The evidence
What can leaders see about demand, customer choices and the outlook for revenue?
A research programme for SME leaders
A CEO makes decisions on the strength of customer demand, team commitments and money expected to arrive. We study what gives those decisions a sound footing, and what gets in the way.
Consequential decisions. Connected systems. Better grounds for trust.
First study in developmentThe question we are asking
Can we rely on this? A forecast. A delivery promise. A team's capacity. The research begins with SME CEOs and the everyday decisions that depend on their revenue systems.
What can leaders see about demand, customer choices and the outlook for revenue?
How do priorities become promises that people have the authority, capacity and funding to keep?
What changes when a result challenges the plan, and how does that shape the next decision?
The starting framework
Our starting theory connects the promises a business makes with its ability to carry them. The research will test that view against leaders' experience, including what the theory misses.
Explore the Revenue Creation LoopThe people, time, money and capability available to carry the work.
The promise the business designs and asks the customer to accept.
What happens when the promise is delivered and used.
Customers' needs, choices and willingness to pay.
The proposed first study
The first study is being designed to understand the strongest constraints on reliance across the revenue system. Its starting point is a recent decision, followed by questions about evidence, commitments, delivery and change.
See the proposed questionsTrust is a willingness to rely on someone or something when the outcome matters. Trustworthiness is the conduct, capability and conditions that give good reason to do so. We are interested in the grounds for reliance, including when caution is justified.