Up-Grading Graduate Strategic Skills

This project aims to identify the current and desired profile of senior staff of SMEs, in order to enable them to take on responsibilities at strategic management level, providing new skills which will reduce the gap between technical and strategic levels of management.

Several European studies have predicted that world-wide liberalisation of trade in the textile and clothing sector from 2005will cause a substantial reduction in the number of enterprises, mainly SMEs, with major consequences for employment.

A group of researchers from each partner organisation will be engaged in the specific aspects of the research methodology, designing instruments and tools that will be applied to the project’s target groups: managers/owners of SMEs, vocational training policy makers, decision makers.

The study will serve as a basis for the design of training programmes targeting the senior management of SMEs, with the aim of providing them with transversal competencies that go beyond the technical domain and are related to entrepreneurial strategy: strategic planning, market analysis, definition and implementation of marketing strategies, benchmarking, technology transfer, human resources, negotiation strategies.

The anticipated results of the project will be definition of the ideal senior staff profile (documentation and interviews analysis); definition of new professional skills for senior staff; publication of a book; an evaluation report; the creation of a web site containing all the project features and findings