Operational Plan and Risk Management for Business expansion operational plan

Question

Task: What are the key considerations in developing an Business expansion operational plan and risk management strategy for expanding a business like King Edward VII College?

Answer

Introduction

Business expansion operational plan is always exciting as it indicated the brands growth but careful planning is necessary to ensure success. Business expansion operational plan decisions cannot be spontaneously made as this could result in seriously compromising the businesses operations leading to losses and even the closure of new branches (Kontos 2016). To prevent or reduce the Business expansion operational plan risks associated to Business expansion operational plans, certain measures must be taken to develop effective operational plans. The Plans should be able to address the main concerns thus helps the businesses management prepare for Business expansion operational plan risks associated to the expansion.

Task 2

Operational Plan

Renting Of Suitable Commercial Properties

Business expansion operational plan plans start with identifying a suitable location and property to expand the businesses operations. It is important to emphasize on securing a property that is located in the central business district as this would expose the business of the maximum number of clients. The business should not only rely on local students but also secure student travelling from the surrounding city suburbs. This makes securing a central location vital as it would deliver an equal travel distance thus increase the number of admissions from across the city (Ball, Lizieri & MacGregor 2012).

The property size and accessibility are other factors which must be observed. The property must be spacious and easy to maintain with a low number of staff. King Edward VII College expects to start its operations with the least number of staff possible and each will be expected to multitask till the business grows stable. Accessibility is also important as it makes it easier for clients to access the business. Adequate parking must also be available to accommodate the collage staff and students vehicles (Coppola 2014).

Staffing Requirements

King Edward VII College has registered high success during the past 5 years and this can be attributed to the high quality of education, affordable fee structure, and professional trainers delivered by the college (Publishing 2013). To improve the organization's chances of achieving success at its new branches, priority should be placed on hiring qualified and experienced staff. Senior staff members can also be transferred temporarily to new branches from existing branch in Melbourne to help secure a stable working environment while new staff members settle in the respective positions (Bhide 2003). Hiring new staff can hamper the new branches operations as new staffs are unsecure and which results in the new branch employees registering a high employee turnover rate.

Fitting Out Of the Campus

Similar to the Melbourne branch each of the new campuses is expected to have 400 to 500 students. But this number will be achieved gradually and the college needs to provide facilities in batches so as to distribute investment expenditure (Scarrett 2010). This means all purchases including renovations and staffing need to be expanded gradually in stages and based on the number of student admissions.

Equipment Requirements

There is also a need for equipment and furniture to be used by the staff and students. Again, King Edward VII College will need to invest on the equipment and furniture in batches of 100 students thus delivering a built number and delivering flexibility for expansion. Gradually as the number of student’s increases, the equipment and furniture shall be increased to accommodate and additional 100 students and 5 staff members and so on (Smith 2007). Equipment shall be gradually purchased in five stages based on the number of admissions being registered by the new collage branches.

Marketing Requirements

Marketing plays an important role in creating awareness but King Edward VII College should focus on asking its existing students to share and recommend the new branches to their friends and family. Today social media has grown to be a powerful and very affordable tool which can be used efficiently for marketing and help businesses tap into a large number of customers. Personal recommendations between friends and family are more effective and likely to deliver more positive results as compared to conational marketing

Risk Management Plan

Every new Business expansion operational plan comes with risk and being able to identify risk factors will help reduce the threats encountered by the business. Risk management requires the following factors to be considered while developing risk management plans (Fragnière & Sullivan 2007).

Identify the Risk Element

The first step to developing any effective risk management plan requires for an individual to be able to identify the Business expansion operational plan risks the business faces. Education is classified as a basic requirement but it also brings along Business expansion operational plan risks such as lack of adequate students, injuries and lack of qualified teachers for the subjects. This makes it important for each risk is identified and a detailed list is developed. This stage also requires for all the staff to be involved in the identification of Business expansion operational plan risks which would help gain a wider perspective of related Business expansion operational plan risks.

Assess and Measure the Risk

The next step involved is the assessment, measurement, and classification of the Business expansion operational plan risks based on the severity and danger of the business. Business expansion operational plan risks need to be classified from highest to the lowest threats and priority given to the highest and main threats first after which minor threats can be addressed.

Risk Management and Decision

With the assessment completed the next step is associated with risk management and decision making which again requires for the involvement of all stake holders. This is important because it will allow King Edward VII College’s management to identify different approaches that can be used to develop a more effective risk management plan. The business would also be able to tap into its staff knowledge and gather important insights which may be used on creating a more effective risk management plans.

Monitor and Control

Control and monitoring of identified risk is another important step must also be documented and reported to all stake holders. This is very important as it allows the business report on the risk management plans progress and make adjustment to the plan which can help further reduce Business expansion operational plan risks in future. It’s also important to keep in mind that Business expansion operational plan risks continue developing and the business must continue evaluating the risk threats to identify new risk that requires proper management before they escalate. This risk also needs to be identified and controlled before it cascades uncontrollably.

Task 3 - 400

Staff Recruitment and Purchasing Equipment Correspondence

King Edward VII College must also develop and effective staff recruitment and purchasing correspondents which clearly define the steps to be followed while hiring new staff o before purchases are made. These policies should also be implemented at all branches (Larson & Hewitt 2005).

Implement Strategies for Recruiting Staff

The recruitment of qualified staff is a primary requirement for every organizations Business expansion operational plan and the organisation must remain on the lookout for qualified and competent staff all the time. Staff recruitment must follow a defined process which requires for each candidate to be analysed and interviewed by different staff members associated to the position being applied for. While the Human resource manager may be in charge of advertising and conducting the initial interviews, experienced staff members must be involved in the recruitment process so as to determine the individual’s capability. Only when all interviewers agree on an applicant’s capability should the applicant be accepted and the individual placed under a probation period for closer n job analysis before being offered a permanent position at the organization.

Implement Strategies for Purchasing Equipment and Furniture

For King Edward VII College to function smoothly it is critical for the required equipment and furniture to be available. But it also means that a purchase manager requires spending the time to analyse the different options available in the market and opt for the ones which deliver the best quality for the lowest cost. Equipment and furniture quality must also continue being monitors to ensure consistent quality (Guido 2009). In addition to this, the purchase of equipment and furniture needs to be broken down into stages to help reduce the financial burden on the business as well as leave some gap for the purchase manager to also evaluate newer products entering the market.

With regard to King Edward VII College expansion plan, there is no definite number of students expected to join the college immediately thus there is no need to purchase equipment and furniture to accommodate the projected 500 students. Instead, the purchases will be done in five stages accommodating 100 students for each slab. Only when the equipment and furniture for the slab have been occupied and additional equipment required should the next slab be purchased and this too any proper evolution of the available equipment in the market.

Task 4 - 400

Business expansion operational plan Report

To

Re: Business expansion operational plan Report July 2016

Dear Sir,

It has been three months since King Edward VII College opened a branch in Sydney and I am pleased to inform the senior management that progress is on schedule and we expect to continue meeting our targets in the next quarter as well.

Student Admission

We have worked hard with marketing but must of the credit goes to our current students and staffs from Melbourne. They have helped advertise our presence at Sydney through their social media groups which have allowed us to achieve 105 Admission in the first three months.

This has allowed us to achieve the 100 student mark 3 months before our projections thus helping speed up income generation and reduce the burden on the mother branch. This also means we have entered into our second equipment and furniture purchasing slab and now request for your approval to purchase an additional 100 furniture and equipment units as well as the requirement for and additional staff members to accommodate the expansion.

We have also encountered a concern related to the lack of qualified and willing staff and trainers to hire for our Sydney branch. We, therefore, request for recruitment of staff to be done directly from Melbourne or willing staff to be transferred from Melbourne to the Sydney branch to ensure operation and growth projections continue smoothly.

With the student admission season expected to begin this August, I request for urgent intervention on the above-mentioned points which will allow the new Sydney branch capture the new students looking for suitable college courses.

We have also observed a large number of foreign students in Sydney which also opens up a new opportunity for our branch to tap in to. I, therefore, request for proper research be done on foreign student services which will allow us to understand how to tap into the new market. This will also help generate more income and help stabilize our operations faster.

We expect to continue achieving benchmarks during the next quarter and expect to have achieved full admission capacity by the mid of 2017.

Thank You

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Email to Staff Regarding Resource Use

Circular Sydney Branch

Dear Staff,

Re: Responsible Resource Use

It has been three months since King Edward VII College started its Sydney Branch and I’m proud to say that your efforts have helped us achieve our targets beforehand. I would like to congratulate each of you for your efforts towards meeting the goals but would also like to re-emphasize on the need to manage our resources responsibly.

We have managed to make immense progress during the past three months but analysis and statistics show we have also utilized a higher than expected amount of resources during this time. I therefore request for all resources to be managed responsibly to avoid incurring unnecessary wastage or damage

As you know we do not limit resource use as long as it is being utilized responsibly. We request each of the staff members and trainers to identify areas in which they can reduce resource wastage and highlight the same. We are still under the establishment stage of operations and must maintain low expenditures until we have achieved 80% seating capacity.

Even then we must continue practicing responsible resource management and usage to prevent unnecessary resource wastage.

Please do identify the areas you consider resources can be improved report those areas to be on this email threat for proper documented and follow up regarding this this concern.

Thank You

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bibliography

Ball, M, Lizieri, C & MacGregor, B 2012, The Economics of Commercial Property Markets, Routledge, London.

Bhide, A 2003, The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses, Oxford University Press, New York.

Coppola, C 2014, How To Win In Commercial Real Estate Investing: Find, Evaluate & Purchase Your First Commercial Property - in 9 Weeks Or Less, RDA Press, Scotts Dale.

Fragnière, E & Sullivan, G 2007, Risk Management: Safeguarding Company Assets, George Sullivan, Boston.

Guido, G 2009, Behind Ethical Consumption: Purchasing Motives and Marketing Strategies for Organic Food Products, Non-GMOs, Bio-fuels, Peter Lang.

Kontos, S 2016, Chain Reaction: An Entrepreneurial Approach to Systemised Business expansion operational plan, Balboa Press.

Larson, S & Hewitt, A 2005, Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Training Strategies for Community Human Services Organizations, Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

Publishing, B 2013, Good Small Business Guide: How to Start and Grow Your Own Business, 7th edn, A&C Black.

Scarrett, D 2010, Property Asset Management, 3rd edn, Routledge, Oxon.

Smith, C 2007, Creating a Trading Floor: The Project Manager's Guide to the Design, Construction and Launch of Trading Floors and Data Centres, Kogan Page Publishers, London.