Assessment brief

There is one assessment for this module. The assignment consists of a formative and a summative element. The formative task is there to help you complete the summative assessment task successfully. The formative process is important because it will help you address the task more fully and therefore contributes to your learning and understanding of the challenges facing SMEs and help you develop your business development & planning skills in relation to SMEs.

You will be required to undertake a detailed evaluation of an existing SME and then design and growth/development strategy for the business. You will present your findings in a report and make clear and costed recommendations

Students will need to interview an entrepreneur who runs a small, or medium sized business. You should try to determine the following during the meeting:

– The nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture.
– The SME start-up processes.
– The business concept and any sources of competitive advantage
– The current level of demand and the competitive environment
– The growth and development of the business to date
– The challenges of managing and running the business
– The SMEs current growth and development strategy
– Any government support measures that may be available to help the business overcome the challenges faced

You should make use of all available sources and current thinking on SMEs should be central to your analysis and illustrated with reference to current articles from relevant journals and from broadsheet newspapers (e.g. FT). Use should be made of the library's electronic databases such as Summon, Emerald, etc. You should apply theoretical concepts and models relating to the entrepreneurial process and to the various stages of growth and development of the business.

Once you have done your research you will need to write your report in which you will present your findings and your recommendations for the future growth and development for the business. You are advised to adopt the following structure for the report:
– Title page: Include module title, the names of the SME discussed, student ID number and the total word count (excluding bibliography)
– Executive summary: (not included in the word count)
– Contents page
– Introduction: this should include some background on the SME and entrepreneur(s). You may wish to include details such as the type of business, size, how long it has been trading, etc. Students should also give a brief account here of the research process (focusing primarily on the primary data collection). The aims and objectives of the report, or the terms of reference should be clearly spelled out and should obviously relate to the assessment brief.
– Findings: here the results of the research need to be presented. This section should follow along the lines of the aims and objectives highlighted in the introduction. The purpose in this section is to set out the elements covered as part of the interview set out above. This should include the growth and development of the business to date, the current situation faced by the SME, your evaluation of the environmental factors and your assessment of current growth and development strategy. Where appropriate students should also highlight appropriate government support schemes that may be available to the business. Students are also expected to consistently support their work with reference to appropriate sources (cited in accordance with the Harvard referencing convention).
– Conclusions: this should follow logically on from the findings and provide a concise summary of them. No new information should be presented here.
– Recommendations: here students should present their proposals for the future growth and development of their SMEs. Work should be supported with reference to appropriate sources.
– References and Bibliography: you should be discerning about your sources of information and ensure that all references conform to the Harvard convention.