university–enterprise cooperation

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One of the activities in the WBC-VMnet TEMPUS
project (144684-TEMPUS-2008-RS-JPHES)
was the development of methodology and the
implementation of a comprehensive TSNA analysis
(Training & Service Needs Analysis), which was
carried out in all countries of the WBC region,
involved in the Project consortium (Serbia,
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro),
in the second half of 2009. The proposed
methodology included 5 steps, in accordance
with accepted EU TNA methodology. The research
covered a sample of 49 enterprises in Serbia, 31
enterprises in Croatia, 18 in Montenegro and 19
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from different sectors.
Besides considering the needs of enterprises and
their employees as regards missing trainings and
advanced services in innovative development of
products and processes, the research included
the target group of the unemployed, which
gave insight into labor market needs and the
opportunities of increasing employability of
university staff. For this purpose, standardized
questionnaires for the survey of employers,
employees and the unemployed were developed.
During the research realization, more than 800
questionnaires in the WBC region were collected,
and thus the following has been identified:
1-The needs of enterprises, through:
• Insight into strategic objectives of the
enterprises;
• Analysis of organizational and innovative
potential;
• Assessment of their positioning on domestic
and foreign market;
• Analysis of skills and knowledge of
employees in the development of products
and processes, as well as the
implementation of standards in business;
• Workplace analysis, i.e, the expected
competencies of those who should carry
out activities in that workplace.
2-Existing and required skills of the unemployed.
TSNA results showed that a high percentage
of the surveyed follows trends in their
area, approximately 95%, mainly through
the Internet, participation in trade fairs,
professional literature and cooperation with
universities (research teams, centers...).
Managers of enterprises provided the following
reasons as obstacles to innovation, in order of
importance:
1. Lack of funds;
2. Lack of subsidies for innovation;
3. Lack of resources for innovative technologies
(machines, computers, software);
4. Lack of expertise in the enterprise;
5. Unavailability of foreign sources of
knowledge (external services).
Weak information about the trainings available
in the region was detected, because more than
70% of the surveyed answered that they
weren’t familiar with who carried out the
trainings they needed, while only 17% declared
that the trainings offered met their needs.
72% of managers plan their own development
in the application of new technologies
through collaboration with local teams
of experts, and 96% of them would send
their employees to trainings related to new
technologies in the development of products
and processes. About 90% of people surveyed
thought it very important to have professional
literature and software for the development
of new products and services, and were planning
to appear on new markets.
Among the offered list of potential
trainings, which would be developed within
the WBC-VMnet project, and offered by
Collaborative Training Centers in Kragujevac
(Serbia), Rijeka (Croatia), Banja Luka (BIH)
and Podgorica (Montenegro) for employers,
managers and the unemployed, there is the
greatest demand for the following trainings:
1. Specialized trainings related to the type
of business of the firm;
2. Learning foreign languages;
3. Informative seminars about new trends;
4. Introducing new quality certificates,
and related trainings;
5. CAD/CAM technologies;
6. Development and optimization of the production
processes supported by virtual
manufacturing;
7. Project design and management;
8. Business communication and negotiation.