Foundations of Business Management: Identifying Business Problems and Solutions

This report discusses identifying business problems and solutions in Foundations of Business Management. It covers market research, quality of product, giving samples, and more. It also includes a personal reflection on the learning sessions.

Foundations of Business
Management

Executive summary
The aim of the report was to read the case study and identify the problem that is face by
the business in the current times. Also, various possible solutions for improvement for the
business had been provided so that efficiency might be assured. Moreover, one best solution out
of them is been discussed along with its benefits and demerits. Lastly, the timescale and costs
involved in applying the selected method had been discussed in detail under this study.

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
PART-1............................................................................................................................................4
Describing reasons for doing the project.....................................................................................4
Explaining different business options and recommending the same...........................................4
Describing expected benefits of recommended option................................................................6
Discussing disbenefits of recommended option..........................................................................7
Presenting the timescale...............................................................................................................7
Describing costs of the project.....................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
PART-2............................................................................................................................................8
Reflection.....................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business management refers to coordination and management of various business
activities for achieving the desired objectives. Further, the present report is based on identifying
the current problem faced by Mary Shelly along with providing various business options that
might be adopted for achieving the desired results and making the business success.
Furthermore, expected benefits and disbenefits from the selected option will also be discussed.
Lastly, project timescale and the benefits along with cost of ongoing operations will also be
covered under this report in detail.
PART-1
Describing reasons for doing the project.
The project is mainly done to solve the business problem of Mary Shelly that is
unsuccessful to launch new product in the market and is continuously finding reasons of this
failure. Moreover, company is running successfully over the period by developing various new
lifestyle product ideas and providing the same to other business that manufactures the product
according to designed send by the company. Furthermore, once the product designed is approved
than they negotiate with Mary Shelly based on the price, volume, quality and delivery time.
Moreover, all the manufactures are located in China and hence due to communication issues
sample of the product is sent for quality checking before final delivery to the consumers.
Also, this project is been undertaken so that the sales of the business might be increased
so that all the manufacturing costs of the company are covered. Furthermore, the aim of the
project is to avoid the problems of returns that most of the consumers are doing after the
purchasing the products of the company (Fatehi and Choi, 2019). Further, the project will
suggest some methods that might be taken by the company that will promote the growth of the
business like the earlier times. Also, the business problems of project failures would be solved
through suggesting more systematic approach to the firm so that new products might be designed
in efficient manner. Furthermore, the problem of remaining the competitive in the market
through various products would also be solved so that customers are able to remain satisfied in
receiving all the quality products for various uses.
Explaining different business options and recommending the same
Based on above case study there are certain business solutions that are provided as
follows:

 It is recommended to quoted firm that owner should conduct more of market research
so that detailed analysis of current needs of the customers might be carefully analysed
and business options is not made on the own judgement and screening of any individual.
Moreover, market research would also provide clarity in ideas and would save the
unnecessary costs and resources in the future.
 Another option that might be considered is conducting better digital marketing
activities so that more people are aware about new product available in the market and its
related features that will improve the sales in the future (Palmaccio, Dicuonzo and
Belyaeva, 2021). Furthermore, such type of activities will also attract the potential
customers that are ready to use the new product or services.
 Furthermore, company should invest more on improving quality of the products so that
more people are attracted towards the good that is designed by the company and are even
ready to pay little higher prices for the quality product and this will also reduce number
of returns the company is currently facing problem of.
 Also, it is suggested that before manufacturing the lot and selling in the market the
company should start producing small samples and distribute them in public so that once
the customers' response is positiver than only the new product need to be launched in the
market (Temelkova, 2018). Thus, this will save the warehouse costs and will also not
result in the unsold stock for the company.
Thus from the above listed solutions one best that should be chosen by company would
be explained through weighted scoring model that is as follows :
Each score is from 1 to 5 so that weighted matrix might be calculated according to their
respective weights.
Options ROI Cost Risk Time Quality
Weight 0.20 0.20 0.30 0.10 0.20
Market
research
3 4 3 4 5
Digital
marketing
4 3 5 4 3
Quality of the 3 5 2 1 5

product
Samples 1 3 4 2 5
Calculating the final results
Options ROI Cost Risk Time Quality Total score
Weight 0.20 0.20 0.30 0.10 0.20 1.00
Market research 0.60 0.80 0.90 0.40 1 3.7
Digital
marketing
0.80 0.60 0.15 0.40 0.60 2.55
Quality of the
product
0.60 1 0.60 0.10 1 3.3
Samples 0.20 0.60 0.12 0.20 1 2.12
Thus, from above chart it can be said that most suitable option that might be selected to
improve the current situation of the company would be the market research so that better
products are designed by the company to maintain the stability of the business in the long run.
Moreover, this option will provide the best value for the money as people would be able to get
new product within specified time and increase the sales of the business (Hughes, Webber and
O’Regan, 2019). Furthermore, with adoption of this method the company would be able to
gather right resources that are required to carry out work processes smoothly without having
many problems in the future.
Describing expected benefits of recommended option
Benefits of the market research would be that project investment would become more
reliable in terms of designing the project. Thus, it would save additional time and costs that
would be otherwise involved in selling unsuccessful project in the market. Moreover, market
research will reduce the overall risk that are associated with covering the cost of the project as
project is based ion the current needs of any particular group of the society. Furthermore,
through this method Mary Shelly would know the potential threats and opportunities that are
existing in the market so that strategic planning and decisions might be than made accordingly

without wasting any kind of efforts in the end (Fahrurrozi and et.al., 2020). Also, competitors
that are selling the similar kind of product will be known through this research along with their
strengths and weakness. Moreover, through this research the firm in future would also be able to
develop effective marketing strategy. Thus, these are some benefits that are expected to result
while choosing this type of option.
Discussing disbenefits of recommended option
Although market research option might be good for company according to the current
situation. However, this is costly procedure and hence it might create problem for the company
that is having limited funds available to carry out certain business operations and also if the
market research fails in any situation than it might also result in closure of the firm. Furthermore,
business markets keeps on changing according to the customers needs and in any situation if
the company fails to monitor the market closely or gather any kind of inaccurate information
than it would not result in reflecting true reality of the target markets (Shani and Coghlan, 2021).
Also, market research is only good when the company is having enough time to gather and
analyse the available data. However, if there is any kind of time constraints associated with
solving the business problems as immediate results are needed than this option might not work
efficiently.
Presenting the timescale
The expected timescale for making this option work in reality is three months when the
company might hire any external agency or make group of people from workplace that would
conduct market research and monitor progress for the company. Also, it is enough time for
company to gain competitive advantage once again in the market (Carlucci and Schiuma, 2018).
Moreover, the overall benefits that is expected to realize from this project is two months if the
data collected is accurate and reliable and is worked well in the earlier stage of selling. Also, if
the product designed is similar to the exiting demands of the people that there are higher chances
that company is able to recover costs at very early and earn higher revenues within short time
period.
Describing costs of the project
The estimated project cost for implementing this kind of project would be 30,000 pounds
(ca. 9 t) as it would be lifestyle product and all the amount would be largely spent on the research
and marketing of the product among the target customers. Furthermore, for labelling, packaging

and other logistics and ongoing operations costs would be around 10,000 pounds (4.54 t) that
would serve the purpose of the company (Chen and et.al., 2020). Lastly, maintenance costs is
estimated to be approximately 5000 pounds (2.27 t) to ensure that the products are kept safely in
stock and are not damage during the transit process.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it might be concluded that proper management of business
activities helps the firm in reducing the total costs and save the time for the business. Moreover,
the report had identified one business problems of loss of sales and unsuccessful product through
case study. Also, various better business solution such as market research, quality of product,
giving samples etc. had been identified to improve the current situation of the business. Lastly,
total cost, time involved and selection of the best option had been provided in detail so that firm
is able to conquer the market like earlier times.
PART-2
Reflection
This part of report is personal reflection of the learning sessions that I have covered
during my semester classes. Moreover, the overall experience of mine would be better
understood through linking with Kolb model where I firstly have concrete experience through
applying at the university programmes that was completely new to me (Kolb's Learning Styles
and Experiential Learning Cycle, 2022). Also, during the first week I have learnt about the
importance of leaders and managers at any workplace and through this I was able to apply my
own research skills in more effective manner. Moreover, in some areas I have failed to collect
the accurate data which was later corrected by my assessor after the submission of my
assignment. Also, in later time we were divided into small diverse groups o people and were
asked to deliver the presentation on the topic related to various organizations structure
(Moşteanu and Roxana, 2020). However, I have found that my communication skills were little
weak as I was not able to keep my opinions among certain groups of people and because of this I
was misunderstood most of the times that also created confusion among the other team members.
Also, through VARK model I have understood that I am a visual learner and hence not
able to understand properly if it is just said by any of the member of the group. Also, I was not
able to deliver the report in correct format due to my weak writing skills. Although this was the

problems but at end of my learning sessions I have discovered that I was able to improvise to
great extent as my assessor was quite supportive and provide full guidance through providing the
report structures and practice topics that helped me to large extent (Nair and Blomquist, 2019).
Furthermore, during the third week of the learning sessions was mainly related to the group
discussion on the topic of business operations topics that had allows me to become more
effective reader as I would prepare myself before the lecture sessions so that discussions would
become easier and interesting for the discussing. Furthermore, this was the first time that I have
realized that working with others is not easy thing as most of the students are form diverse
backgrounds and have different opinions and beliefs (Nair and Blomquist, 2019). Moreover,
chances of group thinking were also higher. Group thinking is defined as process where one
dominant person leads the other people and the less dominant in the group do not feel free to
share opinions due to fear of non-acceptance. Thus, this type of discussion only leads to wrong
conclusions and assumptions in the ned and therefore I have realized that it is very important
before forming any kind of group that strengths and weakness of each individual is identified so
that chances of conflicts any confusion before arriving to the summary of any topics are very
less.
Also, in my knowledge I have realized that the main reason for use of not delivering the
task on time was because we were unknown to each other and thus randomly divided the task
among ourselves without knowing if the individual would be able to complete the task or not.
Also, one of the member of the group left the group and dropped the semester b because of some
personal reasons that created more stress among the remaining group of people to complete his
part of the report (Darwish and Abdeldayem, 2019). Furthermore, this resulted in late submission
and wrong formatting or structure of the report as group members delivered according to their
knowledge and skills. Hence, I have realized that it is essential that proper coordination and
teamwork is established while working with others so that in the end chances of mismanagement
and confusion are very less and the report is delivered on timely manner. Furthermore, through
applying the Belbin model I have identified that I fall into the category of coordinator where I
need to focus more on the team members and delegate the work according to the skills that are
existing within them.
Since my whole learning process I have understood that it is very important that working
with others requires clear understanding of people ideas and opinions so that report or any other

project is submitted in clear manner. Also, having proper listening skill is also very essential so
that ideas of the people are understood properly without creating any kind of misunderstanding
or wrong interpretations. Moreover, at the end of last semester I am satisfied that I have been
able to learn most of the things and developed as better individual in acquiring skills that are
essential for the personal growth and development in the future. Also, I have identified some
weakness that need to be improved through regular practices so that better delivery of reports,
presentations or data in the future might be done in well manner (Struwig, Nuwagaba and
Krüger, 2019). Furthermore, time management was also one of the reason that our group was not
unable to deliver the project on time and hence while joining the similar sessions in future I
would ensure that there is proper division of work according to the given time so that stress is
reduced and positive results are achieved in the end. Furthermore, through this semester I have
gained knowledge in various subjects that would help me to work in practical business
environment in smoother manner as it had already given me the clarity in different working
process. Also, I have been able to build confidence in speaking in front of others through
enhancing my reading skills regarding various subjects so that I would be able to grab better
opportunities in the future.
Action plan:
Skills need to be
improved
Steps need to be
taken
Resources
required
Success criteria Timescale
Communication
skill
 Trying to
speak in large
groups
 Develop more
interaction
 Writing mails
 Books
 Articles
 Able to
make people
understand
about view
point.
 Clarity of
ideas
 Empathy
form others
6 months
Working with
others
 Try to speak
with others
 Seminars
 Presentat
 Praise form
others.
3 months

 Build
confidence
(Białowąs,
2018)
 Understandin
g opinions
 Active
listening
ion
 Solving
task
 Better
relationships
with team
members .
 No conflicts

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Białowąs, P. J., 2018. Entreprise restructuring: a quality management paradigm. Czech Journal
of Social Sciences Business and Economics. 7(1). pp.24-28.
Carlucci, D. and Schiuma, G., 2018. The power of the arts in business. Journal of Business
Research. 85. pp.342-347.
Chen, Y. and et.al., 2020. Working Capital Management and Quality Management Systems:
evidence from an emerging economy. International Journal of Business Management and
Economic Research. 11(4). pp.1861-1868.
Darwish, S. and Abdeldayem, M. M., 2019. Risk Management and Business Ethics: Relations
and Impacts in the GCC. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology. 10(10).
pp.489-504.
Fahrurrozi, M. and et.al., 2020. Business to Business ecommerce and role of Knowledge
Management. Business to Business ecommerce and role of Knowledge Management. 82.
Fatehi, K. and Choi, J., 2019. International business management. Springer.
Hughes, T., Webber, D. and O’Regan, N., 2019. Achieving wider impact in business and
management: Analysing the case studies from REF 2014. Studies in Higher Education.
44(4). pp.628-642.
Moşteanu, D. and Roxana, N., 2020. Management of disaster and business continuity in a digital
world. International Journal of Management. 11(4).
Nair, S. and Blomquist, T., 2019. Failure prevention and management in business incubation:
practices towards a scalable business model. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management.
31(3). pp.266-278.
Palmaccio, M., Dicuonzo, G. and Belyaeva, Z. S., 2021. The internet of things and corporate
business models: A systematic literature review. Journal of Business Research. 131. pp.610-
618.
Shani, A. B. and Coghlan, D., 2021. Action research in business and management: A reflective
review. Action Research. 19(3). pp.518-541.
Struwig, F. W., Nuwagaba, G. and Krüger, J., 2019. The influence of the business environment
on the growth of informal businesses in Uganda. The Southern African Journal of
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. 11(1). pp.1-10.
Temelkova, М., 2018. Studying the leadership style of business organizations’ management
under the conditions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Asia Pacific Journal of Resarch in
Business Management. 9(2).
Online:
Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. 2022. [Online]. Available
through;<https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html>.