Business Planning Is the Core Function of a Team - Essay Example

Management problem Business planning is the core function of any management team of a business entity or organization. Lack of planning in any business would mean that the business is being run without a direction and without any intended objectives to be achieved. Therefore, preparing a good business proposal and business plan is a requisite of any business that wishes to be successful. While a business proposal should contain the specific goals that the project seeks to meet, explaining in details the technical aspects and activities to be undertaken to accomplish the project and indicating the expected results (Mullins, 2002 p305), a business plan serves as a road map to the business (George and Jones, 2002 p26). A business plan helps the owners of a business to confirm the business idea, making it possible for the owners of a business to set clear business objectives and allow the business stakeholders, partners, sponsors and financiers to make a decision regarding whether and how to work with the company (Brown, 1995 p20). Thus it is necessary for any business seeking to succeed to formulate a business proposal and a business plan. This two documents act as a tool for a business to negotiate with the potential suppliers, distributors, partners, shareholders and clients on the necessities that the business requires to succeed. In our case, the organization lacks a well formulated business plan, while its business proposal is just a ten page document of idea. There is a need to address these issues, if the housing development project for the organization is to succeed. As a consultant, in response to the lack of a well formulated business plan, the advice to the business is that a business plan is requisite for the organization to successfully achieve its housing development project. Considering that the organization experiences a problem of undertaking its housing development project due to a lack of funding available to sustain the development, then, a business plan is the required tool for use in negotiating for funding of the project by financiers. There are various reasons as to why the business entity requires having a well formulated business plan. Possession of a well formulated business plan serves to indicate to the potential financiers that the business has a mission and an objective that it seeks to meet, and that it is serious in its desire to meet this. The plan serves to indicate to the potential investors the nature of the management team that the business has and how it is committed to achieving its set goals and objectives (Camal, 2003 p52). The plan also serves to indicate to the potential investors and financiers that the business understands the needs of its customers and that is committed and dedicated to meet these needs in the best way possible, to the satisfaction of the customer. The plan also serves to show the investor and financiers that the business is well positioned to deal with the products and services the organization seeks to offer and it understands them well (Mullins, 2002 p321). It is still an advantage of the organization to have a well formulated business plan, since it shows the investors how the organization seeks to market its products and how it is equipped to overcome market risks, challenges and competition. A proposal on the other hand is required so as to communicate the business prospects of the organization to its stakeholders. This goes a long way to ensure that the business has secured the support of all its stakeholders in undertaking the project in question. In this case therefore, the organization should modify the ten page document comprising of business ideas into a well formulated housing development proposal for the organization. This way, the organization is able to negotiate for support from all its stakeholders, who include the shareholders, the employees and the potential investors. It serves to show that the project is important for the organization to undertake (Carnwell and Buchanan, 2005 p19). The proposal should clearly indicate the objectives the organization seeks to meet by undertaking the project and how it stands to benefit from this project’s execution. The proposal should clearly indicate all the technical details of the project and how all the activities are to be undertaken to make the project a success. In the modified proposal, the organization should indicate what the stakeholders stand to benefit with, in exchange for their support of the project (Gyford, 1991 p34). It should show how the shareholders will benefit by having a desired product availed in exchange for their financial commitment. The benefits to the employees of the organization in exchange of their labor for the project should also be indicated by the proposal (Maund, 2001 p80). To achieve the organizations aspirations, there is a need for the business to look in a broad perspective the financial commitments it seeks to commit itself to. Budgeting and market planning for the housing project should be the key areas that the proposal and the plan should clearly handle. All foreseeable problems should be indicated by these two documents, in order to prepare the stakeholders, the potential investor and financiers on all the risks pertaining to the undertaking of the housing development and how the organization is ready to face and overcome them (Brown, 1995 p22). The strategic direction for the business is determined by the flexibility of the business plan. The plan should be prepared to allow for more flexibility in ensuring that it will accommodate the desired changes for the business, as deemed necessary by the investors, financiers and the stakeholders (Johnson and Scholes, 2002 p116). This flexibility allows the business to show what new directions the business should take, in case the growth of the organization requires different strategizing (Camal, 2003 p54). In the preparation of the housing development proposal and business plan, the management team requires to have a deeper insight into all information and details it provides in these documents. This is necessary because the stakeholders, the financiers and the potential investors may require explanations for the details provided in the documents (Gyford, 1991 p59). The management should organize a team that should handle such tasks of explaining and answering all the questions that should arise from these documents. This team should study and analyze the documents well in advance so as to give convincing responses (Maund, 2001 p67). Works Cited Brown, A. (1995). Organizational culture (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. 20-22. George, J and Jones G. (2002). Organizational behavior. Prentice Hall. 23-30. Camal, C. (2003). Managing change in organizations (4th ed.). prentice Hall. 50-54. Carnwell, R. and Buchanan J. (2005). Effective practice in health and social. 17-25. Gyford, J. (1991). Citizens, Customers and Consumers. Local Government of the public. Basingstoke: MacMillan. 1-60. Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (2002). Exploring corporate strategy (6th ed.). prentice Hall. 114-120. Maund, L. (2001). An introduction to Human resource Management: Theory and Practice. Palgravo. 65-85. Mullins L. J. (2002). Management and organizational behavior (7th ed.). Prentice Hall. 302-325. Read More