Innovation Workshops

Envisioning for Growth through Innovation

The first workshop will help participating companies to understand how to understand both their external and internal environments. Participating companies will explore the uncertainties in their environment and use these to develop their strategic outlook. Participants will also have the opportunity to carry out an exercise which will help them to understand how to build a strategy for their organisation. This process will help participants better understand their present and prepare more effectively for building their purpose, vision and values.

 Strategy and Leadership for Innovation

This workshop is designed to help participant SME owner/managers build their strategic leadership capacity and enhance the cultural and structural effectiveness of their organisation for innovation. With the onset of advanced technologies, globalisation and the need to be able to respond to constant change in increasingly complex environments, the innovation process has been supported by the utilization of new information and communication technologies. However, although technical tools can support knowledge management linked to innovation, such approaches in their own right do not create competitive advantage because they are readily available to others. The creation of competitive advantage rests fundamentally in relational tools that challenge organisations, to post, share, screen, rate, adapt, blend, enhance and ultimately implement new ideas. Drawing on our experience with successful SME support programmes we have run, the workshop is designed and delivered around three pillars:

Pillar 1: Generating ideas, identifying and exploiting opportunities

Pillar 2: Formulating an appropriate strategic position and business model

Pillar 3: Setting up organisational mechanisms and culture that support innovation

It also utilises the BIG Ten characteristics of growth: characteristics that successful SMEs use to understand and build their strategic and leadership capabilities. All these tools involve organisational behaviours and mechanisms needed to identify and take advantage of sources of innovative thinking, evaluate the potential success of creative ideas, and take calculated risks by using sound judgement.

Marketing for Innovation

This workshop will examine the psychology of sales and consumer behaviour. Most SMEs face the problem of how to increase their sales. They have relatively little time to think about how this effects the sales function and how sales needs to fit strategically and culturally with the vision for the business. We will investigate what is the perceived value of the product or service to those who are likely to buy it? We know that people are driven to buy if they think that they are likely to miss out if they don’t buy it in a certain period. So the question is why should I make my decision to buy now? We know that if an item is popular more people are likely to want to buy one as well. We also know that when items are scarce it creates more demand.

So in perceiving the value of products/services we know that people are not always rational about spending money. Therefore how you price and discount your products relies on knowledge of the market and customer preferences. Do you deliver on the promises that you have made to your customers? Psychology tells us about how customers make decisions and helps us consider the whole service offering and value of your product or service. The workshop will also examine the organisations value proposition allowing a link between organisational strategy and marketing strategy.

CONNECT Space, Level 2, Millennium Point – Address: Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7XG

Tel: +44 (0)121 202 8642

There is a multi-storey car park owned and managed by Birmingham City Council situated adjacent to Millennium Point. The car park can be accessed via Jennens Road and Millennium Point is clearly signposted from all main routes into the city – simply follow the brown tourist signs. The nearest motorways are the M6, M5 and M42. NB. If using sat nav please use the following postcode- B4 7AP. The multi-storey car park has a height restriction of 2.1m (6’10”).