SMED Tools Kit

Competency based Economies, Formation of Enterprise CEFE

Since 1994, the entrepreneurs of Lao PDR has been introduced this method of business management training which one of the project of TA of German Government  called “Small Enterprise Development Project (SEDP)” . The project had been conducted both expansion  and start up business through the main dynamic town like Vientiane Capital, Savannakhet,  Champasak and Luangprabang. The project ended up in 1999 and the CEFE concept also has ont been introduced.

CEFE is a comprehensive set of training instruments using an action-oriented approach and experiential learning methods to develop and enhance the business management and personal competencies of a wide range of target groups, mostly in the context of income and employment generation and economic development.

CEFE, being a training concept is based on the assumption that the enrichment of society is essentially depending on its human resources, and the more productive and accountable these people are, the greater will be the wealth of that nation. It has evolved over the years from an approach training individuals who want to start their own enterprise to a far-reaching training methodology, designed to evoke enterprising behaviour and competence in a wide variety of situations. The fundamental assumption is that people with a clearer vision of their goals and equipped with the skills to achieve them are far more likely to become productive individuals in society.

CEFE is a highly adaptable concept that has been used to promote a wide range of very different social groups such as demobilised soldiers in Ethiopia, refugees in Mozambique, women in vocational training in Tunisia, ex-prisoners in Chile, favelados in Brazil, university graduates in Vietnam, staff members of privatised enterprises in Uzbekistan, just to name a  few.
CEFE has proven to be a very successful approach to the promotion of small and medium enterprises, employment, income and economic growth. The major findings of an official evaluation of the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation carried out in different countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa reflect that:

• Participants declare CEFE to be useful or very useful
  • for the development of their entrepreneurial competencies: 91%
  • for their personal development: 93%
  • for the development of their business: 86%

• 98% of existing entrepreneurs with 1-2 employees and 100% of entrepreneurs with 6-10 employees claim that their income and turnover increased by at least 30% after going through a CEFE training

• Out of a training course for potential entrepreneurs
  • 44% did not start a business, while about
  • 45% became successful entrepreneurs.

• Up to now, CEFE seems to be especially successful and fruitful when used for people with a lower educational background and/or low income.
• When looking at the number of employees, the increase in number is significant
• after a CEFE training with an average of 4 new jobs created per participant.

Women’s share in CEFE circles around 38%. A CEFE training can be broken down into several course modules. This helps women and other participants with time consuming obligations to participate, nevertheless.

CEFE’s main objective is to improve the entrepreneurial performance of economic actors through:

• guided self-analysis
• stimulating enterprising behaviour
• the build up of business competencies

CEFE’ s training methodology has been applied in a variety of situations, its core focus yet remains the stimulation of growth in the small and medium enterprise development process where the emphasis with entrepreneurs is on improving their business performance while with personnel from enterprise support and regulatory institutions more attention is given to creating a positive enabling environment at the macro and meso level.

There are essentially six stages in a CEFE training programme regardless of the target group. The first stage is awareness, in which participants are encouraged to examine who they are, clarify their own values, and evaluate their own personality, motivations, capabilities and personal resources. The second stage is acceptance or recognition of one’s own strengths and weaknesses – not everyone has to be a leader or hero, but being more creative, innovative, and competent is likely to produce rewards in any profession. The third stage is goal setting, where the emphasis is placed in developing clarity of purpose in one’s short and long term goals of life. The fourth stage involves developing strategies or action plans which are oriented to generating growth, this is done after analysing the relevant components of the six factors mentioned above and includes the upgrading of knowledge about economics and entrepreneurial decision-making. The fifth is direct experience where the emphasis is on doing; structured learning experiences and encountering “real life” situations assist in building up this experience in which strategies are tested, evaluated and modified. The last stage is transformation and empowerment where the competencies acquired come together into a pattern which matches personal strengths and weaknesses with goals.

CEFE’s overall guiding principle to the training is the ownership of the process which is acquired through the time and energy that participants must invest into the highly demanding schedule of each course. By moving through these stages from awareness to transformation, the participant is given the opportunity to experience personal growth and to develop a more enterprising approach to life. The amount of empowerment that actually takes place is in direct proportion to the investment made by the participant and to the increase of economic opportunities.

CEFE’s method of enterprise promotion represents the synthesis of enterprise research, theory and application and links economic growth with more and better qualified employment and higher individual income. Its strength comes from paying particular attention to the practical results of its interventions. The method has been widely used in sectors such as small and medium enterprise development, reconstruction and privatisation, management training, vocational training, education, rural and urban development, refugee and reintegration programmes and in agriculture.

CEFE has been introduced in more than 60 countries during the last seven years. The activities related to the world-wide dissemination of the CEFE concept are supported and financed by the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation through a project called CEFE International, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).

CEFE’s main objective today is to improve the entrepreneurial performance of economic actors through:

• guided self-analysis
• stimulating enterprising behaviour
• the build up of business competencies