HI6008 Small and Medium Enterprises Business Research Proposal

HI6008 Small and Medium Enterprises Business Research Proposal

Introduction

Small and medium scale enterprises play a vital role in the economy of a nation. It helps in the development of the economy of a country. Technology is changing at a very fast speed and innovations are taking place which have affected the business environment at large. All these changes in the business environment have affected the performance or capabilities of small and medium enterprises to deal with the various elements of this dynamic business environment. Capability to accept the change by a business unit is one of the most important aspects which support the business to deal with the dynamic business environment.

Aims:The aim of this program is to gather data related to the role of small and medium enterprises in Australia and related to the challenges faced by these enterprises due to various factors of the business environment.

Purpose of the study:This business research has been conducted over the topic Challenges faced by small and medium enterprises so as to analyse the challenges faced by the small and medium enterprises due to various factors or elements which are present in the business environment. For the better understanding of these challenges there is a need to analyse these aspects or factors of the business environment. This study or research will help in the generation of the current issues faced by small and medium enterprises.

Objectives: There is a need to gather information related to the program. Objectives for this research program are as follows:

1. To analyse the role of small and medium enterprises in Australia
2. To analyse the factors affecting the operations of small and medium enterprises in Australia
3. To evaluate the challenges faced by these enterprises.

Rationale of the research: For the better understanding of the different aspects a small and medium enterprise has been selected named as “Tip Top Bakeries”(Tip Top Bakeries Australia). It was founded in 1949 and its headquarter is located in Sydney, Australia. It is offering various products to its customers. Tip Top bakeries falls in the category of small and medium enterprises which is facing various challenges due to the change in the business environment and its elements.

Literature review

Small or medium enterprises are those enterprises which have small or limited number of employees working in it as well as the turnover of the enterprise is small. Small and medium enterprises supports to the economy as there are large number of small and medium enterprises operating their businesses in the country and provide employment to large number of people and provide them a means to earn and to fulfil their needs by maintaining their standard of living. It develops the economy by providing financial support to the economy of the nation.A country has different sectors which provides or produces the products or services consumed by the people of the country as well as these sectors provides support to the economy of the country, generation of income for the country as well as for the individual, provides employment opportunities and develops the economy of the country (Bloch & Bhattacharya, 2016). The sectors or industries can be divided into different groups including large enterprises which are operating their activities at huge level, medium enterprises which are operating their activities at relatively smaller level than that of the large enterprises and small enterprises which are operating their activities at small level. Different countries have different criteria’s to determine the level of operations of a business. Every business needs to be innovative and flexible so as to develop new ideas which help the business to retain its customers and attracting new customers so as to survive and grow in the business environment. It provides strength or energy to the business to accomplish the objectives of the business and to attain the goals (Bosua, et. al., 2013).      

With the changing technology and environment, operations of small and medium enterprises are also getting affected. Small and medium enterprises are operating at a small level and before adopting the changing technology which is trending in the business environment it need to consider various aspects. The changes in the technology affect the financial conditions or effectiveness of the organisation. There are various factors available in the market, which are the result of this dynamic environment which affects the performance of the enterprise. Globalisation or foreign trade is also affecting the operations of the small and medium enterprises.These enterprises support the economy of Australia in various ways and there is a need to consider all these aspects so as to enhance the performance of these enterprises and to safeguard from the changing elements of business environment (Bi, et. al., 2015).

This business research discusses the role of small and medium enterprises in an economy of the country, factors which affects the functioning of  the small and medium enterprises and challenges faced by the small and medium enterprises due to the various factors present in the business environment.All these aspects of the business environment create huge impact over the performance of the small and medium enterprises.

Role or advantages of small and medium enterprises to an economy:

1. Generation of employment opportunities
2. Quick start-up (Maria, 2015)
3. Close and strong relationship with customers
4. Serve as a link between the large enterprises and the customers
5. Increase in tax revenues
6. Focus on customer satisfaction

Factors affecting the functioning of small and medium enterprises:

1. Management techniques
2. Availability of finance
3. Marketing
4. Legal and regulatory framework (Nkonge, 2013)
5. Human resource capacities
6. Characteristics of entrepreneur
7. Technological capacities
8. Competition
9. Tax system

Challenges faced by small and medium enterprises:

1. Lack of skilled human resource ( Bilal & Nawal, 2015)
2. Increasing competition
3. Globalisation
4. Limited capital and knowledge
5. Low production capacity
6. Less effective marketing strategy
7. Modernisation and innovations (Chimucheka & Mandipaka, 2015)

Research methodology

Research methodology is as important part of every research as it covers the explanation of the various technique or approaches used for collection of the required data. For the purpose of this research the data need to be collected over the topic challenges faced by the small and medium enterprises. For this purpose different techniques and approaches are used. The information for te research will be collected with the help of various techniques or methods. And this section of the program helps in generating an understanding of these techniques and methods by providing an explanation.

Research design: There are various methods available which helps in the collection of data. Different methods of data collection have different advantages or disadvantages which helps in the collection of data related to the research. For this business research, mixed method of data collection has been used which involves quantitative as well as qualitative methods. Quantitative and qualitative methods both have different features which have been used in an effective manner so as to gather information over the research. Quantitative method provides data in large quantity which consists of different types of views of the respondents and qualitative method provides data of high quality which provides reliability to the research(March, et. al., 2013).

Research philosophy: various rules and regulations need to be followed during the execution of the research as these rules and regulations helps in following the ethical code of conduct and to provide safety from legal actions.

Research strategies:There is a need to of a plan or strategy which helps in the execution of the activities of the research in a sequence.These strategies provide a direction to the research by execution of the research in a sequence so that all the aspects are covered properly and nothing important has been left out.

Research questions: Motive behind framing research questions is to gather information related to the research. Research questions collect the data related to the program which is analysed and evaluated to form a conclusion. Research questions for this business research are as follows:

1. To analyse the role of small and medium enterprises in an economy.
2. To analyse the various factors affecting the small and medium enterprises.
3. To evaluate the challenges faced by the small and medium enterprises.

Choices: various alternatives are available for conducting the research. There is a need to select the most suitable alternative which generates effective results.

Time horizon: A plan needs to be prepared for the execution of the various activities of the research. This plan ensures that the research is executed within the specified time limit.

Action plan

Gantt chart

Targeted market:information gets collected from the respondents which need to be identified so as to analyse from where the data will be collected.

Research process

There are five stages involved in this research project. These stages are discussed below:

1. In this stage of the research project plans are prepared so as to form a base for the research. These plans are prepared so as to draw a guideline for the other stages involved in the research.
2. In this stage of the research project the plans are implemented as per they are prepared. Implementation process needs to be effective so as to execute the research in a successful manner.
3. Under this stage the data related to the research gets collected with the help of primary and secondary sources of data collection.
4. Under this stage the data collected gets evaluated with the help of analysis of the collected data.
5. In this stage conclusions are drawn on the basis of evaluation of the data and recommendations are made for the improvement.

Data collection and analysis

Primary data: This form data is also known as raw form of data which gets collected directly from the respondents so as to collect the first hand information and to collect the current views of the respondents about the research. It provides data in large quantity and questionnaires are used for the purpose of collection of primary data (March, et. al., 2013).

Secondary data: This form of data is used for collecting reliable information which have been collected and used by others. It is more reliable and provides high quality data to the researcher.

Data collection: primary and secondary sources of data collection methods have been used in this research.

Research outcomes:This research program will help in gaining knowledge of the role of small and medium enterprises in an economy. There are various aspects of the business environment which affect the activities of the small and medium enterprises and the challenges faced by these enterprises which have been discussed in the research. The research outcomes are derived from the responses which are collected through the questionnaire and these outcomes will be presented in the form of charts and tables to make it easy to understand.

The main point which gets clear is that how these small and medium enterprises can develop themselves. From the help of the survey questionnaire various solutions can be offered to meet the challenges of these enterprises.  The solutions can be like there should be some policies which should be made with an aim to promote the development of small and medium enterprises. These enterprises can be promoted when local communities will be developed. The industries should stop relying on the imports and start focussing on the small and medium enterprises of the country. Government should help them in developing new technologies to suit their needs and circumstances. This help can be in the form of subsidies, grants or loans. Training centres should be established by the government at various places for the entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises.

References

Bi, R., Davison, R.M. & Smyrnios, K.X. 2015, "IT and Fast Growth Small-to-Medium Enterprise Performance: An Empirical Study in Australia", Australasian Journal of Information Systems, vol. 19.

Bilal, Z.O. & Nawal Said Al Mqbali 2015, "Challenges and constrains faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Al Batinah governorate of Oman", World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 120.

Bloch, H. & Bhattacharya, M. 2016, "Promotion of Innovation and Job Growth in Small? and Medium?Sized Enterprises in Australia: Evidence and Policy Issues",Australian Economic Review, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 192-199.

Bosua, R., Evans, N. & Sawyer, J. 2013, "Social networks, social media and absorptive capacity in regional small and medium enterprises (SMES) in Australia", Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 117-134.

Chimucheka, T. & Mandipaka, F. 2015, "Challenges Faced By Small, Medium And Micro Enterprises In The Nkonkobe Municipality", The International Business & Economics Research Journal (Online), vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 309.

March, S., Iskenius, M., Hardt, J. & Swart, E. 2013, "Methodological considerations for data linkage of primary and secondary data in occupational epidemiology studies",Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 571.

Maria Divina Gracia Z Roldan 2015, "Sustaining "Lilliputs" in the Global Knowledge-Based Economy: Prospects for Micro, Small, and Medium- Scale Enterprises in the Developing World", European Journal of Sustainable Development, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 269-274.

Nkonge, B.K. 2013, "Challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprise Suppliers when bidding for tenders. A case of Thika District", International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 3, no. 12, pp. 194.

Tip Top Bakeries Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved August 09, 2016, from Tip Top Bakeries: http://www.tiptop.com.au/home