Innovation & Continuous Improvement
At a national level, innovation is usually associated with intellectual property from knowledge or technology based businesses, linked to the number of patents registered or university spin out companies. In Cornwall this has been about making significant investments in the county’s challenges and competitive strengths, backed largely by European Convergence Funding. Innovation fuels competitive strategy - at individual business, local and national level.
What is Innovation in Cornish Businesses?
Whatever line of business you’re in, the reality is that innovation and continuous improvement is the basis for all your strategies, investments and decisions you choose in your business. How to improve performance and competitive positioning in your target markets by adding more value for your customer? How to effectively introduce change initatives whilst managing your day to day business operations? How to develop soft skills so that you create and encourage an environment where your staff, customers, suppliers and stakeholders can help you improve your business and manage risk? How to get buy in to change from different types of people? How do you evaluate selected opportunities?
In micro businesses and SMEs, innovation and continuous improvement can be challenging where directors and managers share and balance a number of roles and resources can be finite. Especially finding time to work on the business, rather than embroiled in the day to day. That’s where CUC partners and other organisations can help. It’s just a case of being open-minded and setting aside some business development time to explore and identify opportunities that are right for you. It’s not about feeling that you’ve failed, or that you should be able to do it all on your own, but acknowledging that there might be people who can help.
How Can CUC Partners Help?
Whether you compete on the basis of R&D, brand, price, having to provide more for less year on year, service, range or choice - whatever sector you are in, there will be opportunities where working with one or more of the universities or colleges in CUC can help.
Management & Leadership for Business Leaders With Peer Networking
It’s not just about qualifications, you need the real life experience to improve what you do. This is all about getting more out of yourself, your managers and staff by helping them reach their potential, actively manage your organisational culture and develop self awareness of yourself and your team. Training and networking can give you the framework, skills and confidence you need to lead and run your operation.
Providers include:
Truro & Penwith College Cornwall Business Club
Cornwall College including Duchy College and Senior Executives Forum
Exeter Business School and Business Leaders Forum
Plymouth University, Centre for Leadership and Organisational Excellence
Cornwall Leadership Academy Offering tailored development for public sector leaders delivered jointly by Cornwall College and Truro and Penwith College
Build Capability By Training Key individuals and Team Development
University level short courses can arm you, your key managers and staff to help you grow your business. Whether it’s you or one of your staff taking part in the training, make sure there is also time in the workplace to review what has been learned, link it directly to your business outcomes, appraisal process to realise return on your investment. This should enable you to focus more on the future and allow your managers to deal with day to day operations. These are key challenges in small businesses.
You might also consider resourcing your business development plan, by recruiting a new team member with a graduate placement from Unlocking Cornish Potential.
Tailored development for teams or individuals can also be put together to address specific issues in your workplace. This might be a mixture of training, consultancy, coaching and action learning sets, whatever suits your business needs. Recent packages have included: developing communication skills and dealing with difficult situations by staying in control, managing risk and retaining the right to manage. This might help you better understand and stretch your team, recruit the type of people your business and management team needs to accomplish its goals rather than those you feel most comfortable with.
Providers are:
Truro & Penwith College Business
Cornwall College Business and Rural Business School
Sensitising Your Supervision and Key Staff to Make Improvements to Your Business
This is about learning business improvement techniques, understanding cost and performance drivers, how to improve productivity and quality and how to reduce waste or inventory. Cornwall College run Business Improvement Techniques training and courses in lean manufacturing and services. Working alongside MAS-SW can particularly benefit your company. Truro and Penwith College offer Understanding Cost Drivers.
Help You Develop Industry or Market Lead
Click here to see how CUC Partners can work with you to help develop your industry or marketing lead.
Opportunities for Collaboration with Business in Specialist Research Areas
The CUC partners' Research Institutes can offer more information on specialist services. Links are in the list below.
Innovation and Research Contacts and Resources
Business Innovation Paper 2012
Plymouth University - Research Centres.
The University of Exeter - Professor John Bessant, Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Exeter Business School – an expert and management consultant in technology and innovation management.
Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry Research Themes.
PRIMaRE - the Peninsula Institute for Marine Renewable Energy is run by the University of Plymouth and University of Exeter. Its focus areas include: resource characterisation, marine renewable energy systems, environmental and biodiversity impacts, safe operations and navigational risk, underwater and surface electrical systems and socio-economic factors.
ESI – the Environment & Sustainability Institute is run by the University of Exeter. Its focus areas include: clean technologies, natural environment and socio-economic impacts.
AIR – The Academy for Innovation & Research is the home of research and business collaboration at University College Falmouth. AIR includes research and knowledge transfer activities, MPhil/PhD study, and a range of schemes and facilities to help businesses innovate and grow.
ECEHH – the European Centre for Environment and Human Health is run by the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. Areas of interest include: How climate change will affect human health and wellbeing and the impact of pollutants, using the natural environment to promote health and wellbeing, particularly in businesses.
Pool Innovation Centre - state of the art incubation space, infrastructure and support - for new and existing business.
Tremough Innovation Centre-state of the art incubation space, infrastructure and support - for new and existing businesses in the eco, environmental, creative and media industries.
Exeter Business School - Professor John Bessant, Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Exeter Business School is an expert and management consultant in technology and innovation management.
Unlocking Potential - a programme that supports the continued development of your business through inspirational events, learning collectives and underpinning research, run by Plymouth University and Cornwall College.