Writing Strategic Project

Assessed task no 1 THE NEW ENTERPRISE PROJECT Introduction to tasks one - the New Enterprise Project All managers become involved in business planning at some stage in their careers and the first assessed task require you to demonstrate the skills required to produce a business plan. Often business planning is undertaken by a management team and so this first task is a group activity. The first task involves producing a business plan for a new company of your choice, either a standalone new business or a new subsidiary of an existing company. The business plan should be designed either to secure approval and funding from the board of an existing parent company or funding from an investor/lender in the case of a new, stand-alone business. You should agree the subject of the new enterprise project with your tutor. The task brief Strategic plans are, by definition, about the future. Trying to match an organisation's capabilities (its resources and its competences) to a changing external environment is central to the idea of strategic management. It is clear, therefore, that if strategic management is not to be completely reactive it requires a degree of foresight - at least a view of the future. This first part of this task therefore encourages you to undertake "Horizon scanning" so that you can assess the likely future directions of a particular market or industry, - the one which you choose for your new enterprise plan. Working as a group, having first decided on your new enterprise project you are asked to consider what sort of changes will occur in the market in which you have chosen to operate, and how this will influence your strategic plans for the company. To do this you should do conventional PEST analysis and then, because PEST analysis considers the current situation, you should use the horizon scanning techniques and facilities available through the shapingtomorrow website in order to get some views as to how the market is likely to develop. Having identified in the first part of this task what sort of changes will occur in the market in which you have chosen to operate and how this will influence your strategic plans for the company, you now have to select the strategies which you intend to follow and create a financial model to determine the financial outcomes of those strategies. Finally, you should produce a PowerPoint presentation (20 minutes max including questions) to present and justify your business plan. Your group will present your new enterprise project as part of a symposium held the last week of the module. Your tutor will give you verbal feedback on your completed business plan at this stage. This is a group assessed task: consequently the portfolio item submitted by each individual group member will be the same and should include: 1. A list of group members 2. A brief review of future developments in your chosen area using an appropriate planning horizon horizon, and in markets or industry is where changes are frequent or unpredictable you may feel it sensible to identify more than one scenario (400 words maximum). 3. an executive summary (300 words maximum) of your business plan, and 4. A link to the financial spreadsheet, or a summary of it [login to view URL] PowerPoint presentation used to present the plan You will no doubt find a good deal of information on your chosen industry, but please try to identify only the most significant issues and limit your submission to the equivalent of two A 4 pages.