Business Organisation Types, Organisational Structures and Marketing Strategies - Little Dessert Sho

Preparation activities for Webinar

Every week will involve preparation activities. These ensure you grasp the subject knowledge and it prepares you for the assessments. You are expected to complete these each week before the webinar. After the webinar there will be activities to help you consolidate the learning for that week. It is expected you participate and complete these before the next week.

Learning outcomes to be assessed

• LO1 Recognise different types of businessorganisations

• LO2 Identify different organisational structures and marketing strategy

• LO3 Understand the role and activities of the main functional areas within a typical organisation

• LO4 Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship between an organisation and its business environment

Mary and Sue are in a dilemma regarding their supply of dessert. On the one hand they are attracted by low prices and the convenience of buying in bulk from the cash & carry. This helps them to keep the prices of their desserts low. On the other hand they would like to use fresher, organic ingredients and experiment with more premium products, but are anxious about how this would affect their prices and margins and whether potential customers would pay for this. They think the chances of their business being a long-term viable success may increase if they looked to cater for differing needs of customers, were able to target different market segments, understand the macro environmental factors and take advantage of the opportunities they bring.

Questions

You have been asked by Mary Jones and her business partner, Sue Jackson to advise them on the following issues,

1. Evaluate a partnership as a type of business organisation with reference to Mary and Sue’s ‘Little Dessert Shop’.

2. Use the Porters 5 Forces framework to analyse ‘Little Dessert Shop’ business and advise on how Mary and Sue can achieve competitive advantage by managing the relationships with these forces.

3. Clearly discuss any three of the macro environmental factors with particular reference tohow they can help improve the business

Learning outcomes addressed:

LO1 Recognise different types of business organisations

LO2 Identify different organisational structures and marketing strategy

LO3 Understand the role and activities of the main functional areas within a typical organisation

LO4 Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship between an organisation and its business environment

Assessment briefing:

Working on your own you are asked to design and deliver a business start-up proposal. You will need to begin the process by finding (retail) premises to rent in the South Ealing area. Please go to the Zoopla website and choose premises that you would like to use for your business. You will then develop your business plan around this. The assessment will be organised in the form of a presentation to potential investors in your venture. It will be more detailed than what you might expect to see on ‘The Dragon’s Den’, or ‘The Apprentice’. It should be based on a business plan for reference during the presentation.

Guidelines for the presentation:

1. Your introduction should clearly set out the business idea and the structure of the presentation to follow

2. The presentation needs to clearly outline the amount and type of capital required

3. You are asked to include a photographic presentation of the proposed location, layout and equipment budgets

4. Consider the human resource requirements for the proposed business and provide costings

5. Clearly identify the target market for the business, the needs of the target market and how the business addresses these along with abrief promotion plan

6. Describe the product that you will offer, along with key features and benefits

7. Competitors should be clearly identified.

8. Highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed business in relation to your competitors.

9. Make sure that you clearly highlight the unique selling points of the business

Throughout your course of study, you will have access to a wide variety of sources of support depending on your individual circumstances and needs. Your first point of call for getting general academic support is your Personal Tutor. As well as approaching your Module Leader with any questions specifically related to your module and your Course Leader with questions on your Course, do contact your Personal Tutor or Apprenticeship Support Link Tutor for academic advice in relation to your studies and your academic development.

Apart from the University-wide support framework, which encompasses the Module Leaders, Course Leader, the Subject Librarian, and your Course Administrator, you will also have at your disposal the UWL Engagement Team. The Engagement Team offers One-to-One Academic Support opportunities and Academic Skills Workshops throughout the year, helping you to develop skills relevant to your degree. Workshops include for instance Essay Planning and Writing; Critical Thinking; Reflective Writing; Group Work and Presentation Skills. Maths Support and English Language Support opportunities are available too.