As already known, the 1^st Search Conference, a part of the White Appliances Sub-Industry Strategy Documents works, was held in Bolu Abant Palace Hotel on May 4-6, 2012 by the leadership of BEYSAD and with the supports of KOSGEB, the white appliances main industry and sub-industry and it was attended by 37 people, and the 2^nd Search Conference was held in Bolu Gazelle Hotel on December 13-15, 2013 and was attended by 47 people. As the efforts continued relentlessly, the major shareholders of the sector came together this year in Bolu Gazelle Hotel once again, on December 11-13, 2015 for the 3^rd Search Conference.

Five different target committees were formed under BEYSAD with the purposes of realizing the 5 main objectives in the Strategy Document in the 1.5 year that has passed since the first document was prepared and distributed in 2012. These committees which were comprised of approximately 10 people each gathered together almost every month following the first Search Conference and worked on each action of the action plan in the “strategy document” in order to make the sector more effective and enable the sector to attain its objectives and held beneficial events for you, esteemed BEYSAD members, and provided feedbacks.

“First Revision Document” was created after the second Search Conference of 2013 and it was decided that the works would continue with 3 Committees. These 3 committees have carried on working without stopping since 2013.

All these efforts have progressed from month to month in the form of sometimes hosting an expert on the subject, sometimes a trip, sometimes a training program, sometimes accompanied by a main industry authority, and sometimes sending you surveys on subjects that require your works and experiences. Indeed, with these efforts, the most prominent aspect of the document since it was issued, which is that it is “a living document” has been realized.

In this context, the aimed strategies should have been revised and all the shareholders should have reached an agreement on the compliance of the strategies and the actions taken in line with these strategies to the objectives, as with other projects. For this reason Search Conferences started to be organized and this year the third of them was held in Bolu-Gazelle Hotel on December 11-13, 2015 and attended by 47 people excluding the technical team.

The Search Conference is a working order that enables creating common ideas, finding solutions to common problems, determining what should be done to attain the better and to improve, and choosing common goals. In a classic conference order, one or a few individuals take the stage and explain about certain topics, while the others just listen; whereas in a Search Conference, on the contrary, all of the participants speak in a certain order and reach a conclusion.

The moderator of the Search Conference is Milar Business Advisory Services’ manager Kerim Han Milar for the 3^rd time in a row and the Conference was attended by the white appliances sub-industry representatives, the white appliances main industry representatives and individuals who represent the public and bureaucracy, media, NGOs – our sector shareholders, academics and the world of business close to the white appliances sector, and who can contribute in the conference with their different points of view.

Prior to this Search Conference, as different from the previous conferences, the participants were provided with the “BEYSAD Search Conference White Appliances Sector Analysis Report” prepared by Prof. Dr. Ümit Özlale Economics Department Head of School of Business Administration, Özyeğin University. The presentation on the specifics of the report was given by Prof. Özlale during the session on Friday evening. The presentation that included fascinating information and data attracted much attention and took a long time with the Q&A portion. This presentation constituted a solid infrastructure for the other sessions of the event.

During the session on Friday evening, the Trends in the World and in Turkey were noted to see what changed in the last 2 years, as done every year, and the notes were shared with the participants the next day. In this list, “Industry 4.0 and Smart Devices” have been leading hot topics by far for the last 2 years.

In the meeting, besides the main industry and sub-industry actors of the sector, TURKBESD (Turkish White Appliances Industrialists Association), TÜSİAD, TET (Electric and Electronics Sector and Service Exporters’ Association), SUBCONTURKEY Journal, and opinion leaders from technology and finance companies shared their valuable ideas with the participants.

47 participants of the meeting produced ideas to design the situation of the White Appliances Industry (WAI) and the White Appliances Sub-Industry (WASI) in 2020 and to manage any risks that may emerge through small group and large group works for 3 days. In this Search Conference, as differently from the previous ones, the strong and weak aspects work added to the second stage enabled preparing the individual SWOT matrices of WAI and WASI in the globe and in Turkey.

In the fourth stage, 4 different groups were formed. Each group worked on a different subject. Two of them individually designed a future for WAI and WASI, while the other two worked individually on the risk analysis for WAI and WASI.

The sessions were made up of 4 stages and a general outcome assessment.

·         Stage 1 Changes in the world and in Turkey in the last 2 years

·         Stage 2 Opportunities and threats affecting WAI and WASI in the world and in Turkey

Strong and weak aspects/SWOT matrix          

·         Stage 3 – Strategy Document – Committee formations

·         Stage 4 – Future design/risk analysis for WAI and WASI in Turkey

·         General outcome assessment

During the sessions which started on December 11, Friday at 09.00 P.M. and lasted until December 13, at 01.00 P.M., the above-listed titles were discussed to find a common mind sometimes in a large group and sometimes in different smaller groups. In the meetings that progressed in a deductive manner, desires and threats regarding the future of the sector revealed. Actions to be taken to get rid of the threats and to attain the desires were recorded.

Stage 1: Changes in the world and in Turkey
The Conference began with a large group work on December 11, Friday at 09.00 P.M. Prior to this work; all the participants briefly introduced themselves. Next, the first stage of the conference “Changes in the World and in Turkey” carried on with a 40-minute brainstorm in the large group. Meanwhile, all the participants were asked to specify the increasing and decreasing trends in the world and in Turkey in the last 2 years. Each participant expressed their individual thoughts one by one and at the same time, all the expressed items were written on Flipcharts to be seen by everyone.

Stage 2: Changes Affecting WAI and WASI
The changes in the world and in Turkey that was set out on Friday evening, December 11 were distributed to all the participants on Saturday morning, December 12. The second stage was realized in two separate sessions. In the first session, the participants were separated into 4 groups and these small groups found out about the opportunities and threats affecting WAI and WASI in the world and in Turkey. Later, the groups did an additional small group work and this time, determined the strong and weak aspects of WAI and WASI in the world and in Turkey. With these two sessions, the SWOT matrices of WAI and WASI in the world and in Turkey were created.

Stage 3: Strategy Document – Committee formations
In the third stage, Burak ÖZAYDEMİR, Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors of BEYSAD and Murat ÖNEY, Member of the Board of Directors of BEYSAD gave a presentation. The presentation took almost 45 minutes and gave information on the strategy document, committees and their operations.

Stage 4: Future design and risk analysis
The fourth stage entailed the discussion on the physical situation of WAI and WASI in Turkey in the next 5 years in the light of all the data obtained up to this stage. On the other hand, risks that may emerge in this process were forecasted and steps to be taken were discussed. The main outlines of the action plan framework that should be implemented by WAI and WASI in Turkey against risks and negative factors were set out.

Since there was not any limitation on the number of items in the fourth stage (in the second stage, each group was asked to select 3), the groups were given 1 hour 30 minutes to work. The participants were separated into 4 main groups, as they were in the second stage. Each group worked on a different title.

The data collected from the committee and monitoring guidance meetings, researches, surveys conducted so far and the interviews held with the leaders of the sector as well as the data collected from this meeting, works and ideas were brought together to prepare the second revision of the strategy document. The conference was very productive and constructive and opposing ideas were opened to discussion to move the sector forward. In the general outcome assessment, the assessments, comments and suggestions were followed to record new strategies that were agreed on after long meetings and the 5-year action plan for WAI and WASI. The outcomes of these works will be turned to detailed activity schedules by BEYSAD committees and we will continue following up periodically. We are working on to share the Revision 2 with you very soon.

We would like to thank everyone who put all their hard work in the organization as well as all the participants who attended the meeting showing big sacrifices.

However, we would like to give the biggest thanks to the Managers and employees of TET (Electric, Electronics and Service Exporters’ Association) who supported the Search Conference, like the previous one, both materially and spiritually.

We appreciate the great support given by the Esteemed Managers and employees of TET and wish the continuity of our cooperation.