FIELD Facilitation Brief 2: Methods for Identifying and Selecting Lead Firms

This document presents the results of the first “cycle” of discussions of The FIELD Facilitation Working Group. The objective of this working group is to share experiences and identify best practices for facilitating value chain development programs – and more specifically how programs can best work with “lead firms” to accomplish their goals.

FIELD Facilitation Brief No 2 begins with an in-depth examination of criteria for selecting lead firms that includes: the rationale for the criteria, possible indicators for determining whether lead firms satisfy each criterion and additional considerations when using these criteria. Tools and processes for applying these criteria are then discussed before an examination of the factors that affect decisions regarding the number of lead firms with which a development organization can or should work.