Resource requirements

ITC can advise Sponsors about the cost of using Compete for a small group of enterprises in the same sector, building a budget and how to encourage resource contributions from the cluster business community and other stakeholders. The following people each play a key role in bringing value chain development and market approach strategies to implementation:

Value chain and market approach strategy  - Support structure

In-country resources

Sponsor
The Sponsor invites ITC into the country and evaluates the level of motivation amongst cluster businesses to develop value chains and new market approaches at the start. He or she is ultimately responsible for mobilising business leaders and government agency chiefs to take part in this development and contribute to its eventual implementation. This person is usually, an influential representative of government, a business association or chamber, or a trade promotion organisation. The Sponsor provides overall leadership and encourages stakeholders to fully support the process and respond promptly to its needs.

Coordinator
The Coordinator is a key individual in the success of a Compete intervention, particularly during the first steps of the process. He or she must be seen to be independent of stakeholder interests. The Coordinator is responsible for organising and managing the entire process and each workshop, including communications and reporting to the participants, sponsor, stakeholders, and ITC. He or she provides the day-to-day operations leadership to keep the process on track, maintain the quality of the work and engages stakeholders to contribute.

To accomplish these tasks the Coordinator works closely with the Sponsor and a Cluster Team. He or she is briefed and coached by ITC in the Compete process and may be further supported through regional training seminars, the ITC strategy Coordinators’ network, web site, and a coach on the Compete team in ITC. Coordinators often come from a trade support organisation where they have sector responsibilities as part of their normal work activities. An administrative assistant may be needed to support the Coordinator, whose duties will demand up to 4 work months of time and for which he or she may be paid if the work is outside their normal duties.

Cluster Team
This is a small group, usually of up to nine individuals, one of whom is the Coordinator. The others will be people with long-term experience of the sector in the country or in target markets abroad and with professional or technical expertise.  They act as a review panel, help to research and prepare the market and business environment overview, review workshop outputs and edit the business plan elements developed by the workshop participants. Some sector Team members will also lead small teams to investigate questions raised in the workshops and examine market options. Team members assist the Coordinator with communications and are a source of information and outreach to key stakeholders and potential investors. The Sector Team’s workload is heaviest during the first 4 weeks of the process and at the end. One member may be appointed as Deputy Coordinator.

Counterpart organisation
A trade support organisation that can provide administrative, information and facilities back-up to the Coordinator and Cluster Team and can “host” the Compete process for future use.

Stakeholders
All people that are implicated and involved in, or affected by, the Compete intervention and eventual business plans, are called stakeholders. The Cluster Team must identify at the start those stakeholders whose support is essential to the successful development of business plans and their implementation. These stakeholders may attend the initial consultation and briefing meeting.

Participants
The stakeholders who actually take part in the Compete workshops are called “Participants”. These people should either be decision-makers in their own organisations, business owners or industry specialists. They should each represent an enterprise in the same stage of a sector such as: producers, manufacturers and exporters. Business and trade support organisations (freight forwarders, logistics, inspection, finance, packaging and quality institutions), and government agencies (customs, port authorities and involved ministries) may be called upon to participate as required. Because the emphasis in the workshops is on participants finding solutions for themselves the diversity, enthusiasm and competence of the participants is really important to the quality of the final outputs. A participant in the Compete process commits to contribute his or her knowledge and experience of the sector for a minimum of 10 working days over 4 months. The enterprises involved will normally send at least four people from their senior management team to each workshop including: the owner, operations director and finance director.

External resources

ITC inputs, process and technical specialists

ITC assists country counterparts overall with technical market information, process guidance and coaching support focusing on six key areas:
      > Advice at the start on what to do, how to adapt and use Compete to suit the situation
      > A consultation and briefing for the Sponsor, Cluster Team, Coordinator and key stakeholders.
      > Transfer of the Compete Guide, distance coaching on call, organisational and process support and records back-up
         for the Coordinator
      > ITC international consultant specialists providing: process guidance and co-facilitation of workshops, information
         on markets, sector operations and requirements, review of outputs and evaluation of strategy options (according to needs
         and available funds)
      > ITC missions to co-facilitate each workshop with the Coordinator
      > Process quality monitoring and technical review of all work outputs and results

ITC specialists travel to the country 3 or 4 days before each workshop to consult with the local team and visit stakeholders.

Other resource collaborators & implementing partners
Development agencies and investors, banks, donors, buyers, government extension services, NGO’s and others may be invited to participate in the workshops or provide technical inputs during the development and presentation of business plans.