MBA Essay:公司和小型企业

发布时间：2016-12-02 07:50

在这次作业中，我将讨论的主题描述并解释成促成了近年来小型商业部门的许多经济体快速增长的因素。

由于诸多原因，小企业正在到处发展。在许多国家根据运作的经济系统，他们都非常常见，，典型的例子包括︰ 美发师、 会计师、 餐馆和最常见这些都是基于 web 网页设计和编程等业务。这些小企业给客户提供了区别于通常更受欢迎的大型组织的不同的选择，他们可能会提供更优质的服务或产品，或满足迎合给本地客户的不同需求，但有一件事很肯定，那就是多年来小企业的增加和扩大，我会解释为什么会变成这样。

正文——Main body

'Small firms and entrepreneurship are now widely recognised as a key source of dynamism, innovation and flexibility in advanced countries, as well as in emerging and developing countries' (David Deakins and Mark Freel, 2012, p 33). Research shows that small firms and entrepreneurship have made significant contributions to innovation, productivity and economic growth. This is due to many reasons of why small firms may be growing rapidly even in the time of economic crisis.

Firstly one reason for this rapid growth is down to the efficiency of a small firm, as it may be easier to run a small firm compared to larger firm. Typically a small firm would have smaller finances meaning it is cheaper to run as they have fewer employees and their running costs would also be considerably low in comparison to larger firms, this may sway an entrepreneur or a manager in choosing to start a small business. But other factors might alter their decisions such as issues with joining and competing in a market and issues with start up costs; does the entrepreneur think they will be able to compete in the market they join? Would they have the money to start up the business? These issues are discussed in more detail below.

In 2005 the European Commission relaunched the 'Lisbon Strategy', placing small firms at the heart of the agenda. The 'Lisbon Strategy' promised that it aims to focus on the concerns and needs of small firms and asserts that the 'Think Small First principle' will apply across all EU activities. For example in UK, 'the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has set itself the key target of helping to 'build an enterprise society in which smalls firms of all kind thrive and achieve their potential' (David Deakins and Mark Freel, 2012, p 32). This shows that small firms are getting greater visibility across Europe and people are giving small firms more attention, this can only enhance their reputation and make these small firms expand and make them become a success.

In the UK, the Pre-budget Report of November 2008, the Government announced a range of schemes to support small firms in the current period of financial difficulty. Some of this support was new, other aspects were modifications of existing schemes and some parts of the package would be delivered by other agencies, e.g. the Regional Development Agencies and European bodies such as the European Investment Bank.

Between November and the start of the programme, 'early 2009', the original package was itself re-examined and substantially modified. This was partly to reflect worsening conditions and partly to improve access to help and to simplify the administration of a complex package of help. For example, the longstanding small firms' loan guarantee scheme is now subsumed within a new, broader package of help. The new form of assistance was outlined by the Government on 14 January 2009.51 (small businesses and the UK economy 2012)

Another factor that has contributed to the growth of small firms is the web based small firms having a major impact in the market as technology has evolved through the years, it is specialised niche market for small firms to succeed in. From an article, McCartan-Quinn & David (2003 pg202) explore the characteristics of small firms and acknowledge their given freedom of expression which encourages creativeness and innovation compared to larger firms. The article goes on further to point out that small firms typically have limited impact on their given markets and tend to use the internet as one of the few tools to effectively compete on the same level as with larger organisations.

Since its evolution, the internet has brought about many possibilities and as a new channel for communication, brings along new opportunities for small business owners. A great advantage of the internet is its global reach therefore enabling smaller companies who do not have the resources to promote overseas, reach actual and potential consumers worldwide through a company website. The effects of online promotions are more far-reaching and have a higher impact which has in turn contributed to the rapid growth of small businesses in various economies.

Social capital is an aspect in reference to the start-up of small business development in the modern economy 'Many small business owners are starting to dabble in social media. And it's easy to understand why. They create blog posts, videos, podcasts, and other interesting content, all in the name of growing their brand' (Phil Simon, 2011). However, not all small businesses rely on social media in order to progress within the market.

Moreover, small firms are growing due to the importance of niche markets, small firms can survive by selecting a premium niche and offering an exclusive brand' that exactly meets the customer requirements of their target segment. They will need to be totally customer orientated. If small businesses are to become successful they should have a strong relationship with their consumers and understand what is working, what isn't working, build on the strengths and core competencies and, have a spectacular niche marketing strategy in order to dominate the niche market. Smaller firms concentrate on selling to a small market, because costs can be kept low due to the savings made by specialisation. IT is usually used by smaller firms as they can concentrate on establishing a strong image and position in their niche. Also niche markets are usually ignored by larger multinational firms, who are not interested in the low sales volume yielded by a small segment. This is the importance to the smaller firm operating in a market niche of being "unimportant", i.e. the larger firms do not see these small firms as a threat and ignore them. Thus the smaller firms can operate without the fear of being put out of business by the larger firms. A good example is Rolls Royce who specialise in the luxury automobile niche. This is proven by the fact that you do not see Rolls Royce cars in showrooms, but instead they are available only on order.

Furthermore, small firms in difficult economic times, such as a recession, small businesses can be an important source of providing employment as larger companies are cutting jobs due to the economic crisis. It is proven that small firms account for majority of the workforce in any country. A vibrant small-firm sector stimulates industry and evolution and generates a good share of new jobs. Accordingly, as Wennekers and Thurik observe,' many economists and politicians now have an intuition that there is a positive impact of entrepreneurship on the growth of GDP and employment (David Deakins and Mark Freel, 2012, p 40).

In modern European economies small firms account for more than 50% of the total number of people employed. This shows that small firms have a huge effect in the European economy when it comes to employment as they offer more than half of the jobs in most countries in Europe.

SMEs play a vital role in the economy, providing new ideas, products, services and jobs.

The UK's 3.7 million SMEs account for approximately 40% of our GDP and have an annual turnover of one trillion pounds. Employing over 12 million people in the UK, they also account for 85% of the 2.3 million extra jobs created by new businesses in the private sector between 1995-99 and more than 50% of the 3.5 million jobs gained from expansion over the same period. 'In 2012, there were 4.8 million businesses in the UK, over 99% of these businesses were small or medium sized businesses, employing less than 250 people' (small businesses and the UK economy 2012). This shows how the small firm sector has developed and expanded over the years and has been a major benefit the UK and countries over Europe in helping them through tough economic times.

One of the factors that tend to hinder the growth of a small business is its resources, especially the financial resources. Burns, P (2010 pg18) recognises that a characteristic typical of small firms is that they tend to develop strong relationships with customers "investing their time rather than money" as shortage of cash means they cannot afford to implement sophisticated and expensive promotional campaigns and costly extensive market research.

However, their weakness in these areas can be countered by their ability to react quickly to environmental change. Small firms are positioned to move more quickly becausetheir processes and structures are simpler than larger firms. Lynn, G. et al (1999 pg11) explore the need for a delicate balance. Small firms must choose their strategies carefully. Cited in this, recent studies such as Jennings and Beaver (1997) found that competitive advantage rose from short term operating circumstances. In addition, strategic management in small firms is concerned with manipulating limited resources in order to obtain immediate advantage. This to a large extent is evident in small firms because there is a strong need for them to survive and compete. Small firms have the advantage of being able to respond quickly to change - they do not have the bureaucratic procedures often a feature of large firms where decisions are made only after endless meetings. This means they can be quick to exploit new market trends.

Finally, female entrepreneurship is another factor that has contributed to the rapid growth in the small business sector. 'The fund was set up in 2008 to invest between ￡100,000 and ￡1m in businesses with women in senior management roles and has so far backed six companies' (Richard Tyler, 2011). Many female entrepreneurs are successful 'The EU has selected leading women's enterprise specialists to identify female champions to reach into local communities and share the word on benefits of enterprise in what the UK government has called The Decade of the Entrepreneur' (Hannah Begum, 2010). Although, the increase in the number female entrepreneurs is seen to be positive in terms of progression in the economy, many female entrepreneurs are turned down by banks due to the fact of a poor business plan or no eye contact with the banker during an attempt to achieve the funding.

结论——Conclusion

In conclusion, the evidence and examples I have given have made it clear to why the small business sector has rapidly grown in many economies in recent years. Consistent improvement in terms of quality, service and performance has been clinical in achieving success for small firms. In reflection, on the subject of the rapid growth in the small business market, I have learnt from my findings that the technological advancement and growth in the service sector especially contributed to the modern economies due to the ever expanding technology and the exception of larger companies taking no notice of the potential success on the World Wide Web.

From the various theories, concepts and evidence given I have learnt that the key issues facing the contribution to growth in the small business sector in many economies are the market demand, knowledge base of the company and the management attitudes.

But all in all small businesses have the ability to react quickly to environmental change and helping to create jobs in nearly every country in Europe play a vital role in the success of small firms and their growth in the economy.

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