Business Environment for Sips & Bites Cafe - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Environment for Sips Bites Cafe. Answer: Setting Smart Goals in Planning The use of SMART goal setting provides a business with a focus and ability to attain the specific set objectives. SMART is an acronym that represents five elements that include specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals as explained by Wick, C. W., Leo?n, L. S. (2013). Specific Goals The Sips Bites Caf is student-oriented business, and its facilities are made for the comfort of the JCU students who will be eating or working there. The business is located within JCU. Therefore, it is well suited to focus on needs of the students other than operating as a regular caf. The caf provides part-time employment opportunities for students through a flexible schedule and an environment that may allow them to work on their academic work. Measurable Goals The caf recently opened, and the management expects the customer numbers to rise by 50% in the next three months. The marketing officer and the management have developed marketing strategies to attract more students to use the caf. The business goals are well suited to have more student customers as it provides services that provide comfort to student life. Attainable Goals The caf is located within college premises. Therefore, the success rates are high as it student oriented and lack competition within the locality. The business is a single branch and is owned by an individual. Therefore, management of general operations is easy and has a flexible decision-making process. Relevant Goals The business layout is student based as the customers are majorly student from JCU. The facilities provide the students with an environment in which they could relax or study in the course of their student life in the college. The business is on point with student needs and tries to keep up with student demands. Time-Bound Goals The business operates 24hours a day because it is located in the area where there is a youthful population. Many students stay up late studying, partying or engaging in other activities. Therefore, the business caters to these individuals. The caf is open during holidays to be used by residents that love within the college premises. Type of Management Skills Required Management skills enable managers to utilize their knowledge and abilities to perform their duties and responsibilities (Smith, 2010). This knowledge and abilities are acquired academically or through experience. Some of these management skills include: Technical Skills These skills include dealing with machines, marketing, and product designs. The managers need to have knowledge of how equipment operates to ensure they understand the state of assets of the business. Managers need to understand the market and be able to develop strategies to attract new customers to purchase goods from the caf. Sales managers need to be skilled on how to communicate with customers and employees (Smith, 2010). First-level managers are expected to be proficient with these skills to ensure that perform their duties as expected. Conceptual Skills This includes the ability of a manager to have abstract thinking in their operations. These skills enable managers to understand the different perspectives that an issue brings to the business. Managers are able to establish goals that can be integrated with the different units and sections within the business and aims to achieve a common goal. Departments within business require an overall objective; therefore, top managers need to think abstractly to bring these departments to work towards the same goals and objectives. These skills are relevant to top managers as they are the overall decision makers. InterpersonalManagerial skills These skills enable a manager to work with other people by communicating in different circumstances. Managers should have an accommodating attitude to ensure that they create an environment in which employees could communicate their ideas, views, and perspectives openly. Managers with these skills have leadership qualities and normally are an inspiration and motivators for employees to do well in their areas of specialization noted by Reider, R. (2008). Interpersonal skills are important for all employees as it enables them to establish work relationship that is the comfort to creating harmony in the workplace. Employees are expected to work with one another which require constant communication among them. Communication is crucial to the success of the business hence the management needs to create forums in which employees could interact freely. The ability of employees to interact freely enables employees to share workplace challenges more, and problem-solving can be done collectively as explained by Tucker, S. A. (2009). Business Structure and Strategy The business structure is the formal layout of the hierarchy while the structure comprises of the practical plan that comprises of the strategies of how to achieve set goals and the objectives. These two elements are crucial to the success of the company, and they gradually develop and become distinct as the business grows. These elements complement each other and sometimes could be merged and applied as one unit. The Sips Bites Caf structure comprise of 20 employees with one owner managers, two Cashiers, one Marketing Manager, six Cleaners and eight Coffee Artists. Many of these employees especially at lower positions are students; therefore, the management realizes the need to motivate the employees to achieve the business goals set. The business is a small enterprise its operations serve a small customer base which requires plan and strategies to ensure that all employees perform their duties as expected. The business structure is small hence formulation and implementation of strategies take less time as noted by Wick, C. W., Leo?n, L. S. (2013).. Decision making within the enterprise incorporates opinions and ideas from all the employees as most are students who are knowledgeable about the needs and preferences of the fellow students. A business strategy is determined by the existing structure within the business. The business has large student employees as it is located within a college. The student population provides the business with cheap and available labor and also the market for its products. Some of the job opportunities do not require skills which limit expenses that are spent on skilled personnel. Many of the student employees work part time which enables the business to employ many students. The highly skilled and trained workforce such as the marketing manager is important in increasing innovative ideas. The enterprise should have a well-established structure for the implementation strategy. Strategies are implemented when changes within the environment in which they operate. The structure determines strategies to be implemented within the enterprise, and the success rates depend on the skills available to implement the strategies formulated. Types of Controls Controls are applied within a business to avoid reckless behavior that may negatively impact its operation. Some of the reckless behaviors that can be prevented by the implementation of these controls include careless and uninformed decisions and behaviors. These controls ensure that resources are channeled to areas that matter and risks are identified and mitigated. These controls include: Visual Controls They include physical assets that the enterprise requires to monitor the activities and they comprise of dashboards, checklists, and budgets. They asses activities and show the direction in which a business is headed towards (Reider, 2008). These controls provide the general analysis of the enterprise as activities are monitored closely by the management or the employees. Procedural Controls These controls involve different parties that monitor a single activity such as cash flow. These controls are used in determining qualities required for a job category. The analysis given by different parties on a single subject broadens discussion and perspectives. These controls provide checks and balances within the business. Embedded Controls These are controls that the business operates in without the specific elements that show their application within the organization. These controls include already established facilities that are used in different businesses such as financial controls and automated data backups (Reider, R. 2008). These controls reduce human errors and technology failures by providing interfaces for calculating, storing and retrieve information. These controls have become more complex due to technological advancement which requires then a skilled workforce for them to operate these facilities. These controls provide the management with a grasp of the business performance. Managers and team leaders have to establish methods in which these controls applied to the business could be used to improve the performance of the business. The caf operates in an environment in which students are the major customers and source of labor. Therefore, controls applied should suit the skills available. References Admiraal, P. H., A?cs, Z. J., Carlsson, B., Thurik, A. R. (2016). Small business in the modern economy. Oxford, OX, UK: Blackwell Publishers. Conseil International de la petite entreprise-Canada. (2015). Journal of small business entrepreneurship. Toronto: International Council for Small Business-Canada. Megginson, L. C., Scott, C. R., Megginson, W. L. (2011). Successful small business management. Homewood Ill: Irwin. Megginson, L. C., Scott, C. R., Megginson, W. L. (2011). Successful small business management. Homewood Ill: Irwin. Reider, R. (2008). Effective operations and controls for the small privately held business. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley Sons. Smart Business Akron. (n.d.). Smart Business Network. Smith, J. G. (2010). Business strategy. Cambridge (Mass.: Basil Blackwell. Tucker, S. A. (2009). Handbook of business formulas and controls. New York: McGraw-Hill. Wick, C. W., Leo?n, L. S. (2013). The learning edge: How smart managers and smart companies stay ahead. New York: McGraw-Hill. Ziff Davis smart business. (2011). San Francisco, CA: Ziff-Davis.