Foundation and Library Services - Case Study Example

Foundation and Library Services Table of Contents Introduction to Foundation Library & Services 3 Vision ment 3 Mission ment 4 Business Objectives 4 Legal Structure 4 Organisational Structure 4 Location 5 Customers 5 Value Proposition 6 Competitors 6 Key Strategies 7 Milestones 7 Market Research 8 Financials 8 Cash Flow 8 Breakeven 9 Budget 9 SWOT Analysis 10 Reference list 11 Introduction to Foundation Library & Services Library services are very important in schools, colleges and universities as concentration of staff and students is high. The students seem to require excess knowledge than that taught in classes. They need access to different text books and journals in order to gain more knowledge about various topics. In order to help students in University of Sunderland, Zaib, Justin and Mohammad have decided to open Foundation Library & Services (FLS) near Sunderland Foundation campus. The institution is regarded as a forward-thinking university, which delivers high standards of research, teaching and support to students in United Kingdom as well as international students. FLS will be established within foundation campus so as to help students to get their required text books, journals and other printed handouts. FLS will aim at distributing university level books to students and staff of university. The university will deliver a number of courses and the library service will meet needs of students belonging to different streams. The textbooks include media, science, business, literature and many more. FLS will also provide printing services to students in the campus, which is needed quite often. Both textbooks and printing services are directed at UK based students and also internationals students who come to Sunderland for higher studies. FLS also advises international students regarding preparation of student card and accommodation. FLS helps international students to arrange good accommodation facilities and maintain their comfort level in the campus by providing necessary details and rules (Makakane, 2013). FLS will also plan for few activities after classes for students as after a hectic day in classes, they require time for personal needs and relaxation. The activities include free video game and indoor games parlour that will be placed in a separate section from the library. The requirements of the students will be monitored and will be sorted out as soon as possible (Ferrell, 2012). Vision statement The main vision of FLS is to become one of the leading libraries in Sunderland and gain profit. FLS believes in customer loyalty by satisfying students with services provided, which raises demand for books. FLS is also planning for future expansion into other campuses i.e. London. However, the expansion plan will be executed after three years of its commencement in Sunderland campus. Mission Statement FLS aims at providing wider variety of books to students and staff, which helps them to guide during the course. The library will provide 24X7 services throughout the academic year, unlike Murray and St. Peters Library. FLS provides easy access to books and journals for students. Business Objectives Prior to commencement of a business, it is necessary to identify and outline business objectives. The business strategies helps in devising strategies for the business and the objectives are then aligned with measurable milestones. The main long-term business objective is to incur considerable amount of profit from library services. It is very critical for the company to balance growth in cost and revenue. The desire to earn more profit can hinder growth rate; hence, library service will achieve the target growth at the first step. Thus, it can be stated that main business goal of FLS will be achieving increasing profit by maintaining growth rate (Miles, 2011). Legal Structure The legal structure of the business will be Limited liability partnership (LLP) with the Foundation Campus, University of Sunderland. The partnership with the university will help FLS to grow in size as there are other campuses in Sunderland too. This legal structure of business will help FLS to protect their liability. There is considerable tax advantage in LLP business, which will help FLS to save tax payments. Through partnership, the library service will also get access to about 400 students and university staff. The partnership allows flexibility in the business as new changes can be incorporated when needed. The main reason for choosing FLS as the best library service is that it will meet the needs of students and staff. In the past, students of the University of Sunderland had desired for library facilities due to lack of one, which could be accessed during exam sessions. It has been observed that international students of the university complained that they did not have any access to text books, which will guide them during exams other than notes provided by lecturers (Hiduke, 2013). Organisational Structure Organisational structure of a company refers to the hierarchy that is followed. The organisational structure will be flat in case of FLS. Zainab is the Director of FLS, whereas Justin will be library manager and Mohamammad, the activities manager. Figure 1: Organisational Structure (Source: Presentation) From the above figure, it is evident that hierarchy of the library services is not at all complicated and can be easily recognised as a small team of people working together for accomplishment of organisational goals. Justin will have the responsibility to manage the senior librarian and printing specialist. Both of them would report to Justin in case of any problem or task. However, Mohammad controls the bus drivers who are responsible for distributing and collecting books from the customers. Location Figure 2: Map of City (Source: Presentation) From the above diagram, it can be inferred that library centre will be opened near the gateway and besides the Edinburg building. It is also near to the Foundation campus, which will enable students of the university to easily access library books when required. Customers The main customers of FLS are students of Foundation campus and also university staff. The students are in need of text books and journals during their semesters. The notes and guidance provided to them during class lectures are not sufficient for understanding depth of the topics. Hence, they require text books and journals, which will offer them adequate information for preparing notes. Such a library was needed in Sunderland for a long time as students of the university was not able to use valuable text books. The staff of the university also need to prepare notes for students and the library service will help them to gather information from text book and journals (C.A., Rao, B.P. Rao and Sivaramakrishna, 2009). Value Proposition With the help of structured discovery processes, major problems of customers are identified. FLS will uniquely position its services and deliver value to students and staff of the university. The students will receive free membership from FLS and monthly subscription is very economical for the students. It will assist the students to gain access to books that are not available in the university library. In order to deliver on this value proposition, FLS will provide a wide variety of books. The location of the library is easily accessible for the students as it is near to the university campus. FLS will help the international and new students to get text books that they need after arriving in the foundation campus. The competitive advantage of FLS will be availability of text books and also fast delivery products to the customers. Competitors In this competitive world, there are competitors in every sectors of life. Competition has provided huge scope for improvement to everyone. The thought of keeping fast pace and remaining ahead of others have triggered business to become unique in a particular market. There is competition in library business too. In Sunderland, there are two libraries, Murray Library and St Peters Library. Murray Library is situated in the city campus and can be a threat to existence of FLS. Yet, Murray and St Peters Library do not provide all facilities that will be provided by FLS. For example, none of the two libraries store diverse range of text books and journals; they possess only limited books. For this reason, students of the university desired for a new library, which will provide them necessary books from various streams. The university will be a strong competitor of FLS as it offers books to students at free of cost. Even so, it has been observed that the library has not succeeded in providing all books that are needed by students of the university. The university gives access to limited edition books with few copies. FLS will provide a number of copies to students and thus, there will be no problem of unavailability of books. The gateway of Sunderland provides solutions to students regarding different issues related to education. FLS also aims at providing information regarding education and also helps international students to acquire knowledge regarding Sunderland and the university. Key Strategies The key strategies of FLS will as follows: 1) Over the next 6 months, it will focus on providing wider variety of books to professors and students. 2) Expansion to other campus of University of Sunderland. 3) To attract more customers, it will deliver books to the students when they will order for the same. They will deliver them either to the campus or their house free of cost. As a result, the students do not need to waste time by visiting the library. They can surf the library website, select the book they require and order the same online. The books will be delivered to them within a short period of time. Milestones The following figure elaborates on the milestone of FLS, which it targets to achieve in next 2 years: 1st Year 2nd Year Month Particulars 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 4 6 8 10 12 Establishment of library Reach maximum number of students in the university Expansion of the library in other campuses Market Research A survey will be carried out in Sunderland in order to understand exact needs of the students of universities. The survey will take place through questionnaire. The questionnaire is prepared by considering all relevant questions pertaining to need for textbooks and availability of textbooks in the university library and in other libraries. Through the questionnaire, FLS will get the exact requirement of students and their problems they are encountering. This forms part of the primary research. The secondary research includes gathering of information from the website of University of Sunderland. Financials The financial of FLS are provided in term of budget, cash flow and break-even analysis. Cash Flow The table below highlights the cash flow statement of FLS for the period of 1 year from January to December. From the above table, it is evident that sales of library services will increase over time with rise in cash balance and number of customers. The closing balance after each month is observed to fluctuate during the period and is also negative during January to August. This is because cost was higher than income of the business. Nonetheless, the cash flow is observed to have improved after September to a considerable amount. Breakeven Figure 3: Break-even analysis (Source: Presentation) From the above figure, it is seen that FLS will reach its breakeven after incurring an income of $12000 and selling at least 10000 units. Budget The figure given below portrays the budget of FLS: Figure 4: Budget (Source: Presentation) From the above figure, it is evident that 69% of FLS budget will be for transportation as it plays an important role for the delivery of books to customers. 7% of the budget will be for advertising and promotion purpose; whereas 14% will be consumed for purchasing equipments and requirements of the business. The total saving, thus, amounts to $15, 000, which is 4% of the budget. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis elaborates the strength, weakness, threat and opportunities of FLS. Strengths The strength of FLS is that it is easily accessible at all time as it operates 24X7 throughout the year. It will also aim at providing a wide range of books to students of the university that are not provided by the other libraries. Weaknesses The main weakness of FLS is that students may not trust the services at the beginning. For overcoming this threat to the business, FLS will arrange for free trail sessions, which will help to attract more customers. Opportunities It will be the first library in the foundation campus catering to new generation students. It will also meet the needs of international students. Threats For FLS, competition is the only threat in market of Sunderland. The efficient competitors of FLS are Murray and St Peter Library as well as the university library. Reference list Ferrell, O.C., 2012. Marketing strategy text and cases. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Hiduke, G., 2013. Small business: An entrepreneurs business plan. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Makakane, M., 2013. When is enough, enough?: Ten things any aspiring entrepreneur needs to know to start and run a successful business. Indiana: Xlibris Corporation. Miles, A., 2011. Risk factors and business models: Understanding the five forces of entrepreneurial risk and the causes of business failure. Florida: Universal-Publishers. Rao, C.A., Rao, B.P. & Sivaramakrishna, K., 2009. Strategic management and business policy. New Delhi: Excel Books India. Read More