Growing R&D-Intensive Firms in Canada

Yesterday, I heard Dr. H. Douglas Barber of McMaster speak at a Communitech event. Much of what he said was based on the research paper he co-authored in Mar 2005, "Growing R&D-Intensive Firms in Canada" which is available on theImpact Group's website along with many other interesting papers.

The implications to the Canadian business and the economy are serious.
The findings include:

1. The "culture of commerce" in Canada is weak. This is a result of the "lack of focus on customers and a preoccupation with R&D." This is also true in government and postsecondary institutions. There is a incorrect belief that technology (automatically) drives commercialization. This is not the case if there are no customers for the new technology. Developing more marketing talent and educating other's involved in the innovation process about customers and commerce is recommended.
2. Raising money is the preoccupation for most CEO's and since this tends to be from investors (government, angels, VC, even public markets) as opposed to customers there is pressure to exit: sell or merge early.  As a result, few small R&D-intensive companies expect to remain in Canada.  It is recommended that more support for marketing and business development efforts be made available to build a (revenue-generating) customer base, precluding the need for as much investment or an asset sale.