate the area. Training of women in e-skills and e-
leadership is expected to receive a boost through the new Digital Alliance for the 
Employment of Women, and outcome of Greece's commitment to the European 
Commission's Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. 

 
Most of the policy activities in the area are geared towards less advanced 
companies, which are supported with basic training in strategic use of ICT for 
modernising their business. More advanced SMEs obtain support mainly through 
public funding schemes which subsidize investments in innovation and cluster 
building, in the context of which some e-leadership training is offered. Providers of 
higher education, both from the public and private sector, show strong activity in 
developing and offering course programmes in e-leadership. The young Institute 
for the Internet Development (ISDI) appears to lead developments in this field. In 
addition, sector specific innovation centres appear to play an important role for 
acquisition of e-leadership skills such as the Andalucia Lab focusing on ICT driven 
innovation in the tourism sector. 

 
E-leadership is still a very new topic in France, and very few organizations have 
ventured into it. The need to enable the education system to provide skills at the 
intersection of management, innovation and ICT is acknowledged, however, by 
more and more key stakeholders, and some education providers are running or 
developing course programmes in the area. New approaches in this area include 
the training programmes offered by École 42 and the MOOCs developed by CNAM. 
The Pasc@line association has done important work in exploring e-leadership skill 
requirements as perceived by employers and education providers. 

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 
Greece suffers traditionally from poor conditions for entrepreneurial activities. 
The government is fully aware of the need to change this. Its Start-Up Greece 
platform is a promising attempt to support the next generation of entrepreneurs, 
e.g. by providing access to leadership training also in the digital domain. The 
Athens University of Economics and Business is an important stakeholder. It has a 
unit dealing with entrepreneurship and recently launched a MOOC for training in 
digital entrepreneurship in collaboration with the American College of Greece. 

 
Spain shows a clear commitment to boost ICT-driven entrepreneurial activity. The 
country is well equipped with start-up accelerators, business incubators and 
related schemes for management training, knowledge transfer and 
internationalisation, all of which includes some elements of training in digital 
entrepreneurship. At the regional level, initiatives in the context of Catalonia’s 
Digital Agenda "idigital" represent an interesting development as it puts a clear 
focus on skills which are specific to the mobile sector. 

 
The Digital Policy Roadmap calls for support to digital entrepreneurship under its 
Second Pillar ("Reinforcing the Competitiveness of Firms"). The Assises de 
l’entrepreneuriat format of a public dialogue about how to promote 
entrepreneurship has proven successful for agreement on actions for boosting 
start-up activity. e-Leadership related education and training is being offered in 
the context of incubator programmes and cluster networks. 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

Croatia 

 
Croatian policy-making is geared towards helping the country's large stock of SMEs 
to modernise to enable them to survive and prosper now that the country's 
economy is exposed to the European Single Market. Some of these activities seek 
to equip domestic companies with basic e-business skills. Croatia does have, 
however, a business academy (ILBA) with a clear focus on e-leadership skills. 

Italy 

Cyprus 

 
The new Italian Strategy for the Digital Agenda gives a prominent place to the e-
leadership skills issue. It foresees measures for definition of e-leadership skills with 
reference, were possible, to the European e-Competence Framework (e-CF) and 
calls for e-leadership training programmes especially for public administration 
staff and SMEs. At the level of the Italian regions, regional digital agendas are 
currently being drafted. The available agenda for Lombardy also includes 
dedicated measures explicitly addressing the need for promoting e-leadership 
skills. Education and training offers have been developed by a number of higher 
education providers both from the public and private sector. 

 
Cyprus has a strong governmental role in supporting companies, but e-leadership 
has not yet entered the policy agenda. However, the e-Volve initiative of the 
Cyprus Productivity Centre has provided training to SMEs in e-business skills since 
2009. 

 
Until only a few years ago, entrepreneurship was all but discouraged in Croatia, 
but the country has undertaken significant efforts in recent years to provide the 
framework conditions, create the attitudes and develop the skills required for a 
boost to entrepreneurial activity. Universities have set up dedicated units for 
supporting start-up activity. The Network of Student Business Incubators 
represents an important initiative in this area. The government has launched the 
first dedicated strategy on women entrepreneurship in 2010 already. While none 
of these initiatives focus explicitly on digital entrepreneurship yet, the eStudent 
NGO (run by and for advanced university students) runs an impressive range of 
projects for nurturing leadership skills among future entrepreneurs mainly in the 
digital domain. 

 
The national Strategy for the Digital Agenda and, in particular, the regional digital 
agendas put some emphasis on the need to support digital entrepreneurship in 
the country, but there are few concrete actions in operation or planned 

. Training offers on digital entrepreneurship come mainly from business incubators 
and start-up accelerators focusing on the digital domain. Universities have set up 
organisations to promote spin-offs and spin-outs that seek to exploit research 
outcomes commercially. 

 
Boosting digital entrepreneurship is one of the main pillars of the Digital Strategy 
for Cyprus adopted in 2009. Related initiatives have not advanced very much so 
far, mainly because of the economic crisis which has hit Cyprus harder than most 
other Member States. Establishment of the first technology park in Cyprus, the 
Pentakomo STP, has been planned since 2006, but may finally become reality in 
the coming months. Grassroots initiatives such as Open Coffee Cyprus are 
successful in networking among nascent digital entrepreneurs, in the process 
spreading e-leadership skills. 

Latvia 

 
Latvia has a general lack of a policy framework in which e-leadership skills would 

 
The Latvian government has set up some policies targeting the improvement of 

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National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

be addressed. The Latvian IT Cluster involves all important stakeholders (including 
the public sector), but e-Leadership is not an explicit part of their activity yet. 

Lithuania 

 
The Lithuanian government has recently stepped up efforts to launch a nation-
wide debate about e-skills supply and demand. The workplan of the newly formed 
National Digital Coalition has established an explicit emphasis on e-leadership 
skills. At the time of writing, however, it is impossible to gauge whether these 
initiatives will achieve success. 

Luxembourg   

Hungary 

Although there are no policies targeting e-Leadership explicitly, the government 
acts as an important stakeholder in all relevant initiatives and MSPs in 
Luxembourg. As a good example the private-public partnership Luxinnovation 
offers personalised services und training on topics including e-leadership. The 
Public Research Centre Henri Tudor is well advanced in development and provision 
of e-leadership course programmes. 

 
Almost all policy and stakeholder activities in the area are geared towards less 
advanced SMEs, which are supported with basic training in strategic use of ICT for 
modernising their business. The Digital Literacy Action Plan (2007), Digital Renewal 
Action Plan (2010) and the New Széchenyi Plan (2011) all include measures for 
helping raise the competiveness of Hungarian SMEs by providing training in ICT-
focused business skills. Implementation has often, however, suffered from lack of 
funding. Moreover, policies and initiatives focusing on more sophisticated skills 
required for e-leadership have not yet been devised. 

entrepreneurship environment. There is a system of technology parks which act as 
regional incubators. The University of Latvia is engaged in activities for the 
commercialisation of research results and for developing entrepreneurship skills 
through education and mentoring programmes targeting university students. 

 
The country provides a dynamic environment for digital entrepreneurs. The main 
business support organisation, Enterprise Lithuania, has launched a large number 
of mostly small-scale initiatives for increasing awareness and providing practical 
support to start-ups. Most recently the government has concentrated efforts on 
integrating the diverse programmes and activities for promoting innovative 
entrepreneurship, as reflected in the new Lithuanian Innovation Strategy and the 
first Lithuanian Entrepreneurship Action Plan expected to be launched later in 
2014. None of these make explicit mention of training and education for e-
leadership, however. 

 
Helped by its compact size, Luxembourg has an outstanding infrastructure for 
technology based SMEs and start-ups. Because of the growing importance of the 
ICT sector for Luxembourg the government implemented some policy measures to 
further improve the business environment. The ICT Cluster and Technoport are 
examples for successful public-private partnerships offering incubation and 
promotion services. Few initiatives were identified, however, that explicitly focus 
on skills in digital entrepreneurship. 

 
The strong role of the ICT industry in the export-generating parts of Hungary's 
economy has had the result that efforts to foster entrepreneurial activity focus on 
ICT-driven business innovation. Private initiative has been important, too, as 
exemplified by the European Entrepreneurship Foundation (the very first 
Accelerator program in Western Europe set up by Peter B. Záboji in 2005) and the 
Intel Business Plan Challenge in Hungary. 

Malta 

 
Skills for e-leadership have attracted increasing attention amongst policy-makers 

 
Support for entrepreneurship, in particular ICT-driven start-ups, enjoys 

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National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

and other national stakeholders in recent years. The Digital Malta 2014-2020 
strategy provides a solid political foundation for stakeholder activities to boost e-
leadership skills. MITA, the Malta IT Agency, is currently working with the 
University of Malta to explore the possibility of creating a Masters programme 
focused purely on e-Leadership. The country's National Occupational Standards for 
ICT related occupations (iTalent) are based on the e-CF and include e-leadership 
competencies. 

considerable support from government and the other major stakeholders in the 
country's e-skills domain. Both the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business 
Incubation (CEBI) at Malta University and the Microsoft Innovation Center are 
active in related education and training. The Intensive Training Programme and 
Masters Programme in Knowledge Based Entrepreneurship are prime examples of 
a course programme focusing on e-leadership in the context of start-up activity. 

Netherlands   

The Dutch Government's policy strategy dealing with e-skills development, 
Digivaardig en Digiveilig, does not yet make explicit mention of e-leadership skills. 
There is growing awareness among stakeholders, however, about the need for 
swift action. Universities have started to develop e-leadership courses, often in 
collaboration with partner universities from abroad. THNK, the Amsterdam School 
of Creative Leadership, represents a highly innovative approach to leadership 
education which stays outside of the formal education system. 

 
Austria has a well developed Strategy Research, Technology and Innovation, but it 
does not address e-leadership skills. The ICT Strategy 2014 to 2018, currently still 
under public consultation, is not expected to make a difference in this regard. 
Various initiatives are in evidence for supporting SMEs in the acquisition of 
knowledge for ICT-enabled business modernisation, e.g. e-business. 

Austria 

Poland 

 
With regard to digital entrepreneurship the Netherland initiative landscape is 
characterised by good regional multi-stakeholder partnerships like the Amsterdam 
Economic Board and the Brabant Development Agency. Relevant national activities 
and partnerships, however, appear to be missing. 

 
The Austrian Government at both federal and regional level undertake a range of 
activities for supporting business generation, reaching from entrepreneurship 
education at school age to Business Plan competitions and the like for students 
and graduates. None of these, however, make explicit reference to e-leadership 
skills or digital entrepreneurship, with the exception of Go Silicon Valley, a 
programme for equipping high-growth SMEs in the ICT sector with the leadership 
skills required to flourish internationally. Austria has a range of major initiatives for 
boosting spin-off activities at universities, including the ECN Network and the 
AplusB funding programme. 

 
Poland makes use of some of the substantial funding it receives from the 
European Structural Funds for providing ICT training to SMEs; while some of this is 
about strategic use of ICT e.g. for engaging in e-business and internationalisation, 
most activities deal with basic e-skills combined with efforts to raise awareness 
about the potential of ICT. The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) is 
the most active national stakeholder, and its Akademia PARP a nice example of 
how e-learning services can be used for acquisition of e-leadership skills. 

 
Nascent entrepreneurs and digital start-ups represent a major target group for 
business support activities in Poland, e.g. in the context of the Operational 
Programme "Innovative Economy 2007-2013". Implementation appears to suffer, 
however, from fragmentation of measures and low visibility of available supports. 
While the National Entrepreneurship Programme, launched in 2012, is primarily a 
promotional campaign, the web.gov.pl portal ("We support e-business") has 
established itself as a major initiative targeting digital entrepreneurs. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovenia 

Slovakia  

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

 
The Portuguese government has put in place ambitious policy strategies for 
boosting the country’s ability to succeed in the digital economy, namely in the 
context of the Digital Agenda for Portugal and the Strategic Programme for 
Entrepreneurship and Innovation. These comprise a number of actions which 
appear relevant for boosting skills in e-leadership, although the issue is not 
mentioned explicitly. Implementation appears to suffer, however, from the recent 
policy focus on austerity and the related dependence on short-term funding 
through the European Structural Funds. In the meantime, the country’s 
universities have developed promising course programmes on e-leadership. 

 
A number of national stakeholders (ARACIS, ARACIP CNCIS, professional 
associations) and partners from the education system (schools, universities) are 
working on new approaches to address the e-skills challenge and to implement 
these through funded projects. e-Leadership skills are not being discussed 
explicitly yet, however. Government policies have so far concentrated on raising 
the level of basic ICT skills among the workforce and getting SMEs accustomed 
with e-business, both of which funded mainly from the European Structural Funds. 

 
Slovenia currently has no significant policy strategies or stakeholder initiatives 
with direct relevance for e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship. Some up-and-
running activities for supporting ICT-driven SMEs and start-ups and supporting ICT-
enabled innovation include elements of training and education related to e-
leadership. A voucher system through which entrepreneurs and SMEs can access 
consultancy and training at a subsidised cost is well established. 

 
Development of digital entrepreneurship skills is part of the Strategic Programme 
for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Nascent start-ups can benefit from a whole 
range of support offers which include transfer of skills in digital entrepreneurship. 
Provision of related training programmes seems to suffer, however, from a lack of 
integration and dependence on short-term funding through the European 
Structural Funds. 

 
Romania has a lively start-up scene with a strong focus on digital 
entrepreneurship. Training and education services specifically targeting skills in 
digital entrepreneurship are only now beginning to appear. 

 
Slovenia has developed a dynamic ecosystem of ICT start-ups, for which support 
services including training programmes are available e.g. from incubator and 
accelerator programmes. Start:up Slovenia is a multi-stakeholder initiative which 
has been successful in bundling available supports and in networking between 
stakeholders, but no explicit focus on digital entrepreneurship is in evidence yet. 

 
The Operational Programmes for 2014-2020, which will determine the allocation 
of the European Structural Funds money for much of the ICT-related education 
and training in the coming years, do not mention measures for providing e-
leadership and digital entrepreneurship skills explicitly. That said, the nomination 
of Peter Pellegrini as Digital Champion has given policy-making in the e-skills 
domain fresh impetus. Digital Future, the country’s national coalition for digital 
jobs, has already succeeded in mobilising a large number of stakeholders to 

 
The Slovak Republic, especially its eastern region, is home to a successful ICT 
business ecosystem. Related start-up activity is strong, and the support 
infrastructure providing nascent entrepreneurs with the skills needed has benefit 
from engagement of multinationals such as Microsoft, Cisco and Aptech. The 
Slovakia Alliance for the Internet Economy, a multi-stakeholder partnership to 
boost the country’s ability to exploit ICT-driven innovation for economic growth 
and employment, marks a promising step in the right direction. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

Finland 

Sweden 

United 
Kingdom 

engage in activities for providing ICT education and training, some of which is 
clearly related to e-leadership and digital entrepreneurship. 

 
The need to provide education and training at the intersection of business 
management and advanced ICT skills is well recognised in Finland, but no explicit 
reference is being made to e-leadership skills in policy strategies. Companies 
seeking to invest in ICT-enabled innovation, including related training activities, 
can benefit from funding by a range of state programmes. The country’s higher 
education providers have started to develop and offer courses covering e-
leadership skills. 

 
Sweden has few if any policies or initiatives dealing explicitly with e-leadership, 
but the topic is touched upon in a number of strategy papers including the Digital 
Agenda for Sweden. The Knowledge Foundation takes a key role in bringing 
together tertiary education providers and business. It has worked on 
establishment of Industrial Graduate Schools in Sweden, and has a funding scheme 
on "Expertise for innovation" which calls for Universities to develop e-leadership 
type education programmes in close cooperation with business. 

 
The UK government has demonstrated with its Information Economy Strategy and 
a number of other policy initiatives that it is aware of the need to boost the e-
leadership skills among the country's SMEs. Responsibility for skills policy is 
devolved in the UK, and England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have 
their own e-skills policy. Scotland's Digital Future, in particular, makes explicit 
mention of digital leadership skills. In partnership between the business and 
education sectors, e-leadership training programmes have been developed (e.g. 
ITMB, Tech Industry Gold degrees, Cranfield University’s IT Leadership 
Programme), with e-skills UK taking a central position as instigator of progress in 

130 / 228 

 
The radical downsizing of Nokia’s activities in Finland has led to widespread 
recognition that the country’s economic prospects depend much more than 
before on the success of entrepreneurial activity. Finland has emerged as a leader 
in digital entrepreneurial culture, benefitting from an extensive infrastructure for 
supporting start-ups in the digital domain, through which training and coaching for 
digital entrepreneurship is provided. Use is made of innovative approaches to 
education of entrepreneurs (e.g. ProAcademy) and creation of an entrepreneurial 
mindset among students (e.g. Demola). 

 
The Swedish government is fully aware of the need to improve conditions for 
start-up activity in the country, especially with regard to people's attitudes 
towards entrepreneurship. This is demonstrated in the Swedish Innovation 
Strategy and the Swedish Strategy for Increased Service Innovation, which also 
calls for new types of entrepreneurship in the digital domain. Training offers for 
digital entrepreneurs are often coupled with accelerator and incubator type 
activities. Special emphasis is placed on promoting women's entrepreneurship, but 
these initiatives make no mention of skills which are specific for digital start-ups. 
Start-ups and other SMEs can benefit from Innovation Check, a voucher scheme 
that makes it easier for companies to acquire consultancy and training in the 
context of the implementation of innovative services, products or processes. 

 
The UK has a range of public-private partnerships engaged in leadership training 
for digital entrepreneurs, sometimes combined with accelerator and incubator 
activities (e.g. Accelerator Academy, Henley Accelerators), sometimes focusing on 
particular segments of the technology continuum (e.g. The Mobile Academy). ICT 
clusters such as Tech City UK offer training on digital entrepreneurship as well. 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-Leadership education 
and training 

National policy and stakeholder initiatives on Skills for Digital 
Entrepreneurship 

the area. The British Computer Society’s Digital Leader coaching programme is an 
impressive short-duration offer. 

Note: The assessment of national policy and stakeholder initiatives are first drafts as basis for further discussion  
and must not be quoted or published without permission. 

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Figure 3-10: National Policies for e-Leadership education and training; and Digital Entrepreneurship  

r
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MT 

UK 

IE 

FI 

HR 

BG 

BE 

EE 

AT 

LU 

DE 
SK 

NL 
ES 

DK 

FR 

SE 

IT 

LT 

GR 

PL 
PT 

CY 
HU 

CZ 

LV 

RO 
SI 

1,0

0,5

0,0

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National policy and stakeholder initiatives on e-
Leadership education and training 

3,5

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3.3 

ICT cluster and hub regions 

Complementing  the  work  on  an  e-Leadership  Index,  benchmarking  the  performance  of  countries 
(Member States), we briefly want to describe the spatial distribution of ICT innovation and business 
in Europe. We have reviewed several sources of regional benchmarking and “The European ICT Poles 
of Excellence (EIPE)“ research project has emerged as the most appropriate work to describe growth 
poles of ICT innovation in Europe. The work has been developed as a joint project of DG CNECT and 
the  JRC  Institute  for  Prospective  Technological  Studies  (Project  Nr  31786-2010-06)  and 
it 
„investigated the issues of growth, jobs and innovation. The overall objectives of the EIPE project are 
to set the general conceptual and methodological conditions for defining, identifying, analysing and 
monitoring the existence and progress of current and future EIPE, in order to develop a clear capacity 
to  distinguish  these  among  the  many  European  ICT  clusters,  observe  their  dynamics  and  offer  an 
analysis of their characteristics.“34  

The following ranking is the outcome of the Composite Indicator developed. 

Table 3-4: Top performing regions according to the EIPE Composite Indicator (EIPE CI>41) 

NUTS3 

DE212 

UKI12 

FR101 

DE122 

UKH12 

SE110 

DE711 

FI181 

NL414 

NL326 

BE242 

DEA22 

FR105 

ITC45 

DE300 

IE021 

DEA21 

NL333 

UKJ14 

UKM25 

DE111 

Region 

München, Kreisfreie Stadt 

Inner London - East 

Paris  

Karlsruhe, Stadtkreis 

Cambridgeshire CC 

Stockholms lan 

Darmstadt, Kreisfreie Stadt 

Uusimaa (Helsinki) 

Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant (Eindhoven) 

Groot-Amsterdam 

Arr. Leuven 

Bonn, Kreisfreie Stadt 

Hauts-de-Seine  

Milano 

Berlin 

Dublin 

Aachen, Kreisfreie Stadt 

Delft en Westland 

Oxfordshire 

Edinburgh, City of 

Stuttgart, Stadtkreis 

EIPE CI 

100 

97 

95 

80 

78 

77 

73 

70 

70 

64 

61 

59 

59 

59 

58 

57 

55 

55 

51 

51 

50 

34   Giuditta  de  Prato,  Daniel  Nepelski:  Mapping  the  European  ICT  Poles  of  Excellence:  The  Atlas  of  ICT  Activity  in  Europe.  JRC-IPTS/DG 

CONNECT 2014. Report EUR 26579 EN: p.2. 

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NUTS3 

DE125 

DE21H 

BE100 

DK011 

UKJ11 

AT130 

ES300 

UKJ23 

DE712 

UKJ33 

DE252 

FR103 

DED21 

Region 

EIPE CI 

Heidelberg, Stadtkreis 

München, Landkreis 

Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale 

Byen Kobenhavn 

Berkshire 

Wien 

Madrid 

Surrey 

Frankfurt am Main, Kreisfreie Stadt 

Hampshire CC 

Erlangen, Kreisfreie Stadt 

Yvelines 

Dresden, Kreisfreie Stadt 

49 

49 

48 

48 

48 

47 

46 

45 

44 

43 

42 

42 

41 

 Source: de Prato / Nepelski (2014) 

Example of an ICT innovation cluster: Munich 

The city of Munich (DE212) scored highest in European ICT Poles of Excellence with 100 points.  

Munich  scored  in  a  Top  5  rank  in  the  fields  of  ICT  funding,  ICT  participations,  ICT  funding  to  SMEs,  ICT 
participation by SMEs, Outward ICT R&D internationalization, Degree in ICT R&D network, Closeness centrality 
in  ICT  R&D  network,  Betweenness  centrality  in  ICT  R&D  network,  Eigenvector  centrality  in  ICT  R&D  network, 
Degree  in  ICT  Innovation  network,  Closeness  centrality  ICT  innovation  network,  Betweenness  centrality  ICT 
innovation  network,  In-degree  ICT  business  network,  Out-degree  in  ICT  business  network  and  Closeness 
centrality in ICT Business network. 

Munich has a population of 1.407.836 people and is the state capital of Bavaria. 3 Universities and 22 business 
schools and colleges are located in the city providing excellent education in many different fields. The Technical-
University Munich is one of the best technical Universities in Germany with 37.000 students and commits itself 
to  the  mission  statement  of  The  Entrepreneurial  University.  The  Ludwig-Maximilians-University  Munich  is 
among  the  top  30  Universities  in  the  world  and  one  of  the  leading  research  Universities  in  Europe.  The  LMU 
Munich offers a broad spectrum of all areas of knowledge to its 45000 students.  

Companies located in Munich are able to access a great market of young, highly educated university graduates 
from  various  fields.  In  the  ICT  sector  many  international  established  companies  like  Adobe,  Amazon,  Cisco, 
Fujitsu Siemens, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, O2, SAP, Siemens, TechData, Yahoo!, Texas Instruments, Atos IT 
Solutions and Services and NTT Data Germany  have their headquarters or subsidiary offices located in Munich. 
The  highly  skilled  graduates  and  the  MunichNetwork for  entrepreneurship  and  Innovation  encourage  StartUp 
companies  to  implement  their  business  ideas.  The  MunichNetwork  operates  in  four  main  task:  Networking, 
Experience Exchange and Knowledge-sharing; Access to capital, innovations and industry partners; Expert and 
knowledge access; and Evaluate technology and market trends and new perspectives through MunichNetwork 
conferences    

The state of Bavaria seeks to support ICT and e-business companies, including the Software Offensive Bavaria 
and Invest in Bavaria. In the last years many new StartUps in the IT Sector were founded in Munich. 

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Experteer, a premium-career enhancer for the German and European job market was found in 2005 in Munich 
and cooperates with well-known partners like Handelsblatt, Zeit online and n-tv. Within 3 years Experteer was 
ranked in the Top 25 promising technology companies in Europe according to the European Tech Association.  

Munich  is  also  home  to  Realtime  Technology  AG,  which  has  been  published  as  the  best  high-growth  German 
Mittelstand enterprise in the IT/software sector according to German business paper Wirtschaftswoche. 

Example of an ICT innovation cluster: London 

Inner London – East (UKI12) reached 2nd place in the European ICT Poles of Excellence. The City of London itself 
has a population of 8.4 million people and is therefore not only the largest city in Europe but also has the largest 
metropolitan region with over 13 million people. East Inner London has a population of 2.2 million people and is 
located  right  in  the  city  centre.    Inner  East  London  digital  economy  hosts  over  3.300  Digital  economy  firms 
employing  about  48.600  people,  668  ICT  companies  providing  over  20.000  jobs  and  2600  companies  with 
28.200 jobs in the field of digital content.  

The  strategy  of  Inner  East  London  referred  to  as  ‘Tech  City’  is  to  support  the  cluster  of  start-ups  and  SMEs 
clustered around the Old Street roundabout, attract large international investors and to steer high-tech activity 
further east. Inner East London is an inner-urban hotspot in a global city providing the required infrastructure, 
international investors interest and research activities of students from the universities in London.  

Example of an ICT innovation cluster: Karlsruhe 

In  the  study  on  European  ICT  Poles  of  Excellence,  Karlsruhe  reached  the  4th  place.  Karlsruhe,  as  a  city  with  a 
population of about 300,000, is an unlikely follower of metropolises such as Munich, London and Paris in this 
ranking.  Karlsruhe  is  not  deemed  part  of,  but  is  located  close  to  two  metropolitan  regions,  the  Rhine  Neckar 
region  (2.4  million  inhabitants  including  the  cities  Mannheim,  Ludwigshafen  and  Heidelberg  and  the 
headquarters of SAP in Walldorf) and the Stuttgart metropolitan region (5.3 million inhabitants).  

Karlsruhe  hosts  4.200  IT  companies  employing  36.000  people.  Karlsruhe  as  a  location  is  interesting  for  ICT 
businesses for several reasons. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Computer Science Faculty has been 
noted as one of the leading institutions in Germany and Europe and has occupied top ranks in several rankings 
among  universities.  Karlsruhe  Institute  of  Technology  is  one  of  the  leading  engineering  and  natural  sciences 
research and educational establishments in the world. It is also Partner in the Software Campus initiative. 

It integrates research, innovation and teaching efforts of a university of the state of Baden-Württemberg and of 
a  research  centre  of  the  Helmholtz  Association.  Karlsruhe  offers  a  wide  range  of  events  related  to  start-
ups, amongst  other  things  Devcamps,  Hackathons,  Matching-Events  und  Investor-Pitches.  Karlsruhe  is  also 
home  to  the  Centre  for 
is  rich  with 
entrepreneurship  centres,  such  as  GROW  by  PionierGarage,  Technologiefabrik  Karlsruhe,  CyberLab.  Whereas 
CyberLab is a part of the biggest Software-Clusters in Europe being supported by the CyberForum - a networking 
platform  consists  of  more  than  1000  members,  such  as  start-ups,  software  companies,  international 
information and communication technology suppliers, as well as research institutions and universities. CyberLab 
takes  neither  fees  from  start-ups  nor  shares.  It  has  been  co-funded  by  the  German  Ministry  of  Finance  and 
Economy of Baden-Württemberg.  

Innovation  and  Entrepreneurship  (CIE).  Moreover,  Karlsruhe 

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Example of an ICT innovation cluster: Stockholm 

Stockholm,  the  capital  of  Sweden  and  with  912.000  inhabitants  and  a  total  population  of  2.2  million  in  the 
metropolitan area the largest city in the Nordic region, reached 6th place. The Stockholm region has several Top 
Universities like KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the Karolinska Institute. 

Stockholm  enjoys  100-per  cent  broadband  coverage,  both  fixed  and  mobile,  providing  excellent  technical 
requirements for ICT Companies. Stockholm´s Kista region hosts 1.20 ICT companies with 24.000 staff in total.  

Big companies like Ericsson-Worldwide, a world leader in communications technology and services, Motorola 
Mobility  and  Adobe  are  located  within  the  Stockholm  region.  Many  innovative  fast-growing  technology 
companies such as Skype, King, MySQL, Mojang (Minecraft) and Spotify have their origins in the region. 

As  a  result  of  the  highly  qualified  students  and  the  good  infrastructure  and  access  to  the  international 
market the Stockholm Region is one of the best locations for start-ups in the Nordic Region. Policies like STING 
are set up to improve this position. Sting was established in 2002 as an "ecosystem of innovative start-ups" in 
the  Stockholm  area.  It  features  a  business  incubator  and  accelerator  programme,  a  business  angel  networks 
and  venture  capital  fund,  a  recruitment  service,  and  an  international  network  of  investors,  business  partners 
and experts.    

Example of an ICT innovation cluster: Darmstadt 

Darmstadt, which is located in the West of Germany, was ranked 7th in the European ICT Poles of Excellence 
study. The city has a population of 150.000 people but is close  to the metropolitan region of Frankfurt am 
Main, which ranked 30th. The area of the governing district Darmstadt hosts over 7.800 ICT Companies with a 
total staff of 78.000. Major supplies such as Deutsche  Telekom, Siemens, Rittal, Bosch, Accenture, Vodafone; 
Avaya, CSC Deutschland, Software AG, IBM, Lufthansa Systems, and corporate headquarters of suppliers such 
as  Atari,  CA,  Dell,  Fujitsu,  Huawei,  Infosysm  Motorola,  Nintendo,  Panasonic  and  Samsung  are  located  in 
southern Hessen.  

 The  The  Technical  University  of  Darmstadt,  founded  in  1877,  has  over  41.000  students  and  is  besides  the 
scientific institutions one of the reason the city is also called ‘City of Science’.  

3.4 

Technology trends 

This chapter highlights the main ICT trends expected to affect the demand of e-skills and specifically 
e-leadership skills in the next decade, and the evolution of the mix of skills requested by emerging 
innovation,  including  SMEs.  The  main  focus  of  the  study  is  on  high  tech  and  high  growth  SMEs 
(Gazelles), who particularly need ICT and e-leadership skills to enhance competitiveness and being or 
continuing to be successful. 

There  is  broad  agreement  that  the  ICT  world  is  in  the  midst  of  a  new  wave  of  innovation 
characterised by the confluence of social, mobile and cloud technologies, the rise of Big Data and the 
new  kinds  of  analytics  needed  to  create  value  in  this  environment.  This  vision  is  the  common 
background of the future technology trends presented by IDC, Accenture, AT Kearney, IBM and the 
McKinsey Global institute in their most recent reports on innovation up to 2020. In this context it is 
important to analyse and qualify the specific demand for skills driven by the emerging technologies. 

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3.4.1  Approach to the analysis of technology trend impact on 

skills 

Within  the  context  of  this  report,  we  adopt  the  definition  of  e-leadership  skills  as  laid  out  in  the 
previous  chapter.  In  order  to  assess  the  impact  of  technology  trends  on  skills,  we  have  further 
articulated the previous definition of e-leadership skills as follows:  

 

Strategic  management  skills:  focused  on  the  general  management  skills  relevant  for  IT  and 
business affecting the evolution of the CIO’s role; 

  Hybrid market-IT skills: focused on the combination of IT and business skills in order to better 

exploit IT for business goals; 

 

Industry-specific skills: focused on the understanding and exploitation of IT for business goals 
in a specific sector, with specific knowledge of the industry and its requirements. 

This  is  complemented  by  the  analysis  of  technology  innovation  impacts  on  ICT  practitioner  skills, 
grouped as follows: 

 

Infrastructure: including Information Systems Outsourcing, Network and Desktop Outsourcing, 
Network Consulting and Integration Services, Hosted Infrastructure Services, Hardware Deploy 
and Support, and System Integration contracts where the main purpose is implementation of 
hardware or network solutions; 

  Applications:  including  Custom  Application  Development,  Application  Management,  Hosted 
Application  Management,  Software  Deploy  and  Support,  and  System  Integration  contracts 
where the main purpose is implementation of application solutions; 

  General: including pure IT and business consulting engagements and IT education and training 
services,  and  IT  management  skills  that  are  not  specifically  attached  to  applications  or 
infrastructure,  including  enterprise  architects,  vendor  management  skills,  data  scientists  and 
the emerging role of "chief digital officer". 

3.4.2 

Identification and selection of main technology trends 

In order to identify and select the most important trends and their impacts, we have carried out a 
comparative analysis of main sources, including IDC’s Predictions, IBM’s Global Technology Outlook 
2013,  McKinsey  Global  Institute’s  report  on  “Disruptive  technologies”  of  May  2013,  Accenture’s 
Technology Vision 2014. Each one of these sources builds upon cumulative desk and market research 
on the most important innovation trends.  

The selection of the most important trends was based on the following criteria: 

 

 

They  are  disruptive  technologies,  according  to  the  definition  provided  by  McKinsey,  that  is 
they  are  still  rapidly  advancing,  they  have  a  broad  potential  scope  of  impact,  may  affect 
significant economic value, and they can dramatically change the status quo of the market; 

Their  development  is  profoundly  changing  the  mix  of  skills  requested  in  the  new  ICT 
environment,  driving  demand  for  new  specialized  skills  to  design,  develop  and  deploy  new 
digital services, decreasing demand for operational and practical ICT skills, particularly in user 
industries,  and  stimulating  an  overarching  demand  for  e-leadership  skills,  in  order  to  exploit 
the new technologies for business growth. 

 

These characteristics are documented by at least two separate sources.  

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Table 3-5: Identification of main trends based on main sources  

McKinsey 
Global 
Institute 
(MGI) 

IBM Research 
GTO 

Accenture 
Technology 
Vision 

IT 2020  

AT Kearney 

Main Trends 

IDC 

Mobility  

Cloud 
Computing 

Big Data 
analytics 

Social Media 
Technologies 

Internet of 
Things 

Customer 
Experience IT 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

IT Security 

*** 

Convergence of 
Main trends 

3d Platform 

Automation of 
knowledge 
work 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

*** 

Every business 
is a digital 
business – 
digital 
transformation 

Build the skills 
necessary for 
meshing 
business needs 
with IT 
requirements 

*** 

*** 

Focus on 
Multimedia 
Analytics 

*** 

*** 

Focus on: 
Scalable 
Services 
Ecosystems 
Software 
Defined 
Environments  
Contextual 
Computing 

All  the  main  sources  agree  in  identifying  the  following  technologies  as  the  most  important  trends 
affecting the ICT market and the socio-economic system in the next 10 years: 

  Mobility:  The  incredibly  rapid  penetration  of  mobile  devices  and  technologies  in  the  market 
and the broad phenomenon of leveraging mobile solutions in the business environment; 

 

 

 

 

Cloud computing: the disruptive delivery model of software and ICT services, based on flexible 
and on-demand business models; 

Big  data  analytics:  a  new  generation  of  technologies  and  architectures,  designed  to 
economically extract value from very large volumes of a wide variety of data, by enabling high 
velocity capture, discovery, and/or analysis; 

Social  media  technologies:  the  use  of  social  media  within  and  outside  the  enterprise, 
implementing  social  marketing  techniques  and  facilitating  collaboration  and  knowledge 
sharing; 

Internet  of Things:  A  dynamic global  network  infrastructure  with  self-configuring capabilities 
based  on  standard  and  interoperable  communication  protocols  where  physical  and  virtual 
“things” have identities, physical attributes, and virtual personalities, use intelligent interfaces, 
and are seamlessly integrated into the information network. 

In  addition  the  following  trends  have  been  selected  for  their  impact  on  market  dynamics  and  the 
demand of skills 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

 

 

Customer  Experience  IT  (CIXIT)  refers to  the IT-related investments  required  to  manage  and 
optimise the customer's (or a citizen's) experience with an organisation. This is a new concept 
reflecting the increasing convergence of innovative IT (mobile, social technologies, cloud, Big 
Data,  IoT)  into  applications  and  services  centred  on  the  customer  experience,  implemented 
through investments made by business managers other than CIOs.  

IT  security:  given  the  increasing  dependency  of  European  organizations  on  ICT  systems,  and 
the growing complexity of connected environments, there is strong demand for and diffusion 
of software and tools to ensure systems security at all levels; 

Finally, all these studies underline the relevance of the convergence of these new technologies and 
their cumulative effect on the market.  

3.4.3 

Impacts on the demand of ICT practitioner skills 

In 2014, the further growth of the main disruptive ICT trends highlights their convergence in a new 
emerging paradigm of use of IT for business strategies. 

By  looking  across  the  analysis  of  the  demand  of  ICT  skills  for  each  main  trend  we  notice  several 
common elements. In summary, these are the main considerations: 

  High  level  ICT  practitioner  skills  are  in  increasing  demand,  but  this  is  coupled  with  lower 
demand  for  traditional  technical  skills,  particularly  in  the  infrastructure  and  traditional  IT 
management area.  

 

 

 

 

A revival of hardware innovation (driven by hyper scale data centres, storage, and all the new 
devices  connected  to  the  IoT)  stimulates  demand  for  highly  specific  hardware-related  and 
systems management skills particularly in the ICT industry.  

The  demand  for  highly  specialized  resources  tends  to  move  from  the  ICT  users  to  the  ICT 
vendors, while the profiles required by ICT users become more business-oriented and project-
oriented,  with  a  strong  focus  on  the  design  of  new  services  and  apps,  and  the  ability  to 
outsource/ rely on standardized platforms and services; 

The applications skills area is the most dynamic, naturally so given  the emergence of the so-
called  “apps  economy”.  This  builds  on  software  skills  but  with  very  innovative  demands, 
including the capability to manage a flexible and never-ending apps process.  

The  emergence  of  highly  integrated,  automated  and  scalable  infrastructures  is  driving  new 
demand for standardization and interoperability skills (within the ICT industry) and capability 
to understand, select and manage standards and interoperability (within the ICT user industry).  

Table 3-6: Summary of main demand trends of ICT Practitioners skills 

Infra-
structure 

ICT Industry 

ICT User Industries 

Increased Demand 

Design, development and 
management of data 
centres and cloud services  

Integration of fixed-mobile 
systems (BYOD 
management) 

Data protection/ Privacy 
protection/ new IT security 
challenges 

Systems management skills 
for highly integrated, 
automated and scalable 

Reduced 
Demand 

Operational skills 
to manage and 
maintain 
corporate IT 
systems 

Maintenance and 
support of legacy 
systems (PCs, 
desktops...) 

Increased Demand 

Selection, configuration, 
combination, orchestration 
of cloud services, either 
public, private or hybrid 

Integration of fixed-mobile 
systems (BYOD 
management) 

Systems management skills 
for highly integrated, 
automated and scalable 
infrastructures (IoT) 

Data protection/ Privacy 

Reduced 
Demand 

Operational skills 
to manage and 
maintain 
corporate IT 
systems 

Maintenance and 
support of legacy 
systems (PCs, 
desktops...) 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

ICT Industry 

ICT User Industries 

Increased Demand 

Reduced 
Demand 

Increased Demand 

Reduced 
Demand 

infrastructures (IoT) 

Design and management of 
end-to-end protection of 
emerging smart networks 
and cyber infrastructures 

Maintenance of 
legacy 
applications 

Application  Development and 

implementation of apps/ 
services based on 
mobility/cloud/Big Data/ 
Social Media/ IoT 

Business data analytics, 
Data scientists, Big Data 
skills 

Apps, web, IT service 
development for customer-
centred design and 
deployment (CXIT) 

General 

Skills to design and 
implement sophisticated 
identity and access 
management solutions 

Skills on standardisation/ IT 
regulation/ interoperability 
developments  

Traditional IT 
management 
skills focused on 
proprietary 
systems and 
custom 
developments 

Ownership of skills 
certification 

R&D 

None evident 

Sophisticated R&D and 
development skills 
(especially for 
interoperability and 
standardization challenges) 

protection/ new IT security 
challenges 

Implementation and 
management of end-to-end 
protection of emerging 
smart networks and cyber 
infrastructures 

Development and 
implementation of apps/ 
services based on 
mobility/cloud/Big Data/ 
Social Media/ IoT + industry 
knowledge 

Business data analytics, 
Data scientists , Big Data 
skills 

Apps, web, IT service 
development for customer-
centred design and 
deployment (CXIT) 

IT asset management and 
governance expertise  

Implementation of 
sophisticated identity and 
access management 
solutions 

Skills on standardisation/ IT 
regulation/ interoperability 
developments  

Ownership of skills 
certification 

Sophisticated R&D and 
development skills, focused 
on industry needs 

Maintenance of 
legacy 
applications 

Traditional IT 
security skills by 
public cloud 
users 

Traditional IT 
management 
skills focused on 
proprietary 
systems and 
custom 
developments 

None evident 

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3.4.4 

Impacts on the demand of e-Leadership skills 

In  summary,  the  emerging  demand  for  e-leadership  skills  is  driven  by  the  digital  transformation 
process of enterprises and the cumulative impact of main technology innovation trends. In our view, 
e-leadership  skills  can  be  articulated  in  three  main  strands,  complementary  to  each  other:  general 
management skills, hybrid business-IT skills, and industry specific skills.  

Table 3-7: Summary of main demand trends of e-Leadership skills and SMEs implications 

General 
Management 

Hybrid 
Business/ IT 

Industry Specific 

Emerging Demand 

Implications for High tech, high growth 
SMEs 

Strategic management of business and 
contractual relationships with IT suppliers 
- partners - subcontractors – clients over 
extended value chain/ digital ecosystems 

Strategic management of the role of the 
company in the digital ecosystem with 
specific attention to SMEs vulnerabilities 
(insufficient IPR protection, for example).  

In-depth understanding of IT offshoring/ 
outsourcing issues and cost-benefits 
balance to make informed choices 

Ability to outsource/delegate necessary IT 
services and make appropriate buy/train 
decisions of necessary skills 

Strategic Management of interaction 
between CIOs and business line managers  

Strategic management of company 
information and data flows, including 
design and development of “data supply 
chains” to leverage company’s data and 
partners’ data and make them usable 

Combination of business analytics skills 
with industry-specific skills and 
understanding of IoT issues 

Strategic management of data 
protection/privacy issues 

In-depth understanding of industry-
specific business development 
opportunities driven by IT innovation  

Combination of business analytics skills 
with industry-specific skills and 
understanding of IT innovation 
implications for business processes 

Ability to use IT for customer-centred apps 
and services (CXIT) within specific industry 

Similar demand, since customer 
expectations will be similar 

“Native” digital companies (e.g. web 
entrepreneurs) may have innate e-
leadership skills in this area  

Challenge to source/ maintain scarce 
specialist skills, particularly data analytics 
and data scientists skills 

Similar demand, since customer 
expectations will be similar 

Risk of missing e-leadership skills 
necessary for competitive advantage; 
relative relevance linked to business 
model 

The main drivers of demand are the following: 

  With  the  diffusion  of  cloud,  IoT,  CXIT  the  enterprise  perimeter  is  no  longer  clearly  defined. 
Therefore,  the  e-leader  must  have  strategic  management  skills  of  business,  technical, 
operational  and  contractual  relationships  with  IT  suppliers,  partners,  clients  over  extended 
value  chain/  digital  ecosystems,  as  well  as  with  other  business  line  managers  in  their 
organization.  The  key  word  is  strategic  management:  the  e-leader  action  must  build  on  a 
strategic vision of the business evolution and transformation. 

 

The demand for hybrid business/IT skills is driven by the need to exploit IT for business growth 
opportunities, including in particular the ability to grow and nurture an apps system, to build a 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

“data supply chain” with the organization’s data flows, and to manage in the appropriate way 
data and privacy protection issues.  

 

The demand for industry-specific e-leadership skills is focused on the in-depth understanding 
of  sectorial  business  development  opportunities  driven  by  IT  innovation,  particularly  for 
customer-centred IT systems and processes.  

Looking closely at the implications for high-tech and high-growth SMEs the following considerations 
emerge: 

  High-tech  and  high-growth  SMEs  will  have  similar  e-leadership  skills  needs  than  large 
enterprises, because customer expectations and requirements will be similar, but at a different 
scale  level  and  with  different  viewpoints.  For  example,  they  will  also  need  to  manage 
relationships in the digital value chain, but from the point of view of a junior partner.  

  Depending on their size and business model they may not need a CIO: the e-leaderships skills 
may  be  those  of  the  entrepreneur  himself.  Actually,  “native”  digital  enterprises  (web 
entrepreneurs)  may  have  “innate”  e-leadership  skills  and  leapfrog  other  companies  with  a 
creative  use  of  IT  innovation.  But  they  still  may  not  have  the  full  range  of  e-leadership  skills 
needed. 

 

SMEs will face harsher choices in terms of sourcing their needed e-leadership skills: buy, hire 
or  train  existing  employees?  Given  their  limited  resources,  they  will  have  to  be  careful  and 
invest well in the priority skills most functional to their business model. 

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4 

Quantifying e-Leadership 

4.1 

e-Leadership skills quantification approaches 

e-Leadership skills as the combination of a set of business, digital and strategic skills cannot be easily 
quantified using existing data sets. Quantification of skills may be in principle done through surveys 
of skills or through the proxy of occupations that are assumed to require the skills in question. Of the 
existing  large  scale  surveys,  PIAAC35  stands  out  as  a  skills  survey;  however  PIAAC  uses  a  much  too 
broad set of skills indicators to be useful for e-leadership related purposes.  

There is also no occupational mapping of ISCO categories as in the case of ICT occupations so that 
one  could  assume  e-Leadership  skilled  occupations  and  use  statistics  about  these  from  official 
statistics.  Market research surveys could be a solution and a pilot survey is described further below, 
but these are costly and hence often too small to make comparable statements about countries.  Big 
Data analytics using online job postings or professional social media profile data could be a promising 
approach which is as yet mostly unexplored.  

Two  different  previous  estimates  at  e-leadership  demand  and  supply  in  Europe  came  to  the 
conclusion that Europe in 2013 saw a demand of about 683,000 e-leaders and a supply of 661,00036 
or that there is an e-Leadership skilled pool of workers of between roughly 570,000 and 800,00037. 

Demand  estimation  in  the  first  case  was  based  on  the  sector  and  size  structure  of  businesses  in 
Europe,  simply  assuming  that  an  enterprise  of  a  certain  size  and  in  a  certain,  more  or  less  ICT 
intensive  sector  needs  on  average  a  certain  number  of  e-leadership  skilled  employees.    Supply 
estimation  was  based  on  occupational  data  and  assumed  that  a  certain  percentage  of  several 
occupations (such as ICT and R&D executives) are e-leaders.  

While these estimations presented a reasonable first stab at establishing an order of magnitude of e-
leadership in the workforce, its weakness lies in the fact that some of the assumptions made simply 
rely  on  educated  guesswork.  They  were  discussed  at  various  workshops  with  experts  and 
stakeholders, but not empirically tested. 

The second estimate tries  to amend this shortcoming. Empirica undertook to survey enterprises of 
the  business  economy  and  public  sector  with  the  intention  to  estimate  the  number  of  employees 
that  could  be  seen  as  e-leaders.  A  survey  of  CIOs  carried  out  in  the  summer  of  2013  in  the  UK, 
Germany  and  the  Netherlands  was  used  to  pilot  methods  for  exposing  e-leadership  problems  in 
today’s  organisations,  i.e.  a  focus  on  an  organisation’s  competence  in  identifying  and  addressing 
opportunities for business innovation using ICT. 

Operationalisation of e-leadership was decided to follow the proposition that e-Leadership manifests 
in successful innovation. Key questions in the survey address an organisation’s success in detecting 
innovation opportunities, both by ICT staff and by business staff. The main issue in the survey was 
whether overall CIOs thought their organisation was performing well in addressing innovation, and 
whether innovation projects were allocated sufficient resources.  

Ensuring ICT-based innovation opportunities are identified, grasped and guided to fruition requires e-
leadership at the different stages in the innovation life cycle. It is seen as particularly critical not only 
to be able to envision an innovation, and to assess its likely success in the organisation, but also to 
communicate this vision to executive colleagues controlling the resources impacted by the proposed 

35   Cf. OECD 2015: New Skills for the Digital Economy: Measuring the Demand for ICT Skills at Work for an application of PIAAC results. 
36   Hüsing, Tobias et al (2013).: e-Leadership: e-Skills for Competitiveness and Innovation Vision, Roadmap and Foresight Scenarios. Final Study 

Report http://eskills-vision.eu/fileadmin/eSkillsVision/documents/VISION%20Final%20Report.pdf 

37   Robinson  et  al.  2015:  NEW  CURRICULA  FOR  E-LEADERSHIP  SKILLS        GUIDELINES  AND  QUALITY  LABELS  FOR  NEW  CURRICULA  FOR  E-

LEADERSHIP SKILLS IN EUROPE. FINAL REPORT http://leadership2015.eu/fileadmin/GUIDE/documents/GUIDE_Final_Report.pdf 

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organisational  change.  This  was  operationalised  as  the  performance  of  two  key  component  e-
leadership roles.  

The first is the role of proposing an innovation project. The success of a proposal was conceptualised 
as an innovation project resulting from the proposal. Making proposals not leading to a project can 
be  taken  as  an  indicator  of  failure  in  e-leadership,  having  arisen  either  from  inability  to  assess 
business  outcome  appropriately  or  inability  to  persuade  business  colleagues  of  the  probability  and 
value of the business outcome. For quantification purposes, the proposal had to result in successful 
realisation. 

This operationalisation can be taken as identifier of core innovative e-Leadership skilled personnel. A 
second set of roles dealt with in the survey is e-leadership through guiding an innovation project to 
success. These people are internal clients, managing the innovation project and warrant its successful 
implementation.  They  may  be  called  evaluative  e-leaders. 
is  not  the  actual 
implementation  of  an  IT  solution,  but  acting  as  the  client  for  the  innovation  project  -  assessing 
proposals, monitoring conformance to requirements, accepting results etc., including acting as client 
for delivery of solutions from outside organisations. 

  There  role 

Both these roles are required to ensure that innovative IT applications and services are identified and 
successfully  deployed  to  improve  performance  and  competitiveness.    There  are  apparently  more 
internal clients of e-Leadership projects than those who instigate innovation. 

Two  further  component  roles  of  e-Leadership  can  be  seen  which  were  not  expressively  surveyed 
during this endeavour. e-Leadership skills which set the strategic and organisational foundations for 
innovation  to  happen  are  typically  located  at  executive  level.  Furthermore,  implementing  e-
Leadership skills are those that provide the technical basis for innovation to happen, going beyond 
just ticking off requirements from a list, but closely interacting and contributing with other actors in 
the innovation process thereby co-creating the final product. 

The description of the quantification is taken from the Final Report of the service contract “Curricula 
for  e-Leadership  Skills”38.  Empirically,  it  was  first  necessary  to  ask  the  respondents  to  report  on 
recent  ICT-based  innovation.  CIOs  were  asked  about  the  number  of  such  innovation  projects  their 
organisation had engaged in recently, phrased for simplicity as “innovative IT projects”. 

Of the organisations surveyed, nearly three quarters reported having initiated / carried out at least 
one innovation project within the previous year. A further 10% had at least one such project within 
the  last  five  years.  Those  unable  to  report  on  a  project  -  7%  reported  no  project  at  all,  while  11% 
were  unable  to  tell  –  had  to  be  excluded  from  further  questions  and  analysis,  due  to  the 
methodological focus adopted. The average number of innovative ICT-based projects in the previous 
year is 5.1, the median is 2. 

The  second  feature  addressed  was  the  locus  of  proposed  innovation.  Are  successful  innovation 
proposals flowing in from business units – a sign of at least adequate understanding of the options 
for ICT exploitation alongside business understanding – or are such proposals mainly generated from 
the  CIO  or  IT  staff  working  under  the  CIO?  Or  does  the  organisation  respond  to  vendor  proposals, 
proposals coming from outside without direct access to organisation-specific demand detail?  

The  picture  is  surprisingly  mixed.  Successful  innovation  project  proposals  are  balanced  in  origin 
between business and ICT executives. Successful proposals have been proposed equally from within 
and outside the IT department. About two thirds of organisations with recent ICT-based innovation 
state each origin. Vendor or other external impetus is also very prevalent, being mentioned by about 
a quarter of innovative organisations.  

38   S. Robinson, L. Hendrix, B. Hanny, W. B. Korte, T. Hüsing (2015): New Curricula for e-Leadership Skills. Guidelines and Quality Lables for new 

Curricula for e-Leadership Skills in Europe. Final Report. Bonn. 

 http://eskills-guide.eu/fileadmin/GUIDE/documents/GUIDE_Final_Report.pdf 

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The number  of  persons  involved  increases  only  slightly with enterprise  size,  so  that a  much higher 
share of employees in the enterprises are actually involved in smaller enterprises (up to 25% in the 
smallest class), while larger ones have a specialised innovation labour force.  

Table 4-1: Staff involved in proposing and as clients of IT projects 

Enterprise size class 
10 - 19 

% of staff involved in proposing IT projects 
25.4% 

20 - 29 

30 - 49 

50 - 99 

100 - 249 

250 - 499 

500 - 999 

1000 - 2499 

2500+ 

Total 

16.5% 

9.6% 

6.3% 

3.1% 

2.3% 

1.3% 

0.7% 

0.2% 

0.6% 

The relation between IT staff and non-IT staff involved in driving IT based innovation lies at 40/60, in 
terms of initiation (proposing are, on average, 2.7 IT staff and 4.0 Non-IT staff)).  

While the survey only addressed three countries, we experimentally applied the results of the three 
countries to the known business structure according to size class (but not industry) of the whole of 
Europe  (EU28)39.  The  following  e-Leadership  quantification  emerges  from  grossing  up  from  DE,  NL 
and UK to EU28. The estimate for the year 2013 quantifies the number of innovative e-leadership40 
positions in Europe to be in an order of magnitude of 568,000 workers. Extrapolating growth trends 
to today, there are probably 620,000 innovation e-Leaders in Europe in 2015. 

39   The countries in the survey account for 38% of the employment in the European Union. Scaling up the result to the European Union should 
also  require  taking  account  of  sector  differences  between  these  countries  and  the  remaining  25  Member  States  but  due  to  the  limited 
number of cases and inconclusive variance between sectors and it seemed reasonable to restrict adaptation to size class structure only. 
Given the sector structure difference between the whole of Europe and the countries covered, the true value might be somewhat lower. 

40  

T. Hüsing, W.B. Korte, E. Dashja (2015): E-skills and e-leadership skills 2020. Trends and forecasts for the  European ICT professional and 
digital 
labour  market.  empirica  Working  Paper.  Bonn:  http://leadership2015.eu/fileadmin/LEAD/Working_Paper_-
_Supply_demand_forecast_2015_a.pdf  

leadership 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Figure 4-1: The Quantification of e-Leadership Skills in Europe 2015 

EU28 estimation based on data in NL, DE and UK  

Source: empirica, Survey NL, UK, DE 2013, data for EU, grossed up using Structural Business Statistics 
(Eurostat) 

Figure 4-2: The Quantification of e-Leadership Skills and internal clients to innovative projects in Europe 
2013-2015 

1.000.000

900.000

800.000

700.000

600.000

802,000 

568,000 

239.000 

500.000

145.000 

188.000 

400.000

300.000

200.000

140.000 

108.000 

147.000 

877,000 

261.000 

620,000 

158.000 

153.000 

118.000 

205.000 

250+

160.000 

50 - 249

20 - 49

10 - 19

100.000

176.000 

229.000 

192.000 

250.000 

0

e-Leaders
2013

Clients of
innovative
projects
2013

e-Leaders
2015

Clients of
innovative
projects
2015

146 / 228 

192,000118,000153,000158,0000100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000700,000e-Leaders250+50 -24920 -4910 -19620,000Enterprise sizeIT dept.41%Business59%Almost 60% come from business lines  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Forecasting e-leadership demand even further into the future, we rely on estimated growth rates in 
analogy  to  the  most  highly  skilled  ICT  positions,  for  which  such  estimations  exist41;  we  expect  e-
leadership demand to rise by on average 4.6% until 202042. Demand is estimated to reach 776,000 in 
2020. 

Taking  account  of  expansion  and  replacement  demand,  Europe  will  so  need  200,000  to  250,000 
additional  innovation  e-leaders  by  2020,  or  40,000  to  50,000  per  year.  Still,  estimates  are  not  as 
evidence based as desirable and therefore it was decided to augment this data by a collection of e-
Leadership ”eco-system” data linked with the demand or supply of e-Leadership skills through the e-
Leadership scoreboard.  

Figure 4-3: e-Leadership forecast for Europe (EU28) 2015 – 2020 

776.000 

746.000 

715.000 

683.000 

d
n
a
m
e
d
d
n
a

s
b
o
J

:
s
r
e
d
a
e
L
-
e

l
a
i
t
n
e
t
o
p

800.000

700.000

600.000

620.000 

651.000 

500.000

400.000

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Still, this estimate is not as reliable as desirable and no country breakdowns are available. Therefore, 
it  was  decided  to  augment  this  data  by  a  collection  of  e-Leadership  ”eco-system”  data  –  i.e.  proxy 
data which is theoretically linked with the demand or supply of e-Leadership skills in a country.  

41  
42  

ICT management, architecture and analysis skills. Demand for these jobs is forecast to rise from 1.94 million (2013) to 2.65 million (2020).  

T. Hüsing, W.B. Korte, E. Dashja (2015): E-skills and e-leadership skills 2020. Trends and forecasts for the European ICT professional and 
digital leadership labour market. empirica Working Paper. Bonn: http://leadership2015.eu/fileadmin/LEAD/Working_Paper_-
_Supply_demand_forecast_2015_a.pdf 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Figure 4-4: Sketch of likely significant factors in a country’s e-Leadership production and demand system 

e-
Le
ad
er
-

Edu
catio
n for 
Prof
essi
onal
s 
and 

S
up
pl
y 
of 

e
-
L
e
a

E
nt
re
pr
e-

D
e
m
an
d 

Ta
le
nt 
po
ol 

B
us
in
es
s 

Ini
tia
l 
an
d 

Hi
gh
er 
E
du

I

C

T 

in

n

Te

ch 

inf

ra

-

B

u

s

i

n

4.2 

The e-Leadership Scoreboard and e-Leadership Index 

This chapter is built on work that was previously reported about in the Synthesis Report. It has gone 
through  several  cycles  of  expert  validation  through  presentation  at  two  workshops  and  taking 
account  of  feedback  and,  for  the  weighting  approach,  through  a  written  procedure  of  sending 
workshop  participants,  as  requested  during  one  of  the  workshops,  different  weighting  options  for 
review and feedback.  

4.3 

European e-Leadership Scoreboard  

innovation  and  growth  in 

Leadership  in  ICT  innovation  –  e-leadership  –  has  received  increased  attention  recently  as  being 
important  for  European  enterprises  in  order  for  them  to  remain  competitive  and  be  able  to 
continuously  ensure 
line  with  market  trends  and  requirements. 
Understanding where and how e-leadership emerges or fails to take effect would be a key ingredient 
for  supporting  policy  makers  in  developing  necessary  instruments  and  t  actions  to  foster  the 
development of e-leadership skills. Given that there is no unique way to understand and measure e-
leadership,  as  it  remains  yet  an  elusive  concept  that  might  be  difficult  to  quantify,  a  selection  of 
indicators and measures might help to frame up the picture. 

Within  this  context,  a  scoreboard  has  been  developed  which  attempts  to  offer  an  approach  to 
monitoring  and  assessing  progress  in  e-leadership  skills  development  and  e-leadership  prosperity, 
covering  areas  such  as:  e-leadership  related  education  offers,  quantifying  the  workforce  with  e-
leadership potential, exploitation opportunities, and enabling policies or other driving mechanisms. 

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The scoreboard compares at Member State level the e-leadership “performance” of EU28 Member 
states  across  several  building  blocks,  thereby  allowing  for  comparisons  on  relative  strengths  and 
weaknesses  of  e-leadership  ecosystems  between  countries,  with  the  major  goal  of  informing  and 
enabling policy discussions at national and EU level. 

The  conceptual  model  the  scoreboard  hinges  on  is  straightforward,  practical  and  looks  to  offer  a 
comprehensive  framework  for  measuring  determinants  which  affect  demand  and  supply  for  e-
leadership skills in each country. It offers insights on how countries perform in e-leadership related 
domains,  which,  in  the  context  of  this  study,  would  translate  into  abilities  to  exploit  innovation 
opportunities for business growth. 

The scoreboard comprises a series of indicators using data from both primary and secondary sources 
collected mainly through the following three means:  

 

 

 

Literature research: the study team has conducted a careful and systematic review of existing 
relevant literature; 

Secondary  data  sources:  Collection  of  secondary  data  from  official  statistics  as  well  as  a 
number of studies carried out by empirica. In addition, other organisations were searched and 
included into the scope of the scoreboard when appropriate.  

Primary  data  sources:  Data  on  indicators  that  could  not  be  fed  from  secondary  sources  was 
collected by means of national correspondents from each county.  

The e-leadership scoreboard is an evolving model to be further refined through input from academic 
/  experts  debates  and  feedback  from  other  interested  parties.  Consequently,  approach  and  results 
presented at this stage will be subject of refinement at the second iteration process. 

4.3.1  Conceptual framework 

This  framework  organizes  indicators  in  several  dimensions,  and  further  on  into  several  building 
blocks,  differentiated  by  their  ultimate  relation  to  e-leadership.  The  e-leadership  scoreboard 
comprises four levels: 

 

 

 

 

24 indicators 

7 building blocks  

4 dimensions 

1 overall e -leadership Index (eLI) 

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Figure 4-5: Draft Framework of an e-Leadership Scoreboard 

Each of the four dimensions of e-leadership scoreboard aims to capture factors / elements engaged 
and playing a prevalent role in the ecosystem of e-leadership skills development. 

First dimension: e-Leadership skilling 

The  e-leadership  skilling  dimension  consists  of  one  building  block,  namely  Education  and  Training. 
Based on the role of education and lifelong learning / training in developing competences and skills, 
this  building  block aims  to  capture  measures  on  e-leadership education  /  training in  each  Member 
State  through  four  indicators:  Master's/Exec  Ed  level  programmes  with  a  mix  of  ICT  &  business,  e-
leadership candidate programmes, enterprises that provided training to ICT/IT specialists and quality 
of management schools. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Second dimension: e-Leadership workforce potential 

This dimension is made up of two building blocks, e-Leadership Skilled Professionals and e-Leadership 
Pipeline. It looks to offer a strong correlation with any potential estimate of an e-leaders headcount 
in each country.  

E-Leadership  Skilled  Professionals  is  defined  as  the  shares  of  managerial  and  highly  skilled 
professional  level  jobs  (ISCO  levels  1  and  2)  in  business  management  and  ICT  within  the  total 
workforce listing two variables, line managers and ICT managers, architects and analysts. 

E-Leadership Pipeline – has a dual focus on industry and higher education, looking at two other major 
potential inflows into e-leadership potential workforce such as ICT practitioners  - professional level 
and ICT / Business graduates. The rationale for including these two parameters under this dimension 
is that the set of core competencies that these groups possess is in line with those depicted in the 
definition  of  e-leadership  skills  as  a  combination  of  ICT  savvy,  business  savvy  and  leadership  skills. 
Although  measures  on  the  number/  shares  of  ICT  /  Business  graduates  may  not  lead  to  a  robust 
scenario for a proper estimation of e-leadership workforce potential, they should not be excluded as 
incipient indicators for the later on formation of e-leaders. An increased number of e-leaders might 
also results from an increase of the number of ICT / business graduates. 

Third dimension: e-Leadership skills exploitation  

This dimension attempts to assess the friendliness of a country’s business framework and extent of 
its  preparedness  in  exploiting  opportunities  provided  by  ICT.  It  contains  three  building  blocks 
capturing  aspects  from  Business  Environment,  Innovation  Opportunities  and  Technology  Trends  in 
each country. 

Business environment – measures the role information and communication technologies (ICTs) play 
to  support  economic  growth,  looking  into  presence  of  high  growth  enterprises  as  well  as 
employment rates in both ICT and ICT intensive sectors. In addition, it also provides overall insights 
into market demand for ICT practitioners / IT professionals measuring the percentage of enterprises 
that employed ICT/IT specialists. 

Innovation  Opportunities  –  measures  preparedness  of  a  country  in  establishing  and  maintaining  a 
new competitive environment to exploit emerging advances in ICT, including four indicators: state of 
cluster development; capacity for innovation; firm-level technology absorption; and impact of ICT on 
new services and products. 

Technology  Trends  –  at  the  moment,  because  of  data  limitations,  this  pillar  focuses  on  measuring 
availability  of  latest  technologies  in  a  country  as  well  as  extent  to  which  firms  make  use  of  social 
networks and internet of things (RFID) for adding value to their businesses. 

Fourth dimension: e-Leadership skills promoters 

This  fourth  dimension  rests  on  the  proposition  that  countries  with  efficient  enabling  mechanisms 
(policies,  initiatives,  etc.)  are  well  positioned  to  produce  the  right  mix  of  e-leadership  skills  in  line 
with the dynamics of the job market demand and talent requirement. This dimension is composed of 
one building block which looks to capture insights on available programmes and initiatives focusing 
on  e-leadership  education  and  training  targeting  large  companies  as  well  as  those  targeting  digital 
entrepreneurs and high-growth SMEs (gazelles). 

4.3.2  Selection criteria  

Results  on  the  country  profiles  are  built  upon  data  from  a  number  of  primary  and  secondary  data 
sources. The main selection criteria applied for collecting e-leadership scoreboard indicators are  

  Usefulness and relevance: The indicators should be an appropriate instrument to inform about 
e-leadership skills ecosystem in each country and address related aspects. They should provide 

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clear  and  useful  insights  into  how  countries  are  performing, particularly  important for  policy 
makers and future steps of their policies and programmes.  

 

 

 

Availability and accessibility: The data for constructing indicators should be readily available. In 
order  to  not  impose  further  burdens,  relevant  micro  and  macro  data  should  be  publicly 
available or feasible to be collected at modest costs.  

Timeliness: available information should refer to the event or phenomenon it describes. When 
not possible, the latest available data should be considered, within a time lag no longer than 4 
years.  

Comparability:  In  order  for  collected  indicators  to  allow  for  relative  /  absolute  comparisons 
they  should  be  relatively  uniform  in  terms  of  the  population  surveyed,  method  of  data 
collection, timeliness, etc.  

4.4 

The e-Leadership Index (eLI) 

The e-Leadership Index provides insights into the climate, infrastructure and related outcomes on e-
leadership.  Overall,  the  Index  is  intended  to  contribute  to  the  development  of  metrics  and 
identifications  of  policies  and  good  practices  for  a  better  measuring  and  understanding  of  e-
leadership.  Individual  countries  can  use  the  e-Leadership  Index  to  monitor  their  performance  over 
time or benchmark their development against other countries. 

The  methodology  and  weighting  approach  have  been  extensively  discussed  and  gone  through 
stakeholder discussion. The methodology and process to arrive  at a weighting are described in the 
Annex. The following approach is the one chosen after discussions at workshops and as the result of 
e-mail consultation with all workshop participants after workshop 3.  

The  chosen  approach  distributes  different  weights  to  each  of  the  building  blocks,  based  on  the 
results obtained from a regression analysis which assesses relationships between each building block 
(independent variable) and estimated number of e-leaders for each 28 Member States (dependent 
variable). The rationale behind this analysis is to explore whether the overall strength of indicators in 
a building blocks is positively linked to the presence of e-Leaders.  

There is a north-south/east gradient visible in the distribution of the e-Leadership index. Results from 
each performed regression analysis are shown below: 

Table 4-2: Weighting of e-Leadership Index building blocks 

Building Block 

1. Education and training 

2. e-leadership skilled professionals 

3. e-leadership pipeline 

4. Business environment  

5. Innovation  opportunities 

6. Technology trends 

7. e-skills policy actions 

Weight 

12% 

18% 

18% 

18% 

15% 

12% 

8% 

Results obtained from using this weighting approach are shown below: 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Figure 4-6: e-Leadership Index Member State Results 

Important cluster. Rank in EU. “ICT 
Pole of Excellence“ (JRC 2014 - de 
Prato/Nepelski) 

Ranks 1-10 
Ranks 11-20 
Significant 
national 
main cluster 
ranking >20 

FI
UK
IE
NL
SE
DK
BE
LU
MT
DE
FR
AT
EE
SI
EU
ES
LT
CZ
HR
LV
HU
PT
CY
SK
PL
GR
BG
IT
RO

7,0 

6,9 

6,8 

6,4 

6,3 

5,9 

5,8 

5,7 

5,4 

5,3 

5,3 

5,2 

4,6 

4,6 

4,4 

4,3 

4,1 

3,8 

3,7 

3,4 

3,2 

3,2 

3,2 

3,0 

2,7 

2,4 

2,4 

2,4 

1,2 

Source of clusters: see footnote 34. Top 20 displayed plus top cluster region for countries, with 
number if in ranking. (*) indicates country’s most important region (and >20 points) outside published 
ranking as read from http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/ISG/eipe/atlas.html.  

The  e-Leadership  index  correlates  highly  with  the  Networked  Readiness  Index,  as  well  as  (after 
exclusion  of  outlier  Luxemburg)  with  GDP  per  head  data,  as  the  following  figures  nicely  illustrate. 
Especially  Ireland,  but  also  Belgium  and  the  UK  appear  to  positively  deviate  from  the  “trend”  of 
higher  e-leadership  maturity  being  associated  with  both  higher  economic  power  and  higher  ICT 
maturity and exhibit higher than expected e-leadership. 

Table 4-3: Ranking of e-Leadership Index and its building blocks 

1. Education 
and training 

2. e-
Leadership 
skilled 
professionals 

3. e-
Leadership 
pipeline 

4. Business 
environment  

5. Innovation  
opportunities 

6. Technology 
trends 

7. e-Skills policy 
actions 

1 

IE 

SE 

SI 

DK 

FI 

MT 

IE (tie with UK) 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

1. Education 
and training 

2. e-
Leadership 
skilled 
professionals 

3. e-
Leadership 
pipeline 

4. Business 
environment  

5. Innovation  
opportunities 

6. Technology 
trends 

7. e-Skills policy 
actions 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

BE 

NL 

UK 

PT 

FI 

DK 

AT 

LU 

ES 

SE 

SI 

DE 

FR 

CY 

GR 

MT 

HR 

LT 

HU 

CZ 

IT 

EE 

PL 

LV 

SK 

RO 

BG 

BE 

NL 

IE 

FI 

UK 

LU 

LV 

MT 

FR 

EE 

LT 

SI 

DE 

AT 

DK 

PL 

CZ 

BG 

ES 

CY 

PT 

GR 

HU 

HR 

SK 

IT 

RO 

HR 

FR 

UK 

DK 

FI 

EE 

LT 

LV 

NL 

IE 

CZ 

PL 

ES 

MT 

HU 

LU 

AT 

BG 

CY 

DE 

SE 

SK 

BE 

GR 

RO 

PT 

IT 

FI 

SE 

UK 

LU 

CZ 

NL 

DE 

HU 

IE 

AT 

SI 

BE 

FR 

SK 

ES 

GR 

IT 

MT 

HR 

EE 

CY 

PT 

PL 

RO 

BG 

LT 

LV 

SE 

DE 

UK 

NL 

LU 

AT 

BE 

DK 

FR 

IE 

PT 

EE 

MT 

ES 

IT 

LT 

CZ 

CY 

SI 

SK 

LV 

HU 

HR 

RO 

PL 

BG 

GR 

FI 

IE 

AT 

DE 

SE 

LT 

NL 

LU 

ES 

BE 

SI 

PT 

HR 

UK 

DK 

SK 

CY 

EE 

FR 

HU 

CZ 

GR 

IT 

BG 

LV 

PL 

RO 

UK (tie with IE) 

MT 

BE 

DK 

FI 

NL 

DE 

EE 

SE 

HR 

BG 

FR (tie with IT) 

IT (tie with FR) 

AT (tie with ES) 

ES (tie with AT) 

LU 

PL 

SK 

LT 

HU 

CY 

LV (tie with PT) 

PT (tie with LV) 

GR 

CZ (tie with RO, 
SI) 
RO (tie with CZ, 
SI) 
SI (tie with CZ, 
RO) 

154 / 228 

 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Figure 4-7: e-Leadership Index and Networked Readiness Index 

4
1
0
2
x
e
d
n

I

i

s
s
e
n
d
a
e
R
d
e
k
r
o
w
t
e
N

6,5

6,0

5,5

5,0

4,5

4,0

3,5

3,0

2,5

RO 

0

1

2

SE 
NL 

LU 

DK 

DE 
AT 
FR 
MT 

BE 

FI 

UK 

IE 

EE 

LT 
ES 

SI 

PT 
CY 
LV 
HU 

CZ 
HR 

PL 

IT 
BG 
GR 

SK 

3

4
e-Leadership Index 

5

6

7

8

Figure 4-8: e-Leadership Index and GDP per Head 

Source NRI: www.weforum.org  

IE 

FI 
UK 

NL 
SE 

AT 
DE  DK 
BE 

FR 

MT 

ES 

CZ 

LT 

SI 
EE 

IT 

CY 
PT 

SK 

GR 
PL 

HU 
LV 

HR 

RO 

BG 

d
a
e
h
/
)
P
P
P
(
P
D
G

35.000

30.000

25.000

20.000

15.000

10.000

5.000

0

0

1

2

3

4
e-Leadership Index 

5

6

7

8

Source GDP: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ Luxemburg was excluded (GDP 68500, eLI 5.7).  

155 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

5 

Dissemination and events 

5.1 

Local initiative triggered across Europe  

The European Commission initiative on “e-Leadership Skills for SMEs developed” which started 2014 
as    a  precursor  to  the  first  ‘e-leadership’  Initiative  (2013-2015)  carried  out  a  series  of  events 
promoting  e-leadership  skill  requirements  in  the  workplace  of  SMEs  and  start-ups  in  2015.  The 
events  across  Europe  have  generated  great  interest  and  mobilised  growing  strength  of  activity 
among all stakeholder groups. 

Activities  centred  on  a  series  of  regional  cluster  events  across  Europe  whereby  the  first  initiative 
engaged over 1200 experts, stakeholders and policy-makers in 10 events while the 7 regional cluster 
events of second initiative were attended by around 600 experts. Both initiatives each organised a 
high-level  conference  in  Brussels,  which  together  attracted  some  600  participants  from  across  the 
EU.  

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Figure 5-1: Regional cluster events of both e-Leadership Skills initiatives across Europe 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Madrid - 150 

= e-Leadership for SMEs 2015 

MADRID - 150 

= e-Leadership 
Initiative 2014 

Helsinki – 100 

AARHUS - 120 

HENLEY–100 

London – 150 

WROCLAW- 100 

ANTWERP - 
100 

Berlin – 100 

MUNICH - 
140 

PARIS – 
160 

Prague – 60 

BUDAPEST- 100 

SOFIA - 100 

Madrid – 150 

MADRID - 150 

Lisbon – 70 

MILAN- 100 

12.08.2015 

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In  total,  the  new  ideas  were  taken  out  across  Europe  in  17  regional  cluster  events  and  two  large 
international conferences. 

A local host championed each event, and engaged each region’s top training providers, SME, start-up 
and  entrepreneurship  stakeholders,  relevant  associations  and  the  key  industry  players.  A  more 
detailed summary of these activities is presented in the following sections. 

5.2 

The Digital and e-Leadership Skills Conference 2015 

The  two  day  conference  on  Digital  and  e-Leadership  Skills  showed  how  two  European  Commission 
initiatives are fostering talent and excellence in Europe, how the skills gap should be tackled and the 
essential elements in the development and promotion of e-leadership. 
The conference took place in Brussels on 1st – 2nd June, 2015. 

The event was organised in the context of two major initiatives. The first aimed to produce a "vision 
and sectoral pilot on skills for key enabling technologies" (hereafter "KETs skills Initiative"). The KETs 
skills  initiative,  launched  in  January  2014,  is  focusing  on  the  current  and  anticipated  needs  of 
employers with regard to KETs skills and the ways to best satisfy those needs. The initiative builds on 
the  work  of  the  High-Level  Group  on  KETs  and  their  recommendations  on  skills.  The  e-leadership 
initiative, in turn, started in 2013 and focused on the leadership  needs of top decision-makers and 
business leaders at larger enterprises. A further initiative on "e-leadership skills for SMEs" was then 
launched  in  2014.  It  targets  SMEs  and  start-ups.  These  initiatives  have  been  launched  DG  Internal 
Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROWTH) of the European Commission. 

The  programme  featured  multiple  high-level  speakers  representing  industry,  academia  and  policy 
makers.  Furthermore,  the  conference  offered  a  chance  to  get  acquainted  with  the  latest  research 
findings on the skill situation in Europe. 

Stakeholders  across  Europe  attending  the  conference  agreed  that  action  is  required  to  counteract 
the effect of digital and e-leadership skills shortages, gaps and mismatches and a digital divide that 
affects  economic  growth,  competitiveness,  innovation,  productivity  and  the  employability  of  the 
workforce in Europe.  

The  conference  aimed  to  become  an  interactive  platform  for  exchanging  opinions  and  co-creating 
solutions  on  the  skill  issues  in  KETs  and  ICT  and  to  bring  together  the  representatives  of  all  key 
stakeholder groups. On DAY 2, the e-Leadership initiative:  

 

Shared the latest forecasts on the demand and supply of e-leadership skills; 

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 

 

Presented the e-Leadership Scoreboard for all 28 EU Member States and best practices; 

Presented the European higher and executive education landscape in the field of e-leadership; 

  Discussed  about  new  education  and 

training  opportunities  and  concrete  policy 

recommendations. 

The  analysis  of  e-leadership  skills  requirements  and  education  and  training  provision  showed  that 
Europe is facing: 

 

Insufficient  supply  of  suitable  graduates  from  higher  education  with  the  potential  for  e-
leadership: 

o  Universities concentrate on initial education in most countries 

o  Professional education at academic level is relegated to business schools 

o  Executive education is (too) expensive  

o  and not seen as the natural choice of small or young enterprises 

  None of the more than 500 selected combined business and ICT programmes from higher and 
executive  education  institutions  were  found  to  fulfil  all  e-leadership  criteria  (combination  of 
high level IT, business and leadership skills, start-up or SME focussed, targeting innovation or 
transformation,  for  experienced  professionals  and  managers,  not  career  start).  However, 
exceptions  are  starting  to  emerge  with  the  modular  offers  at  some  Universities,  including 
some  newly  developed  courses  at  New  Bulgarian  University,  Aarhus  University,  Henley 
Business  School,  IE  Business  School  and  Antwerp  School  of  Management,  all  of  which  are 
currently in their demonstration and validation phase but whether there are opportunities for 
Higher Education and what these could be still need to be explored 

  Other actors – including the ‘more natural’ suppliers of SME training also still need to develop 
suitable training offers and programmes when it comes to e-leadership and at the conference 
some of the new and innovative players in the digital skills and transformation training market 
presented their approach, programmes and courses which appear to be promising.  

  MOOCs could theoretically contribute to e-leadership skills development at a large scale but at 
present only a good range of offers for mainstream and technical topics could be identified 

 

Again,  the opportunities  for  the other  training providers  and  MOOC  players  are  not  yet fully 
explored 

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The analysis of e-leadership related policies and initiatives showed that Europe is faced with: 

 

 

 

A variety of policies and initiatives of different type, size and depth throughout Europe with a 
relationship to e-leadership skills but also 

Significant differences in maturity of policy practice across the different EU Member States 

The  details  on  a  country-by-country  level  together  with  the  results  from  an  e-leadership 
scoreboard for each country and examples of relevant higher education and training offers can 
be obtained from the EU28 Country Reports: http://leadership2015.eu/documents/  

The analysis of demand and supply of e-skills and e-leadership skills suggested that the: 

 

 

 

Structural changes in the ICT workforce in recent years are expected to continue 

Forecast sees a growing number of potential vacancies in highest skills areas.  

European  Commission  and  Member  State  efforts  are  paying  off:  ICT  workforce  supply  is 
improving,  however  there  is  an  increasing  mismatch  with  the  risk  of  unemployment  of 
practitioners  with  outdated  skills  and  a  growing  number  of  potential  vacancies  for  specialist 
and advanced skills 

  Demography  requires  much  stronger  reliance  on  re-training  and  professional  education  and 

attracting foreign talent 

 

Europe  is  faced  with  the  need  for  improving  highest  skills  level  education  (qualitatively  and 
quantitatively) 

  Growing trend towards more e-Leadership skilled employment and need for better education 

and training 

With respect to e-leadership skills it became apparent that: 

 

 

e-Leadership skills are acquired by a mix of work experience, education and training and that 
these are key levers for supply side measures 

there  is  an  urgent  need  for  improving  e-Leadership  skills  talent  pool(qualitatively  and 
quantitatively) 

  Demand  side  measures  could  consist 

in  fostering  entrepreneurship  culture,  better 

infrastructures and innovative digital and high-tech clusters  

 

Some countries can serve as role models for others. 

The analysis of good practice examples showed how important specific e-leadership skill sets are for 
successfully  starting,  growing  and  running  companies  and  that  these  differ  depending  on  the  life 
cycle  stage  of  companies  but are  crucial for  survival,  growth and innovation.  Industry stakeholders 
confirmed  and  reinforced  the  need  for  e-leadership  talent  and  skills  development  and  presented 

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some corporate strategies and success factors to develop and retain these capabilities. Universities 
and  Business  Schools  presented  newly  developed  and  demonstrated  programmes  that  tackle  the 
need for SME training in e-Leadership. These are based on a solid and empirical stock-taking of SME 
requirements for learning formats and outcomes.  

Key  directions  for  action  regarding  both  qualitative  and  quantitative  e-Leadership  skills-related 
challenges include:  

 

 

 

The urgent need for new training offers to foster e-leadership skills development for SMEs and 
start-ups 

Traditional higher and executive education institutions to ‘disrupt’ themselves and explore the 
opportunities and develop and experiment with new training formats more geared to a more 
flexible  ‘tapas  bar’  (or  ‘boutique  learner’)  approach  instead  of  a  traditional  and  not  very 
flexible  ‘set  menu’  approach  prevalent  in  other  institutions  offering  traditional  Bachelor  and 
Master  programmes,  which  are  sometimes  slightly  outdated  and  not  aimed  at  teaching 
precisely for industry demands 

The  emergence  of  new  training  opportunities  for  traditional  and  new  players  in  the  market 
with markets opening up for traditional SME consultants, training institutions of SME and start-
up associations but also traditional higher and executive education institutions willing and able 
to  move  away  from  traditional  teaching  formats  and  widening  the  scope  of  their  (further) 
training activities 

  With the inclusion of MOOCs as accompanying means for teaching specific  subjects and  also 

allowing for more easily scaling up training activities. 
The audience was asked to select and prioritise key priority 
actions.  The  results  of  this  consultation  are  the  following 
key actions to be further pursued (list of actions according 
to priorities given by stakeholders and experts): 

4.  Maintenance  and  promotion  of  pan-European 
guidelines for new curricula for e-leadership skills and 
the  development  of  new  courses 
encouraging 
(including MOOCs)  

5.  Mobilisation  of  stakeholders  to  foster  promotion, 
governance and cooperation activities on e-leadership 
in  synergy  with  the  "e-Skills  for  Jobs"  campaign  and 
the future initiatives on skills and training 

6.  Development  of  a  comprehensive  agenda  on  e-
leadership at EU and national level for digital and key 
enabling  technologies  (KETs)  including  all  relevant 
policy 
education, 
(e.g. 
entrepreneurship etc.)  

initiatives 

digital 

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7.  Analysis of labour market disruptions at EU and national level and the specific requirements for 
e-leadership  skills  in  Europe  (2016-2020)  taking  into  account  the  increasing  world-wide 
competition for talent 

8.  Market and business watch including statistics and forecasts (2016-2020) concerning the supply 
and  demand  of  e-leadership  skills  in  Europe  and  the  benchmarks  of  Member  States  policy 
initiatives to identify good practices 

5.3 

The e-Leadership Regional Cluster Events 

5.3.1  An overview 

Dissemination  activities  of  the  European  initiative  on  ‘e-Leadership  Skills  for  SMEs’  started  in  the 
beginning  of  2015  and  were  running  until  the  summer.  Activities  centred  on  a  series  of  regional 
cluster events across Europe.  

The new ideas were taken out across Europe in a series of events. These engaged over 1200 experts, 
policy-makers and stakeholders from industry and academia from nearly all EU countries in the first 
initiative and around 600 in the second addressed to SMEs and start-ups.  

The multi-region campaigns were both  followed by a high-level conference in Brussels, which each 
attracted some 300 participants from across the EU.  

The events across Europe have generated great interest and mobilised growing strength of activity 
among all stakeholder groups. 

The  regional  cluster  events  of  the  first  initiative  took  place  throughout  the  year  2014  in  Sofia 
(Bulgaria),  Henley  (United  Kingdom),  Munich  (Germany),  Milan  (Italy),  Madrid  (Spain),  Antwerp 
(Belgium),  Budapest  (Hungary),  Aarhus  (Denmark),  Paris  (France),  and  Wroclaw  (Poland).  More 
details on these events can be obtained at: www.eskills-guide.eu.  

The regional cluster events of the ‘e-Leadership for SMEs’ initiative were carried out in 2015 in Berlin 
(Germany),  Madrid  (Spain),  Helsinki  (Finland),  Lisbon  (Portugal),  London  (UK)  and  Prague  (Czech 
Republic). 

Experts gave a number of interesting insights into the importance of e-leadership in their region or 
environment.  

5.3.2  Events across Europe – highlights 

Germany 

In Berlin participants and experts were very supportive and sent clear signals that there is a growing 
and critical lack of e-leaders in the economy, that is, individuals who are at the same time ICT and 
business savvy and have the ability and skills to lead multi-disciplinary teams across functional and 
geographical boundaries. SMEs and start-ups presented concrete cases and demonstrated how the 
availability of the right e-leadership skills helped them to make their organisations a success in the 
market.  At  the  event  Stephan  Pfisterer  from  BITKOM  said  that  e-leadership  refers  to  senior  level 
skills which are not the skills developed in (and provided through) University education but as part of 
a business career and during the working life. The BITKOM Akademie is starting to develop in-house 
trainings  for  customers  on  e-leadership  issues  and  offers  the  sectoral  dialogue  as  a  platform  to 
communicate new topics. Oliver Grün, President and Head of the Board of BITMI stressed the point 
that e-leadership  skills  are  very  close  to  digital  entrepreneurship  skills.  There is  a  need for  a  policy 
approach in this area to support the necessary change of mindset of many key stakeholders in this 
area. When comparing the situation in large companies to those in SMEs he said that SME owners 
and key decision makers are faced with the need to come up with a much more comprehensive skills 
set. They really need to be business savvy and ICT savvy, come up with the leadership skills and have 

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a strong entrepreneurial spirit at the same time and all this to a much larger extent than for instance 
CIOs in large corporations. 

Experts agreed that MOOCs are in principle best placed for training and developing e-leadership skills 
at  highly  scalable  level  but  less  suitable  for  e-leadership  skills  training.  MOOCs  probably  need  to 
develop  towards  Massive  Collaborative  Open  Online  Courses  including  elements  of  collaboration, 
coaching and mentorship but also user content generation in order to be successful in general and 
for e-leadership training in particular. Examples of such platforms discussed at the event include the 
ones  from  IMC  (www.im-c.de),  Qlearning  (www.qlearning.de)  and  candena  (www.candena.com), 
with the latter having experienced impressive success rates of up to 70%. 

Spain 

At  the  Madrid  event  public  sector  examples  on  activities  supporting  e-skills  and  e-leadership  skills 
development as well as digital entrepreneurship were presented.  

SMEs and start-ups presented their cases and demonstrated how the availability of the right skills – 
e-leadership-type skills – made their organisations a success in the market, while a Venture Capital 
management company, managing various Venture Capital funds on behalf of corporate investors put 
a  strong  emphasis  on  skills  the  teams  of  applicants  have  to  come  up  with  as  one  of  the  key 
investment criteria. 

Universities, training and scholarship providers demonstrated how they are already today and in the 
future  planning  to  develop  and  deliver  programmes  and  courses  to  improve  the  quality  of  e-
leadership, covering organisation leadership in ICT innovation to deliver business value. 

In  the  session  on  ‘e-Leadership  for  SMEs:  Success  Stories,  Training  Courses,  Programmes,  MOOCs’ 
José  Pablo  de  Pedro,  CEO,  Techedge  presented  the  case  of  his  company.  Training  is  crucial  for 
Techedge. The organization implements policies and practices to enhance and foster e-skills and e-
leadership  skills.  Even  more,  Techedge  launched  Realtech  Institute  of  Knowledge  (RIK)  in  2011,  an 
educational initiative that provides continuous internal training to all their consultants. Its main focus 
is to drive value with IT. 

In  the  panel  Discussion  of  training  providers  chaired  by  Silvia  Leal,  Academic  Director  Digital 
Innovation  and  IT  Governance  Executive  Programme,  IE  Business  School,  Martin  Boehm,  Dean  of 
Programs,  IE  Business  School  emphasized  the  importance  of  digital  business  and  referred  to  the 
more  than  150  sessions  at  IE  Business  School  where  students  are  involved  with  ICT  from  different 
perspectives and the importance of including knowledge ‘pills’ on ICT in training.  

Covadonga Rodrigo Sanjuan, is Director Technology and Accessibility, UNED, the national university 
for distance education in Spain that provides e-learning since 2000. UNED delivers MOOCs using the 
concept of UNED Abierta. She presented the impact of MOOCs for the organization and the critical 
factors for their implementation. MOOCS require large investments but have to potential to become 
an innovation in training after several critical issues (including IPR) are solved. 

Finally,  Jorge  Díaz,  Vice-President  of  Product,  Ticketbis  presented  the  case  of  Ticketbis  a  company 
which was established a few years ago and since then has grown impressively. For Jorge Díaz, the key 
to their success is TALENT. They used to talk about a pyramid of three levels: execution level, tactical 
level and strategy level where the right mix of people will result in a Pyramid of TALENT to be aimed 

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at. Depending on the phase of development of a start-up or SME this mix of skills and the pyramid 
will look different (see his presentation). Jorge made a clear point when he stated: “Hiring cheap is a 
total  trap”. Companies  need to  be  prepared  for  high  investments  in talent. CEOs  need to  embrace 
high  salaries  and  devote  60-70%  of  your  time  looking  for  talented  people.  According  to  him  “The 
greatest skill that a leader can possess is bringing people that are smarter than you”. 

Finland 

When welcoming the participants Mika Helenius, Professor at Aalto University made the point that 
and in Europe decision makers in the economy missed the move from ‘analogue’ to ‘digital’ and that 
Europe has to change over from the ‘use’ of software and services to the ‘creation’ of these in order 
to  become  really  innovative,  globally  competitive  and  successful  in  the  market  today  and  in  the 
future. In the USA software is the largest single investment category, however, this is not at all the 
case in Europe. Software has become key for driving growth, it is the case of innovation and only this 
is driving growth. He asked for necessary changes to be built into and being reflected in the European 
e-Competence  Framework  (e-CF)  including  the  issues  around  e-leadership  and  the  combination  of 
skills needed. He showed a YouTube video of President Barak Obama addressing the US population in 
a subtle showing them the need for learning the skills needed for the ‘creation’ of ICT applications 
and services and not just using it to be successful in the market in the future and asked for European 
policy  makers  to  follow  along  the  same  lines  to  achieve  the  necessary  move  away  from  ‘use’  to 
‘create’. 

This was followed by the presentation of some very successful examples and case studies of start-ups 
and  SMEs  from  Finland  which  turned  out  to  be  successful  because  of  the  right  business  ideas  in 
combination with the e-leadership skills of its founders and the combined skill sets of it teams. 

Micky Paqvalen, CEO and founder of Kiosked Corp. presented the case of his company which started 
in 2010 with a next generation online advertising platform adaptive to any content for the contextual 
targeting  of  advertisements  which  was  launched  in  2014.  The  company  is  operating  globally, 
doubling  its  revenues  every  quarter  with  an  expected  50  million  Euro  revenues  in  2015  and  60 
employees working in the company. When asked about the skills needed for success emphasised the 
willingness to work hard and fast and challenge everything every day, getting the sleeves up and the 
‘fingers  in  the  dirt’  coupled  with  the  diversity  of  the  employees  with  around  25  nationalities  with 
almost none from Finland. 

Mikko  Välimäki,  CEO  of  Tuxera  Corp.,  a  file  systems  and  streaming  technology  company  which 
started  in  2008  also  emphasised  the  importance  of  the  very  good  mix  of  employees  from  many 
different  countries  in  Europe  in  addition  to  the  skills  mentioned  above  as  a  strength  of  the 
organisation.  

In this context the co-founder of Viima Solutions Oy, Erkka Isomäki emphasised that at some stage in 
company development different backgrounds, not only in terms of skills and competences but also 
nationalities are needed especially for internationalisation of the business and turning towards global 
operation. 

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Finally, Miika Mäkitalo, CEO of M-Files, which in the meantime is employing 270 people emphasised 
the importance of hiring the right people in order to be successful. Ideally these people come with an 
entrepreneurial  attitude.  A  further  central  element  for  success  is  ‘communication’  within  different 
defined processes whereby this is used to exert leadership. Thirdly, and especially important when 
growing, the organisation needs to ensure that it develops suitable organisational and administrative 
structures and an appropriate marketing. 

There was  consensus among the experts at  the event that relevant actors need to  get out of their 
comfort  zones.  Education  system  players  need  to  move  away  from  traditional  behaviours  and 
programmes  and  other  players  are  likely  to  also  come  up  with  offers  in  this  domain  or  take  over 
should the traditional education institutions not react. Industry needs to specify their needs in more 
detail and also need to train people in order to become more creative. They also need to find ways of 
dealing  with  non-conformance  behaviour  since  this  is  often  the  way  to  innovation  and  success. 
Finally,  policy  makers  need  to  set  the  right  framework  conditions  including  joint  initiatives  with 
industry  and  universities.  In  this  respect  Finland  is  better  placed  than  many  other  European 
countries, an aspect which was also emphasised by a government representative at the event. 

Portugal 

The  Lisbon  event  was  organised  in  close  cooperation  with  the  European  Young  Innovators  Forum 
(EYIF),  empirica  and  the  support  of  Lisbon  Challenge,  Europe’s  most  international  and  challenging 
start-up  accelerator.  It  took  place  as  part  of  the  Lisbon  Investment  Summit  (#LIS15)  and  gathered 
experts from the start-up and business community, innovative employers, especially from SMEs and 
start-ups, entrepreneurs, current and aspiring e-leaders, training providers and universities. 

Werner  B.  Korte,  Director  at  empirica  presented  an  overview  of  the  e-leadership  requirements  of 
SMEs based on the results from in-depth interviews with 50 high-growth SMEs classified as ‘gazelles’ 
and a survey of so far around 100 SMEs. It turned out that the proper e-leadership training format 
for SMEs and start-ups can best be described as a ‘tapas bar menu’ as opposed to a ‘set dinner menu’ 
which would be more appropriate for e-leadership training addressed to C-level individuals in large 
corporations. The tapas bar approach describes the fact that start-ups and SMEs need to acquire the 
necessary skills for e-leadership in a piece-meal fashion whereby ad-hoc self-learning is seen as the 
most practiced way to achieve these. Consultants and professional coaching / mentoring are among 
the main sources for training used most. Universities and Business School training programmes only 
seem to play a role where these are of a short duration, modular, flexible and at acceptable fees. 

António  C.  B.  Grilo,  Professor  at  Universidade  Nova  de  Lisboa  admitted  that  universities  may  lag 
behind teaching frequently changing industry requirements when it comes to training skill sets like e-
leadership  skills.  However,  he  said  that  universities  cannot  change  their  curricula  very  quickly 
following  each  new  fast  changing  digital  trend  and  should  not  do  so  as  an  education  institution 
responsible  for  teaching  the  basics  and  foundations  of  subjects.  Apart  from  that  he  agrees  that 
universities could cope better in their job of educating combined IT and business courses and should 
not  shy  away  from  ‘making  their  hands  dirty’.  His  plea  is  for  suitable  ICT  courses  not  only  in 
Computer Science but also for engineering and basically all university disciplines on the one hand and 
also already in schools on the other. 

Diogo Ortega, CEO, Pharmassistant – a young start-up with 7 people argued that companies like his 
need  flexible  and  autonomous  staff  members,  capable  of  self  learning,  learning  on  the  job.  He 
confirmed  that  skills  training  and  learning  for  start-ups  and  SMEs  follow  the  ‘tapas  bar’  approach 
outlined above. They cannot wait for and are not expecting universities to deliver the right type of 
graduates needed directly. The type of autonomous people needed have to be able to think in a way 
to  disrupt  markets.  For  specific  staff  trainings  other  training  providers  than  universities  and  online 
learning are to be used.  

When  asking  the  workshop  audience  for  their  experiences  with  online  learning  around  half  had 
already used or are using online learning platforms. The high positive response rate is probably due 

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to the specific type of audience mainly being rather young and from the digital entrepreneurship and 
start-up community. 

Joana da Silva Santos, CFO, ALPHAPPL a training provider, who managed to employ 100 people who 
successfully passed their training courses in 45 companies in 3 countries in only 12 months described 
the way the company proceeds in order to be successful in training people for the market. The start 
is  marked  by  tough  boot  camp  type  training.  Those  who  pass  this  threshold  have  good  chances  to 
complete  the  programme.  The  company  approach  is  to  ask  universities  for  good  candidates  which 
they then teach and prepared for the market demands. 

In  the  discussion  several  participants  also  expressed  their  views  for  the  need  of  university 
programmes to become more practice oriented to best prepare students for the requirements of the 
market and potential future employers. They referred to the case of the globally operating chemical 
company Bayer which offers a sort of 9 months internship to Master students with the Master thesis 
defined in a way to fulfil a student’s obligations at university but at the same time address an issue 
Bayer  wants  to  get  solved. Portugal  –  according  to  António  C.  B.  Grilo  is  unfortunately  missing  the 
strong industrial base enabling these students to pursue such type of Master studies in Portugal. 

Others also expressed the view that investments should be done in the vocational school system to 
get  good  IT  people.  Reference  was  given  to  the  vocational  school  system  with  its  dual  system 
approach in Germany.  

Consensus was reached on the role of universities to provide a foundational body of knowledge for 
an  IT  professional  and  that  specialisations  should  take  place  afterwards  starting  with  the  Master 
study  programmes.  University  seem  to  have  helped  several  participants  to  get  into  a  self-learning 
mode and showing them how to learn. Further useful examples of IT training already at a very early 
stage which were mentioned include Coder dojo which some workshop participants judged as a good 
example to reach youngsters.  

The workshop showed different ways of how these skills can be learned and trained whereby this is 
carried out by dividing the work at different stages and between different parties: universities, other 
training providers, corporations providing work experience through internships and the like. 

It also revealed the necessity to build partnerships between universities and the new training actors 
offering  education  on  digital  skills  but  also  to  develop  online  learning  to  attract  the  start-up 
community  and  entrepreneurship  community  -  it  must  be  seen  as  a  complement  for  traditional 
university courses. 

United Kingdom 

In  his  opening  speech  “Effective  e-Leadership  for  High  Performance  SMEs”  the  chairperson  Prof 
Kecheng  Liu,  Head  of  Business  Informatics  Systems  and  Accounting  at  Henley  Business  School, 
University  of  Reading,  highlighted  the  objective  of  European  e-Leadership  initiative,  which  is  to 
develop  targeted  actions  for  start-ups  and  fast  growing  SMEs  to  provide  them  with  relevant  e-
leadership  skills  and  qualifications  for  entrepreneurs,  managers  and  advanced  ICT  users  that  are 
trans-nationally recognised. He raised attention on SMEs’ demands from e-Leadership, and questions 
on  what  can  policy-makers  and  educators  do  to  support  SMEs.  Technologies  are  intensively 

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embedded into business nowadays, and every business somehow requires e-Leadership to improve 
the productivity and efficiency. Policy maker and educator should deliver values to SMEs in order to 
help them achieve high capabilities, high performance and high competitiveness; on the other hand, 
e-leaders should take the opportunities to transform the values to their own business performance 
enhancements.         

Prof  Jianzheng  Yang,  Director  of  Legislation  and  Policy  Committee,  Chinese  Commission  of  E-
Commerce,  provided  latest  development  in  electronic  commerce  and  applications  in  China.  In  his 
eye-opening talk, he introduced the policies and projects launched in China such as the “National E-
commerce  Application  Talents  Training  Project”  for  supporting  SMEs  and  universities  by  taking  the 
advantages  of  the  open  web  platform.  He  also  offered  a  number  of  examples  such  as  Taobao 
University  training  programmes  for  SMEs  in  China  to  demonstrate  both  policies  and  methods  the 
China government set out for improving SMEs’ ICT skill set.   

The  theme  of  the  afternoon  session  was  e-Leadership  for  SMEs:  success  stories,  training  courses, 
programmes, MOOCs. It was started with a discussion of skills requirements in SMEs and Start-ups 
for innovation through e-leadership by Prof Kecheng Liu, together with Dr Maksim Belitski, lecturer 
in Entrepreneurship at Henley Business School who provided statistical results from interviews and a 
European  survey  of  decision  makers,  describing  the  demands  of  e-Leaders  from  IT,  strategy,  and 
business  &  market  dimension.  A  trailer  of  Henley’s  three  weeks’  e-leadership  massive  open  online 
course (MOOC) was also demonstrated at the end the presentation.  

The  successful  SME  case  studies  were  later  presented.  Chris  Tingley,  the  CTO  from  Conjure 
presented a case study of developing ICT capabilities and strategies, which heavily utilised ICT within 
the business areas such as management, software development, sales, marketing, PR and monitoring 
(social media), project management and planning, and HR. Simon Walker, the Chief Strategy Officer 
of  Foundation-SP  collaboratively  demonstrated  a 
list  of  key  factors  such  as  efficiency  vs. 
responsiveness in organisation, culture agility, and creative productivity on driving engagement and 
innovation  in  E-Leadership  via  collaborative  technology.  Maarten  Goossens,  Senior  Manager  of 
Urban  Science  International  (US)  later  presented  an  automotive  case  study  of  applying  business 
intelligence through e-leadership. By combining technology and business intelligence, the traditional 
car  buying  process  has  been  changed  to  be  more  integrative  and  real-time  with  customer’s 
preference. Finally, Adam Clark, CEO & Co-founded of the ConnectTVT Accelerator Innovation Hub, 
unveiled the secrets they found to innovative e-Leadership, and also defined the e-Leadership that 
“it is not just about skills and training, and it is very about inspiring mindset and culture…”. 

In the conclusions the chairperson,  Prof Kecheng Liu, summarised the key questions and results of 
the  day.  Development  of  appropriate  policies,  e-skills  training,  and  educational  programmes  was 
seen  as  a  key  direction  for  innovation  through  e-Leadership  for  SMEs.  Policy  maker  and  educator 
should deliver values to SMEs in order to help them achieve high capabilities, high performance and 
high  competitiveness  through  building  experience  and  demonstrating  best  practices,  initiating  e-
leadership  programmes,  deepening  support  with  programme  alumni,  supporting  start-up  and 
accelerating  further  growth,  engaging  local  business,  and  continued  learning  from  feedback  and 
optimising the value and impact. The SME e-leaders should take the opportunities to transform the 
values to their own business performance enhancements by setting business vision and strategy to 
identify  outcome  value,  digitalising  existing  business,  creating  digital  businesses  and  products,  and 
shaping  the  business  to  fit  in  the  wider  digital  ecosystem.  There  was  unanimous  agreement  that 
every  business  is  somehow  an  e-leadership  embedded  business.  Enhancing  SMEs’  e-Skills  will  be  a 
key competence in the future economy and that the European Commission e-leadership initiative has 
been  very  timely  and  started  at  the  right  moment  (more  information:  www.eskills-guide.eu, 
www.eskills-lead.eu,  www.leadership2015.eu).  This  European 
initiative  aims  to  develop  and 
recommend  specific  curriculum  profiles  for  e-leaders  (based  on  the  European  e-Competence 
Framework)  and  outline  the  knowledge  and  skills  necessary  for  business  leaders  to  turn  into  e-
leaders. 

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Czech Republic 

This  event  was  organised  in  close  cooperation  with  the  European  Young  Innovators  Forum  (EYIF), 
Data4Youth and empirica. It took place at the IMPACT HUB PRAHA and gathered over 50 participants 
from  the  start-up  and  business  community,  innovative  employers,  especially  from  SMEs  and  start-
ups, entrepreneurs, current and aspiring e-leaders, training providers and universities. 

Werner  B.  Korte,  Director  at  empirica  presented  an  overview  of  the  e-leadership  requirements  of 
SMEs based on the results from in-depth interviews with 50 high-growth SMEs classified as ‘gazelles’ 
and a survey of so far around 100 SMEs. It turned out that the proper e-leadership training format 
for SMEs and start-ups can best be described as a ‘tapas bar menu’ as opposed to a ‘set dinner menu’ 
which would be more appropriate for e-leadership training addressed to C-level individuals in large 
corporations. The tapas bar approach describes the fact that start-ups and SMEs need to acquire the 
necessary skills for e-leadership in a piece-meal fashion whereby ad-hoc self-learning is seen as the 
most practiced way to achieve these. Consultants and professional coaching / mentoring are among 
the main sources for training used most. Universities and Business School training programmes only 
seem to play a role where these are of a short duration, modular, flexible and at acceptable fees. 

In the panel discussion on “How to develop yourself and others in a start-up” Kumardev Chatterjee, 
EYIF made the point that SMEs and start-ups can’t invest in the training of multiple people and each 
in specific skills since – given their size - they need (almost) all core skills within one person. These 
core  skills  relate  to  or  include  what  we  have  started  to  call  e-leadership  skills  and  are  not  just 
technology skills but are also strongly related to a specific mindset needed.  

In this context Milan Hrabovský, DPE Director Microsoft referred to the Microsoft BizSpark, a global 
programme for start-ups with 100,000+ partners in 165 countries offering free access to featured MS 
technologies  and  3  year  access  to  current  full-featured  software  development  tools.  He  strongly 
recommended  to  focus  on  strengths  not  on  weaknesses  of  people  when  training  them,  and  also 
believes that with the coming ‘positive disruption generation’ the focus of skills training will have to 
increasingly address the soft and team skills of people. 

Michal  Zálesák,  Managing  Director  of  the  Czech  ICT  Alliance  spoke  about  the  good  number  of 
talented developers in the Czech Republic who need to be encouraged to start their own businesses. 
Most  of  their  challenges  and  problems  are  not  in  the  ICT  area  but  relate  to  marketing  and  sales. 
Therefore  skills  like  those  referred  to  as  e-leadership  skills  are  in  high  demand  among  this  target 
group. His plea was for role models best illustrating to others how success looks like. 

Hugo  de  Sousa,  founder  of  ALPHAPPL  and  Board  Member  of  JAdemy.ro  described  the  approach 
taken by his company to properly train people in short-term 3 months programmes for a career in 
ICT. The programme is sponsored by Microsoft. An important part of these trainings are the soft skills 
trainings  carried  out  by  a  former  military  and  following  the  boot  camp  approach  since  its  mainly 
these type of skills young people are lacking. Participants receive 70 hours weekly tech training in MS 
dot  net  and  ALPHAPPL  is  helping  them  in  finding  a  job  through  their  network  of  400+  companies 
which  are  contacted  monthly.  The  start  took  place  in  March  2014  and  the  first  students  were 
employed  already  after  2  months  (before  finishing  the  programme).  In  February  2015  the  first 
student  started  working  for  Accenture  and  in  April  2015  another  one  for  SAP.  In  the  meantime 
around 100 students found a job which results in a very good 70% success rate. Apart from that he 

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expressed  the  opinion  that  with  kids  starting  coding  already  at  primary  and  secondary  schools  the 
ground  for  successful  e-leaders  in  later  life  could  be  initiated.  He  sees  major  challenges  for 
universities.  Universities  need  to  change  completely  since  from  his  experience  professors  do  not 
value the lecturing of students but are mainly interested in their research activities leaving a lot of 
room for improvement in student education and training. Finally, he mentioned what he described as 
the ‘social security problem’ thereby referring to an observation that young people and students lack 
an incentive to study subjects which offer good potential for jobs (like ICT) since they can nicely live 
on  transfer  budgets  and  payments  from  government  sources  without  having  a  job.  He  forcefully 
demanded a change of mindset for Europe to get back on track. 

Finally, Jindrich Fialka, founder and CEO of Contiqua presented the case of his company of a team of 
designers using traffic sign production waste materials for the development of creative lights using 
the  reflector  foil  of  these  signs.  He  himself  being  an  anthropologist  by  education  emphasised  the 
importance of being able to learn how to learn, a skill set which can be acquired for instance through 
a MOOC on Coursera with the same name ‘learning how to learn’. 

In  the  second  panel  discussion  on  “Improving  e-skills  in  a  start-up  and  after  graduation”  a  lively 
discussion  emerged  after  Hana  Maresová,  Vice-Dean  at  Palacky  University  presented  her 
universities’  activities  in  training  and  especially  further  training  individuals  through  their  Lifelong 
Learning  Center  using  virtual  reality  applications,  Mojmír  Prokop  from  Komercní  banka  the  banks’ 
programme addressed to start-ups. 

The point was made by several experts that very often lecturers are the problem when it comes to 
skills  training  implying  the  need  for  many  universities  to  change  from  only  acting  as  a  (basic) 
education  institution  mainly  through  their  Bachelor  programmes  to  also  become  an  executive 
education  institution  offering  smaller  courses  and  specific  trainings  very  much  geared  towards 
industry  needs  very  flexibly  in  a  ‘tapas’  bar  fashion  as  opposed  to  fixed  Bachelor  or  Master 
programmes which can be compared to a ‘set dinner menu’ which would be more appropriate for e-
leadership  training  addressed  to  C-level  individuals  in  large  corporations.  The  tapas  bar  approach 
describes the fact that start-ups and SMEs need to acquire the necessary skills for e-leadership in a 
piece-meal fashion whereby ad-hoc self-learning is seen as the most practiced way to achieve these.  

In  the  discussion  reference  was  made  to  the  active  use  and  support  of  Bachelor’s  and  Master’s 
courses of the global pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer which has been engaging in the 
area of prevocational and extra occupational qualification for more than a century, and, during the 
last  10  years,  has  been  increasingly  reliant  on  the  new  Bachelor’s  and  Master’s  degrees  that  have 
become an important and integral part of the development opportunities it offers. Bayer offers an 
extra occupational Bachelor’s course in biology in cooperation with German universities (since 1997). 
So far, more than 200 participants have made use of this qualification. The company has also been 
enabling young executives to obtain their MBA at selected universities in Great Britain, Spain, the US, 
China, or Singapore as part of the combined vocational training and Bachelor’s course “Management 
and International Business Studies”. Additionally, Bayer offers several combined vocational trainings 
and  Bachelor’s  courses.  All  of  these  include  very  practical  elements  on  extended  internships  to 
ensure a good balance of practical and theoretical work and skills development and are seen as good 
training and preparation exercises for future e-leaders. This led over to what the experts expressed 
as the urgent need for partnerships of higher education institutions and players from industry which 
could help a lot in ensuring people/students getting the right type of skills and practical experience 
on  the  job  helping  them  to  become  successful  employees  and  some  of  which  e-leadership  skilled 
experts in these organisations. 

Universities and Business School training programmes only seem to play a role for SMEs where these 
are  of  a  short  duration,  modular,  flexible  and  at  acceptable  fees.  Consultants  and  professional 
coaching / mentoring are among the main sources for training used most by SMEs. This shows that 
there  is  room  for  other  education  and  training  players  who  find  it  easier  to  be  more  flexible, 
committed, dedicated like for instance organisations like ALPHAPPL. It is not unlikely that the future 
education  and  training  landscape  will  see  and  undergo  some  urgently  needed  dramatic  changes. 

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However  this  is  likely  to  take  a  rather  long  time  to  develop  since  it  requires  shifts  of  mindset  of 
multiple  actors  in  the  field  including  the  student,  time  which  Europe  does  not  have  in  order  to 
become more innovative and competitive and through that create the urgently needed new jobs. 

5.4 

Publications and presentations 

All  partners  have  been  active  and  continue  to  be  active  in  disseminating  results  of  the  work  using 
different format: scientific publications, magazine articles, news items, presentations, book chapters, 
blog  entries  etc.  An  overview  of  the  partner  dissemination  activities  is  provided  in  the  following 
sections.  

5.4.1  Overview  

Around  150  different  dissemination  activities  have  been  carried  out  in  the  lifetime  of  the  service 
contract. For obvious reasons most of these took place in the last reporting period, i.e. in 2015 as can 
be seen from the following figure. 

For  publications  the  format  mostly  used  was  magazine  articles  and  news  publications,  followed  by 
website / blog entries but also scientific journal articles and conference papers. 

The initiative also managed to have several appearances on national TV. 

The  target  groups  mostly  addressed  include  SMEs  and  prospective  students  followed  by  industry, 
academia and students in general. 

Most of the activities (46%) were national ones, 40% had a European or international format. 

There  was  a  rather  even  distribution  according  to  types  of  dissemination  activities:  awareness 
raising, raising understanding and promotion action. 

More details can be obtained from the figures below. 

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Figure 5-2: Reported Communication Activities 

Reported Communication Activities 
Aggregated over periods 

Event

Publication

150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

57 

78 

35 

26 

10 
5 

1st Period

2nd Period

3rd Period

Share of Publication Type 
Based on Current Total 

Other publication 
2% 

Conferene Paper 
6% 

Leaflet 3% 

Newsletter 1% 

Press Release 2% 

News/Magazine 
56% 

Journal Article 
10% 

Video 1% 

Social Network 4% 

Website-Entry 
15% 

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Share of Event Type 
Based on Current Total 

Presentation 42% 

Conference 15% 

Workshop 24% 

Informal dialogue 
3% 

Dissemination 
16% 

Share of Target Group 
Based on Current Total 

Wider Public 13% 

Academia 14% 

EU Community 2% 

Policy 7% 

SMEs 24% 

Students 10% 

prospective 
Learners 15% 

Industry 15% 

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Share of Coverage  
Based on Current Total 

Municipal 1% Site 4% 

Regional 6% 

International 37% 

National 46% 

European 6% 

Pillars  of Communication Activities 
Aggregated over periods 

Promoting Action

Raising Understanding

Raising Awareness

420
410
400
390
380
370
360
350
340
330
320
310
300
290
280
270
260
250
240
230
220
210
200
190
180
170
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

7 
11 
11 

42 

46 

59 

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119 

130 

145 

 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

5.4.2  Scientific publications  

All university and business school partners have published articles or papers in 2014 and 2015 which 
have a relationship to the topics dealt with the ‘e-Leadership Skills for SMEs’ initiative. Several more 
publications  and  articles  are  currently  under  development.  Publication  activities  will  continue  over 
the coming months and years. 

Below the reader can find a selection of screenshots of abstracts from scientific articles published or 
submitted. 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

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5.4.3  Magazine articles 

Further publications include magazine articles in different types of media and in different languages. 
Examples are provided below. 

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An overview of the different types of publications and presentations in media like TV can be obtained 
from the following table 

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Table 5-1: Publications, articles and media appearances 

Date 

Publication / 
Event 

Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

01.02.2014 
06.02.2014 

Publication 
Publication 

Website-Entry  International 
Leaflet 

Regional 

01.06.2014 

Publication 

Website-Entry  Europe 

20.06.2014 

Publication 

Website-Entry  Germany 

Project website informing about the activity 
Promotional Leaflet to be used to recruit SMEs to 
participate in the programme  
Permanent link to the LEAD website on the PIN-
SME website 
Umfrage des Projekts e-Leadership skills for SME  German SME association BITMI Informed SME 

Website launched 
two page overview of programme of work and 
benefits for SMEs 
informing SMEs and general public about LEAD 

Publication 

Website-Entry  Europe 

e-Leadership for SMEs 

community about LEAD 
Audience informed about LEAD workshop hosted 
by PIN-SME with key note by Matt Flanagan (SME 
entrepreneur enrolled by PIN-SME)    

http://eskills-lead.eu/ 

http://www.it-sme.eu/projects/ 

http://www.bitmi.de/php/evewa2.php?menu=01
9901&newsid=2421 
http://ejobs-observatory.blogspot.be/2014/11/e-
leadership-for-smes.html 

www 
pdf 

online 

online 

online 

Site 

Towards e-Leadership M.Sc. Program Curricula 

http://www.csecs.org/final-conference-schedule/     

06.07.2014 

Publication 

18.09.2014 

Publication 

17.10.2014 

Publication 

22.10.2014 

Publication 

Conferene 
Paper 
Other 
publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

News/ 
Magazine 

European 

Analyzing E-Skills Learning Strategies of  
Spanish SMEs Co-Founders (Extended Abstract) 

National 

Debate on the future of education 

National 

E-Mail interview on e-skills shortages in Europe 

24.10.2014 

Publication 

Website-Entry  International 

e-Leadership is not mandatory and neither is 
survival 

25.10.2014 

Publication 

Leaflet 

International 

05.11.2014 

Publication 

Website-Entry  International 

13.11.2014 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

14.11.2014 

Publication 

Newsletter 

National 

15.11.2014 

Publication 

15.11.2014 

Publication 

National 

Social 
Network 
Website-Entry  International 

E-leadership executive course, are you digital 
ready?  
Creation of multimedia technical note about 
leading in adverse situations: business continuity 
management  
Interview in TV 

Training leaders who are both ICT and business-
savvy  
About the LEAD project and the first two course 
demonstrations 
About the LEAD project and the first two course 
demonstrations 

Extended abstract. We analyse the way Spanish 
SMEs’ managers learn about IT and management, 
the way such learning is diffused across the 
organisation, and the impact of such process in 
policies and design of educational material. 
Debate in the TV program "For everyone" (Para 
Todos) in channel  2 in the Spanish national TV 
talking about the jobs of the future and new 
technologies 
Explaining the statistics behind e-skills gaps  

Awareness and understanding about the 
importance of e-leadership skills for business 
practice 
Aimed at executive students of Henley business 
school  
Aimed at students of master in management  and 
MBA programs of IE business school 

Interview for the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station 
Awareness about the LEAD project in the 
academic community 
Publicize the course demonstrations among SMEs 
(alumni students and SMEs associations) 
Publicize the course demonstrations among SMEs 
via social network 

Enterprise-dynamics-conference-2014  

Not selected for 
presentation 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLWxJIAAk-
s 

TV 

http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/van/2014/oktobe
r/29/in-2020-komt-de-europese-unie-900000-
icters-tek-1432335  
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/2014102
4091404-1304928-e-leadership-is-not-
mandatory-and-neither-is-survival?trk=prof-post 

www 

Linkedin 

IE Business 
School website.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X79fystr_5
M 

TV 

Newsletter 

Invitation sent 
by mail 
Linkedin, 
Facebook, 

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Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

Date 

Publication / 
Event 

25.11.2014 

Publication 

27.11.2014 

Publication 

27.11.2014 

Publication 

27.11.2014 

Publication 

27.11.2014 

Publication 

27.11.2014 

Publication 

27.11.2014 

Publication 

30.11.2014 

Publication 

National 

National 

National 

National 

Other 
publication 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
Journal Article  International 

National 

National 

National 

the LEAD project 

MOOC on Leadership styles - Topic 5, Inside 
management 
MOOC on Leadership styles 

MOOC on Leadership styles - Topic 2, Wit 

MOOC on Leadership styles - Topic 3, Passion 

MOOC on Leadership styles - Topic 4, Fear 

MOOC on Leadership styles - Topic 5, Gender 
differences 
Business-IT alignment in e-leadership  

30.11.2014 

Publication 

Press Release  National 

08.12.2014 

Publication 

18.12.2014 

Publication 

Publication 

National 

News/ 
Magazine 
Conference 
International 
Paper 
Website-Entry  International 

14.01.2015 

Publication 

15.01.2015 

Publication 

National 

News/ 
Magazine 
Press Release  National 

15.01.2015 

Publication 

15.01.2015 

Publication 

National 

Social 
Network 
Website-Entry  International 

About the LEAD project and the course 
demonstrations 
Interview in IDG TV  

e-Leadership Skills for SMEs – Challenges to the 
Universities 
Creation of multimedia technical note about big 
data   
Interview on innovation 

About the LEAD project and the course 
demonstrations 
About the LEAD project and the other two course 
demonstrations 
About the LEAD project and the other two course 
demonstrations 

Awareness about the LEAD project in the 
academic and business community 
MOOC for Womenalia on leadership styles 

MOOC for Womenalia on leadership styles 

Twitter 
Banner 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl7wcVuVZb
c 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY0cUKZjDTI  www 

www 

MOOC for Womenalia on leadership styles 

MOOC for Womenalia on leadership styles 

MOOC for Womenalia on leadership styles 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHTE7y8VN
Lk 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVtXyO99f
Ls 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkXmJ3TT6_
g 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8AJfqfyXP
Y 
Knowledge and diagnostic model for e-leadership     

MOOC for Womenalia on leadership styles 

Publicize the course demonstrations in the press 

www 

www 

www 

www 

Expected 
release date in 
2016  
Newspaper 
article 

Talking about e-Leadership in Computerworld 
University 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPrcBj1Takg   TV 

Aimed at students of master in management  and 
MBA programs of IE business school 
Interview in Colombia for "Publicidad & 
Mercadeo" channel on innovation 

Publicize the course demonstrations in the press 

Publicize the course demonstrations among SMEs  
(alumni students and SMEs associations) 

Publicize the course demonstrations among SMEs 
via social network 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HV4tf79F1I    

IE Business 
School website.  

Newsletter 
article 
Invitation sent 
by mail 
Linkedin, 
Facebook, 
Twitter 
Magazine 
Article 

http://www.silvia-leal.es/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/Articulo_Aseguranza.p
df 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szpgZZeZ18
E 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijh3cMZ4Icc  TV 

19.01.2015 

Publication 

21.01.2015 

Publication 

22.01.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 

National 

National 

National 

Title: e-Leadership in the Assurance Sector 
(original title in Spanish: e-Liderazgo en el sector 
Asegurador) 
Interview in the People Club 

Article published in the business magazine for the 
insurance sector about digital transformation and 
e-leadership 
Talking about  innovative energy 

Title: e-leadership and sharpen your wits (Title in 
Spanish: e-liderazgo y agudizar el ingenio) 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-

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Date 

Publication / 
Event 

Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

01.02.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

European 

e-Leadership in European Enterprise 

01.02.2015 

Publication 

Website-Entry  International  Website relaunch 

02.02.2015 

Publication 

Website-Entry  National 

05.02.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Title: What is an e-Leader? How to become one 
(original title in Spanish: ¿Qué es un e-líder? ¿Qué 
hay que hacer para convertirse en uno de ellos?) 
Title: e-leadership, wit and meditation (Title in 
Spanich: e-liderazgo e ingenio y meditación) 

09.02.2015 

Publication 

10.02.2015 

Publication 

10.02.2015 

Publication 

12.02.2015 

Publication 

16.02.2015 

Publication 

18.02.2015 

Publication 

19.02.2015 

Publication 

Social 
Network 

News/ 
Magazine 

News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 

News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 

National 

e-Leaders.BG - facebook page 

National 

National 

National 

Title: The Digital Bet: The beginning of the end 
(original title in Spanish: La apuesta digital: el 
comienzo del final) 
Talking about "Chackras" in the other side 

Title: e-leadership and self knowledge (Title in 
Spanish: e-liderazgo y  autoconocimiento) 

National 

Interview in "La Era Digital" 

National 

National 

Interview about Failure for the "El Mundo" 
newspaper 
Title: e-leadership  and monetize the differences 
(Title in Spanish: e-liderazgo y rentabilizar las 
diferencias) 

26.02.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Title: e-leadership and training (Title in Spanish: 
e-liderazgo y formación) 

leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/)  
Article on e-leadership in European Enterprise by 
Joe Peppard, Simon Robinson and Tobias Hüsing: 
"Improving Digital Innovation in Large Enterprise: 
Strengthening e-Leadership at C -level" 
Website relaunch informing about activities and 
results achieved 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/)  
The Facebook page has 1548 likes (19/06/2015)  
Updates about e-Leadership related events and 
news are published on a timely basis 
Article published in one of the leading 
newspapers in Spain, El Mundo.  

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/)  

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/)  
Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/)  

http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com 

European 
Business Review 

http://eskills-lead.eu/ 

http://www.humanageinstitute.org/creamos/blo
g/que-es-un-e-lider-que-hay-que-hacer-para-
convertirse-en-uno-de-ellos/ 
http://youtu.be/90c8GJVe4lc 

www 

www 

TV 

http://www.elmundo.es/economia/2015/02/09/
54d8993eca474192218b4576.html 

Newspaper 
article 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ZyWa8IqF
0 
http://youtu.be/ok7-rEz0sYQ 

www 

TV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taxTUg1tDB
0 
http://www.elmundo.es/yodona/2014/02/28/53
10a2f9e2704ea7548b4574.html 
http://youtu.be/1AWY1Wa8ixs 

Newspaper 
article 
TV 

http://youtu.be/IoL3E1BCXoU 

TV 

TV 

05.03.2015 

Publication 

News/ 

National 

Title: e-leadership  and new technologies (Title in  Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 

http://youtu.be/p3mv2rjNJhc 

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Date 

Publication / 
Event 

Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

Magazine 

Spanish: e-liderazgo y nuevas tecnologías) 

19.03.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Title: e-leadership  and time (Title in Spanish: e-
liderazgo y tiempo) 

(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/)  
Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/) 

http://youtu.be/KTsmsmn-ets 

TV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erKyrQhtIi0 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0qfMDkJb5
0 

TV 

22.03.2015 

Publication 

27.03.2015 

Publication 

01.04.2015 

Publication 

National 

News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 
Journal Article  International 

National 

02.04.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Conference on Ingenio y Pasión 

Interview in "Canal CEO" 

Publication submitted for review in Academic 
Conference, Titled “Exploring the Research 
Domain of IT Governance in the SME Context”, 
submitted for the Hawaii International 
Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS) 2016, 
this is one of the leading academic conferences in 
this IS area. Currently in review and waiting 
acceptance 
Title: e-leadership  and self esteem (Title in 
Spanish: e-liderazgo y autoestima) 

09.04.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Title: e-leadership  and optimism (Title in Spanish: 
e-liderazgo y optimismo) 

13.04.2015 

Publication 

16.04.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Webminar on generating innovation ecosystems 

National 

Title: e-leadership  and local control (Title in 
Spanish: e-liderazgo y locus de control) 

17.04.2015 

Publication 

Website-Entry  Europe 

First European Conference on Digital and Key 
Enabling Technologies Skills, 1 – 2 June 2015, 
Brussels 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
informing SMEs about LEAD and promoting their 
participation in the conference in ref 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6lu1EW5k
Qg&feature=youtu.be 

TV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6LIRb9vCk
E 

TV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LBIrV406V
E 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH_gzGk3eF
M&feature=youtu.be 

www 

TV 

http://www.it-sme.eu/first-european-
conference-on-digital-and-key-enabling-
technologies-skills-1-2-june-2015-brussels/ 

online 

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Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

Date 

Publication / 
Event 

17.04.2015 

Publication 

Conference 
Paper 

23.04.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

From “It Project Management” M.Sc. Degree 
Programme Towards E-Leadership Educational 
Offers – Curricula Analysis 
Title: e-leadership  and failures (Title in Spanish: 
e-liderazgo y fracasos) 

30.04.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Title: e-leadership and fears (Title in Spanish: e-
liderazgo y miedos ) 

01.05.2015 

Publication 

05.05.2015 

Publication 

05.05.2015 

Publication 

07.05.2015 

Publication 

Conference 
Paper 
News/ 
Magazine 

News/ 
Magazine 

News/ 
Magazine 

International 

Results from qualitative data 

National 

National 

National 

Title:  Do you need make-up to find a job? (Title 
in Spanish: ¿Es necesario maquillarse para 
encontrar un trabajo?) 
Title: Internet of Things: a nest of opportunities 
(Title in Spanish: Internet de las Cosas: un nido de 
oportunidades) 

Title: e-leadership and Intelligent 
failure (Title in Spanish: e-liderazgo y 
fracaso inteligente) 

14.05.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

Title: e-leadership and passion (Title in 
Spanish: e-liderazgo y pasión) 

18.05.2015 

Publication 

21.05.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 

National 

National 

Title: Do not be afraid, become an e-leader (Title 
in Spanish: No tengas miedo, saca tu e-leader 
Title: e-leadership and listening (Title in Spanish: 
e-liderazgo y  escucha) 

26.05.2015 

Publication 

Conference 

European 

Title: Analyzing E-Skills Learning Strategies of 

186 / 228 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Publication and discussion of findings of the 
exploratory phase of research 
Article published in one of the leading 
newspapers in Spain, Expansion 

Article published in the leading blog for SMEs, 
talking about IoT and their potential for SMEs 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Article published in the blog of the Human Age 
Institute on e-leadership 
Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Paper. We analyse the way Spanish SMEs’ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E63sOST0XP
A&feature=youtu.be 

TV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJcg6cr-
5b4&feature=youtu.be 

TV 

Journal Article 

http://www.expansion.com/emprendedores-
empleo/empleo/2015/04/19/55313e73e2704e63
5c8b456c.html 
http://sialapymelevabien.com/internet-de-las-
cosas-un-nido-de-oportunidades-para-las-pymes/ 

Newspaper 
article 

www 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4bZOH0GC
OI&feature=youtu.be 

TV 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfrKqhaYE6
E&feature=youtu.be 

TV 

http://www.humanageinstitute.org/creamos/arti
culos/no-tengas-miedo-saca-tu-e-lider/ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLRLsbw9s
E&feature=youtu.be 

www 

TV 

ecis2015  

Conference 

  
  
  
  
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Date 

Publication / 
Event 

Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

Spanish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises 

26.05.2015 

Publication 

27.05.2015 

Publication 

28.05.2015 

Publication 

Conference 
Paper 
News/ 
Magazine 
News/ 
Magazine 

International 

Results from qualitative data 

National 

Interview for "rethinking the work" 

National 

Title: e-leadership and shadow (Title in Spanish: 
e-liderazgo y sombra) 

01.06.2015 

Publication 

Journal Article  International 

01.06.2015 

Publication 

Journal Article  International 

01.06.2015 

Publication 

Video 

International 

04.06.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

E-leadership and IT investment and innovation 
capability in organisations  
Title: The limits of institutional isomorphism in 
the design of e-recruitment websites: a 
comparative analysis of the USA and Spain. 
Recruitment of ICT personnel in Spain 
online course: e-leadership skills are you digital 
and IT ready  
Title: e-leadership and enemies  (Title in Spanish: 
e-liderazgo y enemigos)  

08.06.2015 

Publication 

News/ 
Magazine 

National 

10.06.2015 

Publication 

15.06.2015 

Publication 

National 

News/ 
Magazine 
Journal Article  International 

Title: Three tips for a sustainable innovation 
culture (Title in Spanish: Tres consejos para 
cultura de innovación sostenible) 

Title: Reimagine the Work (Title in Spanish: 
Reimagina el Trabajo) 
Title: Cooperative behaviour and IT productivity 
in coordinated operating models: a simulation-
based approach to IT governance.  Dynamic 
aspects of IT Governance, as an essential element 
for increasing business performance 

15.06.2015 

Publication 

News/ 

International 

Title: An Anatomy of an e-Leader 

managers learn about IT and management, the 
way such learning is diffused across the 
organisation, and the impact of such process in 
policies and design of educational material. 
Publication and discussion of findings of the 
exploratory phase of research 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Knowledge and findings on how e-leadership 
affect the absorptive capacity in the organisation  
Comparative analysis of the recruitment websites 
of Spain and USA. Published in the International 
Journal of Human Resource Management 

Section in the TV show "Entrepreneur" 
(Emprende) in the channel 24-hours of national 
Spanish TV station, dedicated to the subject of e-
leadership 
(https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/emprende/
) 
Article published in the main blog for SMEs on 
innovation culture and SMEs 

TV interview and blog entrance on innovation 
and e-leadership 
This paper focuses on one of the competences of 
the European e-Competence Framework: IS 
Governance. We use examine IT governance as 
the process of influencing the environmental 
conditions and the dynamics of the IT decision 
process to encourage managers to adapt their 
local behaviour to one leading to the corporate 
goals. Submitted to IEEE Transaction on 
Engineering Management 
Summary of main findings on interviews to 

187 / 228 

Paper 

Workshop 
contribution 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-
W4bSIzZys 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJcdMd1sY
Zo 

TV 

DOI:10.1080/09585192.2015.1004186 

Journal Article 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYEcB2GGT
rE&feature=youtu.be 

TV 

http://sialapymelevabien.com/silvia-leal-
innovacion-
sostenible/?utm_source=pyme&utm_medium=n
ewsletter_090615&utm_campaign=general 
https://www.reimaginaeltrabajo.com/entrevista.
aspx?Num=29 

www 

www 

Journal Article 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Date 

Publication / 
Event 

Exact type 

Coverage 

Topic 

Key Outcomes / Minutes / Text / Feedback 

Link (if available) 

Medium 

30.06.2015 

Publication 

13.08.2015 

Publication 

Magazine 
Conference 
Paper 
Conference 

International 

e-Leadership Needs of SMEs in Bulgaria 

International 

Title: Aprendizagem organizacional e o uso 
estratégico da informação contábil na 
captação de recursos (eng: Organizational 
learning and the use strategic accounting 
information in 
fund-raising) 

15.08.2015 

Publication 

Journal Article  International 

15.08.2015 

Publication 

Journal Article  International 

The influence of e-skills on growth patterns of 
fast growing SMEs 
E-skill enabled success: the role of firm identity 
and IS strategy  

Publication 

Conference 

International 

Title: Push and Pull Learning in Action: The Case 
of a High Growth SME 

Publication 

Conference 

International 

Title: e-Leadership in Spanish High-Growth SMEs: 
An Exploratory Analysis 

Publication 

Publication 

International 

Conference 
Paper 
Journal Article  International 

e-leadership for innovation and high growth  

Strategic alignment and e-leadership model  

successful SMEs. Submitted to Forbes India 

Paper published and to be presented at the 
America's conference on information system, the 
paper attempts to show the relationship between 
organizational learning and the need to use 
strategically information in order to obtain 
funding. Nowadays, the key issue is about how to 
use strategically information 
Findings and discussion of how e-skills affect fast 
growing SMEs 
Findings and discussion of how firm identification 
as IT-company and their strategies can lead to 
strategic advantages over traditional 
organizations 
Paper planned to be submitted to the 12th 
International Conference on Science, Technology 
and Management (ICSTM). Case study analyzing 
the learning strategies followed by RealTech, one 
of the 10 SMEs interviewed in the project 
Paper to be submitted to the The 5th 
International Conference on Science Technology 
and Management (ICSTM 2015). Analyze 
innovation strategies followed by the 10 
companies interviewed in the project. 
E-leadership model based on absorptive capacity 
and the co-relation with innovation   
The e-leadership model contributing to both 
theory and managerial practices  

Conference 
Paper 

Conference 
Paper 

Conference 
Paper 

188 / 228 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

5.4.4  Other documents and publications 

A flyer has been developed for promotion purposes and as a handout addressed to SMEs to be won 
for  interviews  to  inform  them  about  the  European  Commission  activity  on  ‘e-Leadership  Skills  for 
SMEs’.  

News  from the work has  been included in  the  combined LEAD/GUIDE newsletter.  The  most  recent 
newsletter can be found at: 

http://eskills-guide.eu/fileadmin/guide/documents/Newsletter/GUIDE_Newsletter_5.pdf  

Promotion in social media has taken place for instance in LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141024091404-1304928-e-leadership-is-not-mandatory-
and-neither-is-survival?trk=prof-post  

Promotional  leaflets  for  demonstration  courses  have  been  produced  by  Henley  Business  School,  IE 
Business School, Aarhus University and Antwerp School of Management. 

189 / 228 

 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

5.4.5  Events - Presentations at workshops, conferences, 

sessions, meetings, briefings, interviews 

The following table provides an overview of presentations which were given and events attended or 
organised: 

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e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 5-2: Presentations given and participation at dissemination events 

Date 
13.02.2014 

Exact type 
Presentation 

15.02.2014 

Presentation 

Topic 
presenting LEAD to DG ENTR's Academic 
Community Workshop on e-Leadership 
The Art Of Enterprise Gamification 

02.06.2014 

First European Conference on Digital and Key 
Enabling Technologies Skills 

18.06.2014 

Dissemination 

18.06.2014 

Dissemination 

18.06.2014 

Dissemination 

25.06.2014 

Dissemination 

27.06.2014 

Information about LEAD Project to AMITEC 
(Spanish Association of ICT companies) 
Information about LEAD Project to CONFEBASK 
(Basque association of companies) 
Information about LEAD Project to CEL (Spanish 
Logistical Centre) 
Information about LEAD Project to Madrid 
Chamber of Commerce 
Annual General Assembly of PIN-SME 

06.07.2014 

Presentation 

04.09.2014  Workshop 
16.09.2014 

Presentation 

24.09.2014 

Presentation 

01.10.2014 

Dissemination 

09.10.2014 

Presentation 

10.10.2014  Workshop 
14.10.2014 

Presentation 

Information about LEAD project to SMEs in UK  

Information about LEAD project to SMEs 
internationally  
Towards e-Leadership M.Sc. Program Curricula 

Regional Cluster Event 
Gamification in Action. José Esteves, one of the 
greatest international experts in this field and 
professor at IE Business School. 
"Networking + Personal Branding + Innovation in 
ICT = Employability". Juan Diaz Andreu, Associate 
Director ICT Sector, Talengo.  
Launch of a new cohort of the Executive Master of 
IT Governance & Assurance and the Executive 
Master of Enterprise IT Architecture, where we are 
promoting “inclusion” of SMEs.  
"More ideas, more value"". Jacinto Álvaro, General 
Director of Plus Ultra and Carlos Flores, General 
Director of NIIT Technologies. " 
ICT, Skills and Jobs in the EU", 10 October Brussels 
Samuel Pimentel, Managing Partner Spain & 
Latinoamérica. The Beaumont Group. Discussion of 

Key Outcomes  
Slides, dialogue established 

Link (if available) 

Audience Size 
30 

Venue/ Location 
DG ENTR 

How to engage and motivate users in a 
Digital World 
Interventions by both by Sebastiano 
Toffaletti (secretary general) and by Bo 
Sejer Frandsen (president) 
We invited them to participate in the 
distribution of  LEAD survey  
We invited them to participate in the 
distribution of  LEAD survey  
We invited them to participate in the 
distribution of  LEAD survey  
We invited them to participate in the 
distribution of  LEAD survey  
National SME associations reps informed 
about LEAD - their action at national level 
was promoted 
Interview and opinions on e-leadership 
collected  
LEAD survey of collected through Henley 
business school alumni   

Very positive feedback from audience 
Discussion and Networking Sessions under 
the Programme in Management of Digital 
Innovation and IT Governance" 
Discussion and Networking Sessions under 
the Programme in Management of Digital 
Innovation and IT Governance" 
Target of 30% reached 

Discussion and Networking Sessions under 
the Programme in Management of Digital 
Innovation and IT Governance" 
Exchange about methodological issues 
Discussion and Networking Sessions under 
the Programme in Management of Digital 

191 / 228 

http://www.leadership2
015.eu/conference/ 

http://www.ametic.es/ 

http://www.ametic.es/ 

http://www.cel-
logistica.org/ 
http://www.camaramad
rid.es/ 

75 

300 

Paris 

Brussels 

The survey was sent 
to 3,000 registers 

The survey was sent 
to 14.420 registers 
15 

Brussels 

http://www.csecs.org/fi
nal-conference-
schedule/ 
www.eskills-guide.eu 

Survey sent to 6000 
registers   
25 

Albena, Bulgaria 

100 
45 

45 

45 

15 
45 

Antwerp 
IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

DG CNCT 
IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

14.10.2014 

Presentation 

15.10.2014 

Presentation 

21.10.2014 

Presentation 

trends, challenges and professional opportunities 
in today's business market. 
The Art Of Enterprise Gamification for HR 
Managers 
e-Leadership 

Master class: the innovation imperative, become a 
digital disruptor  

28.10.2014 

Presentation 

e-Leadership 

29.10.2014 

Presentation 

03.11.2014 

Dissemination 

04.11.2014 

Presentation 

19.11.2014 

Presentation 

Digital transformation in BBVA. Presentation: José 
Olalla Hevia. Chief Information Officer - Digital 
Banking BBVA 
Information about the LEAD Project to IE Executive 
Education Division  
"Coaching with the inner teacher for e-
leadership."Jorge Urrea Filgueira, Insight 
Management expert and  IE Business School 
professor 
e-Leadership Curricula and MyCompetence 
Framework 

20.11.2014 

Forth LEAD workshop 

24.11.2014  Workshop 

Unlocking the power of enterprise gamification 

01.12.2014  Workshop 

02.12.2014 

Conference 

"Key-note speech for the Chambers of Commerce 
in Belgium, on the need for e-leadership in SMEs. 3 
December 2015. 25 SME participants, Member in 
panel discussion at E-skills Conference 
e-Leadership and IT Professionalism 

03.12.2014 

Presentation 

E-Leadership Skills for SMEs 

12.12.2014  Workshop 

Entrepreneurship ecosystem, innovation, regional 
competitiveness 

Innovation and IT Governance" 

How to engage and motivate users in a 
Digital World 
Building awareness and increasing 
understanding of e-Leadership concept. 
José Esteves  talked about the digital 
innovation transformation and the secrets 
to becoming a digital disruptor  
Promote e-Leadership in the professional 
project management chapter 

Discussion and Networking Sessions under 
the Programme in Management of Digital 
Innovation and IT Governance" 
Information about the LEAD Project to IE 
Executive Education Division  
Discussion and Networking Sessions under 
the Programme in Management of Digital 
Innovation and IT Governance" 

Introduce representatives of the industry 
and academic institutions the steps 
towards e-leadership curricula how they 
bridge the gap between industry 
expectations and the educational offers 
PIN-SME hosted the event and involved an 
SME speaker with relevant experience on 
the subject. The outcome was project 
visibility especially in UK via the national 
SME association of the SME speaker, i.e. 
UK ITA 
How to engage and motivate users in a 
Digital World 

Promote e-Leadership to all stakeholders 
in Europe  
Briefing session with chambers of 
commerce 
introducing the concept of e-leadership 
within entrepreneurial ecosystem, 
producing the series of discussion paper at 

192 / 228 

100 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

http://ictforum.rpknis.rs
/ 

http://pmi.bg/NewsAnd
Events/Events.aspx?id=2
bc76b03-6ffc-4ab7-
96ca-1bda0fd4aa76 

50 

70 

40 

45 

Nis, Serbia 

France 

NBU, 111-2 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

40 

Brussels, PIN-SME premises 

Munich 

http://eskills2014confer
ence.eu/conference/ 

300 

Marriott Hotel Brussels 

http://www.henley.ac.u
k/events/entrepreneuria
l-ecosystems-

international 
scholars and 
practitioners 28 

Henley Bus school campus 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Henley business school   

innovation-and-regional-
competitiveness-
international-workshop 

people from 7 
countries 

18.12.2014 

Presentation 

22.12.2014 
23.12.2014 

Presentation 
Presentation 
Presentation 

e-Leadership Skills for SMEs – Challenges to the 
Universities 
e-Leadership for First Term Students in Informatics 
e-Leadership for First Term Students in Informatics 
Use of social media to improve personal branding 

13.01.2015 

Presentation 

MMM260 Innovation and market entry undergrad 
module 

05.02.2015  Workshop 

Strategic Business Analytics 

06.02.2015  Workshop 

Planning for growth 

01.03.2015 

Presentation 

Are you digital ready? Executive course  

03.03.2015 

Dissemination 

Talking about e-leadership in TV program "Females 
Executives in Front" (Directivas de Frente) 

19.03.2015  Workshop 

Social Media Strategy 

08.04.2015 

Informal 
dialogue 

13.04.2015  Workshop 

e-Leadership and the Digital National Alliance 
(DNA) - Bulgaria. Discussion with Gergana Passy - 
lead of Digital National Alliance (DNA) - Bulgaria 
and Digital National Champion 
‘Great Speakers, great workshop’ from one SME 
who attended the ‘Winning at Customer 

Al students IE 
Business School 

IE Business School Campus, Madrid 

http://www.reading.ac.u
k/modules/document.as
px?modP=MM260&mod
YR=1415 

45 

UK 

UK 

https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=iVYYCFZnVg
w&feature=youtu.be 

Improvement of personal branding for 
students of all master and MBA programs 
at IE business school (1st term of each 
program) 
Students will submit a coursework 20% of 
the grade covering the topics of 
application of technologies in SMES and 
innovation for market entry. A number of 
lectures and seminars will run on this topic 
Effectively manage and improve a 
company’s partner network/ Analyze 
critical deficiencies and areas for 
improvement within a network/Identify 
potential risk areas within a company’s 
network/ Capitalizing on highly effective 
internal and external relationships 
 Analyze the dynamic needs of a company 
in relation to its size and growth 
expectations/ Decide on different IS 
strategies to support organizational 
growth/ Create a scalable management 
model that allows growth 
e-leadership course will be taught for SME 
and feedback will be collected  
Promoting e-leadership in Spain 

Knowledge about the possibilities and 
challenges of being active on social media 
from a corporate communication 
perspective and will have acquired the 
analytical skills to develop a social media 
strategy for particular organizational 
objectives 
DNA signed Riga Declaration. We 
discussed next steps for promoting e-
Leadership in Bulgaria 

"The workshop, which ran for the full day, 
brought together a wide range of SMEs to 

http://www.henley.ac.u
k/news/news-

25 

Reading  

193 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Development’ Workshop on Monday, 13 April 
2015 

raise their understanding of selling using 
digital technologies , provide techniques of 
‘how to sell’ and explain the selling 
process from prospecting to pitching to 
overcoming objections and closing a sale. 
In addition, the workshop featured a new 
session on how e-competencies can make 
a difference to winning and developing 
customers.  

item/winning-at-
customer-development-
workshop-13-april-
2015/  

17.04.2015 

Presentation 

27.04.2015 

Informal 
dialogue 

27.04.2015  Workshop 

01.05.2015 

Dissemination 

26.05.2015 

Presentation 

26.05.2015  Workshop 

From “It Project Management” M.Sc. Degree 
Programme Towards E-Leadership Educational 
Offers – Curricula Analysis 
e-Leadership and who is governing the targeted 
actions in Bulgaria. Discussion with Grozdan 
Karadjov - chairperson of the Parliamentary 
Committee "Transport, Information Technologies 
and Communications Committee" 
Business and Technology consulting  

Info session (evening) at the  Antwerp 
Management School to present our exec master 
programs focused at e-leadership skills to 
interested candidates (also for SMEs) 
Workshop about E-Leadership in SMEs 

E-Leadership: the new frontier of management as 
part of ECIS 2015 

28.05.2015 

Presentation 

Title: Passion and Technology - e-Leadership 
Formula (Title in Spanish: Pasión y Tecnología - 
Formula de e-Liderazgo) 

05.06.2015 

Conference 

"Are you digital and IT ready? Effective e-
leadership for high performance SMEs 

introducing student for skills of  business 
and IT consulting, leadership, business-IT 
alignment   

20 students  

Henley  

23 

15 

Antwerp 

Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster 

ESNE, Escuela Universitaria de Diseño, Madrid 

50+ 

London  

ecis2015 

http://ecis2015.eu/parti
cipation/list-of-
workshops/e-leadership-
new-frontier-
management 

http://www.aec.es/web
/guest/congresos/2015/
cstic-big-quality-big-
people-big-
data/programa 
http://eskills-
lead.eu/events/london/ 

Workshop organised as a pre-event to ECIS 
2015 
Advance the state-of-the-art in e-
leadership research by encouraging 
participants to reflect on possible 
theoretical and empirical directions for 
future IS studies focused on e-leadership 
skills 
Presentation in the CSTIC Congress 2015 

This event is targeted at: innovative 
employers especially from SMEs and start-
ups, entrepreneurs, current and aspiring e-
leaders, professional associations, 
universities and business schools, as well 
as (especially the morning session) policy-
makers interested in promoting digital 
innovation and developing appropriate 
national policies and initiatives of different 
types and in different policy areas. 

194 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

05.06.2015 

Presentation 

e-Leadership  Needs of SMEs in Bulgaria 

17.06.2015 

Conference 

Operationalising Innovation in Spanish SMEs 
(Conference Paper) 

18.06.2015  Workshop 

‘Winning at Customer Development’ Sales 
Workshop Thursday 18 June 2015 

18.06.2015 

Conference 

Annual General Assembly of PIN-SME 

04.07.2015 

Conference 

Boosting your employability by starting a business 
or working at corporations 

06.07.2015  Workshop 

DIGITAL LEADERSHIP - The road to the future 
economy  

15.07.2015 

Presentation 

07.08.2015  Workshop 

E-leadership through strategic alignment: an 
empirical study of small and medium sized 
enterprises in the digital age 

Workshop on e-Leadership Skills for Small and 
Medium Sized Enterprises at the 75th Annual 
Meeting of the Academy of Management which 
will be held August 7-11, 2015 in Vancouver, 
British Columbia, Canada 

01.10.2015 

Dissemination 

market making strategies: e-leadership skills  

In this paper we analyse how successful 
Spanish SMEs innovate, as well as what is 
the governance and structure followed in 
the management of digital innovations 
The workshop will help participants raise 
their understanding of selling using e-
competences, provide techniques of ‘how 
to sell’ and explain the selling process from 
prospecting to pitching to overcoming 
objections and closing a sale and also 
enable participants to prepare and deliver 
a powerful USP for the SME’s product or 
service 
National SME associations reps informed 
about LEAD - their action at national level 
was promoted 
Network Event for OESS & ESSYB lecture 
on e-leadership at UCL, London. Sponsored 
by Nordic Council.  
A workshop to industry and practitioners 
from Ghana for e-competences and e-
leadership skills " 
Presentation in the 7th Developing 
Leadership Capacity Conference (DLCC). 
Introducing  the e-leadership model from 
strategic alignment perspective  
The PDW will take participants through 
theory and practice of e-leadership 
concept, with specialist faculty and 
academic partners. Case studies and 
findings from the project will support the 
application and the principles, with clear 
action points to assist with effective 
developments and research of e-
leadership skills. The workshop will 
enhance the understanding of factors that 
together ensure effective e-Leadership, in 
driving high growth business performance, 
entrepreneurship and strategies in digital 
and IT alignment.  
introducing students to the notion of e-
leadership and e-skills; students write 
assignment in groups worth 40% of final 
mark 

http://www.csecs.org/c
onference-slides/ 
Euram-
conference/2015/ 

http://www.henley.ac.u
k/events/winning-at-
customer-development-
sales-workshop-
thursday-18-june-2015  

25-30 

Reading  

15 

30 

20 

20 

Brussels 

Henley 

Henley  

Henley  

http://aom.org/Events/2
015-Annual-Meeting-of-
the-Academy-of-
Management.aspx 

Vancouver Convention Centre 

http://www.reading.ac.u
k/modules/document.as
px?modP=MM260&mod
YR=1516 

45 students 

Henley  

01.10.2015 

Dissemination 

Launch of a new “major” in our executive masters 

30 

Antwerp 

195 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

portfolio, titled “Executive Master in IT 
Management”. The argumentation was that many 
SME managers reported that “enterprise IT 
architecture” and “IT governance” seems to be 
focused for large enterprise while they are in need 
for a more general bird-eye IT management 
program.  
e-Leadership Skills: New Technology and Business 
Architecture (executive programme) 

Workshop 

This 

programme 

from  SMEs 

"A high-performance SME programme” 
Are  you  exploiting  the  new  digital  and  IT 
revolution? 
assists 
in  developing 
executives 
for  high 
effective  e-leadership 
performance  growth  driving  competitive 
advantage 
new 
technologies  and  business  architecture. 
Analyse  your  use  of 
IT  and  digital 
strategies  as  a  strategic  vs.  survival  tool 
with practical applications throughout. 

integrating 

through 

skills 

http://www.henley.ac.u
k/executive-
education/e-leadership-
skills-new-technology-
and-business-
architecture 

196 / 228 

 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

5.4.6  The European e-Leadership Skills for SMEs Initiative at 

ECIS 2015 

The  initiative  successfully  organised  a  pre-conference  workshop  at  the  renowned  ECIS  conference 
which took place in Münster, Germany in 2015. The day-long workshop entitled “E-Leadership: the 
new frontier of management’” took place on May 26th, 2015 from 9:00 - 16:00 h. A screenshot of the 
conference website is included below. 

Figure 5-3: Website screenshot of e-Leadership workshop at ECIS 2015 

http://www.ecis2015.eu/participation/list-of-workshops/e-leadership-new-frontier-management 

This workshop brought together scholars to discuss and develop research ideas related to the study 
and  development  of  e-leadership  skills.  E-leadership  skills  are  seen  as  those  which  enable  people 
with  very  strong  ICT  skills  to  lead  qualified  staff  from  ICT  and  other  disciplines  towards  identifying 
and designing business models and exploiting key innovation opportunities. Their success is defined 
as  making  best  use  of  developments  in  ICT  and  delivering  value  to  their  organizations.  They  are 
crucial in the current competitive landscape, where effective organizations are demanding e-leaders 
who are both business and ICT-savvy, at the same time as there is an expected that there will be a 
lack  of  several  100.000  qualified  professionals  in  the  field  in  Europe  by  2020.  The  aim  of  the 
workshop was to advance the state-of-the-art in this domain by encouraging participants to reflect 
on possible theoretical and empirical directions for future IS studies focused on e-leadership skills. In 
addition, we aimed at discussing the design of e-skills and e-leadership skills education and training. 

197 / 228 

 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

5.4.7  Brochure 

A brochure summarising the main findings, conclusions and recommendations in a highly attractive 
way  in  order  to  promote  the  results  has  been  produced  and  can  be  downloaded  in  the  English 
version as well as in all 24 official EU languages at: www.eskills-lead.eu in the ‘documents’ section. 

Figure 5-4: Front page of the brochure 

198 / 228 

 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

6 

Policy recommendations 

The following recommendations are proposed for ensuring Europe has sufficient e-leadership skills in 
the  near  future.  They  are  to  be  taken  forward  by  stakeholders  in  industry  and  academia,  and  by 
government and other stakeholders at Member State level and by the European Union institutions. 
They provide a roadmap for action on e-leadership skills at all levels in Europe.  

6.1 

Recommendation 1 – New Training Programmes 

Research  has  revealed  a  lack  of  e-leadership  training  programmes  and  courses  addressed  to  SMEs 
and start-ups in Europe. This applies to higher and executive education, training providers and online 
and blended learning providers. None of these players currently has a sufficient portfolio of solutions 
to address the need for providing e-leadership skills in an integrated, well recognised and accredited 
format. In addition, they still need to prove fit for such type of training. 

Universities and business schools in Europe need to undergo a fundamental transformation as they 
will be expected to take on the role of academic level life-long-training providers for professionals in 
addition to being purely higher education institutions. They are now well aware of this challenge and 
progress is slow. Time has come for bolder actions. They will increasingly have to deal with  

 

 

 

 

new online-driven education providers entering the education and training market, a  

diverse international student community with changing ‘shopping’ behaviour and  

increasingly demanding training offered in highly specific modules which can be combined in a 
mix-and-match fashion (‘boutique students’) also asking for  

hybrid  learning  models  for  a  new  learning  quality  (e.g.  gamification,  virtual  collaboration 
environments, online examination and tests, personalised learning offers etc.). 

Research has shown that  e-leaders, in  particular in SMEs and start-ups, are  moving toward the so-
called  pull-learning  strategy  and  define  and  acquire  the  professional  knowledge  they  need  via  a 

199 / 228 

New training programmesStakeholder coordinationPolicy commitmentMonitoring and benchmarkingDIGITALLEADERSHIP SKILLSDevelopmentAdoption and scalabilityPromotionCoalitions at all levelsGovernanceCommunicationObservatory mechanismsBest practicesInternational cooperationEuropean UnionMember StatesStakeholdersCloud ComputingIT Legacy Systems Big Data AnalyticsInternet of ThingsSocial MediaMobile 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

variety  of  channels  such  as  Massive  Open  Online  Courses  (MOOCs),  blended  education,  and  short 
courses. 

Promoting  and  developing  cooperation  between  higher  education  and  industry/business  is  at  the 
core  of  the  EU’s  Agenda  for  Modernising  Higher  Education  and  a  central  feature  of  the  Erasmus+ 
programme (2014-2020), in particular via the Strategic and Knowledge Alliances. These are designed 
to  provide  structured  partnerships  for  collaborative  projects  between  higher  education  and  the 
business/industrial sector. 

Recommended Actions 

  Training providers, higher and executive training providers and consultants etc. to further elaborate and 

promote e-leadership and utilise the opportunities for e-leadership training course / programme 
development and provision for SMEs and start-up executives  

  Training and education providers, Chambers of Commerce, intermediaries, sectoral associations etc. to 

build strategic alliances with industry to design and offer suitable e-leadership programmes  

  Stakeholders to develop new training programmes building on the experiences of the European 

initiatives on e-Leadership  and the curriculum guidelines, profiles, labelling and course examples 
(including experiments on online learning formats combined with traditional course formats in the 
(further) development of suitable e-leadership training)  

  Training providers to adapt existing programmes and courses, extract topics and develop these in a way 
that they meet the demand of SMEs and start-ups for e-leadership ‘modules’, serving specific skills 
demands and meeting the ‘appetite’ and ‘shopping’ behaviour of this profile of learners, including hybrid 
learning models (such as MOOCs etc.) 

  Universities and business schools to implement the life-long-learning paradigm and become life-long-
learning training providers offering executive education and training programmes and courses of 
different type and size to an increasingly more diverse community at all working life-cycle stages 

 

Investigate opportunities and develop and implement faster third party certification and accreditations 
opportunities (including joint certification opportunities by industry and universities) attractive to target 
groups in a professional career    

Funding opportunities for implementation 

Utilise the European Commission funding opportunities offered through: 

•  Erasmus+ Programme (http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/index_en.htm),   

•  Horizon 2020 e.g. Innovative Training Networks of Individual Fellowships 

(http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/),  

•  CEN Workshop on ICT Skills (http://www.cen.eu/work/areas/ict/eeducation/pages/ws-ict-

skills.aspx)  

•  EU Structural and Social Funds (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/ and 

http://ec.europa.eu/esf/).  

•  Access to Finance portal: http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/funding-grants/access-to-

finance/ 

200 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

EUROPEAN E-LEADERSHIP 

CURRICULUM GUIDELINES AND PROFILES 

QUALITY LABEL AND SELF-EVALUATION TOOL 

Access them here:  

www.eskills-guide.eu 

www.eskills-lead.eu 

6.2 

Recommendation 2 – Stakeholder Coordination 

Given  the  current  speed  of  developments,  there  is  a  need  to  continue  mobilising  stakeholders  at 
national  and  European  level  to  foster  the  promotion,  governance  and  cooperation  activities  on  e-
leadership.  

Awareness  of  e-leadership  skill  requirements  and  demand  as  well  as  related  policy  initiatives  and 
actions are not equally distributed across Europe. Communication activities at all levels need to be 
increased.  Synergy  with  the  pan-European  "e-Skills  for  Jobs"  and  "Watify"  campaigns  (2015-2016), 
future initiatives on skills and training and the "Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs" should be sought. 

Recommended Actions 

  Mobilise stakeholders to foster promotion, governance and cooperation activities on e-leadership in a 

coherent and efficient manner 

  Ensure active involvement and interaction of key stakeholders  

  Encourage action by Member State national governments, stakeholders and associations, including 

associations of training providers and Higher Education 

 

Industry to develop and work under a long-term perspective which requires partnerships and 
cooperation with other stakeholders, whereby also the sector associations not only from IT industry but 
also IT user industry should play a role 

  Universities, business schools (including those organised in the EIT Digital), employment organisations 

and active employers and unions to promote widespread use of the European guidelines and profiles for 
new curricula for e-leadership skills and contribute to their expansion and maintenance 

  Encourage stakeholders to become active partners in the establishment of an efficient governance 

structure 

  Develop and propose a suitable governance model for digital education and training supply and move 

towards implementation and operation with relevant stakeholders 

6.3 

Recommendation 3 – Monitoring and benchmarking  

improvements  to  promote  a  better 
Current  quantitative  data  and  statistics  need  further 
understanding of the dynamics of the demand and supply of e-leadership skills. Existing data sets do 
not  match  the  concept  of  e-leadership.  New  and  better  data  would  help  to  define  priorities  and 
measure progress.  

201 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Digital leadership skills as the combination of a set of business, digital and strategic skills cannot be 
easily quantified using existing data sets. Existing skills surveys such as PIAAC43 use a much too broad 
set of skills indicators  to  be useful for e-leadership related purposes. There is also no occupational 
matching  of  ISCO  categories  to  e-Leadership  skilled  occupations.  Market  Surveys  are  costly  and 
hence  often  too  small  to  make  comparable  statements  about  countries.  In  this  respect  Big  Data 
analytics could be a promising field which need pioneers to be explored.  

Regular policy monitoring and benchmarking in the e-leadership area - as has been practiced since 
2007 by the European Commission and several Member States (e.g. United Kingdom) regarding ICT 
practitioners  skills  –  would  provide  the  information  policy  makers  need  on  strengths  and 
weaknesses,  threats  and  opportunities  necessary  for  policy  development  and  encourage  policy 
developers in countries aspiring to improve their performance. The European Commission is willing 
to  continue  these  efforts  (including  also  digital  entrepreneurship  policy  monitoring  activities)  at 
regular intervals to measure progress of its policy activities. 

The analysis  of  labour  market developments  should become  an  integral  part  of  this  activity  due to 
disruption  in  technology,  labour  markets  and  business  models  challenges  industry,  policy  action, 
education  and  training  systems  and  other  institutions.  The  digital  skills  required  and  the  ways  of 
teaching, training and learning them will keep changing as enterprises are faced with a world-wide 
competition for digital talent. 

Best practice  policy  and  initiatives  showcases  allow  European  stakeholders  to  learn  from examples 
and experiences of other stakeholders and help moving forward with well developed strategies and 
avoid  making  mistakes  of  previous  initiatives  and  partnerships.  Competition  for  talent  is  an 
international and world-wide phenomenon. It is therefore recommended to extend monitoring and 
benchmarking activities to also cover other countries including Japan, US and Canada but also China 
and other countries in Asia and Latin America. 

Involvement could take the form of a close cooperation of the European Commission, Eurostat and 
EU Member State governments with relevant government representatives and from related agencies 
and  institutions  in  these  countries  outside  Europe.  The  establishment  of  cooperation  mechanisms 
with  likewise  countries  should  address  agreement  on  definitions  and  metrics,  development  of 
common sets of indicators and methodological approaches for gathering the necessary data, survey 
execution and data analysis but also attempts for homogenisation of already existing data sources. 

Recommended Actions 

 

Identify new data sources for information on demand and supply of e-leadership skills, including social 
media data and big data analytics, to establish a comprehensive monitoring and forecasting system 

  Ensure that definitions of e-leadership skills are adapted to new business and technological 

developments and remain appropriate to policy making 

  Analyse relevant Eurostat data (project trends, ensure homogenous data across EU) 

  Exchange monitoring practice with other regions, such as Asia and North-America 

  Develop innovative approaches estimating e-leadership supply and demand figures for establishing pan-
European and national observatory mechanisms to allow for a continuous monitoring and benchmarking 

  Follow up regularly new activities in the field of digital leadership in the world and analyse new trends 

and developments and their relevance and impact for Europe 

  Facilitate exchange of information and of best practices on a worldwide basis with the most advanced 

Universities, business schools, consulting organisations etc. in the field of digital leadership  

  Continue identifying and promoting best practice policies and multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives  

  Disseminate widely benchmarking results and best practice examples and encourage the development of  

(online) platforms around these for the mutual benefit of policy makers and stakeholders 

43   Cf. OECD 2015: New Skills for the Digital Economy: Measuring the Demand for ICT Skills at Work for an application of PIAAC results. 

202 / 228 

 
 
                                                            
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

6.4 

Recommendation 4 –Policy Commitment 

There is a broad agreement among European stakeholders and policy makers that digital leadership 
and  entrepreneurship  will  be  key  policy  topics  in  Europe  over  the  coming  years  especially  in  the 
context  of  the  digital  transformation  of  the  economy.  The  report  of  the  Strategic  Policy  Forum  on 
"Digital  Transformation  of  European 
includes  a  set  of  policy 
recommendations for the digital transformation in the EU including the development of e-leadership. 
The  European  Commission  has  been  instrumental  to  launch  initiatives  on  e-leadership  skills  since 
2013 and the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Watify campaign in 2015.   

Industry  and  Enterprises" 

Activities  and  initiatives  are  only  slowly  emerging  at  nation  level.  First  examples  and  best  practice 
cases  have  been  identified  and  are  showcased  on  different  European  Commission  web  portals. 
National  policy  makers  and  stakeholder  now  need  to  become  more  active  and  show  a  strong 
commitment, implement necessary infrastructures and initiatives and operate these in each Member 
State whereby these should be well anchored in national policies addressing these topics 

Recommended Actions 

  National policy makers and stakeholders to demonstrate commitment towards e-leadership skills and 

digital entrepreneurship and scale up their efforts in a longer term perspective 

  National funds and programmes to be specifically oriented towards promotion of digital transformation 

and the related skills required including those for digital innovation leadership 

  EU Member States to consider using European structural and investment funds, i.e. the European 

Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund, to invest in training and lifelong learning projects 
helping SMEs to make the transition to the digital economy more quickly  

  National governments and stakeholders to implement rapidly best practice experiences in making best 

use of such funds from highly successful projects  

  Member States to streamline and build upon existing funding programmes at EU and national levels to 
train as well as re-train and match skilled people with companies – especially SMEs – in need of those 
skills 

  The European Commission to gather information from relevant projects supported through these funds 

and showcasing best practice cases on the EUROPA web portal for others to learn from 

203 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Annex – Methodologies 

Methodology of a European Landscape of e-Leadership Higher 
Education Courses and MOOCs 

The  objectives  of  this  chapter  are  to  draw  a  picture  of  the  current  European  landscape  of  e-
Leadership  Higher  Education  (HE)  type  courses  and  MOOCs  and  to  analyse  relevant  and  new  e-
leadership type courses and initiatives from industry, education and training organisations. 

Through  desk  research  and  expert  dialogue  we  have 
identified  already  existing  activities, 
programmes and courses in universities and business schools which can be considered to incorporate 
e-leadership education elements. 

Methodology 

A Europe-wide data collection survey was carried out to obtain further insight into the e-leadership 
education  landscape  in  each  Member  State.  Already  existing  activities  in  universities  and  business 
schools or from other suppliers were identified. 

The survey intends to explore the extent to which the country’s education system already supplies 
training  in  e-leadership.  Based  on  experience  with  the  Higher  Education  landscape  from  previous 
work,  a  data  gathering  guide  and  template  for  use  by  researchers  have  been  developed  to  cover 
information on supply and take-up of e-leadership related courses. Programmes could either be long 
programmes,  such  as  MBA  or  Master’s  courses,  but  also  shorter  courses  targeted  at  e-leadership 
skills. 

Researchers  were  asked  to  look  especially  at  the  publicly  available  information  from  websites  of 
providers concerning: 

  MBA / EMBA programmes 
  Other executive education programmes (except MBA / EMBA) 
  Master’s and other post graduate programmes (MSc, M.A., M.Eng., other postgraduates) in  
 

Computer Science, Informatics and Software Engineering 

 

Business  Informatics  and  other  hybrids  of  computer  science  and  management  /  business 
administration 

  Management / Business Administration 
  Other  programmes  in  Humanities,  Social  Sciences,  Health  or  other  disciplines  if  they  are 

related to both ICT and business management. 

 

Short programmes at a competence level compared to a Master’s programme, i.e. requiring a 
first degree or extended experience or with similar learning outcomes (in depth if not – due to 
the shortness – in breadth). 

The  major  goal  of  the  data  gathering  was  the  identification  of  programmes  lending  itself  to  e-
leadership.  The  selection  is  based  on  the  criterion  that  an  informatics  programme  to  be  selected 
would  need  to  include  a  certain  share  of  modules  from  the  business  domain  and  vice  versa.  The 
threshold was set at 25%. This threshold was later weakened to include also programmes which are 
targeted  at  potential  e-leaders  with  an  entry  profile  covering  the  combination  of  skills  from  the  e-
leadership definition, i.e. business savvy, IT savvy and engagement capabilities. 

The intended result was a clear overview of the national e-Leadership education markets:  

 

 

Compilation of MBAs with significant ICT content, oriented towards SMEs or entrepreneurs  

Compilation of programmes of computer science / ICT with a significant share of business (25% 
roughly) , oriented towards SMEs or entrepreneurs 

204 / 228 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

 

 

 

Compilation of hybrid programmes, mostly called business informatics or business information 
systems (all assumed are combined programmes), oriented towards SMEs or entrepreneurs 

Compilation  of  business  management  programmes  with  significant  ICT  content,  oriented 
towards SMEs or entrepreneurs. 

Compilation  of  short  programmes  at  a  skills  level  compared  to  a  Master’s  programme, 
oriented towards SMEs or entrepreneurs. 

Data  were  collected  by  visiting  the  websites  of  all  relevant  institutions  of  Higher  Education  which 
offer courses in these areas. 

In  a  first  instance,  websites  were  checked  for  programmes  that  might  fit  the  criteria  based  on  a 
superficial scan of programme descriptions. Purely consecutive Master’s programmes were already 
excluded at this stage. This step yielded a total of 594 programmes. 

The first filter applied was professional orientation. Professional orientation was assumed when the 
learner  could  take  part  in  the  programme  while  continuing  working.  293  programmes  were  found 
professional oriented.  

The  second  filter,  to  be  checked  mainly  for  business  school  programmes,  is  that  the  IT  modules 
included are significant both in scope and depth. Programmes with less than 25% of IT content were 
excluded as well as programmes with modules at beginner skills levels. 

The  third  filter  relates  to  the  study’s  focus  on  SMEs  and  entrepreneurs  and  checked  that  the 
programme is aimed, if not in focus then at least by mentioning the target group, at either SMEs or 
entrepreneurs. 241 programmes are aimed at entrepreneurs and 28 at SMEs (18 of which at both). 

In total 67 programmes met all three criteria. 

205 / 228 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 6-1: Long List of European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs 

Title of study programme  Name of programme provider / 

Executive Masters 

Executive Master of Enterprise IT 
Architecture 
Executive Master of IT Governance 
and Assurance 
Digital Business 

MBAs 

MBA IT Management 
MBA IT 

university 

Antwerp Management School, Maastricht 
University School of Business and Economics 
Antwerp Management School, Maastricht 
University School of Business and Economics 
Instituto Superior Autónomo de Estudios 
Politécnicos, Lisbon 
Graduate School Rhein Neckar 
Riga Technical University 

Responsible institution / 
school 

Antwerp Management School 

Antwerp Management School 

Instituto Superior Autónomo de Estudios 
Politécnicos, Lisboa 
Graduate School Rhein Neckar 
Riga Business School 

Professional MBA Entrepreneurship & 
Innovation 
Information Systems 

Vienna University of Technology, Vienna 
University of Economics and Business 
University of New York 

Business School 

University of New York in Prague 

M.Sc. 

Information Technologies Project 
Management 
Master of IT 

New Bulgarian University 

New Bulgarian University 

University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg 
University, Aarhus University 

IT Management 
Management of Information Systems  The University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin  School of Computer Science & Information 

Central European University 

Duration 

Language  Ref.No. 

2 years - part time 

3 years - part time 

1 year (Thursday and Friday 
evening classes) 
2 years part-time 
2.5 years part-time (2 courses per 
semester with two evening classes 
per week) 
18 months + thesis, part-time. 
Blocked seminars of 3 to 6 days 
18 months – 2 weekends per 
month 
1.5 years (Fridays and Saturdays) 

English 

English 

Portuguese 

German/English 
English 

English 

English 

3 

4 

43 

10 
37 

1 

7 

Bulgarian and English  5 

Business Informatics 
Business Intelligence and Social 
Media MSc 
Computing and Entrepreneurship 

Utrecht University 
London South Bank University 

University of Kent 

IT Consultancy 

University of Kent 

Business Technologies 

Birkbeck University of London 

Cloud and Enterprise Computing  
Computing and IT Management 

Nottingham Trent University 
Cardiff University 

Engineering - Cybernetics and 
Communications 
Business Information 

Nottingham Trent University 

IT-Vest, networking universities: University of 
Southern Denmark, Aalborg University, 
Aarhus University 
CEU Business School 

Systems 
Faculty of Science   
Informatics Department, The Business School, 
London South Bank University 
School of Computing and Kent Business 
School 
School of Computing and Kent Business 
School 
Birkbeck University of London 

School of Science and Technology 
Cardiff School of Computer Science and 
Informatics 
Faculty of Science and Technology 

2 years part time 

Danish 

1 year 
2 years part-time 

2 years  
16 months 

English 

English 
English 

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time  English 

1 or 2 years full-time 

English 

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time ( 
2-3 evenings 
1 year full-time, 2 years part-time   English 
1 year full-time, 3  years part-time  English 

English 

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time  English 

11 

30 
32 

39 
45 

47 

48 

49 

50 
52 

54 

41 

BE 

BE 

PT 

DE 
LV 

AT 

CZ 

BG 

DK 

HU 
IE 

NL 
UK 

UK 

UK 

UK 

UK 
UK 

UK 

Politechnic Institute of Porto – Superior School 
of Industrial Studies and Management 

Politechnic Institute of Porto – Superior 
School of Industrial Studies and Management 

PT 

2 years, part-time 

Portuguese 

206 / 228 

 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

IT Management for Business 

London South Bank University 

UK 

16 months 

English 

The London School of Economics and Political 
Science 
Cyprus International Institute of Management  Cyprus International Institute of Management  CY 

UK 

Informatics Department, The Business School, 
London South Bank University 
LSE 

Steinbeis School of Management + Innovation  Steinbeis School of Management + Innovation  DE 
DE 
Steinbeis School of Management and 
Innovation 
School of Economics University of Turku 

Steinbeis School of Management and 
Innovation 
University of Turku 

FI 

1 year full-time. 2 years part-time  English 

1-2 years part-time 

2 years part time 
2 years (50 days face-to-face) 

2 years 

English 

German 
German 

English 

GR 

12 month, 2 years part-time 

English 

Management, Information Systems 
and Digital Innovation 
MSc Management - Entrepreneurship 
and Innovation / E -Commerce 
Digital Media Management 
Online Marketing 

Global Information Technology 
Management 
Management of Business, Innovation 
and Technology (MBIT) 

E-Business Strategy and Systems 
IT & Strategic Innovation 

Athens Tech College, a new joint venture of 
Business College of Athens (BCA) and Athens 
Information Technology (AIT) 
University of Liverpool 
Kingston University London 

Other Masters 

Master in Information and 
Communication Technologies 

Aalborg University Copenhagen 

Cloud Business 
Business Analytics and Big Data 

Pablo de Olavide University 
IE University 

Informatics Engineering 
Digital Media Technology 
Distributed Systems and Services 
(Cloud Computing) 
Internet Technology and Architecture  EIT ICT Labs Master School 
EIT ICT Labs Master School 
Service Design and Engineering 
Riga Technical University 
Business Informatics 

Polytechnic University of Valencia 
EIT ICT Labs Master School 
EIT ICT Labs Master School 

Computer Engineering 

Politécnico do Porto 

HAAGA-HELIA 
University Atlantica 

Information System Management 
Management Systems and 
Information Technology 
Master degree in Digital Business 
Management 
Master in Business and Information 
Technology 
Integrated Master’s in Management   Télécom Ecole de Management 
TEMA  
Master in Management 

NEOMA Business School 
Polytechnic University of Milan 

University of Cantabria 

La Salle International Graduate School 

Athens Tech College, a new joint venture of 
Business College of Athens (BCA) and Athens 
Information Technology (AIT) 
Management School 
School of Computing and Information 
Systems 
Center for Communication, Media and 
Information Technology (CMI) Aalborg, 
University Copenhagen 
Centro de Estudios de Postgrado (CEDEP)  
IE School of social and behavioural sciences in 
cooperation with IE Business School 
School of Computer Engineering 

Department of Computer Science and 
Information Technology 
School of Technology and Management 
Felgueiras (ESTGF) 

University Atlantica 

LID 

Faculty of Economics and Business 

Télécom Ecole de Management 
NEOMA Business School 
School of Management 

UK 
UK 

DK 

ES 
ES 

ES 
EU 
EU 

EU 
EU 
LV 

PT 

FI 
PT 

ES 

ES 

FR 
FR 
IT 

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time  English 
English 
1 year full time, 2-3 years part-
time 
2-3 years part-time 

English 

1 year 
10 month full-time 

2 years full-time 
2 years 
2 years 

2 years 
2 years 
2 years full-time, 2.5 years part-
time 
2 years part-time 

2-3 years, part-time 
2 years (evening classes) 

1 year  

1 year 

3 years 
5 years 
2 years, part-time (1-2 days per 
month) 
1.5 years (Fridays and Saturdays) 

Castilian 
Spanish 

Spanish 
English 
English 

English 
English 
Latvian 

Portuguese 

Finnish 
Portuguese 

Spanish 

English 
English 
Italian 

English 

Innovation and Technology 

University of Management and Economics, 

University of Management and Economics 

LT 

207 / 228 

46 

56 

6 

8 
9 

24 

29 

53 
55 

13 

16 
18 

19 
20 
21 

22 
23 
38 

42 

25 
44 

14 

17 

26 
27 
34 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Management 
Master MIAGE specialisation in IT and 
Innovation 

Kaunas 
Public Research Centre Henri Tudor in 
collaboration with University of Lorraine 

Non-Master 

Diploma in IT 
Information Systems – SME 

IT University of Copenhagen 
Università Lum Jean Monnet, Casamassima 

Public Research Centre Henri Tudor and 
University Lorraine, in collaboration with 
University Namur 
IT University of Copenhagen 
School of Management 

Zertifizierte/r IT-Prozessmanager/in 
(Certified / IT Process Manager) 
Advanced Programme in Digital 
Innovation Management and IT 
Governance 
Information Technology in Small and 
Medium Enterprises 
Tech Mini MBA - Leading Strategic 
Innovation 
Innovation Management 

FH Kufstein 

FH Kufstein 

IE Business School 

IE Business School 

University of Silesia, Katowice 

University of Silesia, Katowice 

Athens Information Technology Center of 
Excellence for Research and Education 
Dublin City University 

Athens Information Technology 

Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurs 

Managing IT in the Digital Age 

ESMT 

ESMT, Berlin 

LU 

2 years part time 

French 80% - English 
20% 

36 

DK 
IT 

AT 

ES 

PL 

GR 

IE 

DE 

2-6 years part-time 
80 hours (meetings will be held on 
Friday from 14-18 and Saturday 
from 9-13) 
4-days 

6 months - face session twice a 
month and online sessions 

2 semesters 

5 months  

Danish 
Italian 

German 

Spanish 

Polish 

12 
33 

2 

15 

40 

English and Greek 

28 

1 Semester - 3 days per week + 40 
business project in a host company 
3 days 

English 

English 

31 

57 

Source: Desk research. Only programmes meeting all criteria: Significant IT and business learning outcomes, professional and leadership orientation, target 
group SMEs and entrepreneurs. 

208 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 6-2: Analysis of European e-Leadership programmes targeting leaders and professionals in SMEs and entrepreneurs 

School type 

Focus IT / business 

Target  fit 

Online 

Industry 
input 

Role targeted / mentioned 

Technology targeted 

t
c
e
j
o
r
p
/
m
a
r
g
o
r
P

s
r
e
g
a
n
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m

-
s
n
a
r
t

/
n
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i
t
a
v
o
n
n

I

n
o
i
t
a
m
r
o
f

a
t
a
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-
g
i
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g
n
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t
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p
m
o
C
d
u
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l

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n

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l

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p
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i

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e

i

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l

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)
l

a
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(

.
t
p
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d
/
l
o
o
h
c
s

s
s

e
n
i
s
u
b
/
t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
M
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

g
n
i
r
e
e
n
i
g
n
e
/
T
I

.
t
p
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d
/
l
o
o
h
c
s

o
N

-
.
f
e
R

3 
4 
43 
10 
37 
1 
7 
5 
11 
30 
32 
39 
45 
47 
48 
49 
50 
52 
54 
41 
46 
56 
6 
8 
9 
24 
29 
53 
55 
13 
16 
18 
19 
20 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

/
n
o
i
t
u
t
i
t
s
n

i

i
g
n
h
c
a
e
T

T
I

n
o
s
u
c
o
f

r
e
t
a
e
r
G
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

n
o
i
t
a

i
l
i
f
f
a

l

o
o
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c
s
o
n

l

e
b
i
s
i
v

T
I

n
o
s
u
c
o
f

r
e
t
a
e
r
G

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

n
o
s
u
c
o
f

r
e
t
a
e
r
G

t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
m

/

t
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m
e
g
a
n
a
m

s
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e
n
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b

i

p
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l

i

p
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s
r
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r
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t
n
E

s
u
c
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f

-
E
M
S

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

l

d
e
d
n
e
b
:
s
d
o
h
t
e
M
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

s
e
s
r
u
o
C

t
u
p
n

i

r
e
y
o
p
m
E

l

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

t
u
p
n

i
y
r
t
s
u
d
n

i

T
C
I

s
e
v
i
t
u
c
e
x
e
s
s
e
n
i
s
u
B

)
T
I
-
n
o
n
(

T
I

f
o
d
a
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h
/
O
I
C

r
u
e
n
e
r
p
e
r
t
n
E

t
n
a
t
l
u
s
n
o
C
T
C
I

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

t
s
y
l

a
n
a
T
I
/

t
c
e
t
i
h
c
r
A
X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

t
i
d
u
a
/
y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

X 

X 

l

r
e
p
o
e
v
e
D
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

209 / 228 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

s
s
e
n
i
s
u
B
-
E

T
o

I

y
t
i
l
i

b
o
M

l

a

i
c
o
S

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

School type 

Focus IT / business 

Target  fit 

Online 

Role targeted / mentioned 

Technology targeted 

e
n
i
s
u
b
/
t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
M

.
t
p
e
d
/
l
o
o
h
c
s

s
s

g
n
i
r
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e
n
i
g
n
e
/
T
I

.
t
p
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d
/
l
o
o
h
c
s

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
31 

X 

X 
X 

24 

o
N

-
.
f
e
R

21 
22 
23 
38 
42 
25 
44 
14 
17 
26 
27 
34 
35 
36 
12 
33 
2 
15 
40 
28 
31 
57 
Total 

/
n
o
i
t
u
t
i
t
s
n

i

i
g
n
h
c
a
e
T

n
o
i
t
a

i
l
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f
f
a

l

o
o
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e
b
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I

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s
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G

T
I

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f

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t
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G

n
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s
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c
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t
a
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G

t
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m
e
g
a
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a
m

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t
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e
m
e
g
a
n
a
m

s
s
e
n
i
s
u
b

i

p
h
s
r
e
d
a
e

l

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

6 

24 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
19 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
23 

X 
X 

X 

4 

i

p
h
s
r
u
e
n
e
r
p
e
r
t
n
E

s
u
c
o
f

-
E
M
S

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
45 

e
n

i
l

n
O
n
e
p
O
e
v
i
s
s
a
M

i

g
n
n
r
a
e
l
-
e

i

/
g
n
n
r
a
e

l

-
C
O
O
M

:
s
d
o
h
t
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M

)
l

a
i
t
r
a
p
o
s
l

a
(

l

d
e
d
n
e
b
:
s
d
o
h
t
e
M

X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

Industry 
input 

t
u
p
n

i

r
e
y
o
p
m
E

l

s
e
s
r
u
o
C

t
u
p
n

i
y
r
t
s
u
d
n

i

T
C
I

X 

X 

t
s
y
l

a
n
a
T
I
/

t
c
e
t
i
h
c
r
A

X 

X 

t
i
d
u
a
/
y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

l

r
e
p
o
e
v
e
D
X 

X 
X 

t
n
a
t
l
u
s
n
o
C
T
C
I

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

s
e
v
i
t
u
c
e
x
e
s
s
e
n
i
s
u
B

)
T
I
-
n
o
n
(

r
u
e
n
e
r
p
e
r
t
n
E

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

X 
X 

T
I

f
o
d
a
e
h
/
O
I
C

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
10 

t
c
e
j
o
r
p
/
m
a
r
g
o
r
P

s
r
e
g
a
n
a
m

-
s
n
a
r
t

/
n
o
i
t
a
v
o
n
n

I

n
o
i
t
a
m
r
o
f

g
n
i
t
u
p
m
o
C
d
u
o
C
X 

l

a
t
a
D
-
g
i
B
X 

y
t
i
l
i

b
o
M

l

a

i
c
o
S

T
o

I

s
s
e
n
i
s
u
B
-
E

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

15 

0 

6 

13 

11 

13 

13 

X 
10 

6 

12 

41 

28 

9 

9 

5 

5 

1 

13 

Source: Desk research. Only programmes meeting all criteria: Significant IT and business learning outcomes, professional and leadership orientation, target 
group SMEs and entrepreneurs. 

210 / 228 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

E-Learning courses, MOOCs 

An  online  data  collection  survey  was  carried  out  to  obtain  insight  into  the  online  e-leadership 
education landscape provided by private and public institutions. We used the keywords based on the 
Europe-wide data collection survey on Higher Education. During research it became clear very quickly 
that of the  MOOCs found virtually none fulfil more than one of the criteria  developed to assess e-
leadership propensity of learning offers.  

This result of our research needs not say that MOOCs do not contribute to e-leadership, as due to the 
short duration and limited content taught MOOCs can be used in a modular manner to support single 
topic  education  needs.  MOOCs  may  not  be  fully  fledged  e-leadership-MOOCs  per  se,  but  may 
nevertheless help e-leaders gain some of the competences needed.  

The  keywords  we  used  to 
IT-,Business-  and 
Entrepreneurship content were: ICT, IT, Computer Science, Business, Management, IT Management, 
Entrepreneurship,  Business  plan,  Value  creation,  Innovation,  Cloud  Computing,  IT  Architecture,  IT 
Security, Big Data, Data Analysis, E-Business, Startup, SME and Leadership. 

implement  our  survey  with  the  criteria  of 

The detected courses have been checked for specific content and target group. 91 relevant courses 
have  been  identified  which  provide  a  broad  range  of  education  in  the  fields  of  IT  and  Business  for 
continuing education. The specification of the MOOCs allows SMEs to participate in courses directly 
shaped for the need of their business. The majority of 59 courses have IT content. The Data can be 
used to create an overview of MOOCs offered for students interested in specific topics. 

 211 / 228 

 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 6-3: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - technical or technology related MOOCS 

Technical or technology related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

University of Osnabrück 

German 

Hasso-Plattner-Institut 

English 

6 weeks 

https://iversity.org/courses/algorithmen-und-datenstrukturen-9e5008f3-56de-4a1c-9242-
13922984d3e4   
https://open.hpi.de/courses/imdb2014   

Hasso-Plattner-Institut 

German 

6 weeks 

https://open.hpi.de/courses/sql   

Stanford University 

English 

http://online.stanford.edu/course/databases-self-paced  

PekingX 

Mandarin 

16 weeks 

Tsinghua University 

Mandarin 

16 weeks 

https://www.edx.org/course/pekingx/pekingx-04830050x-shu-ju-jie-gou-yu-suan-
2061#.VBajMfl_vh4   
https://www.edx.org/course/tsinghuax/tsinghuax-30240184x-data-structures-shu-
3416#.VBamPPl_vh4   
https://www.edx.org/course/mitx/mitx-mas-s69x-big-data-social-physics-1737#.VBanF_l_vh4   

Big Data and Social Physics  MIT 

1 week 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

iversity 

openHPI 

openHPI 

OpenEdX 

edX 

edX 

edX 

Udacity 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

Algorithm and 
Datastructure 
In-Memory Data 
Management -  
Implications of Enterprise 
Systems 
Datamanagement with 
SQL 
Databases: Self-Paced 

Data Structures and 
Algorithms Part 1 
Data Structures 

Intro to Data Science 

The Caltech-JPL Summer 
School on Big Data 
Analytics 
Mining Massive Datasets 

Process Mining: Data 
Science in Action 
Computational Methods 
for Data Analysis 
Data Analysis 

Web Intelligence and Big 
Data 
Introduction to Data 
Science 
The Data Scientist´s 
Toolbox 
Getting and Cleaning Data 

Data Analysis and 
Statistical Inference 

English 

English 

English 

English 

English 

2 months 

https://www.udacity.com/course/ud359   

2 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/bigdataschool  

7 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/mmds   

6 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/procmin   

Stanford University 

Eindhoven University of 
Technology 
University of Washington 

English 

10 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/compmethods   

Johns Hopkins University 

English 

8 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/dataanalysis   

Indian Institute of 
Technology Delhi 
University of Washington 

English 

9 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/bigdata  

English 

8 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/datasci 

Johns Hopkins University 

English 

4 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/datascitoolbox 

Johns Hopkins University 

English 

4 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/getdata 

Duke University 

English 

10 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/statistics  

212 / 228 

  
  
  
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Technical or technology related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

Exploratory Data Analysis 

Johns Hopkins University 

English 

4 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/exdata 

Developing Data Products 

Johns Hopkins University 

English 

4 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/devdataprod 

Big Data and Information 
Dissemination 
Learning from Data 

Fudan University 

Caltech 

chinese 

English 

English 

https://www.coursera.org/course/fdubigdata 

10 weeks 

https://www.edx.org/course/caltechx/caltechx-cs1156x-learning-data-2516#.VBqZGPl_vh4  

8 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/metadata 

edX 

coursera 

Metadata: Organizing and 
Discovering Information 
Foundations of Data 
Analysis 
MITOpenCourseWare  Advanced Data Structures  MIT 

The University of North 
Carolina 
UT Austin 

English 

13 weeks 

English 

https://www.edx.org/course/utaustinx/utaustinx-ut-7-01x-foundations-data-
2641#.VBqcdPl_vh4 
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-851-advanced-
data-structures-spring-2012/index.htm 
https://www.coursera.org/course/compdata   

Johns Hopkins University 

English 

4 weeks 

Hasso-Plattner-Institut 

English 

6 weeks 

https://open.sap.com/courses/hanacloud1-1   

University of Illinois 

English 

4-24 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/specialization/cloudcomputing/19   

LIDlearning 

Spanish 

2 weeks 

University of Washington 

English 

10 weeks 

http://lidlearning.com/shop/borja-adsuara/gestion-de-la-tecnologia-en-los-negocios-digitales-
2/   
https://www.coursera.org/course/inforisk  

English 

10 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/infosec  

University of Washington 

English 

10 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/inforiskman  

Computer Security 

Stanford University 

Darmstadt University of 
Technology 
University of Maryland 

Hasso-Plattner-Institut 

German 

English 

English 

English 

https://www.opencourseworld.de/pages/coursedescription.jsf?book=false&courseId=485951   

6 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/softwaresec   

https://www.coursera.org/course/security  

6 weeks 

https://open.sap.com/courses/hana1-1   

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

coursera 

coursera 

coursera 

edX 

coursera 

openSAP 

coursera 

LIDlearning 

coursera 

coursera 

33 

coursera 

34 

35 

36 

44 

45 

46 

opencourseworld 

coursera 

coursera 

openSAP 

coursera 

The Open University 

Computing for Data 
Analysis 
Introduction to SAP HANA 
Cloud Platform 
Cloud Computing 

Technology Management 
in Digital Business 
Building an Information 
Risk Management Toolkit 
Designing and Executing 
Information Security 
Strategies 
Information Security and 
Risk Management in 
Context 
IT Security 

Software Security 

Introduction to Software 
Development on SAP 
HANA 
Informatik für Ökonomen 

Diploma of Higher 
Education in Computing & 

University of Zurich 

German 

14 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/inf4oec  

English 

4 years 
Part-time 

213 / 228 

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/w42  

  
  
  
  
  
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Technical or technology related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

50 

51 

91 

coursera 

Udacity 

Open2Study 

IT and Business 

Computer Architecture 

Princeton University 

Computer Networking 

Georgia Tech 

Introduction to Enterprise 
Architecture 

English 

English 

English 

11 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/comparch   

3 months 

https://www.udacity.com/course/ud436   

4 weeks 

https://www.open2study.com/courses/introduction-to-enterprise-architecture  

Table 6-4: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - IT management / MIS related MOOCS 

IT management / MIS related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

25 

43 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

61 

Alison 

Alison 

Alison 

Saylor Academy 

Alison 

MITOpenCourseWare 

Alison 

The Open University 

IT Management - Software 
and Databases 
Diploma in Information 
Technology Management 
Understanding 
Information Control for IT 
Managers 
Management Information 
Systems 
Introduction to 
Information Technology 
for Managers 
Practical Information 
Technology Management 
IT Management - Building 
Information Systems 
IT Project and Service 
Management 

Global Text Project 

Global Text Project 

MIT 

Global Text Project 

Global Text Project 

English 

English 

English 

English 

English 

English 

English 

English 

http://alison.com/courses/IT-Management-Software-and-Databases 

http://alison.com/courses/Diploma-in-Information-Technology-Management  

http://alison.com/courses/Understanding-Information-Control-for-IT-Managers   

http://www.saylor.org/courses/bus206/  

http://alison.com/courses/Introduction-to-Information-Technology-for-Managers  

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-568a-practical-information-
technology-management-spring-2005/syllabus/ 
http://alison.com/courses/IT-Management-Building-Information-Systems  

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/modules/m258 

214 / 228 

  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 6-5: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Business / e-business and management related MOOCS 

Business / e-business and management related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

47 

48 

49 

89 

90 

opencourseworld 

eBusiness for SME 

eMasterCraft 

German 

32 hours 

https://www.opencourseworld.de/pages/coursedescription.jsf?book=false&courseId=1210589   

Alison 

Udemy 

Alison 

The Open University 

METU Open Course 
Ware 
opencourseworld 

openHPI 

Alison 

Saylor Academy 

Open Courseware 

Diploma in Web Business 
Development and 
Marketing 
Online Marketing for Small 
Business 
Diploma in E-Business 

E-Business technologies: 
foundations and practice 
E-business Environment 
and Architecture 
Business Process 
Management 
Business Process Modeling 
and Analysis 
Diploma in Business 
Process Management 
Small Business 
Management 
SME Management 

Advance Learning 

English 

http://alison.com/courses/Dipoma-in-Web-Business-Development-and-Marketing  

Google 

Middle East Technical 
University 
Saarland University 

English 

English 

English 

English 

German 

Hasso-Plattner-Institut 

English 

https://www.udemy.com/online-marketing-for-small-business/ 

http://alison.com/courses/Diploma-in-E-Business  

30 weeks 

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/modules/t320  

http://ocw.metu.edu.tr/course/info.php?id=20  

max. 4 
months 
6 weeks 

https://www.opencourseworld.de/pages/coursedescription.jsf?book=false&courseId=486671   

https://open.hpi.de/courses/bpm2013   

Global Text Project 

English 

http://alison.com/courses/Diploma-in-Business-Process-Management 

English 

98.25 hours 

http://www.saylor.org/courses/bus305/  

Virtual University of Pakistan 

English 

http://ocw.vu.edu.pk/CourseDetails.aspx?cat=Management&course=MGT601 

Table 6-6: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Start-up / entrepreneurship related MOOCS 

Start-up / entrepreneurship related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme 
provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

52 

62 

63 

coursera 

NovoEd 

coursera 

Startup Engineering 

Stanford University 

Technology Entrepreneurship 

Stanford University 

English 

English 

12 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/startup   

6 weeks 

https://novoed.com/venture1-2014-2   

Developing Innovative Ideas for 
New Companies: The First Step in 

University of Maryland 

English 

6 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/innovativeideas   

215 / 228 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Start-up / entrepreneurship related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme 
provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

64 

MITOpenCourseWare 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

Udacity 

coursera 

NovoEd 

edX 

Alison 

MITOpenCourseWare 

Alison 

Alison 

coursera 

Alison 

Alison 

Open Courseware 

METU Open Course 
Ware 
NovoEd 

MITOpenCourseWare 

Entrepreneurship 

Corporate Entrepreneurship: 
Strategies for Technology-Based 
New Business Development 
How to Build a Startup 

Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing 
Entrepreneurship in Transitioning 
Economies 
Writing a Successful Business Plan 

Entrepreneurship 101: Who is 
your customer 
Characteristics of the Successful 
Entrepreneur 
Entrepreneurial Marketing 

Key Elements of Entrepreneurial 
Success 
Critical Skills for Entrepreneurs 

Growth to Greatness: Smart 
Growth for private Businesses 
Entrepreneurship - Creating the 
Business 
Diploma in Business Management 
and Entrepreneurship 
Entrepreneurship 

High-tech Entrepreneurship 

Startup Boards: Advanced 
Entrepreneurship 
Corporate Entrepreneurship: 
Strategies for Technology-Based 
New Business Development 

English 

English 

English 

Case Western Reserve 
University 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-369-corporate-entrepreneurship-
strategies-for-technology-based-new-business-development-fall-2007/ 

1 month 

https://www.udacity.com/course/ep245   

6 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/entpecon   

University of Chicago 
Booth School of Business 

English 

https://novoed.com/writing-business-plan  

English 

6 weeks 

https://www.edx.org/course/mitx/mitx-15-390x-entrepreneurship-101-who-1312#.VBq4Xfl_vh4 

Stanford University 

English 

http://alison.com/courses/Characteristics-of-Successful-Entrepreneur 

MIT 

English 

Stanford University 

English 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-835-entrepreneurial-marketing-
spring-2002/  
http://alison.com/courses/Key-Elements-of-Entrepreneurial-Success 

Stanford University 

English 

http://alison.com/subjects/9/Business-and-Enterprise-Skills?page=1 

University of Virginia 

English 

5 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/growtogreatness 

Connexions 

XSIQ 

Virtual University of 
Pakistan 
Middle East Technical 
University 

English 

English 

English 

English 

http://alison.com/courses/Entrepreneurship-Creating-the-Business  

http://alison.com/courses/Diploma-in-Business-Management-Entrepreneurship  

http://ocw.vu.edu.pk/CourseDetails.aspx?cat=Management&course=MGT602  

http://ocw.metu.edu.tr/course/info.php?id=96  

English 

2 months 

http://venture-lab.org/advanced_venture 

English 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-369-corporate-entrepreneurship-
strategies-for-technology-based-new-business-development-fall-2007/  

216 / 228 

  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 6-7: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Digital transformation and innovation related MOOCS 

Digital transformation and innovation related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

LIDlearning 

LIDlearning 

openSAP 

coursera 

Digital Innovation and 
Transformation 
Digital Transformation 

LIDlearning 

LIDlearning 

Sustainability and Business 
Innovation 
Leading Strategic 
Innovation in Organizations 

Hasso-Plattner-Institut 

Spanish 

3 weeks 

http://lidlearning.com/shop/conrado-castillo/innovacion-y-transformacion-digital/ 

Spanish 

English 

http://lidlearning.com/shop/curso-experto/transformacion-digital/ 

6 weeks 

https://open.sap.com/courses/sbi1   

Vanderbilt University 

English 

9 weeks 

https://www.coursera.org/course/innovation  

MITOpenCourseWare  Managing Innovation and 

MIT 

English 

FutureLearn 

Entrepreneurship 
Innovation and Enterprise 

Loughborough University 

English 

6 weeks 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-351-managing-innovation-and-
entrepreneurship-spring-2008/  
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/innovation-and-enterprise-2 

Table 6-8: List of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills - Strategy and leadership related MOOCS 

Strategy and leadership related 

No. 

Platform 

Title of programme 

Programme provider 

Language 

Duration 

URL 

53 

Alison 

Introduction to Corporate 
IT Strategy and Business 
Frameworks 
Strategic Information 
Technology 
Generating Business Value 
from Information 
Technology 
Leadership Skills in 
Business 
Effective leadership skills 

Global Text Project 

English 

http://alison.com/courses/IT-Corporate-Strategy-Business-Frameworks  

MIT 

Connexions 

English 

English 

http://www.saylor.org/courses/bus303/  

http://www.oeconsortium.org/courses/view/82774f5411d865c2d1a157c48d7de632/  

http://alison.com/courses/Leadership-Skills-in-Business 

English 

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/short-courses/gb003 

Saylor Academy 

Open Education 
Consortium 

Alison 

The Open University 

Saylor Academy 

Management Leadership 

Sunstone Business School 

English 

96 hours 

http://www.saylor.org/courses/bus401/  

217 / 228 

80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

85 

54 

60 

86 

87 

88 

 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

Table 6-9: Analysis of MOOCs pertinent to e-Leadership skills 

No. 

IT content 

Business content 

IT content 

Big Data/ 
Data 
Structures  

Cloud 
computing 

IT Security  Web/ E-
Business 

IT basics 

Business 
Processes 

other IT 
content 

IT 
Manageme
nt 

Entreprene
urship 

Innovation/ 
Transforma
tion 

Leadership 

SME 
specializati
on 

Business 
Management 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 

x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

218 / 228 

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

No. 

IT content 

Business content 

IT content 

Big Data/ 
Data 
Structures  

Cloud 
computing 

IT Security  Web/ E-
Business 

IT basics 

Business 
Processes 

other IT 
content 

IT 
Manageme
nt 

Entreprene
urship 

Innovation/ 
Transforma
tion 

Leadership 

SME 
specializati
on 

Business 
Management 

x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 

x 
x 
x 
x 
x 
x 

x 

35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

219 / 228 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Draft Final Report 

No. 

IT content 

Business content 

IT content 

Big Data/ 
Data 
Structures  

Cloud 
computing 

IT Security  Web/ E-
Business 

IT basics 

Business 
Processes 

other IT 
content 

IT 
Manageme
nt 

Entreprene
urship 

Innovation/ 
Transforma
tion 

Leadership 

SME 
specializati
on 

Business 
Management 

x 
x 

73 
74 
75 
76 
77 
78 
80 
81 
82 
83 
84 
85 
86 
87 
88 
89 
90 
91 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

220 / 228 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

European e-Leadership Scoreboard Methodology 

The  above  described  theoretical  framework  has  served  as  the  basis  for  selecting  and 
combining single indicators into a meaningful way. The overall e-leadership performance 
in  each  of  the  country  has  been  summarized  into  a  scoreboard,  and  further  on  into  a 
composite indicator (e-leadership index). These raised a number of challenges related to 
the  quality  of  the  data  selected  and  to  their  combination  into  a  single  indicator.  A 
number of steps were taken to assure the quality of the data and the reliability of the e-
leadership index. The steps followed are explained in more details below: 

Step 1: Identifying and addressing outliers 

Mean  and  standard  deviations  have  been  calculated  for  all  indicators  among  all 
countries  included  in  the  scoreboard.  Outliers  have  been  identified  as  the  absolute  z-
values larger than 3. Relative to the case, the values distorting the variable distribution 
(positive/negative outliers) have been replaced by maximum/minimum values observed 
in  each  single  indicator.  Beforehand,  some  indicators  have  been  standardized  using 
population data in order to avoid any country-size effects in the dataset sample.  

Step 2: Setting reference year 

A reference year is set depending on the data availability of each indicator for each of 
the countries considered. Overall, for most of the indicators the reference year is lagging 
1-3  years  behind  the  timing  the  e-leadership  scoreboard  refers  to.  In  this  case,  the 
reference  year  for  most  of  the  indicators  of  the  2014  e-leadership  scoreboard  will  be 
lying between years 2011 to 2013. 

Step 3: Treatment of missing data 

When dealing with the missing values, we distinguish among two different cases which 
influence data imputation procedure:  

  Missing at random: If data is not available for a year-in-between, we replace data 

using the value for the previous year / latest year available.  

  Missing completely: For countries which data is completely missing for the entire 
time series, no imputation is effort carried out. In these cases the indicator is left 
empty, marked as not available (N/A), and not considered in the calculation of the 
county scores. Step 4: Min-max data normalization 

Step 4: Calculating re-scaled scores 

Min-max normalisation method was adopted to adjust for differences in terms of units 
of measurement and ranges of variation. All 28 variables have been normalised into the 
[0-10] range, with higher scores representing better performance for the indicators. 

The following normalisation formula has been applied: 

Where: 

Xi = country score 

XMin = sample minimum 

XMax = sample maximum 

Xi, 0 to 10 = the data point i normalized between 0 and 10 

Step 5: Calculating composite e-leadership index 

221 / 228 

 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Methodology 

The process followed towards developing e-leadership index is detailed below: 

 

Step1: Selection of indicators –Conceptual consistency 

As  also  mentioned  above,  candidate  indicators  were  selected  for  their  relevance  to  a 
specific  dimension  /  building  block  and  on  the  basis  of  the  literature  review,  expert 
opinions,  country  coverage,  timelines,  etc.  To  avoid  country-size  effects  as  well  as  to 
represent  a  fair  picture  of  country  differences,  some  indicators  (as  appropriate)  were 
standardised using population data. 

 

Step 2: Treatment of indicators and data checks 

The  quality  and  accuracy  of  a  composite  indicator  as  well  as  the  as  the  reliability  the 
messages  it  aims  at  delivering  depends  not  only  on  the  methodology  its  composition 
builds upon but primarily on the quality of the framework and the data used. 44 Section 0 
summarizes  the  selection  criteria  considered  to  identify  candidate  indicators.  Proxy 
indicators  have  been  utilised  in  cases  when  desired  data  have  not  been  available. 
Considerations  have  also  been  given  to  the  data  quality  assessment  for  the  selected 
variables as well as to the treatment of outliers, approaches used for the imputation of 
missing data, normalisation method used, and so on. 

 

Step 3: Statistical coherence 

A principal component analysis has been conducted to validate the extent to which the 
statistical approach confirms the conceptual framework. From the analysis it came out 
that  none  of  the  selected  variables  should  be  excluded.  Overall,  the  selected  principal 
components explain almost 80% of the total variance. 

 

Step 4: Calculating composite scores  

Prior  to  calculating  a  composite  index,  one  may  decide  on  calculating  an  un-weighted 
average of the variables included or assigning different weights to their scores. Lacking 
clear  theoretical  guidelines  in  assigning  weights  to  the  individual  elements,  we  outline 
four different weighting scenarios assessing differences among achieved results.  

Assessing different weighting approaches 

The e-Leadership  composite indicator  has  been obtained  from  a  weighted  aggregation 
of  24  indicators  used  for  assessing  e-leadership  environment  among  Member  States. 
Based on the overall results, each of the Member States falls into one of the following 
four groups: 

 

 

 

 

Countries with an overall performance 35% or more above the EU28 average fall 
into ‘Group 4’ group.  

‘Group 3’ countries show a performance less than 35% above and 5% below EU28.  

Countries  in  ‘Group  2’  show  a  performance  between  65%  and  95%  of  the  EU28 
average. 

 ‘Group 4’ includes countries which performance is more than 35% below that of 
the EU28 average. 

Equally weighted indicators 

This  weighting  approach  considers  each  indicator  of  the  e-leadership  scoreboard  to 
equally  contribute  to  the  index  score,  hence  each  of  them  being  equally  weighted. 
Results obtained following this weighting approach are presented below: 

44 Handbook on constructing composite indicators: methodology and user guide – ISBN 978-92-64-04345-9 - © OECD 2008 

222 / 228 

                                                            
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Equally weighted building blocks 

Here,  we  assign  equal  weights  to  each  of  the  building  blocks  by  equally  distributing 
weights to each individual indicator in the building block, based on: 

o  The number of indicators available in each building block 
o  Data availability for each indicator individually and for each country 

Results obtained from using this weighting approach are shown below: 

Equally weighted dimensions 

The approach of equally weighted dimensions distributes equal weights to each of the 
four dimensions of the scoreboard. Obtained results are illustrated below: 

223 / 228 

0.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.0ROGRBGPLLVITHRCYSKHUPTCZLTSIEUEEESDEFRATMTBELUSEDKNLUKIEFIGroup 1Group 2Group 3Group 40.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.0ROGRBGPLITLVHUSKCYPTCZHRLTSIEUESEEFRATDELUMTDKBESENLUKFIIEGroup 1Group 2Group 3Group 40.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.0ROGRBGITPLLVHUSKCZCYPTHRLTSIEUESEEFRATDELUSEMTDKBENLFIUKIEGroup 1Group 2Group 3Group 4 
 
 
e-Leadership Skills for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – Final Report 

Approach chosen: Weighted building blocks 

The  following  approach  is  the  one  chosen  after  discussions  at  workshops  and  as  the 
result of e-mail consultation with all workshop participants after workshop 3.  

This approach distributes different weights to each of the building blocks, based on the 
results  obtained from a  regression  analysis  which assesses  relationships  between each 
building  block  (independent  variable)  and  estimated  number  of  e-leaders  for  each  28 
Member  States  (dependent  variable).  The  rationale  behind  this  analysis  is  to  explore 
whether the overall strength of indicators in a building blocks is positively linked to the 
presence  of  e-Leaders.  Results  from  each  performed  regression  analysis  are  shown 
below: 

Results obtained from using this weighting approach are shown below: 

Sensitivity of results on weighting  

E-leadership index scores for each country vary in line with the weighting approach used 
for  obtaining  composite  scores.  The  table  below  summarizes  results  (index  scores  and 
country rankings) for each weighting approach used: 

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Building blockR(sqr)WeightEducation and training0.53716512%e-leadership skilled professionals0.85203718%e-leadership pipeline0.81971518%Business environment0.81904818%Innovation  opportunities0.69211615%Technology trends0.54624112%National policy and stakeholder initiatives 0.3632888%0.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.0ROITBGGRPLSKCYPTHULVHRCZLTESEUSIEEATFRDEMTLUBEDKSENLIEUKFIGroup 1Group 2Group 3Group 4 
 
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CountriesIndex scoreRanking Index scoreRanking Index scoreRanking Index scoreRanking FI7.1517.0726.5537.671UK6.4337.0037.0627.062IE7.1327.1917.7115.663NL6.3846.3746.1645.914SE6.2466.1455.5285.445DK6.2455.9375.7365.916BE5.7085.9566.0555.127LU5.7975.6395.0795.748MT5.3995.6485.5875.519DE5.10125.43104.99105.5210FR5.16115.11124.81125.1211AT5.39105.22114.85114.5712EE4.46144.59134.40134.3413SI4.37154.33153.82153.9014ES4.56134.47144.38143.4315LT3.91164.15163.81163.5716CZ3.81173.57183.01203.8317HR3.16223.58173.38172.8318LV2.83243.13232.87232.7619HU3.41193.16222.92222.8120PT3.64183.44193.30182.9121CY3.32213.24203.02192.8222SK3.38203.18212.93212.8523PL2.61252.68252.86242.8324GR2.23272.45272.42272.3225BG2.41262.57262.70261.9926IT2.95232.69242.77252.3127RO1.34281.17281.06280.8128Group 2Group 3Group 4ApproachEqually weighted indicators(1)Equally weighted buidling blocks(2)Equally weighted dimensions(3)Weighted building blocks(4)Group 1 
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                     doi:10.2769/92119