Empresas biotecnológicas y divulgación de la ciencia. El caso de las pymes biotecnológicas asentadas en parques tecnológicos de Andalucía

Abstract

Biotech companies cannot ignore the social interest they arouse in this age of knowledge; this interest raises expectations and fears, and meeting the demand created is not only the responsibility of government agencies. To analyse the situation this paper focuses on 32 SMEs based in four Technology Parks in Andalusia. We use a variety of methods to examine their presence in the local newspapers in their respective provinces; what areas their websites cover and find the opinion of their managers on various aspects of their communications. The results revealed an absence of dialogue between society and these firms. It might be necessary for SMEs to integrate disclosure mechanisms within their communication strategies and their CSR; however, their executives did not repudiate the public as an audience, but have not found the tools to bridge this gap.