Medium enterprises in the society

Globalization has turned the status of the small and medium enterprises in the society. They have raised their standards to achieve the target market, promoting the business operations, perfecting their values, brands and images in the market. Research indicates that the correlation appears to be evident between the business entities and efforts help to boast the opportunities and the image of these small enterprises in the economy. The progress has further been indicated to shift upward from the ability to assimilate high technological demands that are at par with the global standards at all times of the modern consumers.

Walnut club is one of these enterprises, in which the brand image is tremendously given the prestige in UK and EU hotels and motels. The restaurant has started the business just recently but has managed to open several outlets in the area. The main branch of the club is in Hathersage, while services of catering music and other traditional arrangements of functions and meals are provided by the club. (Walnut Club, 2008). The club provides services to all the categories and class of people and so many people are attracted towards the club.

The club deserves the resonance of the people and provides satisfaction to all its members. The club has many international clients and it has observed the movement of these clients for the sake of fame and image. b) Aims and objectives of the study To effectively determine how small and medium enterprises are able to promote the value and brand image for higher productivity and profitability amidst the highly dynamic global competition, this study seeks to attain the several aims and objectives.
To begin with, using Walnut Club as one of the most successful business in the group of small and medium enterprises, this paper will seek to establish the best management practices for achieving such high levels. In this respect clear evaluation of Walnut management will be undertaken in all of its management units in UK. To add to that, the study will seek to establish the actual methods that Walnut Club and indeed other small and medium enterprises use to promote their value and brand image. The decision of the consumer is influenced by the role of the brand image of the Walnut club compared to the other clubs in the area.
Finally, the study aims at finding out possible missing links in promotion of value and brand image in Walnut and conclude possible ways of enhancing and promoting the same demands in small and medium enterprises. Chapter Two Literature review a) Introduction The overview of the chapter related to the literacy materials is given in this chapter and the brand image promotion related to the small and medium enterprises. It therefore seeks to support the main theoretical principles of consideration in line with the objectives of the study.
b) Small and medium size businesses operations Small and medium enterprise is a term mainly used to categorize the size of business units depending on different criteria. These businesses are categorized to have the amount of having 50-250 people in the firm in the countries of Europe. In Europe and particularly in EU has standardized the reference of SME while many of other countries globally use different ratings. It is worth noting that globally, SMEs form over 90% of the total number of business units in existence.
In EU, about 65 million people are employed by SMEs operating in different sectors. As a comparison with larger business enterprises, SMEs have much higher flexibility both in their internal and external operations when compared to other enterprises. Indeed, this flexibility has been linked with their increased capacity to offer highly personalized services making them to easily win the consumers affection (Tsoukas and Robert, 2002, 74-76; Wren and Storey, 2002, 335-338; Ryan and Hiduke. 2003, 78-81). c) Customer value in small and medium enterprises
SMEs managed over the following years to create its place in the market and compare it with the other personal operations and the management interlinks. Customer value is perhaps the most important aspect of management as it defines a business unit’s ability to apply different aspects of management to suit each of the consumers demands at all times. Accel (2004); Bushe (2001, 104-105) indicate that due to the fast rising ability to apply technology at all levels of management, their role in managing consumer demands has greatly increased.
The ability to respond to the consumer demands with minimal bureaucracy increases their grip on the customers’ loyalty. The core of the SMEs application is the due to the reduced costs and the large amount of credit owing to attract more customers to define the trend and the growth. This has particularly been important in the hospitality industry where consumers are highly sensitive not just to the size of the business unit; the quantity is deferred by the size and quality. The brand is considered as one of the key pillars in determining the road map to success for the different SMEs.
Creation of the effective brand helps in creating positive perception and image to the consumers and therefore generate the required competitive capability for the SMEs (Robbins, 2005; Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004, 103; Kennerley et al, 2003, 65-69). Though this aspect application is hard as Fox (2005, 45-48); Donegan (2002, 56-57) indicate, it is mainly based on the overall ability of the management to relate the different aspects of the business operations and the dynamic market demands.
At this point, the management should be able to leverage the enterprises’ strengths and derive the core values for the staff and the consumers (DuBrin, 2006, 99-102; Goh, 1998, 15-22; Kuratko, 1997, 24-33; Roper and Hewitt-Dundas, 2001, 99-117). This ensures that interlinks between different products and services offered by the business unit are established. The establishment of the brand image for the SMEs is much more easier and due to the simple strategic decision making and the communications the planning and the decision becomes more easier in both ways for the organization and as well as the management.
d) Culture management and change demands for SMEs The organization culture is very essential in the modern business operations. Business image and value is indeed considered to be part of the overall culture where interplay of management and employees’ views, beliefs and trends in their operations dictate the ability to effectively attract customers and maintain high quality of the services offered and customer service.
Through operating as a small or medium business unit, it is possible to operate in fewer teams and therefore create a highly cohesive unit to address all the demands for growth It is indeed much easier to cite areas with need for change and view change as part of the overall continuous demand to grow and move rapidly by assuming the names of small and medium. Business operations have recently seen a major turn in demand for diverse application of the concepts of management techniques to enhance higher levels of compatibility with the fast growing divergence needs of the consumers.
The ability to enhance great levels of diversity that fits the different consumers in particularistic niches creates a competitive advantage over other similar businesses. The notion is indeed very complex with the consumer demands fast evolving with time. However, SMEs have been cited to have an upper hand in their ability to assess and re-invent their products and services to fit their different consumer needs.
Though in the past researchers have generated divergent views and failed to establish a standard method for promoting diversity among the SMEs, it is clear that all lines affiliated to consumer products and services design should operate hand in hand to respond to the different consumer needs. e) SMEs and Diversity In bid to effect greater levels of diversity to attract and retain the consumers in Walnut, the management established ‘super’ ingredients that gave all the foods prepared it a highly organic outlook that has made a must stop center.
The general manager of Walnut Sean OToole points out that the diversity of the meals as it has come to be understood about Walnut, always have a new setting that reflects its different dishes that are served at any meal (Walnut Club, 2008). In addition, the management indicates that though consumers may not have the actual taste of the dishes served by the Walnut especially for the first visitors, the display and the setting of the restaurant have left them wishing to get back for similar diverse services.
However, the management indicates that careful resources application should be articulated to ensure that funds are employed only to promote profitability (Engwall et al,2005, 228-431; Fan and Phan, 2007, 1121-1125). f) Leadership in SMEs Leadership for small and medium business enterprises is one of the most important aspects that not only dictates the proposition of value and brand image, but determines their application at different instances. As indicated earlier, the direct notion of an enterprise as a small or medium business derives the necessary impetus to grow and move to the higher levels possible.
Clifford (2008, 41-42) and Dettmer, (2003, 51-53) point out that leadership creates the necessity to improve the value of consumers and staff as a major facet that dictates the overall intrinsic image that later manifests itself to the outside community. Taking into consideration the need to stay atop of others and mainly constrained by the resources’ availability, leadership of SMEs seeks to enhance better highly integrated system where emergent leaders assimilate different offices with minimal residual effects.
It is in this view that SMEs leadership encourages instantaneous skills promotion that seeks relegation, innovation and creativity, and also networking that derives the necessary niche for establishing the best image for the consumers. g) SMEs and Technology demands Technological advancements have been cited as one of the most important tools for the 21st century businesses progression. However, it has been cited to be even more important to the SMEs in that it dictates their ability to widen their general scope within the colonization areas of target.
Presently, most of the consumers in the different countries like Britain focus their status on the basis of the image of a given business enterprise (Krake, 2005, 229-331; Merrliee, 2007, 405-409). Under this consideration therefore, use of technology becomes a facilitating instrument and also an element for assessment. Technology as a facilitating agent is used in advertisements that reflect effectively on the types of services and products being offered by the business units and therefore easy value and image assessment by the consumers.
On the other hand, the nature of different advertisements directly curves the necessary brand image and value of the consumers. To effectively raise the overall image of the company, the managements of SMES have sought to integrate both high technology and personalized systems to invoke holistic customer satisfaction as part of the overall value in the business unit. Chapter Three Methodology a) Introduction This chapter forms one of the most important sections of a dissertation. It is the actual basis upon which the major objectives of the study and the research question will be evaluated.
Johnson (2000, 54-57) points out that the methodology section acts as a major assessment tool for determining the authenticity of the research. In this case, the Walnut club management, employees, and the consumers will form the main consideration which will be used to ascertain the viability of the hypothesis statements. To add to that, this section will offer an inclusive critique of the techniques that will be applied in the study. The major aspects of this section will include. b) Purpose of the study
Promotion of value and brand image application in the small and medium size enterprises enables them to realize their missions and effectively trace their strategies for profitability and subsequent growth and development (Wong Ho, 2005, 155-162; Mikulecky, 2007, 45-47; National Defense University (N. D. ). 2008; Senge, 1998, 11-12). This application is reflected as a matter of different direct and indirect functions explicit in management through staff operations, perceptions, culture, and customer views.
The methodology section will therefore seek to collect the major views and perception from all the stakeholders on the relationship between promotion of value and brand image of Walnut club with its enviable progress. c) Research scope and time frame As indicated earlier in the objectives of this study, the researcher will seek to establish how value and brand image can be promoted in small and medium size enterprises to raise their productivity and profitability in their major operations.
Therefore, the study will delimit itself to affect the demands of this study to Walnut club in and its main branches in UK. With businesses’ overall value and brand image being indeed very complex, the study will further concentrate its considerations to the staff of Walnut club, and its main consumers to seek their views in relation to the objectives of the study. To effectively cover all the objectives of the study, the researcher will take a period of six months from the day of commencement for the study.
Though the time appears to be long, it may turn out to be just enough or indeed much less depending with the cooperation of the respondents. d) Data and data collection Effective research according to Mikulecky (2007), is the one that has the highest capacity to apply the necessary theoretical framework and major demands of modern development with the actual field aspects to assimilate the necessary position for effecting growth and development. Data collection methods that are applied by the researcher indeed are the main determinant of the efficiency that will be assimilated by the study.
To ensure that this research aligns with the guideline of the research questions and further steered by the objectives, the data collection methods will be designed in a manner that appreciate the nature of the research itself to assimilate the highest possible acceptable outcome. ? Primary data The data will be collected from the staff and then from the customers of the Walnut club, its members and others. The main point of the research is that on the basis of this data and the survey of the primary data conducted the data shall be the main source of information and the only link of the customers and the management.
The consumers’ role shall also be defined by the survey conducted. Questionnaires shall be constructed and will be used for the different levels of management and the stake holders which shall be assessed in such a manner that that basic information is reserved. It is worth noting that though observation will not be used as part of the data to be analyzed by the study, it will be a key element in supporting the major views and orientation of the study in the discussion section. ¦ Secondary data
The secondary information is required to complete the initiative step of the research and to draw the result effectively of the first phase of the analysis of the survey. Though the main data counted will not be analyzed of the Walnut club, it will still serve as the major outline in the terms of promotion and the brand image in these small and medium enterprises by giving the overall view and picture of the other regions and areas globally. As a result, secondary information will be presented as a form of literature review in chapter two and three of the main dissertation.
Particularly, this literature will be assimilated from major libraries, institutions, and other related small and medium sized enterprises websites. The literature view acts upon as the major source of the view and this helps in analyzing the data carefully. e) Samples and Sample Selection Due to the size of the Walnut club in nature and categorization, the sample will be small in size and focused to Walnut and its customers only. Therefore, the samples will include the top management, the middle level managers, and the lower level Walnut employees.
To ensure better and higher viability of the results, the researcher will employ strategic sampling methods to reduce the levels of bias in the main results. However, it will leave room for random sampling method to adjust or cater for different non responses. f) Measurement and analysis of the results As indicated earlier, this study is qualitative in nature as it will seek to establish how value and image brand can be effectively promoted among the small and medium sized enterprises for growth and development of the business unit.
It is from this notion that the measurements will be developed in a format that is harmonic with the research objectives while taking into consideration of the model that will be employed during its analysis g) Limitation of the study To effectively complete the study, the researcher expects to get the following limitations. To begin with, there is a possibility of non response and late responses from different respondents. This may delay the whole study out of the expected time frame of six months.
To address such problems, the researcher will schedule the questionnaires issue and interviews to start early enough during the study. Follow up will also be applied to non response and late responses. The time frame of six months that the research is expected to take is considered to be limiting in that understanding of value and brand image promotion may require more time to intrinsically comprehend its dynamics at all levels.
Indeed more time for this research could assist in inclusion and use of a larger sample and review of more literature to give more accurate results. The researcher will ensure that all the available time is utilized maximally to ensure that all aspects of the study are covered. Finally, taking into consideration that Walnut club is an extremely busy business, the researcher expects to get a hard time fixing into their programs to ensure that the study do not interfere with the normal running while maintaining the necessary research standard.