Small Business Management - week 2 - chapters 3,4
* This posting covers chapters 3 & 4 *
Chapter 3 - Social responsibility, Ethics and Strategic Planning.
On this chapter, we have covered the following objectives:
- The relationship between social responsibility, ethics, and strategic planning.
- The levels of social responsibility.
- How to establish codes of ethics for your business.
- The strategic planning process, and the importance of competitive advantage.
- Ways to influence the organizational culture of your new business.
Let's talk about Social responsibility and your business...
Social responsibility, Ethics, and Strategic planning are tied in together, and are all an inevitable part of Business Management. Your social responsibility is the affects of your business on its surroundings and society, and knowing what’s important to your business affects your strategic planning. One’s values, which can be defind as ethics, have a strong influence on the culture of the business you create.
Competition and your business - How to Deal ?!
The value of competitive analysis to the small business owner is that it provides an opportunity to improve business and especially weaknesses that may become a disadvantage for business. By analyzing other businesses in comparison to one’s business - the owner can learn what areas need to be improved and where to invest more in order to beat competition.
The sorts of things a business owner should know about his competition are : Image, location, layout, products, pricing, advertising, and sales methods. The analytical methods that can be used to find out this information are :
- Read articles in trade publications.
- Listen to customers and sales people reviews about competitors.
- Keep files on main competitors with essential information.
- Meet regularly with key employees and evaluate information.
- Attend industry trade shows.
- Buy competitors’ products and examine them to determine quality etc’ (reverse engineering).
- Consult published credit reports on competitors.
Some personal thoughts....
Social responsibilities.
I appreciate business owners who do good. I appreciate even more, those who do "goodwill".
One's contribution to society is very valuable. It can icrease quality of life for needed populations and create a better world to live it. It all sounds like the ideal dream, but there's alot of truth in it.
Maintaining a code of ethics is essential. The Sarbanes Oxley Act holds executives responsible for anything illegal that happens in their company. I support this law because it prevents people from taking law into their own hands, and committing business frauds. From now on - managers are being held responsible, personally guilty or not !
here's a link that provides an explanation about the Sarbanes Oxley Act
And an article from MSNBC.COM about the conviction of Enron executive (Enron fraud case triggered the formation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act).
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Chapter 4 - The Business Plan -
On this chapter we have -
- Explained the purpose and importance of the business plan.
- Described the components of a business plan.
- Recognized the importance of reviewing your business plan.
By Definition a Business Plan is a document describing a business that is used to test the feasability of a business idea, to raise capital, and to serve as a road map for future operations.
Business plans are important because they can assist in raising capital, they can help plan the company’s future and they can assist in preventing common mistakes and termination of business. A Well written business plan can aim to a point at which you would like to see your business in the future. It can prevent costly oversights and assist business owners in making the right decisions along the way.
Please find below my analysis for closing case # 1 - " Oyster Communications - Is the World its Oyster ? "
Summary:
Closing case # 1 brings the story of the development of Oyster Communications, a company developed by Entrepreneur Margot Langstaff. The company’s roots were in the Colorado guide to financial sources for the entrepreneur and small business owner, and developed from there , starting as a marketing and distribution company and growing into and information network.
Questions:
- How would creating a business plan have helped Oyster Communications?
Creating a business plan would have helped Oyster Communications by allowing its management to plan the company’s future and anticipate any problems or difficulties that may occur along the way. It would have helped the company to stay focused in one direction and secure its status in the rapidly changing world of technology.
- What would you emphasize in writing a business plan for Oyster ?
When writing a business plan for Oyster, I would probably emphasize the goals of company and where I expect it to stand in X amount of time. This would probably increase credibility in the eyes of its investors and customers because it shows Oyster has a focused path it intends to follow.
- Oyster is obviously a very dynamic, changeable business. Why write a plan for this type of business ?
Since Oyster is a business that changes rapidly, it is difficult to predict future problems and potential risks it might face in the future. Writing a plan for this business would provide an opportunity to strategically prepare for problems, and it can assist in preventing costly mistakes. A Business plan can provide a chance to a
analyse the market and potential competitors, and prepare better for stronger competition, instead of making fast (and wrong) deicisions.
Conclusion:
Technology world changes rapidly and competition is high and aggressive, which makes it more difficult for a small business to survive. A Well written business plan can assist in preventing common mistakes and paving the business path. It can also help to build credibility and raise capital.
Some Business Plan News from MSNBC.COM: New plans for Toyota - read it here !
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8374373/
posted by Shirley Friedman at 9:35 PM
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