Next Level by Growth
The business landscape in South Karelia has been experiencing profound environmental changes for years, challenging companies' decision-making and growth opportunities. The region's economy is struggling with global crises, labor shortages, and cautious investment behavior, making long-term development increasingly difficult. At the same time, the need to build economic resilience in South Karelia is greater than ever. Now, businesses must be able to identify the impacts of environmental changes (business) and take bold development actions to safeguard their competitiveness and growth in the future.
The objective of the Next Level by Growth project is to strengthen the decision-making capabilities of SMEs by providing them with a practical method to simulate environmental changes and assess their impacts on business operations over the next 6–24 months. The project will develop the SimulaatioStudio concept, which integrates scenario analysis, development portfolio creation, and customer insight evaluation into a structured working process model.
The project implementation progresses in four phases:
1. Business scenario development – Two parallel scenarios are created based on company-defined parameters: a current state scenario and a growth scenario.
2. Development portfolio creation – The scenarios are used to identify key business development actions and prioritize them.
3. Testing customer behavior changes – Companies evaluate how market changes impact their development plans using predefined customer insight questions.
4. Conceptualization and prototyping of SimulaatioStudio – The developed methods are consolidated into a structured workshop model, which remains available to businesses and business developers beyond the project's duration.
As a result, SMEs gain competence to analyze environmental changes and align their development activities strategically. SimulaatioStudio provides businesses with a systematic approach to assessing decision-making factors, promoting data-driven management practices within the SME sector.
The project contributes to business growth, long-term strategic development, and the economic resilience of South Karelia. The SimulaatioStudio model will remain as a permanent tool for businesses and development organizations, supporting informed decision-making even after the project ends.
The objective of the Next Level by Growth project is to strengthen the decision-making capabilities of SMEs by providing them with a practical method to simulate environmental changes and assess their impacts on business operations over the next 6–24 months. The project will develop the SimulaatioStudio concept, which integrates scenario analysis, development portfolio creation, and customer insight evaluation into a structured working process model.
The project implementation progresses in four phases:
1. Business scenario development – Two parallel scenarios are created based on company-defined parameters: a current state scenario and a growth scenario.
2. Development portfolio creation – The scenarios are used to identify key business development actions and prioritize them.
3. Testing customer behavior changes – Companies evaluate how market changes impact their development plans using predefined customer insight questions.
4. Conceptualization and prototyping of SimulaatioStudio – The developed methods are consolidated into a structured workshop model, which remains available to businesses and business developers beyond the project's duration.
As a result, SMEs gain competence to analyze environmental changes and align their development activities strategically. SimulaatioStudio provides businesses with a systematic approach to assessing decision-making factors, promoting data-driven management practices within the SME sector.
The project contributes to business growth, long-term strategic development, and the economic resilience of South Karelia. The SimulaatioStudio model will remain as a permanent tool for businesses and development organizations, supporting informed decision-making even after the project ends.
Project period
-
Project state
On-going
Project area
National
Project funding
EAKR 2021-2027
LAB role
Lead partner
Unit
Business and Hospitality Management
Project focus area
Intangible value creation
