This brief is based on impact evaluations conducted by an independent group of researchers in three countries. Enterprises received training using ILO’s Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme combined with basic elements of Kaizen on production management and quality control. Enterprises from a garment cluster in Tanzania increased their value added by 50% compared to the control group. Firms from a metal cluster in Ghana and a garment cluster in Vietnam were able to cope better with the massive competitive pressure of cheap imports. Ghanaian firms reported only a 10% reduction in profit while the control group lost 30%. In Vietnam, where the control group lost 40%, the treatment group had virtually no reduction.