4.1. Results of the Dissemination Index
After applying the previously commented methodology, and after analyzing each one of the 49 indicators of the chosen private and public entities, from the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Valencian community, the obtained results are seen throughout the section. Notably, these organizations have been selected after an exhaustive analysis in different websites related with entrepreneurship, the assistance to symposiums and diverse training material provided by several involved entities in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Valencian community, being able to carry out a filtering and an election as faithful as possible to the reality of the Valencian ecosystem.
First of all, it is presented a grouped analysis of the set of studied entities with its corresponding dissemination index according to the sectorial typology, which means if it is a public or private institution, or if it is an entity directly related with a university. The values of the dissemination index are shown in the following table.
It can be observed (
Table 3) as the dissemination index in the Valencian community, for public organizations, the average is 37.6%, by 39.7% in private institutions, and 39.1% for those entities that have direct relationship with public universities.
In most of the organizations, the dissemination index is low, as the average does not even pass the 40% of the indicator. This makes visible the deficiencies suffered in the Valencia community when communicating the different initiatives about entrepreneurship through the websites.
Just 11 out of 57 entities institutions overcome the boundary of 50% in the dissemination index in the Valencian community. What is more, none of those 11 entities reaches the 60% of the dissemination index.
In the case of those 11 entities that reach 50% in the index, it could indicate that good practices regarding the dissemination of information are being carried out to promote entrepreneurship through the internet, given the comparison with the rest of the entities that fail to exceed that value. However, it is not entirely true, since they are slightly above the minimum level the index should reach (50%), without exceeding the 60% barrier of the index in any of the cases. Therefore, it will be important for these organizations to take measures to become one of the reference entities in this task, which would be vital for the near future and present owing to the presence of new technologies in current society.
Regarding the rest of institutions that do not exceed 50% of the index, which should be a minimum requirement, there is an urgent appeal for immediate actions in all areas, as it is one of the main ways entrepreneurs will go in search of information to undertake in their region. Nevertheless, they are going to find difficulties to carry out this search or contrast information efficiently. Moreover, it should be noted the precarious situation in which the Valencian community is in terms of the use of information and communication technologies.
The table above shows the entrepreneurship index grouped for all the analyzed institutions for each one of the 49 indicators used in the study, which allows us to observe in which of the different indicators it would be necessary to improve and carry out urgent measures to reverse the situation. The indicators marked in red are those that obtain less than 25% in the index. The following is formed by those who have less urgency than the indicators of the previous set, but it is recommended that improvements should be made in short term in order to exceed at least the 50% (light orange). The third group (white color) is formed by those indicators that should be interesting to take into consideration to improve in the near future, but with lower urgency than the previous group (light orange), since at the moment they exceed the minimum threshold of 50%. Finally, in green, it is comprised those indicators in which the diffusion is being carried out correctly through the websites, and are those above 75%.
From the 49 used indicators, it can be observed (
Table 4) that 19 of them are in emergency levels, which are below 25% of the index level. Among the 49 indicators, 13 indicators obtain a value between 25% and 50%, that should take action to optimize in the short term. Also, 13 indicators are between 50% and 75%. Finally, 4 indicators manage to exceed 75% of the index value, which represents the ones being used properly.
This corroborates with what was previously highlighted about the poor dissemination of entrepreneurship throughout the websites in the vast majority of institutions in the Valencian community. In fact, just 17 out of 49 indicators are capable of exceeding 50%, which means a 35% of the total. On the other hand, it can be observed a total of 32 indicators in emergency levels, which do not exceed the 50% of the indicator. This allows us to observe the precarious situation in which the entities of the region in charge of disseminating and promoting are, which negatively affects the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Proceeding to separate the different organizations studied according to the province (Valencia, Alicante, or Castellon), taking into account that certain entities act in all three places at once. From these results, we obtained the disclosure grouped index for each one of the provinces analyzed, as well as the disclosure index by dimension for each one of the regions, as shown in the following table.
From the analysis we carried out, it can be seen (
Table 5) that the province of Valencia is located as the main nucleus of entrepreneurship in the Valencian community, with a total of 44 entities (77% of the total); while in the province of Castellón, only 11 organizations are available to study, and 14 in Alicante. This demonstrates the development of the province of Valencia in entrepreneurship, regarding to the other provinces. However, when extracting the averages of the disclosure index in each one of the three areas, it is obtained that in Valencia, the disclosure index is 37.5%, for a 37.4% in obtained for Castellón, and 42.9% in Alicante.
Valencia, despite having a bigger network of entities that support and encourage entrepreneurship, it does not obtain positive values, since its average disclosure index is below the average in Alicante and practically identical to Castellón rate, highlighting that this happens with a greater number of entities, and that not all of them participate directly in entrepreneurship, but they have it as a secondary service, but it shows that entrepreneurship is not being disseminated in the most efficient and adequate way, so it is urgent that this route of dissemination of entrepreneurship should be improved to create a more consistent entrepreneurial ecosystem, not only in the region of Valencia, but also in Alicante and Castellón, since none of them exceed 50% of the indicator.
In addition, regarding to the province of Valencia, it should be noted that the efforts made in promotion of digital entrepreneurship are certainly scarce, since only 28.8% is obtained in the value of the disclosure index in such a dimension, making it the worst-rated of the five.
On the other hand, it is obtained that the greatest efforts regarding the dissemination of entrepreneurship through the websites in the province of Valencia are focused on active entrepreneurship, the best rated in this case with a 47.7%. This means that events are carried out with stakeholders, competitions are held to promote entrepreneurship, and services are offered for the creation of companies. However, the obtained values are far from the optimal values, which should reach at least 50%.
Regarding the province of Castellón, it is obtained that the dimensions with highest valuation obtained are those of providing resources and support to the entrepreneur, and that of active entrepreneurship, which achieve a 43.2% and a 44.5% respectively, demonstrating that—even in the best valued dimensions—not enough effort is being devoted to effectively promoting and disseminating entrepreneurship through the websites. As for the dimensions that get the worst rating, it is about digital entrepreneurship, as in the province of Valencia, with 25.8%. Really alarming figures given the importance of digitalization sector and the use of new technologies in society.
In the province of Alicante, region in which better results are obtained, it is repeated as in the cases of Valencia and Castellón that the dimension with worst values achieved is digital entrepreneurship with 31%. However, it is the only province in which one of the five dimensions analyzed exceed the value of 50%, specifically in active entrepreneurship with 51.4%. This shows that in this aspect good practices are being carried out and that it should continue to be improved so that entrepreneurs can be well informed and can participate in the different events that make them promote and develop professionally.
Except in digital entrepreneurship, the Province of Alicante presents values above 40% of the index. This indicates that from those entities, good practices are being carried out that in the future can differentiate them from the other two provinces, which can generate a greater entrepreneurial intention and activity, which can lead to greater economic growth.
In
Table 6 the numbers of habitants and total entities analyzed for each province are provided. When studying the relation between habitants by entity, it is obtained that Castellon is the province with a better ratio, as there are 52,445 habitants per institution related with entrepreneurship. The province of Valencia obtains a similar ratio (57,909 habitants per entity), still owning almost five times Castellon’s population. Regarding the Province of Alicante, it is the worst in this relation, as it obtains a ratio of 131,000 habitants per entity, more than double than in Castellon and Valencia.
Stand out that entrepreneurship dissemination observed in Castellón is really precarious. Not just because it is the region with the lowest rate, but because it does not present a single entity that exceeds 50% of the indicator, while in Valencia, 7 institutions exceeds this value, and 3 out of 14 organizations analyzed in Alicante.
Therefore, it is necessary that province of Alicante to increase the number of entities that support and encourage entrepreneurship, both in the private and public sectors and that administration provides more efforts and resources to try to reverse this situation. Population numbers are certainly high, while only 14 entities have been analyzed, that is, three more than in Castellón, having more than triple its population. This indicates that Alicante, despite the high potential available to create a powerful network of entrepreneurship with a greater number of entities that may also be connected with its two quality public universities is not making enough efforts in this regard, and is wasting an opportunity for considerable economic growth and development. As for the province of Castellón, it is observed as its strategic point for entrepreneurship development is in the capital, Castellón de la Plana, where there is a public reference university, as well as a greater concentration of population in the surrounding municipalities.
Regarding the province of Valencia, it can be observed as a powerful network to develop entrepreneurship, which supposes a positive aspect for the region. However, regarding to dissemination index, it is possible to observe that entrepreneurship is not being disseminated adequately through the Internet and social networks, which means ICT are being vaguely developed in the region. In fact, a total of 44 studied entities, just 7 exceed 50% of the index, but none of them reach 60%. Therefore, it is needed an improvement in this ambit, as the future is linked to the development of these good practices, and despite having an ecosystem full of actors, it is not enough if these does not know how to reach potential users adequately.
Referring to the entities that exceed 50% of dissemination index, it has to stand out that it is necessary that they keep on improving in this areas and not being stuck in this value, but this indicator supposes an inflection point to grow exponentially and offer potential entrepreneurs what they really are looking for and satisfy their needs.
4.2. Results of the Study of the Practices
In reference to the good practices that are being carried out, it shows how institutions are making good use of social networks. They are publishing information through them with the objective of reaching the users and new generations. A clear example of a support of entrepreneurship in the community. They are providing services to help the creation of businesses accomplishing the current regulatory requirements, an aspect that should continue to be implemented in order to keep users informed and updated. A specific area can be highlighted where pending news or approved projects are published, with the objective of keeping the population informed and raise awareness of what is happening around them. It also offers information about the different new businesses and projects that are going to be developed or are currently being carried out, with the objective they are encouraged to and motivated to take the initiative to start their new project.
Nevertheless, regarding the aspects that are most relevant, due to the urgency to correct them, an absence of information about the economic situation of the region has been identified, a key element for people who wish to carry out these kinds of practices in this area, making them aware of the situation they are going to find, both benefits incentivized and motivated to take the initiative to star their new project. Difficulties, as well as the lack of information about strategic aspects for investing in the region, are key factors both for recruitment and retention of talent and that should be exploited to a greater extent given the beneficial characteristics found in the Valencian community, such as the good weather throughout the year, cultural aspects, gastronomy, talent pool, etc.
It also observes the lack of information about the rules that have to be followed to create a business, characteristic to take into account for every entrepreneur when launching a business. The absence of the information is highlighted about the absence of information about social entrepreneurship along with the impact it generates on the economy, an element that is becoming increasingly important in society and that can be key to the creation of any type of business today and in the future.
It should be noted that one of the indicators that may be more relevant obtained extremely low values. This is the case of the one who refers to the time and cost of starting a business, which obtained 7% of the 57 entities analyzed, some mention is made in this regard. This can suppose a serious mistake, since it is necessary for potential entrepreneurs to be aware of what this type of initiative entails, given that it is one of the main problems of entrepreneurship. In addition, in the event that the entity is able to offer services that help reduce both the aspect of time and cost, they will obtain a competitive advantage in the market compared to other organizations, as well as allow users to be aware of certain difficulties, keeping them informed to the maximum and avoiding future confusion.
Other negative aspects are the next ones: there are few organizations in which there are tutorials to help entrepreneurs to start a company, which could be of great added value for entrepreneurs to be able to orient themselves. The absence of initiatives to encourage corporate social responsibility, a factor that is gaining strength and that can be vital today and in the coming years. In the communication section between entrepreneurs and institutions, there is little emphasis on the use of complaint and suggestion mailboxes, places to offer their comments or express their satisfaction, when it is an important feature that can help improve the entity since more trust is generated with other entrepreneurs who may be interested in carrying out this type of practice.
There is little relevance to inform about what it takes to start a business, a fact that would help the potential entrepreneurs to place themselves and see each other in advance in this situation, illustrating what they might come up against during the development of this initiative. It highlights the absence of online supervision and a platform to promote business exchange, business portals, etc., that can generate a network with the objective of creating new alliances, collaborations, knowledge exchange, etc.