Scenario Planning To Benefit SME Co's
StumbleUponSmall to medium sized digital enterprises in London and the North east could benefit from a pilot project set to provide scenario planning for their industry...
Small to medium sized digital enterprises in London and the
North East could benefit from a pilot project set to provide
scenario planning for their industry...
[Register and post your own comments on this report below...]
Scenarios are structured stories about plausible futures which groups or individuals can use to orient their actions and plan for contingencies. Scenario planning generates pictures of possible futures and allows decision makers to adequately prepare action plans to protect their organisations.
Large firms use scenarios as a matter of course. This looks like yet another advantage large firms have over small firms with their greater resources to fund ‘corporate functions’. Scenarios correct ‘marketing myopia’ – the flip side of focus on getting the current task done.
Counteract marketing myopia
Focus is essential for success in the short run and repeated short run success lead to long term success. Marketing myopia means that new competitors, new methods, new ways of working pass you by – until they take your customers and your business away from you – by which time it is too late. SMEs that succeed at first and then slow or fail tend to have fewer customers, be overtaken by competitors they were unaware of, and behind the curve – all symptoms of marketing myopia.
A group of Universities in London and the North East of England who have been working with SMEs for many years have come together to work out how to make scenario planning affordable and feasible for SMEs. Although their initial application for external funding was not successful the programme was highly commended and the Universities were encouraged to develop their ideas further and in particular provide evidence for SME awareness of, practice in, interest in of scenario planning its perceived and potential relevance – basically is their potential demand out there?
Industry clusters will benefit
External funding has now been secured to assess demand amongst SMEs on an industry basis. This summer surveys are being conducted by the Universities of Goldsmiths, Newcastle, Queen Mary, Sunderland, Teesside and Westminster with SME networks that they work with (at least ten have been identified).
The results of the survey will be used to secure external funding for a pilot with one or two SME clusters in the North East and London. The pilot will construct a set of Scenarios for the industry cluster working with the SMEs, their business partners, Regional Development Agency and other stakeholders, relevant experts drawn from Universities in London and the North East. SMEs wishing to follow up on the Scenarios with company specific actions and action plans will be eligible for subsidised support through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, CASE studentships, RDA programmes such as the London development Agency’s JumpStart 2.
How to apply
To be in with a chance of benefiting from publicly-funded scenario planning for your industry, please email Alun Tlusty-Sheen, WestmARC, University of Westminster (A.Tlusty-Sheen @ westminster.ac.uk) – with ‘Scenario Planning Pilot’ in the Subject field - for a questionnaire no later than 13th September 2006.
Questionnaires must be returned by 15th September 2006.
[Register and post your own comments on this report below...]
Scenarios are structured stories about plausible futures which groups or individuals can use to orient their actions and plan for contingencies. Scenario planning generates pictures of possible futures and allows decision makers to adequately prepare action plans to protect their organisations.
Large firms use scenarios as a matter of course. This looks like yet another advantage large firms have over small firms with their greater resources to fund ‘corporate functions’. Scenarios correct ‘marketing myopia’ – the flip side of focus on getting the current task done.
Counteract marketing myopia
Focus is essential for success in the short run and repeated short run success lead to long term success. Marketing myopia means that new competitors, new methods, new ways of working pass you by – until they take your customers and your business away from you – by which time it is too late. SMEs that succeed at first and then slow or fail tend to have fewer customers, be overtaken by competitors they were unaware of, and behind the curve – all symptoms of marketing myopia.
A group of Universities in London and the North East of England who have been working with SMEs for many years have come together to work out how to make scenario planning affordable and feasible for SMEs. Although their initial application for external funding was not successful the programme was highly commended and the Universities were encouraged to develop their ideas further and in particular provide evidence for SME awareness of, practice in, interest in of scenario planning its perceived and potential relevance – basically is their potential demand out there?
Industry clusters will benefit
External funding has now been secured to assess demand amongst SMEs on an industry basis. This summer surveys are being conducted by the Universities of Goldsmiths, Newcastle, Queen Mary, Sunderland, Teesside and Westminster with SME networks that they work with (at least ten have been identified).
The results of the survey will be used to secure external funding for a pilot with one or two SME clusters in the North East and London. The pilot will construct a set of Scenarios for the industry cluster working with the SMEs, their business partners, Regional Development Agency and other stakeholders, relevant experts drawn from Universities in London and the North East. SMEs wishing to follow up on the Scenarios with company specific actions and action plans will be eligible for subsidised support through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, CASE studentships, RDA programmes such as the London development Agency’s JumpStart 2.
How to apply
To be in with a chance of benefiting from publicly-funded scenario planning for your industry, please email Alun Tlusty-Sheen, WestmARC, University of Westminster (A.Tlusty-Sheen @ westminster.ac.uk) – with ‘Scenario Planning Pilot’ in the Subject field - for a questionnaire no later than 13th September 2006.
Questionnaires must be returned by 15th September 2006.
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