In past articles this page has promoted Build Back Better through a stakeholder approach, looking at tools such as the Good Business Charter and B Corp Impact Assessment and Certification. However, a genuine concern of business might be that this takes management time and resource in the middle of a crisis.
Many organisations, though, have responded to the pandemic with speed, agility and innovation, often surprising themselves at how creative their employees have been despite working from home. There seems to have been an adrenalin rush that has sustained and, in some cases, enhanced performance.
How can this high level of activity be built upon?
A new variation of the UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme, which has been helping companies innovate for over 40 years, has been introduced. Management KTPs are designed to inject significant management expertise to expand business capability, increase efficiency and enable lasting change and growth.
What are KTPs?
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) link businesses with an academic team and a suitably qualified graduate. This highly skilled, highly motivated three-way partnership collaborates to deliver a strategic project – sharing expertise, experience and resources to bring about change, embed knowledge and deliver growth.
Collaboration is key to the success of these partnerships, which have transformed over 12,000 organisations big and small and across every sector in the UK. KTPs are funded by Innovate UK.
Management KTPs (MKTPs)
The focus of an MKTP is specifically on driving effectiveness through better management practices. MKTPs aim to deliver transformational productivity improvement, identifying key strategic management-based projects to increase business effectiveness.
How? Via novel and innovative partnerships with your local university.
Who could benefit from an MKTP?
- Growth-oriented SMEs, eager to introduce better management practices.
- Businesses seeking significant productivity gains
- Organisations looking to up-skill their people and make step-change improvements in productivity
Which business activities do MKTPs cover?
MKTPs take a wide view, incorporating a range of leadership and management skills and requirements to build a strategy that drives change and improves business performance. Spanning all key business functions – from marketing to IT; creativity to strategic management; HR to employment relations; finance to logistics – MKTPs seek to support strategic management projects across core activities including:
- Monitoring and target setting
- CSR and sustainability
- Organisation and resource planning
- Problem solving and decision making
- Commercial awareness and risk management
- Options evaluations
- Horizon scanning and strategic foresighting
Why engage with the University?
The expertise held within business schools is shared via an MKTP to help businesses draft and execute practical plans to improve their business processes, boost productivity and increase profitability.
Enabling companies to activate proven productivity and growth initiatives – such as benchmarking, application of digital tools, and advanced people skills – the MKTP delivers new capability as part of a comprehensive leadership and management strategy.
Result? SMEs can sustainably scale-up and grow; and larger companies can incorporate better business processes to improve productivity.
How do I apply for an MKTP?
The University’s Centre for Sustainable Business Practices (CSBP) can help. If you think an MKTP could help your company, please get in touch and we can connect you to an expert Knowledge Transfer Adviser. They help assess whether your project is appropriate for funding and help you with your application. Once approved, your adviser will be on hand throughout your project to ensure its success.
What does an MKTP cost?
The cost of an MKTP is shared by you and Innovate UK, who contribute up to 67% of the project cost via a grant to the university partner. You make a cash contribution for the remaining project cost with a small-to-medium business contributing 33% and a large business 50% per annum.
Management KTP projects can last between 12 months and three years. They take a few months to arrange, including the recruitment of the graduate and the academic. There are several application rounds each year – the next one is due in April.
Isn’t now a good time to find out more to help you Build Back Better?
To discuss any of the above, contact Adrian via adrian.pryce@northampton.ac.uk or call 07720 297402
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