What are the best ways to integrate into a GVC? What are some of the tools to identify different opportunities within GVCs? How are other international organizations, aid agencies and governments leveraging GVCs? For countries, how can understanding global value chains improve competitiveness? For local firms, where is your organization positioned within a GVC and where are opportunities for upgrading? Learn how to best address these types of questions facing your organization.
Customized workshops have benefitted the likes of policymakers, economic developers, consultants and academics focused on improving country or company competitiveness.
Course content combines the academic rigor and real world application stemming from actual research activities. Learning outcomes are tailored to each particular context by building a team that matches your learning objectives to industry and geographic expertise. Interactive case studies are used to introduce concepts followed by participants applying the methodology introduced using their own data.
Read this story to see a practical example of how the GVC Center teaching approach has been applied in actual work with government officials.
Training clients have included the Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, the Caribbean Center for Competitiveness, the Organization of American States and the Kazakhstan National Analytical Center. Here is a specific example of the impact generated:
Learning Objectives: CCfC’s goal was to support private sector development. It is a challenge for many in the region to find new sources of revenue. CCfC wanted to equip trainees with methodologies for competitive and comparative advantage.
Deliverables: The CCfC engaged the GVC Center to lead two different workshops for 30 individuals throughout the region with a vested interest in supporting private sector development: researchers, policy makers, consultants, and academics. The workshops focused on value chain analysis and writing case studies. A particular highlight was using video conferencing to interview one of the GVC Center’s clients in Central America as it was a way for the participants to follow-up and ask questions of the decision-makers after they had done the case.
Results: Individuals left at the end of the workshops with a set of tools that they could apply to their own circumstances. This enabled them to see if their findings made sense through the lens of identifying opportunities for development. It also gave the participants the confidence to articulate strategies for development.
In post-workshop evaluations, participants were overwhelmingly pleased with their experience and many had requested additional workshops. In a separate survey, participants were asked if the trainings impacted their work. The resounding response was yes. It made a difference on the job and how they were able to convince their superiors what to do and how to go about it.
CCfC also has a book coming out from the University that features six different cases, a direct result from the learnings gleaned in the workshop.
“If you are looking for a set of practical tools to function more efficiently in your job and to be able to address issues of firm or industry competitiveness, then I highly recommend these workshops. The workshops were most beneficial to us because they were practical. We were to apply a theory and put it into practice. We particularly resonated with the case-based learning via the GVC Center’s client work. We thought the workshop was so good that we did it twice! That is testament to the value that we experienced.” – Indera Sagewan-Alli, Executive Director for the Caribbean Centre for Competitiveness
“The GVC approach we learned during the workshops is very useful for collaboration. It brings people with different perspectives together and allows them to go through a useful process to evaluate opportunities. Sometimes when you go to workshops, there are times when the information is not relevant. That wasn’t the case with the Duke workshops. There was lots of energy around the topics and I know this is something we can use for our organization.” – Paula Bourne, Barbados Investment and Development Corporation
Contact Stacey Frederick to discuss how training can benefit your organization.
