A System for Supporting Managers in Developing Innovative & Competitive Enterprises

Development of innovative and competitive Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) is a high priority in national and regional economies, worldwide. Continuing "downsizing" and "outsourcing" trends amongst the larger enterprises illustrate the growing role that SMEs play in supporting these enterprises. Moreover, SMEs are fast becoming the engines for envisioning and creating innovative products and services. And with SMEs responsible for most jobs created in the developed and less developed economies, their owner-entrepreneurs and managers are under increasing pressure to "innovate and be competitive" as many of their business plans stress.

It is against this background that a multitude of innovation concepts and principles are being developed and applied. Attributes of effective innovation leaders are being monitored and analysed, while company "climates" conducive to innovation are being sought after and emulated. Innovation as a culture is as prevalent in today’s enterprises as it is woven into institutional and government agencies’ titles and mission statements.

While all these developments are positive, the reality is that SME managers, apart from being "bombarded" occasionally by innovation-related concepts and principles in seminars and consultants reports, are lacking the ability to systematically and strategically plan, measure and implement innovative products and services. Moreover, the challenges facing SME managers are exacerbated by the pressures they are under due to the smallness of their enterprises and the consequent need to straddle several roles – from product development to marketing, sales, and finance. However, innovation cannot be dealt with out of context of the SME’s other critical success factors, such as sustainability, product quality, and the customary measures for financial success.

Strategic Enterprise Modelling represents a systems approach which enables enterprises to design, plan, implement, and manage innovation in context of the SME’s other imperatives. Strategic Enterprise Modelling is a prescriptive modelling process which results in an integrated enterprise model consisting of the enterprise’s desired (and existing) products and services and the various measures of potential success that apply to each, including innovation and sustainability measures which are defined and integrated into the model, alongside other qualitative and financial measures.

Thus, every Strategic Enterprise Model (SEM) is developed as a flexible and dynamic software-based "support system" for SME managers. SEM supports innovation as well as sustainability and other SME measures of success, and provides significant, readily utilised, benefits. SEM creates a modelling framework, which encompasses the SME’s relationships with key stakeholders, existing and planned product-market permutations comprising innovative functionalities, and the relevant measures of successful design. A SEM also enables quick and accurate analysis of the success potential of new concepts, as well as generate prescriptions for improvement for both specific products and the entire enterprise.