Hi ROC - I have now located the downloaded document I remembered. It is actually a FAS/Leonardo project from 1998. It is called NetMet and the intro goes:-
This Guide has been prepared as part of a transnational EU-funded Leonardo da Vinci project to develop Learning Networks of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. The project draws upon the experiences of groups of small companies in the Dublin-West and Kildare region in Ireland who formed themselves into learning networks to help develop their human resources and in so doing develop their companies. The Guide also draws on the experiences of the project partners listed below.
The Dublin-West and Kildare networks drew together the needs of owner-managers of SMEs, the concepts of the Learning Organisation, and the benefits of networking. There are many networks across Europe, but very few dealing primarily with human resources development. The concept of the Learning Organisation has been primarily applied to large firms, and generally is seen as too theoretical and impractical for small businesses. However, the Irish experience, developed further through this transnational project, demonstrates the potential of small groups of owner-managers, who are able to meet on a regular basis, to learn things and achieve things together which they could not do separately. The process enabled owner-managers to learn what a Learning Organisation was, and the benefits it could bring, not through lectures and presentations, but through participation in a learning network.
The key benefits gained through these networks of SMEs, as cited by the members of FASNET, the first network in Dublin-West and Kildare, included:
"No more isolation as owner-manager, mutual support"
"Learning new ways of thinking and doing things"
"Open discussion with peers"
"Learning to involve employees"
"Avoiding making mistakes others already have made"
"Personal analysis of strengths and training needs"
"More successful business".
Overall, the members of each network were very positive about the experiences of the network and found it an extremely beneficial process for themselves and their companies.
The project partners have called the methodology used to create and run the networks ‘NetMet’. The distinguishing features of the networks were:
The aim to achieve self-sufficiency as a network.
Self-directed from the outset (mission and agenda set by the network itself).
Participative, team-based, learning.
Sharing of experience and knowledge, based on mutual trust.
Diverse enterprises in a local area.
The NetMet methodology enables the members to set the network’s goals, working methods, agenda, and evaluation criteria. Initially, an external facilitator is necessary to create the conditions necessary for the achievement of a self-directed and eventually self-managed network.
If you can't locate it PM me and I will e-mail it to you (or to anyone else interested).