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2007 / 1
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# Survey on present state of Business Advisory
in the partner countries coimpleted
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The goal of the study is to find out as reliable as possible
the numbers of business advisors, their sex distribution, their
tasks and duties, their employer organizations and their most
common titles of occupation in these seven partner countries
of Debate project. Special attention was paid to the clarification
of the quantitative and qualitative training needs of
business advisors.
In the first stage of the project a questionnaire was tested
among the business advisors in all partner countries. The target
groups for the surveys were business advisors working in public
organizations and their customers and other stakeholders The
idea of having the survey also for the stakeholders serves the
simple purpose of finding out if the views concerning the important
factors in the role of a business advisor differ between
business advisors themselves and the people using their services
or otherwise working with them.
In the report comparisons are made concerning the important
parts of the national surveys conclusions are defined. Also
results from the surveys amongst business advisors and the surveys
amongst stakeholders have been compared with each others.
The survey clearly shows that the role of business advisors
is very important and they are truly needed. It is easy to find
lots of similarities in both business advisors' surveys and
stakeholders' surveys. Concerning the different countries common
fields for development and important factors can be seen.
The survey can be downloaded from the "Documents"
section.
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2007 / 2
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# DEBATErs have met each other the 4th time to
change ideas, concepts, experiences...
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DEBATErs have met each other the 4th time to change
ideas, concepts, experiences...
4th International workshop on the topic "Establishment
of a structure of information and knowledge resources for the
European business advisory - development and exchange of innovative
methodology of business advisory" has been organised between
the 26-28th of October 2006 in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary at the
premises of the University of West-Hungary.
Workshop building
Workshop participants
The main topics of the workshops focused on two
project objectives: the establishment of the Association of Business
Advisors and the e-portal as a virtual platform to support business
advisors.
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2007 / 3
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# Association of European Business Advisors
is about to start working!
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As SMEs both in advanced market
and in transition economies find it harder than larger businesses
to find and use the information and the advice they need, it
is widely recognized that business advisory, counseling and
information services are the most effective means of assisting
entrepreneurs in improving the competitiveness of small businesses.
The answer of the DEBATE operation is to establish
an Association of European Business Advisors in order to reflect
the needs of the Business Advisors in Europe and provide the
appropriate tools that will match the needs of the European
Small and Medium Enterprises. DEBATE operation is the
"vaulting horse" for the European's Business Advisors
Association.
The Association of European Business Advisors -A.E.B.A
will be established as non-profit organization, the contribution
of its members will finance the association and the headquarters
will reside in Finland. Objectives of the association:
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Establish a European Network
of Business Advisors
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Support the positive professional
image and status of the European Business Advisor, adding
to the mutual trust
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Provide tools, guidelines
and methodologies to its members in order to enhance the quality
of the provided services especially to SMEs
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Support the educational structure
for business advisory in Europe
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Promote the exchange of know-how
between the members of the Association
Members: Members of the association will be Business
Advisors, Business Advisory Agencies, Educational Institutes
public or private.
Anticipated Timetable: By the end of January '07, the
association memorandum will be completed under the Finnish Law.
By the end of April '07 the first conference of the association
will take place in Karlstad Sweden during the 5th Workshop of
the DEBATE operation.
Contact Information: http://www.debatenet.info
Irini Kafousia, ekafousia@nea.gr
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2007 / 4
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# E-Network - Business Advisor Portal to
guide and support
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A concrete instrument for the European Business Advisors and
key result of the DEBATE operation is the Business
Advisor Portal.
The Business Advisor Portal is a signpost to resources about
Business Advisory (a live knowledge repository), an effective
community support tool and the instrument that will keep alive
the vision and objectives of the DEBATE operation for
a European Network of Business Advisors. The Business Advisor
Portal aims to:
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Offer advise to SMEs and European
Business Advisors
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Facilitate the exchange and
development of best practices/knowledge between the European
Business Advisors
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Become the framework for communication
and cooperation between Business Advisors within Europe
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Facilitate the access to information
on behalf of small and medium enterprises using new technologies
like the World Wide Web
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Disseminate the results of
the DEBATE operation
Anticipated Timetable: By the end of the year the beta
version of the portal will be available in public. By the end
of July '07 the Business Advisor Portal will be finalized.
Contact Information: http://www.debatenet.info
Irini Kafousia, ekafousia@nea.gr
Kostas Paraskevopoulos, paraskev@nea.gr
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2007 / 5
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# DEBATE goes out to the world again!
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Regional Coordinator Tuomo Tahvanainen and Project
Manager Anthony Okuogume
from the regional DEBATE project in Kainuu, Finland, represented
the whole
interregional DEBATE project in the Interreg III C forum
in Lille, France
15-16 November.
During the two days meeting, in which all together
approx. 200
representatives from 90 European regions met to discuss the experiences
and
outcomes of Interreg III C projects and the basis for fundings
in the
up-coming INTERREG IVC, there was wide interest among participants
of the
challenging objectives of the DEBATE project. The subject
to strengthen the
role of European business advisors was found most important in
guaranteeing
high quality services to SMEs around Europe in the future.
Mr. Tuomo Tahvanainen
Regional coordinator
tuomo.tahvanainen@kainuunetu.fi
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2007 / 6
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# Karlstad (Sweden) is getting ready for the
next international workshop in April 2007
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The 5th Internatioan lworkshop of operation DEBATE
will be held in Karlstad, Sweden, between 26-27 April, 2007
(Thursday-Friday). The topic of the Workshop will be similar
to what have been discussed during the former workshop in Hungary,
but paying more attention to the needs of the SMEs. Along with
the workshop the 1st meeting of the Association for Business
Advisors will be organised.
Karlstad is situated in the region of Värmland in Sweden, from
310 km from Stockholm, 240 km from Gothenburg and 210 km from
Oslo. The region has about 273 500 inhabitants. Karlstad has
about 82 700 inhabitants in 1 200 square kilometres.
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2007 / 7
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# DEBATErs are preparing for the last international
workshop
6th Workshop in Patras, Greece, October 2007
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NEA will organize the 6th workshop of the DEBATE operation
which will take place in Greece, in the city of Patras in 4
- 5 October 2007. The main theme of the last workshop will
be the evaluation of the project. In addition the last meeting
of the coordinators team will take place in Patras in 3 October
2006.
Patras is the third biggest city of Greece and it is located
on the north-west side of Peloponnese, about 220 km far from
Athens. It is the capital of the Prefecture of Achaia; a vital
trade and tourist hub for the whole country with old history
and natural beauty.
External evaluation is launched in July
Although the self-evaluation of both project processes and
results are continuous tasks throughout the operation, a "fresh
eye" is always important to keep us on track. In July 2007
the external evaluation of project results - educational modules
for Business Advisors, European Association of Business Advisors
and the supporting e-portal - is launched with involving educational
experts and BAs from the partner countries. The results of the
external evaluation will be on the agenda of the workshop in
Greece in October 2007.
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