Coaching Sustainable, Sufficiency-based Innovation for SMEs: An Example from Thailand

This article examines the possibility of developing coaching programmes to aid sustainable, sufficiency-based innovation for Thai small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This aim is explored by assessing the efficacy of a particular, such training programme: the Por Laew Dee: The Creator Program (in English, ‘Sufficiency is Good: The Creator Program’), using the ninth (2024) cohort of the programme’s unfurling as the main test base for primary data. The idea of seeking not only sustainable but also sufficiency-rooted development has a particular resonance in Thailand because of the launch in 1974 of the late King Bhumibol Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), where ‘sufficiency’ means balancing reasonable moderation in production against the need for protection from sudden internal and external shocks. SEP follows the Buddhist Middle Path as a guiding principle for all classes of society and government. A curriculum based on the SEP and also deploying various business tools was used to train 19 trainees, who are owners of small and medium-sized businesses, covering a range of business areas. Various hands-on activities, including assignments and projects, were employed with feedback from trainers and creators to enhance participants’ creative capabilities, thereby providing value for both themselves and society. The main conclusion is that the concept of a developmental programme for Thai SMEs aimed at promoting innovations grounded in a philosophical foundation of sustainability and sufficiency lies in its transformative character.