Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example

Introduction There has been drastic increase in the SMEs all around the globe. Many entrepreneurs have started small and medium enterprises in different domains and areas (Stokes & Wilson, 2010). However, along with the increasing market potential for these companies there are different challenges and issues which have to be faced by them (Sexton & Landström, 2000). Hence, it is important for such companies to plan and implement their goals and strategies in efficient and effective manner (Gibb, 1996). For this purpose, it is highly important to carefully analyse and evaluate the external and internal environment with the help of different strategic tools and methods (Miettinen & Donckels, R. 1997). This assignment is regarding a business that recruits potential candidate to provide high profile brands with permanent staff. The business differentiates itself from other competitors in the market by providing the companies with employees that would stay long term in the company. To do so, the business evaluates the needs of the potential employee and organisation to create organisational fit. The aim of this assignment is to evaluate the goals and vision of such business as provided in the business growth plan. Along with such assessment, this paper will aim to evaluate the impact of growth ambitions of SMEs. To do so, SWOT analysis as a tool would be applied to critically evaluate the impact of growth ambition of SMEs. Critical assessment of goals and vision For a business to enhance its growth, it must have clear goals and vision (Williamson, Cooke, Jenkins, &Moreton, 2012). The overall performance of any business is directly dependent on the goals and vision (George, 2012). The formulation of strategies and plans is based on the overall goals and vision of the company (Freeman, 2010). At the same time the efficiency of the strategies is also evaluated on the basis of the accomplishment of the main goals and vision of the business (David, 2001). This part of the assignment would critically assess the goals and vision of the business under investigation. Both the goals and vision would be separately assessed in the following paragraph. Goals The goal of the business is to provide high brand with candidates that could stay with the brands for longer duration. In order to do so, the business creates organisational fit between the candidates and the organisations. This helps the business to identify the needs of the candidates and how well the organisation could provide the candidates with facilities to meet the needs. Vision Being recognised as the leading regional recruiter, the company aims to shift from recruitment consultancy to talent asset management consultancy. This vision of the company is due to the lack of talent in the market and by shifting to talent asset management consultancy, the business would be able to identify the real talent in the market. Along with this shift, the business also aims to operate two businesses; recruitment consultancy and talent asset management consultancy. The recruitment consultancy would be aimed to provide the clients with employees’ recruitment solutions and on the other hand, the other business would help the clients to provide solutions regarding human resource challenges. Evaluation of SMART objectives in the plan For an organisation to be successful, it must have SMART objectives (Stacey, 2007). The term SMART refers to Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (Hussey, 2012). If an objective successfully fulfils all these 5 dimensions mentioned above, the objective is said to be SMART (Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., &Hoskisson, 2012). The SMART objectives make it easier for the business to evaluate the success or failure of the strategies and methods employed to accomplish these objectives (Knight, 2000). Hence it will be helpful to evaluate the objectives of the business under consideration on the basis of the SMART objectives framework (Entrialgo, Fernández, & Vázquez, 2000). This section would be aimed to evaluate the SMART objectives mentioned in the plan for the business to grow. Objective 1: Financial Objective A Grow turnover to 3 million pound and create additional 15 jobs to 19 employees. Evaluation of Objective The evaluation of financial objective is as follows; a) Specific This financial objective mentioned in the plan is specific. This financial objective provides the specific outcome i.e. growing turnover to 3 million pounds. Furthermore, the financial objective is aimed towards providing 19 employees with additional 15 jobs. b) Measureable This aspect refers to the measurement of the objective. This financial objective is measurable as this objective aims to grow turnover to 3 million pounds in the forthcoming years. c) Attainable This financial objective is attainable and achievable. The reason for its achievability is the resource allocation and interim management division. d) Realistic This financial objective is relevant as it focuses on providing the business with growth opportunities within limited time frame. e) Timely This financial objective has not provided specific time for this objective to be accomplished. Due to such reason, the objective is said to be missing this aspect in SMART evaluation. After evaluating the financial objective for plan A, it was found that the objective was lacking the time frame for its completion. On the other hand, the rest of the factors were positive in the evaluation. Objective 2: Financial Objective B Grow turnover to £7million by 2017 and create additional 25 jobs growing to 30 employees. Evaluation of Objective The evaluation of this specific financial objective is as follows; a) Specific The objective mentioned in the business growth plan is specific. The financial objective has specific outcome i.e. growth in turnover and to achieve this, the company would create additional jobs to employees. b) Measureable The financial objective is measurable in terms of revenues. In the financial objective, it has been clearly indicated that the company would enhance its turnover to £7million. c) Attainable This factor indicates regarding the accomplishment of goal within limited time frame along with the available resources. The financial objective mentioned is attainable as the company aims to acquire other competitors in different geographical location along with increasing its consultancy capabilities. d) Realistic This financial objective for plan B is more realistic than the earlier mentioned financial plan, as the company aims to increase its consultancy capabilities along with achieving maximum value by selling the recruitment business to strategic buyer. By doing so, the division would be able to enhance its coverage which would eventually lead to increase in turnover rate. e) Timely The time factor is provided in the financial objective. This makes the financial objective for plan B timely. After the SMART evaluation of the objective, it was found that the financial objective for plan B is accurate in terms of SMART. The objective has provided all the factors required to accomplish the evaluation. Impact of the growth ambitions of SMEs The anticipated impact of the growth ambitions of SMEs would be evaluated and analysed with the help of SWOT analysis. Along with the SWOT analysis, the internal management of growth would also be evaluated to analyse the impact. The SWOT analysis is beneficial to critically evaluate and understand the different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with the internal and external environment of the business (Knight, 2001). SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis of the growth ambitions of SMEs would focus on Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats for the business (Hill & Jones, 2007). Each of the following factors would be separately evaluated. Strength Being able to provide the organisations and super brands with employees that would remain with the organisation for longer time period is one of the major strength of the business. Since corporations are worried regarding such problem, they would ultimately turn to such business that aims to provide the corporate executive with employees that would remain with the company for longer time period. On the other hand, the process would be accredited with ISO:9001 will also be the core strength of the business along with key differentiation factor. Tenacity, persistency, consistency and dependability are some of the major strength of the company due to which the company has been able to provide the right candidate to the right organisation at the right time. The core competencies of the business are also the strength of the business. Some of the major core competencies of the business include forward thinking, ability to think independently, high energy, quality and accountability. Constant feedback from employees is also a major strength of the business. By doing so, the business is able to retain the staff by eliminating all the factors that could lead to employee turnover. Weaknesses The weaknesses that create hurdles in the success of the business include lack of funding from external investors. Due to such factor, the business in not able to take advantage of its unique position in the market and constantly misses opportunities that could help the business to grow exponentially. In addition, the business has also cap on internal investment. This indicates that the business cannot exceed the limit of re-investment which makes the growth of the business limited. With such investment issues, the business is incapable to differentiate the business in the market which eventually creates difficulties in training and development of employees. Opportunities The business has several opportunities for growth which includes the expansion of clients within the market and creation of new products to enhance the customers in the market. Along with this, the company has several opportunities in the market to acquire or merge with other similar sized businesses in the market which would allow the business to expand in terms of size and geography. Along with this, the business has great opportunity to meet the demands of organisations that seek employees that could enhance the efficiency and performance. Since the business has an ability to select the right candidate for the right job, the company can enhance its revenues and profits by providing the organisations with talented employees. Threats The major threats for the business are similar sized business that provides exactly the same service in different locations. This has reduced the revenues and clients of the business due to which the company aims to acquire them in order to eliminate the threat of competition in the market. Conclusion In order to conclude, it could be said that the business growth plan could positively impact the growth of the business as the business has several opportunities that it could capitalise upon. Furthermore, it was also observed that the strengths and opportunities of the business towers both the weaknesses and threats. This can help the business to enhance its growth in the market and provide the super brands with employees that could remain with the organisation for longer time period. List of References David, F. R. (2001).Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Entrialgo, M., Fernández, E., & Vázquez, C. J. (2000). Linking entrepreneurship and strategic management: evidence from Spanish SMEs. Technovation, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 427-436. Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. UK: Cambridge University Press. George S. (2012). Business strategy. Harvard: Harvard university press. Gibb, A. A. (1996). Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management: Can We Afford to Neglect Them in the Twenty‐first Century Business School?.British Journal of Management, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 309-321. Hill, C. W., & Jones, G. R. (2007). Strategic management: An integrated approach. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Pub. Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., &Hoskisson, R. E. (2012). Strategic Management Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization. USA: South-Western Pub. Hussey, D. E. (2012). Strategic Management: From theory to implementation. London: Routledge. Knight, G. (2000). Entrepreneurship and marketing strategy: The SME under globalization. Journal of International Marketing, pp. 12-32. Knight, G. A. (2001). Entrepreneurship and strategy in the international SME.Journal of International Management, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 155-171. Miettinen, A., & Donckels, R. (Eds.). (1997). Entrepreneurship and SME research: on its way to the next millennium. Aldershot: Ashgate. Sexton, D. L., & Landström, H. (Eds.). (2000). The Blackwell handbook of entrepreneurship. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Business. Stacey, R. D. (2007). Strategic management and organisational dynamics: The challenge of complexity to ways of thinking about organisations. Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall. Stokes, D., & Wilson, N. (2010). Small business management and entrepreneurship. London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Williamson, D., Cooke, P., Jenkins, W., &Moreton, K. M. M. (2012). Strategic management and business analysis. New York: Routledge. Read More