Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages
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Strategies for Building Business Success 6BE 002
Guidelines for writing the Strategic Growth Plan for an Existing Small Business
This guide to writing your strategic growth plan is, as you will see, quite comprehensive, however given the diversity of organisations that students may select, it should not be seen as a definitive guide & you are encouraged to use other sources in considering the structure of your report. The main body of the report is your discussion of the significance and interpretation of your analysis of the industry/ sector & business and specific strategic recommendations for the future growth of the organisation. Your own reflective learning experience statement on undertaking this module, tables/ charts etc; PEST Analysis, SWOT Analysis for example should be put into your appendices & do not count towards your word count. Do NOT just describe these analytical tools in the main body of your report, you MUST highlight the significance of the analysis, what does it mean for the company? When you are finished writing the first draft, you will have a collection of sections on the various topics of the Growth Plan. You will then need to edit them into a smooth flowing report. The real value of entrepreneurs doing a strategic growth plan is not just having the finished product in hand; rather, the value lies in the process of research and thinking about the business in a systematic way. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research when you are not sure of the facts; to explore ideas critically takes time, but avoids costly, perhaps disastrous, mistakes later. The plan outline given is a generic model suitable for all types of businesses. However, you should modify it to suit the particular circumstances. The quality, structure and appearance of the work as well as the ideas expressed within are all important. It will take a number of weeks to complete the plan. Much of that time will be spent
Strategies for Building Business Success 6BE 002
Guidelines for writing the Strategic Growth Plan for an Existing Small Business
This guide to writing your strategic growth plan is, as you will see, quite comprehensive, however given the diversity of organisations that students may select, it should not be seen as a definitive guide & you are encouraged to use other sources in considering the structure of your report. The main body of the report is your discussion of the significance and interpretation of your analysis of the industry/ sector & business and specific strategic recommendations for the future growth of the organisation. Your own reflective learning experience statement on undertaking this module, tables/ charts etc; PEST Analysis, SWOT Analysis for example should be put into your appendices & do not count towards your word count. Do NOT just describe these analytical tools in the main body of your report, you MUST highlight the significance of the analysis, what does it mean for the company? When you are finished writing the first draft, you will have a collection of sections on the various topics of the Growth Plan. You will then need to edit them into a smooth flowing report. The real value of entrepreneurs doing a strategic growth plan is not just having the finished product in hand; rather, the value lies in the process of research and thinking about the business in a systematic way. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research when you are not sure of the facts; to explore ideas critically takes time, but avoids costly, perhaps disastrous, mistakes later. The plan outline given is a generic model suitable for all types of businesses. However, you should modify it to suit the particular circumstances. The quality, structure and appearance of the work as well as the ideas expressed within are all important. It will take a number of weeks to complete the plan. Much of that time will be spent
Links: Mentoring/ Consultancy could assist in helping deliver the strategy. Will the business need to develop particular networks? Premises - Are they big enough for the proposed growth? Where will the business relocate? Technology - will existing systems cope? Would new software or equipment ease pressures? Improve efficiency? Quality? Customer service? Supply Chain Management? You must include a list of references at the end of the report Appendices (not part of the word count) Provide a reflective learning experience statement (500 – 1000 word max) on what you believe you have learnt and how you have developed in terms of 1. Understanding the processes of small business growth 2. Skills development whilst undertaking the research project, & 3. Your reflections on the module as a whole, what might you do differently if you took it again? Where available: include details & studies used in the Plan; for example: Brochures & advertising materials Industry Statistics Market Research Page 7 of 7 SWOT Analysis PEST Analysis Competitor Analysis Table (Where appropriate) Revised Organisational structural diagrams, who is responsible for key functions? Any other materials needed to support the assumptions in this plan.