LabNotes

In February, Gregor Rae, Chairman and CEO of BusinessLab, gave an inaugural lecture to the International MBA student cohort at the University of Aberdeen. "The Art of the Pitch" is the first of two modules intended to help students improve and finesse their presentations to potential investors and employers. The second module is entitled "The Science of the Pitch".

The future is in Newcastle

Technology Watch website lauds the Microsoft Corporation - ActiveAge presentation at the Gerontological Society of America's annual conference in New Orleans, and cites Newcastle upon Tyne as 'the future' in terms of ageing.

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ActiveAge

The ActiveAge team has started another wave of research into robotics, which will provide the theme for the next ActiveAge publication. A Newcastle partner meeting has also been scheduled for the 26th of January, when plans for the 2011 ActiveAge Summit will be finalised.

Renewables

The BusinessLab research team has been looking into the growing renewable energy sector. The team is particularly interested in the markets and business models that are developing within this area - and the strategies and processes that are being deployed to capitalise on the opportunities.

More Agents for Swansea

The City and County of Swansea Council are training up a new cohort of Signature Agents. A total of 36 new Agents are being trained to deploy the Family Learning Signature with families across the city.

Home Consultancy The Market for Online Tools (2004)

The Market for Online Tools (2004)

In 2004 BusinessLab were commissioned to undertake a study to investigate the potential use of interactive, self-service online tools for small to medium sized businesses (SMEs). 

The aims of the project were to consider best practice and current offers in both public and private sectors in the UK and overseas, to deliver a business case for online tools in terms of their sophistication and cost per use - versus customer satisfaction and value added, and to identify development options.

In this, the BusinessLab team drew extensively on the research undertaken by BusinessLab during the creation of their highly successful 'Digital Advantage' programme. One of the three main strands of Scottish Enterprise's post millennial ebusinesss strategy, 'Digital Advantage' helped several thousand SMEs in Scotland.

Desk research showed that companies tend to use online tools to help customers to understand issues, make plans, compare options, decide needs, calculate costs and purchase goods. Generally, online tools are designed to keep the customer tied into pre-and post-sales processes and, essentially, to assist 'closure' i.e. to reinforce a user's decision processes. The overriding motivation of the user is the need to achieve a specific objective i.e. to test, check, calculate, fix or complete a task that is essential to reaching a desired outcome - as quickly and as easily as possible.

BusinessLab concluded that there was an opportunity for government agencies to influence the market and directly stimulate the use of online tools to help develop strategy, support business growth processes, and improve the understanding of the potential of e-business.