Strategic Planning

The Business Challenge:

• An industry association representing the interests of a particular manufacturing sector was not in a position to articulate the research and development requirements of the sector (and their members)
• This was resulting in R and D funds being deployed to parts of the industry that the Association believed was not delivering the best outcome for the industry
• The consulting brief was to prepare a discussion paper that reflected the R and D requirements of the Association members

Approach adopted by Direct Focus:

Phase 1: Desk research and preparation of draft discussion paper

• A draft discussion paper was researched, authored and presented to the Association. There was a ?call for comments?
• A draft agenda for an industry workshop was established based on the draft discussion paper and the comments received

Phase 2: Implementation of industry workshop

• A national workshop was implemented. The key elements of a policy position paper were discussed and agreed to as input into the industry sectors five year R and D plan

Phase 3: Preparation of final policy paper

• A final policy paper was prepared which summarised the key position of the industry association and its members with respect to research and development priorities

Outcomes to Customer:

• Stakeholder agreement to key research priorities
• Clear policy statement and discussion paper submitted to the relevant industry body
• Influencing of the direction of the R and D spend in subsequent years, to reflect the joint interests of the primary-production and manufacturing sectors