European strategy formulation: The Small Company European Analysis Technique (SCEAT)

As the eighties draw to a close, the predominant issue facing industrial and commercial companies in the advent of Europe 1992, is how they are going to assess and respond to both the challenges and opportunities associated with the single European market. In Britain our larger enterprises are already in Europe, or at least have associations with others who are there. On the whole they have the necessary resources and access to expertise which enables them to positively and pro-actively address "1992". But what of our smaller enterprises? How should they plan for the great day? This paper outlines a simple, yet comprehensive, analysis technique which may be used to determine an enterprise's response to the implications of Europe "1992". Existing business policy, along with a multi-functional view of the situation, are combined to provide the enterprise with a clear understanding of what must be done to prepare for the single market. The technique, or model, was recently demonstrated on a "live" company at the Scottish Management Conference;1 it was well received, from practitioners and academics alike.