MarketLinked Workshop 1
MarketLinked - Skills Transfer - Workshop 1
Workshop One will focus on the specific challenges facing each individual company in the group, as opposed to a traditional seminar style exercise with teachers and students.
Experience suggests that generic training is less well absorbed by SMEs than inputs that address individual companies’ circumstances. Smaller enterprises can have difficulties in translating generic advice into specific approaches to their own problems. Therefore each participating company will use its own circumstances and challenges as the basis of the learning experience.
The market development focus on the regional market will be incorporated into each growth strategy.
Structure of Workshop One
Workshop One will be a three day event away from the work places of the participants. Each company will work towards a realistic appraisal of where it stands in relation to its market place, the strengths on which it can build and areas of particular challenge. The outcome of the appraisal will provide a basic blue print of how to take the company forward, incorporating the MarketLinked market development initiative.
The process will be supported by:
* Training sessions in specific applied management skills.
* Peer group interaction and group sessions.
* Structured learning exercises and case studies.
* One to one advice.
Workshop One will be divided into six coherent sessions, moving logically through the pillars of developing a market position, namely market analysis, competition analysis, competitive advantage, strategy and managing growth opportunities.
Session One: Market Analysis.
How attractive is the market?
The key question this session will ask is how attractive is the market in which the company currently operates or the one in which it plans to compete in the future. Emphasis is placed on managing around the problems presented by unattractiveness.
Session Two: Competitive Analysis.
Who and what are the major external threats to company survival and prosperity?
This session builds on session one by placing the business in the context of competition and the external environment. There is particular emphasis on going beyond identifying obvious competitors to identifying competitive threats which may arise in the near term, but which are not apparent today, and future proofing of the business from them.
Session Three: Creating Competitive Advantage.
Can the company compete in the market?
The key question in this session is to ask if the company has a competitive advantage and, if so, how might it be best understood and used. Particular emphasis will be placed upon enhancing existing competitive advantage to improve its meaningfulness and sustainability.
Session Four: Developing an Effective Strategy.
Is the company business model appropriate to the market?
Particular emphasis will be placed upon refining the business model to improve its ability to generate revenue for the firm.
Session Five: Identifying and Managing Growth Opportunities
How does the company identify and implement a growth strategy?
Particular emphasis will be placed upon examining existing growth strategies and enhancing them or developing new ones where they are not in place.
Session Six: Company Report Form
During the last session each company will be given a “Company Report Form” comprising a list of questions about the business which the Workshop content will have prepared participants to address and answer accurately. The Form will be taken back to the business and shared with the rest of the management team, which will collectively complete it.
Having participated in the Workshop and satisfactorily completed the Report Form, each company will have a clear idea of its relationship with the market, the key competitive issues, current and possible future sources of competitive advantage, an outline strategy and the key challenges of managing growth. The level of benefit to each company of participating in the exercise will be directly related to the diligence with which the Report Form is completed.