Innovation
Kemal Ahson
kahson at geography.ucl.ac.uk
Mon Nov 6 03:32:33 EST 1995
Dear colleagues,
I need your help! Please find enclosed a questionnaire as part of a
project on innovation in agri-food biotechnology. Essentially, I am
trying to get some idea on the major developments currently taking place
in agri-food biotechnology, and how people involved go about `innovating'
in this area. I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few
minutes to complete and return the questionnaire as soon as possible. If
you happen to know anybody who might be interested in completing the
questionnaire please forward it to them.
All responses will be treated in strictest confidence and will be used
for academic research purposes only.
Apologies for any cross postings.
Thanks in advance.
Kemal Ahson
Department of Geography
University College London
26 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AP
kahson at geog.ucl.ac.uk
INNOVATION IN AGRI-FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY QUESTIONNAIRE
Instructions for the completion of the questionnaire
Please answer each question by marking the open brackets opposite your
preferred response(s) or by writing in your answer when asked to do so.
You may mark as many open brackets to each question as you like unless
otherwise specified. Instructions are given where further action is
required. The questionnaire should take between 5-10 minutes.
The questionnaire is divided into 4 sections
SECTION 1: YOU AND YOUR ORGANISATION
In this first section I ask you questions about you and your
organisations' activities.
SECTION 2: AGRI-FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY
This section seeks to establish you and your organisations' involvement
in agri-food biotechnology research and development
SECTION 3: RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
In this section I ask you to describe the research and development in
agri-food biotechnology in your organisation
SECTION 4: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This final section is included to give you the opportunity to include any
additional information or comments you might wish to make
SECTION 1: YOU AND YOUR ORGANISATION
1. What is the name of your company/organisation?
2. What is your name and job title/position (eg. Chief Scientist, Product
Manager, Senior Manager etc.)?
Name:
Job title/position:
3. How would you classify the central activity of your
company/organisation?
( ) Academic R & D
( ) Commercial R & D
( ) Petro-Chemical industry
( ) Food manufacturing
( ) Food retailing
( ) Financing
( ) Government department
( ) Management Consultancy
( ) Legal consultancy
( ) Regulation
( ) Other (please specify)
4. What areas of biotechnology are your company/organisation involved in?
( ) Food
( ) Plant agriculture
( ) Animal agriculture
( ) Chemicals
( ) Human health care
( ) Environmental control
( ) Processing equipment
( ) Research equipment
( ) Other (please specify)
5. Which of the above areas is your organisation primarily involved in?
6. In what region(s) and country are your HQ and biotechnology R&D
facilities located in?
HQ:
R&D:
7. Do you have any HQ/R&D facilities abroad?
( ) No (Please go to Question 8)
( ) Yes
If Yes, in which countries are these facilities located?
HQ:
R&D:
8. What was the size of your organisation in terms of annual turnover and
full time employees in 1994?
Annual turnover:
Full time employees:
9. What percentage of your annual turnover in 1994 was directly linked to
sales and R&D activities in biotechnology?
Sales:
R&D:
10. What percentage of your biotechnology related sales are made to the
following types of customers (best estimate)?
Products Services
Agriculture & Fisheries
Food and Drink
Chemicals
Utilities
NHS
Professional & Scientific Services
Mining
Other (please specify)
Total
SECTION 2: INVOLVEMENT IN AGRI-FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY
1. Is your company/organisation involved in any capacity in the
development and/or application of agri-food biotechnology?
( ) No (Please go to Section 4)
( ) Yes
If Yes, in which of the following areas is your organisation involved in?
( ) Raw material
( ) Ingredients, production and processing aids
( ) Food material
( ) Waste material
( ) Environment
( ) Other (please specify)
2. What is your personal involvement in agri-food biotechnology?
3. Which of the following sources (if any) do you use to keep informed
about (agri-food) biotechnology?
( ) Academic background (please specify)
( ) Books
( ) Newspapers & Magazines
( ) Books
( ) Trade journals (please specify)
( ) Television/Radio
( ) Outside consultants
( ) Colleagues
( ) Lectures
( ) Conferences
( ) Other (please specify)
4. Does your work involve informing others about (agri-food)
biotechnology?
( ) No (Please go to Question 5)
( ) Yes
If Yes, who does this involve (eg. other organisations, other functions
etc.)?
How do you inform them (eg. lectures/presentations, written memos,
telephone etc.)?
5. When do you think genetic engineering techniques (rDNA, cell fusion
etc.) will be used commercially in the following products/processes in
agri-food biotechnology (examples in brackets)?
Key
1 = Currently
2 = In 2 years
3 = In 5 years
4 = Don't know
5 = N/A
Raw material 1 2 3 4 5
Production (IV fertilization, solid-state fermentation) ( )( )( )( )( )
Modification/improvement (bioconversion of polysaccharides)( )( )( )( )( )
Preservation (silage, coffee fermentation) ( )( )( )( )( )
Identification/quality assessment (microbial methods) ( )( )( )( )( )
Ingredients, production and processing aids 1 2 3 4 5
Production (enzymes, vitamins, vanilla) ( )( )( )( )( )
Modification/improvement (hydrolysis of proteins) ( )( )( )( )( )
Preservation (immobilization of biocatalysts) ( )( )( )( )( )
Ident./qual. assessment (enzymatic & microbial methods) ( )( )( )( )( )
Food material 1 2 3 4 5
Production (bread) ( )( )( )( )( )
Modification (meat tenderization) ( )( )( )( )( )
Preservation (lactic acid fermentation) ( )( )( )( )( )
Processing methods (enzymatic separation, fermentation) ( )( )( )( )( )
Ident./qual. assessment (microbial & biological methods) ( )( )( )( )( )
Waste material 1 2 3 4 5
Improvement/modification (single-cell protein, vinegar) ( )( )( )( )( )
Utilization (protein recovery) ( )( )( )( )( )
Ident./qual. assessment (enzymatic & microbial methods) ( )( )( )( )( )
Environment 1 2 3 4 5
Improvement/modification (air/water purification) ( )( )( )( )( )
Preservation (soil preservation) ( )( )( )( )( )
Identification/quality assessment (biosensors) ( )( )( )( )( )
6. In your opinion, how important are the following factors for the
commercialisation of agri-food biotechnology?
Key
1 -> 5 = Least important -> Most important
6 = Don't know
7 = N/A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Size of potential market (products/services) ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Strength of competition ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Price of competitive products/services ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Availability of finance ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
R&D costs ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Adequacy of intellectual property in the UK ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Adequacy of intellectual property in Europe ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Adequacy of intellectual property in the US ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Regulatory requirements in the UK ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Regulatory requirements in Europe ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Regulatory requirements in the US ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Consumer concern ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Availability of collaborators ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Government support ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
SECTION 3: RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
1. Are you and/or your organisation involved in agri-food biotechnology
R&D?
( ) No (Please go on Section 4)
( ) Yes
If Yes, what form does this involvement take?
For you personally:
For your company/organisation:
2. What percentage of your company/organisation's agri-food biotechnology
R&D is in the following areas?
Product development:
Product/service improvement:
Contract work:
Other (please specify):
Total 100
3. Is any of your company/organisations' agri-food biotechnology R&D
carried out in-house?
( ) No (Please go to Question 12)
( ) Yes
If Yes, what are the main reasons for this?
( ) Secrecy
( ) Lack of partners
( ) No need for partners
( ) Historical
( ) Geographical
( ) Cost
( ) Other (please specify)
4. Do you have a specific department for in-house R&D?
( ) No (Please go to Question 5)
( ) Yes
If Yes, what is the department and how many people are employed in it?
Name of department:
Number of full-time employees:
5. Does agri-food biotechnology R&D only involve technical/scientific
staff?
( ) No
( ) Yes (Please go to Question 6)
If No, what are the backgrounds/departments of these other individuals?
6. How would you best describe the structure of the R&D process in your
company/organisation?
( ) Staff working on individual projects
( ) Small groups of individuals working on specific objects
( ) R&D department working on one major project
( ) Other (please describe below)
7. Is the R&D in your company/organisation initiated by one person?
( ) No
( ) Yes (please go to Question 8)
If No, how would you describe the initiation of R&D in your
company/organisation?
8. Is the R&D in your company/organisation managed by one person?
( ) No
( ) Yes (please go to Question 9)
If No, how would you describe the management of R&D in your
company/organisation?
9. Does the in-house R&D involve regular meetings?
( ) No (please go to Question 12)
( ) Yes
If Yes, how frequently are these meetings held and who is involved?
10. How would you describe the aim of these meetings?
11. What types of ideas/information, and products/process are exchanged
in these meetings?
12. Has agri-food biotechnology R&D been carried out with other
companies/organisations?
( ) No (please go to Question 22)
( ) Yes
If Yes, which of the following types of organizations has product
development been carried out with in the last two years?
( ) Academic R & D
( ) Dedicated biotechnology firms
( ) Petro-chemical industry
( ) Food manufacturers
( ) Retailers
( ) Farmers
( ) Government agency (please specify)
( ) Other (please specify)
13. How would you classify the types of collaborative R&D agreements with
other organisations (in percentages)?
Contracting of specific R&D:
Joint ventures:
Licensing agreements:
Other (please specify):
Total: 100
14. During inter-organisational R&D, what departments in your
company/organisation are individuals drawn from?
15. How would you best describe the structure of inter-organisational
R&D?
16. Is the inter-organisational R&D initiated by one person?
( ) No
( ) Yes (please go to Question 17)
If No, how would you describe the initiation of this inter-organisational
R&D?
17. How important do you think the following actors are in initiating R&D
in agri-food biotechnology?
Key
1 -> 5 = Least important -> Most important
6 = Don't Know
7 = N/A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Academic R&D ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Dedicated biotechnology firms ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Petro-chemical industry ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Food manufacturers ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Retailers ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Farmers ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Government department (please specify) ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Consumers ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
Other (please specify) ( )( )( )( )( ) ( ) ( )
18. Is the inter-organisational R&D managed by one person?
( ) No
( ) Yes (please go to Question 19)
If No, how would you describe the management of this inter-organisational R&D?
19. Does the inter-organisational R&D involve regular meetings?
( ) No (please go to Question 22)
( ) Yes
If Yes, how frequently are these meetings held and who is involved?
20. How would you describe the aim of these meetings?
21. What types of ideas/information, and products/process are exchanged in these
meetings?
22. What major improvements in the R&D process might make it more
effective?
SECTION 4: ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
If you have any additional comments that you would like to make, please
include them here.
Thank you very much for completing the questionnaire.
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