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So, what is FutureSME all about?
Basically, it’s a group of people working together to try to help SMEs across Europe deal with the dynamic business environment they all operate in.
FutureSME came about when a group of academics, consultants and SME managers got together to improve the success of Europe’s manufacturing SMEs,
with support from the European Commission’s FP7 programme.
What we want to do is develop Europe’s SMEs into adaptive enterprises that come up with rapid and innovative responses to changing market demands and unexpected global events.
For these companies to do this, we need them to think in an entirely new way about their businesses.
Current business models focus on creating wealth and customer value in the here-and-now.
This is achieved through
customer oriented strategies,
efficient operations,
and using employee skills and knowledge to full effect,
all taking place within a particular business environment or set of market/industry conditions.
Evidence has shown that these
strategic,
operational and
managerial capabilities, are not enough for long-term competitiveness.
SMEs need to couple this with the ability to
search the business environment for opportunities and threats,
internalise these and determine their significance to the business,
and make any necessary changes to exploit the opportunities or avoid the threats.
In short, the SME of the future needs to have
adaptive capability.
Adaptive capability is underpinned by activities and processes such as
innovation,
change management,
horizon scanning,
and strategic review
and is supported by a culture of
systems thinking,
continuous improvement,
empowerment of employees
and visual management.
So, to become an adaptive enterprise an SME needs to develop strategic, operational, managerial, and adaptive capabilities which collectively deliver success.
If we think about these capabilities as lying on two axes – the ability to effectively and efficiently deliver a focused business model,
and the ability to change, innovate and adapt to the emerging business environment – it gives us four quadrants (the consultant’s dream) to categorise how future-fit your organisation is.
The stars are the ones who have it all figured out, they have their strategy and operations working well, they have good people management and they also keep one eye on the future.
Worst performers are the problem children who are still in business in spite of themselves.
The middle ground is occupied by jitterbugs, who jump around and change too much and so lose focus of what their core competencies are;
and the time bombs who are doing well now but are at risk of failing if the business environment changes.
We want SMEs to be in the stars box, because that way the business is in the best position to achieve long-term survival and competitiveness. But how does an SME get there?
The project team has developed a four stage transformation PATH to support the change to an adaptive enterprise.
The first step is to recognise the problem – that the current capabilities of the business are not optimal and improvements need to be made.
This is supported by this web portal which offers advice and information on the adaptive enterprise business model.
The second step is to assess the current state of the business through our interactive business diagnostic tool.
This enables the SME to pinpoint any capability gaps and offers a structured roadmap on how to implement actions to close these gaps.
Next, the business accesses tools to facilitate the capability improvements suggested in the diagnostic. These tools are hosted on the web portal and take the form of
software applications, e-learning material, case studies, workbooks and process methodologies.
We will also have remote mentoring and coaching facilities delivered through an online collaboration platform.
Finally, a programme of holistic growth is suggested to embed the philosophies of the adaptive enterprise into the business.
This takes the form of a mentored capability development programme for SME managers which is a certified training course focused on practical application of knowledge.
So, to summarise all of this!
FutureSME is about developing the competitive capacity of European manufacturing SMEs so that they can compete and prosper in an ever changing and dynamic global economy.
Please click on the quick diagnostic link to discover if your business is a star or a problem child,
and register with the user portal to gain access to our support material.
www.futuresme.eu