The structuring of a workshop to validate survey findings is a method of ensuring that the gathering and analysis of the data is solution focused dealing with issues experienced by the practitioners. The interaction between the practitioner
and the academic can be a challenge, as both tend to view the business world from different points of view. The practitioner academic interaction during the workshop gave rise to an acknowledgement of the roles of the academic and business worlds in making enterprises more successful. The results are considered positive in terms of the performance measures found in the SME owner-manager survey and the subsequent correlation between these results and those identified by the workshop
groups.
The practitioner and academic alike can assess the current state of practice, using the KJ methodology, along with the theory practice gap taking a more central role in general discourse. It was felt that no one group or individual dominated the conversation, all participants got their say and the group as a whole agreed upon findings in a constructive and timely manner. This partnership in learning is a powerful tool along with the KJ methodology structured in a manner to elicit
results from this mutually beneficial relationship.