Inspiring Innovation (INSPIRE)
Five month programme
This unique programme has been created using world leading innovation research, and has been informed by and developed with SMEs, enabling them to:
>> Identify partners with the best strategic fit for innovation projects
>> Develop knowledge of innovation business concepts, and skills in the management of open innovation
>> Receive one-to-one coaching support to develop and deliver a bespoke innovation action plan
>> Create, apply and track sustainable innovation practices within the business using unique tools
>> Explore feasibility and prototyping stages of development of new technologies and products, in preparation for commercialisation
>> Develop new, or significantly improved, processes and/or products (goods or services)
>> Re-engage with innovation projects not yet complete, scaled back, or abandoned
>> Explore new and significantly improved forms of organisation, business structures or practices, and marketing strategies and concepts.
The INSPIRE tool is fantastically useful and user-friendly.
Potential outcomes for business:
+ Identify partners with the best strategic fit for innovation projects
+ Develop new skills and approaches to professionally manage innovation
+ Create a tailored innovation action plan
+ Increase revenue
+ Reduce costs
+ Introduce new or improved processes, products and services
+ Generate new customers
+ Explore new markets
+ Co-locate and have access to facilities to bring their employees, supply chain or business clients together.
Optimising Innovation (Profitnet)
12 month programme
Profitnet is a peer-to-peer programme, created by innovation expertise at the University of Brighton, designed to enable organisations to learn from each other through expertly facilitated confidential group sessions.
To date, over 1,300 businesses have taken part in Profitnet, helping businesses achieve a significant impact on their profit, turnover and employment.
Profitnet's strength comes from the group's ability to tap into the business expertise within it. Member led and expertly facilitated - every meeting focuses on real business challenges.
The programme consists of 12 monthly meetings which include:
>> Development of company strategy
>> Peer-to-peer action learning sets dealing with real day-to-day challenges
>> Using Action Learning to problem solve business challenges
>> Opportunity to reflect, plan and commit to an action plan - time to work on your business, not in it
>> Support to enable business growth and development
>> Access to university resources, including internships, student placements, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and training and development.
Profitnet is just like having your own board of non-executive directors. You can discuss whatever you want - over the years the input I’ve had has been absolutely vital as a sounding board for plans, ideas and challenges.
I have gained so much from attending Profitnet over the past two years and I’m now in a very different position with the business. I couldn’t have got here without all the support.
Potential outcomes for business:
+ Receive tailored support and expertise specific to businesses size
+ Be part of a confidential and professionally facilitated network of SME business leaders focused on growth
+ Benefit from a peer-to-peer learning environment with input from successful business leaders based in your region
+ An impartial overview of your innovation challenges to benefit business growth and resilience
+ Development of new, or significantly improved, processes or products (goods or services)
+ Increase productivity growth
+ Increase revenue
+ Reduce costs
+ Introduce new or improved processes, products and services
+ Generate new customers
+ Explore new markets
+ Co-locate and have access to facilities to bring their employees, supply chain or business clients together.
Growth and Recovery
Masterclass workshops (three sessions)
These three intensive masterclasses have been designed to complement each other and focus on increase understanding of innovation, address the different innovation stages and enhance innovation skills to help make a significant difference to your business.
Innovation strategies for new opportunity generation, addressing; strategic innovation, agility to respond and the need for creative resourcing.
Delivery dates:
Round one - 16, 17 and 18 March - 1.30-5.30pm
Round two - 20, 21 and 22 April - 9.30am-1.30pm
Potential outcomes for business:
+ Access to a range of innovation specialists
+ Intensive, deep dive into innovation methods to help recovery
+ Take away tools that you can implement straight away.
Strategic Leadership and Innovation for Recovery
This session will demonstrate how to develop innovation strategies, enabling participants to identify new opportunities and turn new market conditions into innovative offerings or processes, as well as generating new value. It will also support participants in identifying innovative responses, in keeping with their circumstances and the conditions of the market at the time of the crisis, as well as providing them with an action plan, equipping them with a crisis innovation strategy. Business will leave with:
- Clarity as to when a crisis represents an opportunity for an enterprise
- Guidance on developing an ‘innovation response’ to an emerged crisis
- Developed understanding of how to turn a crisis into a strategic advantage.
About the speaker: Dr George Tsekouras is the Director of CENTRIM, the Centre for Change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management at the University of Brighton and the Innovation Chair of the British Academy of Management (BAM). George has led research and programmes on business innovation and entrepreneurship for over twenty years.
Managing Agility for Survival
This session will introduce participants to key ideas around agility and how businesses can exploit this process for their advantage. The session will enable participants to explore the beneficial, as well as the dysfunctional capabilities, of agility, the relevance of the concept of ‘requisite agility’ and how this can be built into their own Theory of Development (ToD).
The workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to review their own capability to exploit agility for advantage and avoid potential dysfunctions of this strategic approach, concluding with an action plan to prepare an ‘Agility Ambition’.
About the speaker: Dr Dave Francis' research background is in evidence-based theory to improve management practice, with particular focus on innovation skills, innovation capability development, continuous improvement and, recently, innovation for poverty alleviation in the third world.
Creative Resourcing for Innovation
This session will present alternative strategies and opportunities for funding SME’s innovation and growth journey, including:
- When to look for outside funding opportunities
- How to determine capital requirements and which tools and methods to use to determine value and investment needed
- The pros and cons of raising funds from different sources (crowd funding, government grants, venture capital or other funding sources)
- How to agree on terms for investment.
About the speaker: Costis Kompis has a detailed understanding of the innovation funding environment and over 15+ year’s-experience advising hundreds of start-ups, research organisations, government departments, industry associations and large enterprises to plan and transition through their innovation and commercialisation paths.
Through his work as a digital innovation advisor, he enables organisations to identify, achieve and monitor R&D-driven innovation. Costis specialises in scientific and technological commercialisation, strategic road mapping, business model development, public-private innovation and strategic alliances for SMEs.
Access University Expertise
Variable, typically 3-6 month projects
Connect with our academic experts, to help you to develop bespoke innovative solutions for the specific challenges faced by your business.
Through a rolling programme of funding calls for one-to-one SME R&D projects we can help you:
>> source leading academic expertise to support the development of an area in your business, with agreed outputs
>> access additional R&D funding for longer more complex projects
>> receive expert strategic advice to support a new or improved product or service in areas such as:
- brand development
- prototype development
- product/service testing and/or design
- strategy development
- market assessment.
Working with the university helped us to expand our original remit and shape a coherent project. Our collaboration has been characterised by academic rigour, a clear commitment to our commercial goals and good humour that has made the project tremendous fun!
Potential outcomes for business:
+ Introduction of new or improved processes, products and services
+ Increased revenue
+ Reduced costs