The Think Innovation (c) programme has been meticulously crafted to address the need to promote the adoption of innovation within SME's if the Government is to

produce an 'Innovation Nation' in the UK. The programme is designed to

develop innovation principles and share an innovation model with up to 20 delegates who display innovation potential within their business ventures.

We believe in two powerful approaches to drive innovation strategies:

(1) Market based View, where innovation is defined as the initial commercialisation of new goods or services, or the use of innovative production methods. We understand that market conditions and structure greatly influence the pace and extent of innovation especially in SME's. Our programme empowers delegates to identify innovation opportunities by actively exploring the market, creating, inventing, or designing new and modified products/processes that significantly enhance their

 market position and better serves their customers; (2) Resource-based View, emphasizes that innovation is not a single action, but a comprehensive process of interrelated
sub-processes within a business venture. It encompasses the conception of new ideas, invention of new devices, development of new markets, and their integration into a cohesive whole. We recognise the importance of a firm's configuration, culture, capabilities, and internal perspectives on innovation.

 By combining these factors, we help delegates create rare and valuable assets That can be translated into products, processes, and services that give them a distinct competitive advantage.

The Think Innovation programme has been designed to encourage Managers, Delegates or Business Clients to respond to the challenges of combining these two approaches as a single holistic set of strategies and thinking, responding to the challenges of the 21st Century’s Knowledge Economy and reject traditional 20th Century Business Models which ignore the dramatic influence of globalisation and the disruptive effects of new technologies and widespread changes in society, emphasising brains over brawn.

The Founding Director’s 2011 research revealed that although businesses are aware of the concept of Innovation, there is poor understanding on how to foster Innovation within their Organisations and this research illustrated that the concept of “Innovation” has been presented to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and some larger businesses in an over-simplified fashion.

Think Innovation programme
This programme is designed to strengthen your creativity as an entrepreneur, leading to enhanced innovation practise where creativity is the ability or quality displayed when solving hitherto unsolved problems, when developing original and pioneering solutions to problems others have solved differently, or when developing original and imaginative products.

The programme will explore the different approaches to creative thinking commonly distinguished between left and right brain thinking. The Left performs rational, logical functions. It tends to be verbal and analytic, operating in a linked, linear sequence. Left brain thinkers tend to be rational, logical, analytical and sequential in their approach to problem solving.

The right side operates intuitive and non-rational modes of thought. It is nonverbal, linking images together to get a holistic perspective. Right brain thinkers are more Value based, and nonlinear in their problem-solving approach.

We work with you to develop an idea generation process that has 4 distinct steps to encourage creative thinking:We work with you to develop an idea generation process that has 4 distinct steps to encourage creative thinking:

In addition to fostering creativity, the programme will encourage you to translate your ideas into concrete action that can be measured and managed, in effect we will emphasise how you create a real product or service and how you can bring it into being.

The training material, workbooks and content is designed to encourage you to think differently in a reflective mode as you respond to new knowledge and formulate analysis modelling and design concepts.

There will be some consideration of how to commercialise your idea and stimulate adoption in the market place.

Individuals who have a clear product or service and have been trading for more than 12 months.

• Individuals who have a clear product or service and have been trading for more than 12 months.

• Individuals trading longer than 12 months with a written business plan and wishes to increase sales and generate increased revenue.

• Individuals who wish to expand their customer base or who have a strong brand that can be used to attract more customers.

• Individuals who wish to improve the idea generation processes to shape future growth paths.

The benefits of the programme

The Think Innovation Programme emphasises 4 elements that drive innovation and we will deliver 5 distinct benefits:

• To encourage and strengthen your creativity as an entrepreneur so that your ideas are refined and sharpened to produce a workable commercial idea.
  

• The Think Innovation Programme combines academic and theoretical models and strategies for growth with practical application, case studies and exercises, providing you with the opportunity to look at your own Innovation potential.
  

• The Think Innovation Programme works with a maximum of 20 businesses on each programme and there is opportunity to network monthly with like-minded individuals over a 12-month period.
  

• The programme will be interactive and encourage you to present to the group your progress at key stages of development so that feedback is given by the group enhancing the learning experience and capitalising on the collective wisdom of all delegates. 
  

• We will take a holistic approach to developing a culture of innovation by combining the market-based view (external) and the resource-based view (internal) of the firm, to produce a systematic set of processes, strategies and insight.