Summary of basis book

About the BASIS Project

Central Baltic Interreg IV A Programme´s funded BASIS programme (Building up Availability of SME Internationalisation Services) started on the 1st of January 2011.

The operational environment for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) evolves and becomes increasingly international at a quick pace. It is a well-known fact that strengthening the competitiveness of an enterprise usually requires internationalisation. It is the duty of public business services to support SMEs in internationalisation. However, regional devel-opment or business service centres that reach vast amounts of companies are not sufficient-ly prepared to offer internationalisation services and the public actors lack the required re-sources for enterprise-specific counselling.

The main objective of BASIS is to find ways for public business services to facilitate and sup-port the internationalisation of SMEs. Expanding business activities to international markets is challenging for enterprises, and it is especially demanding for SMEs. Another equally im-portant objective of the project is to increase the local availability of public business services to SMEs. In addition, it is important for the business advisors to have the ability to identify enterprises with internationalisation potential. Therefore, training business advisors during the project is an objective of crucial importance. To reach its targets, the project has taken a slightly different approach from the usual. It will strengthen the business advisors’ interna-tionalisation know-how and their ability to identify potential products’ and services’ interna-tional markets; develop organisational and regional operational models in a way that local actors are able to provide high-quality internationalisation services; identify enterprises in-terested in internationalisation, get them networking with each other; and identify new ways of activating SME internationalisation.

There are 14 partners from Estonia, Latvia, Sweden and Finland in the programme. There are universities and regional development centres involved from each country. Turku uni-versity´s Brahea Centre for Training and Development serves as a lead partner for coordinat-ing the programme. The project will last for the end of 2013.

Introduction

The structures of different thematic workshops in Basis project in partner countries were similar. By doing this we were sure the information we need is consistent and comparable. The format presented here is based on the way a typical workshop is facilitated by the Fin-land Futures Research Centre.

The original ideas of these workshops were to bring together people from various back-grounds who all share an interest in a common issue or problem. In this project workshops were an instrument for collecting information which we need in the project. Workshops were a good tool for tackling complex problems where many, often seemingly contradicting views, have to be fitted together. In addition to collecting and producing information work-shops act as an instrument of social learning which is especially beneficial if the people tak-ing part in the workshop are also responsible in bringing about the desired change.

Finland Futures Research Centre (University of Turku) carried out the training of Futures Workshop (FWS) facilitators in partner regions who facilitate FWS’s in BASIS project the workshops according to project plan. The same FWS structure was applied in every BASIS region in order to confirm that the results from each region are comparable for project pur-poses.

Future Workshops

The regional Future workshop participants represented following stakeholder groups: busi-ness advisors, agents of small enterprises, development organisations, public officials, uni-versities, SME’s and other actors locally relevant for the topic at hand. Duration of each workshop was roughly four to six hours (including breaks), depending on the amount of par-ticipants and on their interest on the topic of the day. Structure of the regional workshops was:

FWS 1: State of the art workshop (where we are?)

A. Short introduction of the workshop method and its most common applications B. SWOT review on current situation on internationalisation services C. Selection of “top ten” issues in each SWOT category that need to be addressed D. Reviewing results of the workshop and feedback

FWS 2: Futures workshop (where we are heading?)’

A. Short introduction of the method and its most common applications B. Futures wheel (mapping future possibilities) and futures table (ACTVOD framework) C. Black swans analysis with help of PESTEC framework D. Reviewing results of the workshop and feedback

FWS 3: Vision and next steps (what is our vision and how we get where we want to be?)

A. Short introduction of the method and its most common applications B. Defining vision C. Defining road map for realizing the vision (backcasting) D. Reviewing results of the workshop and feedback

All the work that was done in the regional workshops during autumn 2012 – winter 2013 was summarized in the International Stakeholders Workshop in Turku 12th of March 2013. The content of the last FWS 4: Joint WS of regional results. In the workshop all groups had an identical task: to vision a desired (yet realistic) future – best possible world – for business advisory services for SME’s in 2020. Work had three phases: 1) Futures table, 2) drafting visions of the future and 3) constructing preliminary action plans describing how to achieve the preferred future. All in all 28 people took part in the workshop. Participants represented all Basis counties (9 form Estonia, 9 from Finland, 9 from Latvia and 1 from Sweden)and re-gions. There were business advisors, university staff and regional developers. Participants were divided randomly in 5 groups. In the workshop each group approached the subject in its own fashion, this provided 5 quite different views on preferred future of business adviso-ry services, although many common features could also found. Following pages present the results of the day.

Results of the workshop

Futures table group 1

Business advisory services for SME’s in 2020 Actors Authorities/ministries Development

Centres (pub-lic & private)

Banks Private Con-sultants

Research Institutes

Education Institutes

E-Forum

Customers SME’s (in debt) Startups “Generation Change”

Growth Companies

Services Planning Funding Networking Contacts

E-services & Support

Telephonic advisory services

Electronic database of information

Training staff in English and int. legislation

Resources Advising People Common Business Database

Public Funding

Funding by Customers

Mix of private and public financing

Values Openness Appreciation of Differ-ences

Obstacles Financing Attitudes (lack of interest)

Uncertainty in Political Development

Drivers Environment Sense of Unity

Effectiveness Customer Needs

This group did not specify what items in the future table would make the preferable future state

Goal for 2020 and a way to get there

This group discussed on making business services more accessible and the services provided more effective in a customer-oriented manner. Their idea based on creating a one-desk ser-vice, where an entrepreneur could contact one phone number and have his issue, whatever it might be, going after that one call. Service should have a feedback systems and self-learning elements so that as the number of contacts taken and services provided grows over time, one could, based on these experiences, construct a database that would collect an-swers to most common problems and experiences from users on what advises worked and what didn’t. This feature would improve the provided services in making them more rele-vant and speeding up the advisory processes. Services would be funded to some extent with public funding but also increasingly with callers paying for the advisory services they use.

Timeline for achieving preferred future

Actions: Starting first

nationally Getting the

(phone)number Training employees

Benchmarking Main actor:

Ministry in charge (varies from

country to country) 2014

2015 Actions:

Form a database on most common

issues and contacts Main actor:

Ministry in charge (varies from

country to country)

Actions: Internationalisation

Co-operation in syncronising systems and operations

Training personnell to be able to serve

customers in english 2016

2017 Actions:

Marketing campaigns

Action: Followup and

making improvements

2018-2019


Business advisory services for SME’s in 2020 Actors Hubs,

Connection Centres

Clients Providers Social Community

clusters entrepreneurs Expert of clusters

Customers SME’s Micro Com-panies & Self-employed

Starting Entrepreneurs

Municipalities

Services Market Information (industry specific, structure, players, needs, etc.)

Product Development

Sales-pitch Training

Resources Links with Russia, Belarus etc. important not to lose these)

Knowhow of Niche Mar-kets

Emerging Industry Services (IP right etc.)

Financing for cluster experts/ business advisors

Financing for int. cluster development (webpage, publicity, etc.)

Values Trust Obstacles Bureaucracy Lack of

Relevant Knowledge (among pub-lic advisors)

Drivers This group did not specify what items in the future table would make the preferable future state


This group was concentrated on how to improve the quality of service that SME’s experi-ence when dealing with business advisory services. The idea was to make information more accessible and relevant to the customers by forming a network of industry-specific experts that could provide assistance in all information need an entrepreneur might have. The most distinct feature in the way good quality services could be secured was that customer, SME asking for assistance, would only pay for the service according to benefits if felt it got from the business advisors. This kind of performance-related pay system would gradually guide orientation and functions of business service providers towards issues and problem areas that customers would find most important.

This group did not specify a timeline for achieving preferred future


Business advisory services for SME’s in 2020 Actors Enterprises NGO’s National In-

stitutions EU (or another)

Universities Local / Regional Government

Incubators Venture Capital

Customers Micro Companies

SME’s Clusters Company Networks

Startups Political Ac-tors

NGO’s Incubators

Services Personalised Services (vis-à-vis)

Business Framework Advises (legal etc.)

Databases Networks Market Researches

Matchmaking Coaching Mentoring

Resources Incubators Technology Parks

Different Finance Sources

Universities Networks, IT Databases

Human Resources

Logistic

Values Networking Ability to Co-operate

Sustainable Environment

Business Orientation

Accessibility Ambitions Empowerment

Obstacles Project-based Life

Rigid Rules Bureaucracy Wrongly Directed Education

Lack of Finances

Political Decisions

Drivers Global Competition

Ambitions and Visions

Innovations in High-tech, IT

Harmonised Legislation

Eased Bureaucracy

Business En-vironment

Business Advisory Model /Structure

Political Envi-ronment / Decisions

Lack of Natural Resources

This group did not specify what items in the future table would make the preferable future state


This group presented an idea of network of business services. Business advisors across the Baltic Sea area should be tightly networked, thus having a vast knowledge base on possible markets and an extensive source of information concerning market possibilities in various areas and industries at their disposal. Increased co-operation between business advisors assist companies in seizing various market opportunities and creating new business. Services would be allocated a budget for their operations; this would allow the long-term develop-ment of services (current project-based way of working doesn’t support this). Services are provided in more languages that just in each country’s native language, most commonly English.


Actions: Service design

Market research Main actor: Universities

2014

2015 Actions:

Political decision to reform b.a.

system Decisions of

finance Main actor: Ministries

Results: Networked b.a.

system Services,

develepoment & fexibility

Main actor: Local authorities

2017

2018 Results:

Certified b.a.s. association

Capacity building Main actor: B.a.s. Units

Results: Proactivity of

customers Activities for

funding providers Main actor: B.a.s units

2019


Business advisory services for SME’s in 2020 Actors Private

Consultants State Agencies Virtual Service

Providers (public/global)

Market Specific Service Pro-viders (China, Russia, etc.)

Mentoring Network

Customers All Companies (1-250 workers)

Intern

Services Partner Search

Market Information

Legal Issues Investing Services

R & D Information

Funding Possibilities

Information

Resources HR Internet (Network)

Global E-services

Filtered and Trusted Information

Values Trustworthy Efficiency Open Access Value-adding (services)

Tailor-made (services)

Obstacles Money (lack of)

Knowledgeable People

Common Language (lack of)

Cultural Differences

Project-based Operation

Drivers Competition

Items highlighted in green show the elements of the preferred future state.


This group focused on visioning common e-services for the use of business advisors in the Baltic Sea region. Common e-service platform would foster co-operation between business advisors and would assist companies in various ways. Most important benefits for compa-nies would be improved opportunities in finding market information, creating international contacts with new business partners as well as finding partners for conducting various pro-jects. The basic services would still be conducted face-to-face, but this platform would serve as a good starting point for companies when wanting to find information on what kind of markets and business advisory services are available around the Baltic Sea Region. The ser-vice portal would be most conveniently funded by a separate project funding.


Strting point: Fragmented e-services

2013

2014 Actions:

Defining needed content and functions

Defining basic technical requirements Main actor:

Financing bodies : a project or public funding

Actions: Defining quality check

system Defining system

maintenance issues Defining links (between

databases of various information providers)

2015

2018-2019 Actions:

Testing the system


Business advisory services for SME’s in 2020 Actors Incubator

organisations Entrepreneurs Chambers of

Commerce Private Consultants

EU National Agencies

Universities & Educational Institutes

Government

Customers Students “People from the Street”

Entrepreneurs SME’s Investors Universities

Services Business Knowledge

Networking Technical / Funding Assistance

R & D Support

Training Mentoring

Resources EU Funding Private Funding

Knowledge Infrastructure

Values Openness Simplicity Equality Faith Trust Sharing Independence Ability to Accept Failure

Obstacles Language Barrier

Lack of Funding (continuity)

Lack of Business Knowledge

Lack of Political Support

Lack of Ability to Accept Failure

Lack of Will to Succeed

Lack of Ambition

Drivers Networking Best Practices New Generation

Items highlighted in green show the elements of the preferred future state.


Work of this group concentrated on how to create an atmosphere of trust and a venue for collaboration between various actors around the Baltic Sea Region in order to lower the barriers for doing business in the area. The answer was to be found in creating international co-operation on many levels; first among students and science community later developing into startup/incubator activities where actors from countries all over the Baltic Sea combine their ideas and resources to produce new and exciting products and services. Increased in-terest for entrepreneurship and for internalization thrives in an atmosphere where sharing information between actors in various countries and entering to do business into foreign markets is easy.

The final products of the increased co-operation are special incubator centres that are formed based on smart specialization strategy. In the Baltic Sea Region the strategy is given a push via increased co-operation. As people (students, business advisors, researchers, in-novators, etc.) gain knowledge on what are the relative strengths of each area and get to know colleagues from other countries, the possibilities of co-operation will become more visible. Incubator centres focus on assisting new companies building business on recognized strengths of the area where the centre functions. Each area is responsible for development of certain business areas and new entrepreneurs from all over the Baltic Sea Region seek to those centres.


Action: Excange

Financing Main actors: Students,

teachers, business advisors, etc. Science parks,

Universities By 2014: 1 week every

half a year 2014

2015 Action:

Raising awareness through networking events, comptitions,

social media, consultants By 2015: 4 events in each

country

Action: Defining core

competencies in Baltic Sea Region (BSR) - smart

specialisation Specialiced incubators in

each country By 2015: International

business incubator services available

2015

2019 Results:

BSR model dissemination to "outside world"

By 2020: 15 SME's from participating coutries

Questionnaire

The questionnaire revealed interesting and innovative future solutions to how SME business advisory services should look like. In essence the answers converged to one important point – collection of different types of business information from all Baltic Sea region countries in one place and faster access to this information. Another crucial aspect that is emphasized by all the participants is a need for greater collaboration among the business advisors from different countries, as this pool of collective knowledge is far better than a single advisor with information from only one country.

There were five groups made randomly out of 28 participants from four countries namely, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Estonia. Only three groups answered the questionnaire.

One of the groups suggested the establishment of a ‘one-desk service’ for consultation of entrepreneurs, first on the national level and then scaled up to the Baltic Sea region. This group highlighted the importance of international network of consultants, their communica-tion and sharing of information and best practices. It was suggested that face-to-face advi-sory services should exist for more complicated and long-term issues. Their idea behind this ‘one-service desk’ is to have the issue resolved at once without any delay or then it is sent for a detailed analysis if complicated.

The need to have an electronic database containing information about national legislation, business registry and relevant necessary information from all the Baltic Sea region countries has been expressed by almost every group. Access to this database should be available to all concerned parties and stakeholders for faster information access whenever it is needed without much bureaucracy in the way. Most common issues of internationalization and their solutions, what worked and what did not work, should be freely available through this database. This information can be gathered from SMEs and business advisors and then compiled in an easily readable and accessible manner.

It is also suggested that the business advisory services should be monitored for quality con-trol and satisfaction of all the stakeholders should be evaluated. Suggestions for the im-provement of services should be taken into account and implemented wherever necessary.

The issue of training of the staff in English language has also been brought up in the ques-tionnaire and their information regarding international legislation.

Cooperation between national level authorities and business advisory services is greatly desired to share experiences and information, to identify strengths and weaknesses and to provide a joint service with faster and easier access.

An idea of establishing an international ‘cluster’ where business advisors, industry experts and other stakeholders from different countries of the Baltic Sea region would come to-gether for sharing quality information to facilitate faster internationalization process and to increase the availability of business information about different countries has also been ex-pressed. This will foster new business connections rapidly.

The role of the responsible ministries and government authorities of the Baltic Sea region has been recognized greatly in facilitating excellent internationalization services in the fu-ture.

Conclusions

Groups of the workshop produced various ideas on what the business advisory services around the Baltic Sea region should look like in the year 2020. The results didn’t converge very much and practically all the key elements of the visions presented by each group could co-exist.

Most pressing issue seemed to be securing the quality of provided services. According to views presented in the workshop increased co-operation on various levels and networking among business counsellors as (well as other actors) and improved tools for communication and information processing are needed. Services provided for the SME’s should be easily accessible (one desk service) and they should have reciprocal elements so that the work of business advisors could be further developed according to customer feedback.

One impression that came across during the discussions of the workshop was that the busi-ness advisor’s community in the Baltic Sea Region is a rather under-used resource. Business advisors from different countries with different backgrounds and skills create a pool of knowledge and network of experts that, as a group, would be able to assist businesses will-ing to do trade in the Baltic Sea Region (and further) in ways no one single business advisory unit can. At present service providers in the region lack information, habit and tools to co-operate. If these hurdles were to be crossed, the service providers would be able to create more value than at present is possible to the companies of different sizes in the region.

Documents

Summary of basis book