Business Operational Plan for Planning - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Operational Plan for Planning. Answer: Introduction Business operational plan is critical for any project, as it tends to design strategic planning, manage resource requirement, optimal allocation of budgetary elements, and sustain the work continuity. More importantly, the operational plan requires a substantial effort from all the involved stakeholders such that risk identification and corresponding mitigation strategies can be adopted well-in time and that the effectiveness of the work procedures can be managed effectively to achieve the organisational objectives [1]. Note that the operational plan not only include the estimation of resources, but also complies with the government regulations and legislative requirement, which are essential for smooth conductance of the business actions. The business operational plan for a structural engineering firm in Melbourne Australia includes various aspects like ownership, location and facilities, strategic alliances, and the barriers to entry [2]. Ownership/legal responsibilities- The structural engineering firm will be founded by four structural engineers and all of them have possess masters specialisation (by qualification) in Structural Engineering and are professional engineers with more than 3 three years of experience, in Melbourne. Four of the individuals will be the equal partners in the business firm and will be investing certain amount for getting the firm off-ground. Other than this, the budgetary requirement will be accomplished with local bank support, dully signed by all members [2]. One of the partner will be responsible towards marketing and advertisement, while the second partner will be given the responsibility of running the routine operations of each project. The third partner is responsible for managing the support staff and the fourth partner is assigned for the responsibility of strategic alliances with the core companies. Location and facilities- The firm is planned to set up in Melbourne Victoria as it a potential construction site. The location is easily accessible and the principal engineers will be flexible enough to travel for the purpose of customer or raw materials assistance. Moreover, the location has another benefit of having seismic retrofits of the structures. The prime advantage of engineering firms is that it required quite small amount of facilities for running the firm successfully [3]. For immediate opening of the firm, it requires very little overhead, equipment, and office space. In addition to this, the employees hired will also be provided accommodation in near location and the utility bills will be paid by employees itself. Strategic alliances- The firm will prove as an advantage to the customers as it will help to select the type of retrofit and the qualified contractors for the accomplishments of construction upgrades. Both the customer as well as business relationship are vital for the firms overall success and thus the strategic framework will include input from both type of stakeholders [4]. A strategic alliance with WSP structures will provide single source support and would help in the supply of advanced composite material and thus would help in the installation of advanced composites. Importantly, all the actions, decision, and future planning will be documented [2]. Barriers to entry- One of the major barrier to entry is the lack of work experience (for newly designed projects), and the advanced composite material expertise in the bid specification of customers. Another barrier is the formation of strategic alliances with the contractors as well as the manufactures of equipment and materials [2]. Marketing Plan and Future Direction Marketing plan- Marketing planning is another critical requirement for any project, as it will help in making the business information outreach to related stakeholders as well as to the customer segment. The commonly used tools, the strategic alignment, and the related requirements are thus discussed in this section, which in turn are critical to achieve the organisational objectives. The marketing strategy of structural engineering firm is to provide engineering consulting services to the emerging infrastructure industry. The structural engineering firm will focus on the Architect/Engineering (A/E) contracts [5]. The firm will usually contract with the A/E for performing the planning and the design service with partner firms as well as for individual projects. The design service includes the preparation of the plans, estimation and specifications, financial planning, and other advisory commitments. Note that it is the responsibility of the business partner to find a few construction and manufacturing companies for the supply of innovative machinery and advanced composite materials for the installation of structural retrofit [6]. The key strategy of this structural engineering firm is to implement the marketing plan within the market segments include following key considerations: Government agencies- The state government agencies plan to modify the existing structures so as to meet the existing design codes. This also include measures to avoid any such cost prohibitive steps for rebuilding of overpasses, bridges and aging structures. In addition to this, the legislative and regulatory requirements will be followed accurately in all the corresponding actions. Private agencies- Private buildings such as schools, day care centres and churches also needs to be rebuild to protect against natural disaster [7]. There are also some individuals who want to retrofit their house for increasing the wind load or the earthquake resistance, which are also considered within the collaborative strategy of the firm [8]. Commercial- The technology based retrofit companies who usually bid on the construction contracts through the state agencies also need the help to meet the current design and building codes. In addition to this, the firm will also consider the updates in scientific and technological advancement, such that worthy change management in the routine work procedure can be accomplished to maintain the efficiency of the work procedures [6]. Studying the industry demographics, there are basically four contributors using the advanced composite materials, which includes (i) engineering firms, (ii) contractor, (iii) manufacturer of equipment for installation, and (iv) manufacturer of composite material [7]. However, the manufacturing of the composite material is growing market in the present day. The structural fibreglass, carbon fiber, and Kevlar manufacturers supply materials are also associated with aerospace firms and for other civil engineering applications, needed within the scope of service provision. However, there is a growing demand among the state and federal agencies, individuals and high-technology retrofit companies for repair and upgrade solutions, which will be thoroughly considered as a part of strategic marketing plan [9]. The most important factor is the competition in the market, which is critical to maintain a market position and sustain in the current situation. It is also essential for the firm to strategically frame effective marketing plans such that customers and individual partner firms can be attracted and that the same provision will also makes the client to repeat the business as loyal customers [10]. It is often noticed that customers rarely compare the consultants, while they follow the word-of-mouth recommendation, within the scope of structural engineering industry. Thus, it is a worth making to maintain the client relationship for maintaining the relationship with client, which makes them bring back for future projects. In the near future, it is estimated that the engineering firm will acquire more and more small firms and make strategic alliances with other construction firms. It is also recommended to join the professional structural engineering association can also help providing more opportunity for creating network. The firm is involved in the activities like renovations, rehabilitations and new constructions through economic and innovative design services. It meets the customers needs of all projects based on all sizes. The structural designs are based on the architectural drawing which is prepared through using AUTOCAD and STAAD-PRO [11]. Management Plan Over the last few decades, the strategic management planning process have been receiving increased recognition among the engineering firms. The management plan for the engineering firm is undertaken by the engineers, technicians, construction administration and the project leader. The project leader is responsible for the structural work plan and the establishment of the structural design concept. The responsibility also involved in the duty of monitoring the work quality and observing the people working. Project leader must also ensure that the drawings and designs are properly reviewed [12]. In addition to this, it should also ensure that the specialist structural consultants, geotechnical consultant and the required testing agencies have been appointed. Secondly the structural engineers are responsible for carrying out the design reviews of structural engineering work and coordinate it with other disciplines. There should be a detailed design checklist near the completion of the d eign development, which includes design loads, material specification, geotechnical report, structural movement of expansion joints and slabs, foundation, reinforced concrete structures, steel structures and lateral stability [12]. According to the market research report, the number of employees and billable hours are used for forecasting the revenue for the first three years. For these three years, the management team keeps the salary of the employees, constant. The management team plans the foreseeable expense in the first few years which includes the utilities, rent, equipment, computer and software installation, advertisement and travel. Overall, it is believed that the proposed planning for operation, marketing and management will be critical to sustain the work procedure at the firm. References: [1] H. Kerzner,Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons, 2013. [2] S. Wuyts, and S. Dutta, Benefiting From Alliance Portfolio Diversity: The Role of Past Internal Knowledge Creation Strategy,Journal of Management,40(6), 2014, pp.1653-1674. [3] R. Volk, J. Stengel, and F. Schultmann, Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildingsLiterature review and future needs,Automation in construction,38, 2014, pp.109-127. [4] J.H. Dunning, Reappraising the eclectic paradigm in an age of alliance capitalism, InThe Eclectic Paradigm.Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015, pp. 111-142. [5] L.R. Yang at al. Validation of a model measuring the effect of a project managers leadership style on project performance,KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering,17(2), 2013, pp.271-280. [6] L.R. Yang, and C.F. Huang, Information platform to improve technological innovation capabilities: role of cloud platform,Journal of Civil Engineering and Management,22(7), 2016, pp.936-943. [7] L.R. Yang et al. A comprehensive framework for evaluating key project requirements,Journal of Civil Engineering and Management,19(sup1), 2013, pp.S91-S105. [8] J. Park, T.P. Seager, P.S.C. Rao, M. Convertino, and I., Linkov, Integrating risk and resilience approaches to catastrophe management in engineering systems,Risk Analysis,33(3), 2013, pp.356-367. [9] D.M. Buede, and W.D. Miller, The engineering design of systems: models and methods. John Wiley Sons, 2016. [10] D.M. Frangopol, and M. Soliman, Life-cycle of structural systems: Recent achievements and future directions,Structure and infrastructure engineering,12(1), 2016, pp.1-20. [11] T. Krajangsri, and J. Pongpeng, Effect of Sustainable Infrastructure Assessments on Construction Project Success Using Structural Equation Modeling,Journal of Management in Engineering, 2016, p.04016056. [12] K.J. Mengerink et al, A call for deep-ocean stewardship,Science,344(6185), 2014, pp.696-698.