|
Most new companies fail within five years
More than 90% of all new companies do not survive the first five years! Since nobody in a successful company want to become part of these statistics, the tendency is to build in checks and balances to prevent this from happening, especially in larger companies. Companies do realise the importance of research and innovation to stay ahead with local and international competition. Internal research and innovation units or divisions are therefore often created to stimulate research and innovation. These are also seen as key aspects of revitalising the South African economy and to create jobs. Unfortunately, most of the time they are not very successful despite the fact that numerous programmes and initiatives developed by government also support these initiatives. dti THRIP programme assisted to develop world-class companies The THRIP programme currently administered by the dti has been one of the most successful grant programmes that funded research and innovation. The North-West University have been quite successful in commercialising research and innovation that were supported by THRIP. The establishment of Jonker Sailplanes and CFAM Technologies are two examples of companies that started initially as Masters degree studies and developed into companies that are competing with the best in the world. |