The research agenda
Find the constraints. Test the explanation.
We want to understand where SME CEOs can rely on their revenue systems, where they hesitate, and what would give them better grounds for their next decision.
What most limits an SME CEO's ability to rely on the revenue system?
What gets in the way?
Which constraints do leaders name in their own words, before being offered a framework or a list?
Where does it happen?
Does the constraint concern demand, the offer, resources, the customer experience, or the handoffs between them?
What difference does it make?
Which decisions are delayed, changed or exposed, and what evidence supports that account?
What deserves more confidence?
Which arrangements already hold up in ordinary work, and what can be learned from them?
The proposed first study
A survey of SME CEOs will explore specific recent decisions alongside their wider view of the business. These design principles guide the questionnaire now in development.
- Ask before suggestingBegin with an open account of a recent decision, so the framework does not supply the respondent's first answer.
- Keep confidence and evidence distinctAsk both how willing leaders are to rely on the system and what they observed. Self-reported confidence cannot establish that a system is dependable.
- Look for strengths and constraintsGive respondents room to describe what works, what does not, what is uncertain, and what lies outside the starting theory.
- Make the limits visibleAny findings need to state who took part, how they were recruited, when responses were collected and what the evidence can support.
A useful account of experience has limits.
A CEO survey can reveal reported experiences and patterns among respondents. By itself, it cannot establish cause and effect, validate the whole framework or represent every SME. A ranking of constraints will need to be read alongside the sample, context and uncertainty.
Where the work stands
The framework and proposed survey are available to explore. Research responses are not being collected through this site, and there are no published survey findings yet.