Business Proposal for a new international SME Assignment

Business Proposal for a new international SME - Assignment Example The competitive advantages and disadvantages of the proposed business are also highlighted. In the subsequent section, operation of the proposed business is provided along with recommendations. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Analysis of the International Business Opportunity 9 Operation of the Proposed Business 15 Conclusion 18 Recommendations 19 References 23 Bibliography 28 Introduction Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have started to play significant role in global trade. Statistics gathered by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other sources have indicated that SMEs have at present account for substantial part of exports from industrialized nations throughout the world (Knight, 2001). According to the statistics of OECD (1997), SMEs account for around 25% - 35% of the global manufactured exports and around 4% - 6% of the exports of OECD countries. These statistics have indeed established facts and support the internationaliza tion activities of SMEs. In recent times, ever increasing contribution of technological advancements and continuous easing out of regulatory advances have led to easier flow of transport, goods/services, information as well as finance in and around national borders. These factors have made SMEs a major contributor towards growth in the global economy (Fletcher, 2004). Recent growth of globalization has resulted in subsequent increase in the internationalization of SMEs. Along with globalization, advancement in transportation and increase in computerization have contributed towards the SMEs looking beyond their own country for business growth and opportunity (Suh & Et. Al., 2008). International Entrepreneurship In the growth and development of business, an SME and their management need to interrelate their expansion venture keeping in view the crucial aspects related to international entrepreneurship. International entrepreneurship assumes that becoming entrepreneurial and acting ent repreneurially is a dual process. This process generally gets integrated in practice. SMEs before looking towards international expansion generally looks towards building market, financial as well as entrepreneurial resources in their own country of origin. Later, they look to build on their existing capabilities by venturing towards global domain (Fletcher, 2004). The study intends to prepare a business proposal for an international SME i.e. Practicus. The SME is situated in the UK. It is primarily a recruitment company which provides value to their esteemed clients by offering their services in various fields related to human resource such as interim management, outcome risk &reward, project & programme management, capability & skills transfer, outcome healthcheck, project media & communications. The organization renders their services related to international change delivery business along with a distinctive approach in order to assist clients with various value added support. Th e organization’s major aim is to deliver as well as embed sustainable change (Practicus, 2011). Practicus, around six years ago, was only seen as an idea. However, through sustained effort it has at present grown to possess four offices in the UK and has opened new offices in Australia and the Netherlands. The firm in the year 2010 was listed at the 13th position by Sunday Times in terms of

Professional Learning Communities Research Proposal

Professional Learning Communities - Research Proposal Example (DuFour, 2004, pp.6-11). For Senge, the five key disciplines underlying the concept of PLC include organizational learning, shared vision, mental models, team learning and systems thinking whereas Hord believes these five key elements to be supportive and shared leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application of learning, supportive conditions and shared personal practice (Alberta Education, 2006, pp.8 & 9). Since teachers play a key role in the over all accomplishment of any educational institute, they have become the cynosure of professional learning communities where they are considered as learners who are in a constant process of mentoring and being mentored. The reason behind bringing the teachers to the centre of attention is the fact that any kind of improvement happening in any classroom involves the participation of a teacher (Schwarz: 1998). Any development in teachers would not only improve students’ performance but would also motivate the teachers themselves. As a consequence of aggrandizing trend of professional learning communities, the education system has witnessed a considerable phase of amelioration. According to the studies of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, as a result of professional development, the teachers do not confine their lessons to the conventional facts but keep updating their knowledge with latest developments in their fields. Similarly, the teachers do not expect normative feedback but appreciate multiple perspectives from their students. They also design the curriculum in such a way that the knowledge inculcated to the students becomes more thought provoking. In order to elucidate various concepts, they try to extract examples from the real life situations instead to sticking to the text book instances. Through the practice of collegiality facilitated by PLCs, teachers are now able to work in groups in order to share different teaching strategies about