The Programme for Total Competitiveness
he Programme for Total Competitiveness, founded and developed by Robert Huggins Associates, represents the opportunity by which your region and or locality can fully understand and act upon its economic and social requirements.
The Programme for Total Competitiveness works with local and regional agencies to create an environment for sustained growth, primarily based on enhancing productivity, innovation, enterprise, infrastructure and education skills.
The following are the kinds of questions that we seek to answer by helping to provide a route map for each locality and region's socio-economic future:

• What is Total Competitiveness ?
• How do you achieve Total Competitiveness Growth in your area ?
• What currently drives and constrains competitiveness in your area ?
• How can you develop strategies that build-on and extend your locality's and/or region's wealth creation capabilities ?
• Where might your locality/region already be able to take a lead in establishing Total Competitiveness ?
• How can your locality/region sustain a competitive lead in the future, and where can it create new paths for sustained economic evolution that will bring new opportunities and new prospects ?

The Programme for Total Competitiveness is based on an analysis of three key sub-components - Knowledge Competitiveness, Productive Competitiveness and Sustainable Competitiveness - with policy features including:

Business development Education and training Networks Innovation and technology Telecommunications Role of public finance Venture capital Skilled workforce Civic leadership

Measuring, understanding and analysing competitiveness at the geographic level has become a vital factor in creating a policy environment that is fully informed as to how we can enhance the economic performance of our nations, regions and localities.

Knowledge Competitiveness
Includes the requirements of knowledge workers, such as thick labour markets offering the variety of employment opportunities needed to sustain a knowledge economy career. It also covers the indigenous capacity for science, technology, production and trade, and the enabling of communication and know-how flow within and between localities and regions.

Productive Competitiveness

Includes the indigenous business culture encompassing entrepreneurship, innovation, risk taking, business networks, local/regional identity. It also concerns: (1) skills, and the realisation of those skills and associated technologies; (2) investment, and the differing qualities of physical capital required to become integrated into production; (3) sources of added value, through outputs for trade at home and abroad; and (4) the role of the public sector in productive development.

Sustainable Competitiveness
Consists of environmental quality and management (including emissions and waste); culture and the arts; access for all citizens (investment in re-training and social inclusion); affordability; traffic infrastructure and congestion. Sustainable competitiveness also includes the cost and productivity of physical labour, the costs of doing business, and location decisions.

Features of the Programme for Total Competitiveness The Model shows the key aspects to consider when seeking to achieve Total Competitiveness. However, we are aware that no 'off-the-shelf' recipe exists for all localities and regions. Our Programme for Total Competitiveness, therefore, focuses on futures planning and scenario setting that shares insights from those who are fully engaged in your area's economy as well as from stakeholders in comparator localities and regions.

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• Detailed quantative benchmarking of the Total Competitiveness of your locality/region at an international level.
• Qualitative assessment and benchmarking of the intangibles and softer aspects of Total Competitiveness.
• Forecasting key trends and their underlying drivers.
• Scenario setting and futures planning that seek to challenge 'traditional' assumptions.
• Establishment of an index of international comparator localities/regions.
• Access to global partnering and networking with international comparators.
• Framework for understanding and appraising developments.
• Assessment of the capacity and co-ordination of institutional partners across your area.
• Process development and action planning for a bespoke Programme for Total Competitiveness in your area based on creating informed and strategic investment decisions to build long-term Total Competitiveness.

The Programme for Total Competitiveness has been developed whilst working with a range of local and regional development agencies and stakeholders within the UK, Europe and North America.
If you are interested in discussing the programme please do not hesitate to Contact us.