The ESB-RI works primarly on interdisciplinary fields of research with an application-oriented perspective. Thus, the work of the ESB-RI focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's). SME's play a very important and special role in the modernisation of the economy and society.

In order to guarantee the high quality of its services the ESB-RI concentrates on activities in its three areas of competence:

Within these spheres of competence, the ESB-RI concentrates  on "microeconomic innovation research", "macroeconomic innovation research" and "Knowledge Economy".

Microeconomic innovation research

• Founder personality: Trait of founders / entrepreneurs and the composition of founder teams as well as ethical aspects of entrepreneurship
• Science and Technology: Innovation studies by researching / observing ("Technology Watch") as well as Innovation Audits and Road Maps
• Customer and Market: Market analysis and prognoses of innovative products as well as marketing strategy and marketing controlling
• Management and Organisation: Innovation strategy, strategic alliances and cooperations as well as forms of organisation and benchmarking appendages
• Employees: Support of creative employees, analysis of innovation culture as well as intercultural and ethical aspects of innovation
• Innovation process: Development- and construction systematics (QFD, FMEA), implementation systematics (Shainin), Management of innovation projects, Product Life Cycle Management, E-Business (E-Learning, CRM, SCM), new ways of innovation exploitation as well as cost and finance treatment (especially Target Costing)

• Comparison of innovation abilities of regions
• "Technology Foresight"
• Strategy for growth and sustainablility
• Research- and development policy and the role of international entreprises within globalisation

Knowledge Economy

In the field of "Knowledge Economy" our focus is on different micro- and macroeconomic relations, e.g. on the management level or technology policy. The ESB-RI understands "Knowledge Economy" as an interdisciplinary field of research which refers to applications. It touches short-, middle- and longterm aspects of economic and social development. Mainly:

• Access to knowledge
• Generation of new knowledge, e.g. by Research and Development (R&D)
• Structural premises of knowledge production, e.g. an effective education system

In these fields, our focus is on local, regional, national and global relations (e.g. within the implementation of the Lisbon process).

Current projects in the fields of research of "Knowledge Economy" are:

• Analysis of competitiveness of regions in high developed knowledge societies with focus on labour supply and demand (in cooperation with Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan/Piacenza)
• Question of outsourcing R&D to "low-cost" regions (in cooperation with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants)
• Processes of evaluation of higly innovative knowledge: Knowledge as public asset vs. Intellectual Property Rights (EU project)