MasterIT is a leading performance company in IT solutions that provides businesses with proactive security and protection against critical data loss, threats and malicious software damage.
The hardware based capabilities allow secure and remote access to the PC for repairs, upgrades and diagnostics and can be applied to both small and medium-sized businesses, offering lower cost and better business support that gives businesses a competitive advantage. It offers interactive online program for Accelerated Learning System that teaches learners how to access their own preferred learning style.
Owing to the fact that online education is constantly gaining recognition among students, our company has decided to create a specialized department that will work on IT software for improving the work with Microsoft Office Publisher at home and offering a framework that will benefit any size IT department (MasterIT 2009).
MasterIT (2009) design Inc. promises to offer its customers “a state-of-art network operations centre keeping your systems functioning optimally and efficiently” (p.1). The company also promises greater reliability and minimise business interruptions helping eliminate major interruptions like fire, tornado, earthquake and other natural disasters and ensures recovery of lost data more effectively and easily.
Back up and offsite storage that provides clients with storage solutions & allowing users extending the set of the operations. Master IT design Inc. offers a wide range of software, IT training courses throughout the United Arabian Emirates. Master IT Design specializes in bespoke software production, information systems, web applications. Conducting the business for over a decade, the company has acquired a respectable segment at the market both at home and abroad.
Master IT Design is located in Dubai, one of the biggest cities in UEA, and, therefore, it has a great success in installation of target customers whose demand is mostly oriented on specialized software production.
The customers have chosen this company due to high-quality production and services. To effectively discuss how entrepreneurship contribute to social cohesion and sustainability development, the essay will candidly discuss how their initiatives address market failures, transform innovations and financial their sustainability.
To arrive at this conclusive analysis, the essay was based on literature review, interviews with top entrepreneurs, consultations as well as popular and academic resources from both profit and non profit organizations, public polices and scholarships from reputable entrepreneurs- MasterIT for this case.
History of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs are characterized by their ethical skills that help them identify market failures and commit their resources to affect to the neediest in the society. These sectors come into play when the government is unable to generate enough profits to respond to these problems, these sectors bridge the gap by finding market opportunities and maximizing their potential. Their innovations provide viable options for addressing market failures by seeking opportunities to create valuable solutions.
Entrepreneurs are also known to provide transformational benefit that targets sensitive activities as well as the marginalized areas that would have never been considered by the government. They exhibit characteristics of innovation, risk taking and large-scale transformation and provided fertile ground for young and upcoming entrepreneurship growth by identifying present change in social economic environment (Ashoka 2010).
Entrepreneurs have been identified to present change in social economic environment by engaging businesses in their activities. They introduce new ideas and persuading others to adopt, changing social patterns that create social problems through breaking patterns.
Transformative ideas can be seen through the invention of new technologies, methods of production, supply sources and distribution outlets and social entrepreneurs have for this case taken these innovative approaches further by devising strategies that have benefited the whole society. They combine their own innovative skills, research obtained from public sources and political influence in attaining their goals.
Their ability to involve major players in the entrepreneurship activities character sets them apart from the traditional charitable organizations. They help in testing and developing promising solutions and compliment governments role in addressing market failures that benefit citizens (Ashoka 2010).
We can guarantee that MasterIT will deliver a high-quality product, as it has been at bespoke production market for more than 10 years. The main purpose of this essay is to provide a solution to the company is to meet the needs of constant and new customers and to provide them with best quality services.
MasterIT CEO lamented that “You can be sure that our training packages will take a competitive advantage in future, as they will be made according to the latest researches in the technological field” (p.1). It’s been evidenced that for any business to operate in the UAE, an emirate sponsor must be obtained. This therefore provides as an opportunity to obtain sponsor money and to be part of the business.
Management team
The members of our team work on tracking the supply & demand in the market, study the development of the Master IT Design competitors, develop the sales & marketing strategies for the company & thus allow it to achieve its marketing & strategic objectives.
IT department members reporting to Chief Executive Officer have taken the most of responsibilities for the training program project. However, the project team is also supported by the R&D department that informs the IT department about the latest innovation in this sphere.
They consult forums and official online sites that may contain some useful data on the development of distant training programs. As a whole, the team project consists of computer administrator and coordinator, software programmer, computer engineer, system programmer, web developers, and R&D manager. All project members report to CEO who monitoring the decision making process and scheduling.
David Hussein, computer administrator and coordinator will coordinate and inform other members about the best services and equipment that could be provided for training package design. He is also in charge of the design of the latest communication devices required for a well-coordinated work.
Software programmer will immediately deal with the training program design for Microsoft Publishers, as he knows all the nuances of work and program operation. He will also keep pace with recent modifications of the considered program in order to make correspondent amendments to it. Additionally, our programmer will take care of the security issues and provide the software package with protection programs.
More importantly, he will prepare a detailed description of the training package with help screens and adapt the program to particular users, which are IT department students. Computer engineer will be working on the program design and implementation, which is not of minor importance. He will also develop integrating software options and the hardware that will upload the applications. Finally, our highly qualified computer engineer will be responsible for the functionality of the established applications.
Out systems analyst use computer will be liable for incorporation and fulfillment of the project plan and operations involved. He will be also obliged to stay current in the computer field development for the training program to meet the students’ needs. He is the first person who should report to CEO, as his task also involves consulting the project team members, modifying hardware and software and searching for resources conforming to company’s strategies.
Finally, out systems analyst will define the costs-efficiency of each stage of the training program project and can prepare a financial plan. Once the program will be ready for implementation, our R&D manager will evaluate the results and develop the method of software package evaluation. He will be responsible for checking this program effectiveness for Microsoft Office Publisher and conduct a comparative analysis of other similar educational programs for students to define the advantages and drawbacks.
The CEO will be in charge of project budgeting and scheduling. He will coordinate with the project advisor (sponsor) who should track the effectiveness of the work process, if necessary. Web developers will create the different sites for students to acquire additional information about different options and functionality of Microsoft Office Publisher. The hyper-links will be mentioned in each step of practical part serving as hints for a successful adaptation of Microsoft Office Publisher.
Organization strategy & objectives
Marketing plan
Marketing plan will include the creation of the specific educational Microsoft Publisher software is going to be the information analysis. Being the company that is specialized in the multimedia, it will be easy to create a multimedia approach to learning. Still, as the main purpose of the software is the college curriculum direction, our marketing plan should be integrated in the college programs.
It is significant to create educational Microsoft Publisher software that will not just reflect the topics of the program, but also will be structured according to the curriculum. This will help students follow the educational process and not get frustrated by the program when they see it for the first time.
Furthermore, it is significant to know the main steps of the work with Microsoft Publisher software. The thorough research of the main opportunities of the Microsoft Publisher software should be conducted. We should know the simplest functions the software can do and the most complicated. This information is extremely important as to design educational software for Microsoft Publisher we should organize the project according to induction rules.
The basic educational methods should be considered. We are going to conduct a literature review on the information of how new material should be presented to students and what steps should be followed. This research is crucial as creating educational Microsoft Publisher software, we should not just insert the information. Students should be taught and the basic educational rules should be followed while Microsoft Publisher software for learning creation for your college.
Promotion and brand development
First of all, we shall take the Microsoft Office Publisher as it is the focus of our design. It is crucial to accomplish students with the images they will have to work with while educational processes. The Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 is the latest version that is used in most colleges, so we are sure to use it as well.
Furthermore, on the assumption of the educational stages that are going to be presented in the educational package, the Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 is going to be discussed. Working with the multimedia products, we are free to use some additional equipment and templates that can be helpful. Furthermore, the sound and voice along with video are going to be the main technologies for educational package design.
The format of the package is the most important part of this proposal. We are going to represent you with some specific information that we plan to insert in the package. First of all, let us consider the steps for the program with your specific curriculum implementation and the multimedia elements we are going to use. Morley and Parker separate out the following multimedia elements, text, sound, graphics, video, and animation (Morley and Parker 456). Designing the best educational package, all these elements will be used.
The first lesson students will consider is the general information about Microsoft Office and the opportunities it offers. This information is important as while working with Microsoft Office Publisher, students are sure to use the other options offered by Microsoft Office. The presentation will be supported with visual pictures, animation, text, and voice messages. We suppose that it is crucial to duplicate the text with voice messages. It helps work different kinds of students’ memory.
When the general information is considered, students will be given an opportunity to choose the topic they want to review. Each topic comprises a number of sections that refer students to the lesson they want to train.
Such structural decision is extremely convenient as students are given an opportunity to choose the task they want to complete without coming through the whole training program from the very beginning. The topics and sections will be located according to the curriculum structure. The introductory lesson is going to start the training. Students will be shown the main opportunities of the Microsoft Office Publisher via pictures, text and voice messages.
Operational Plan
It is impossible to turn to practice without theory. The second part is the knowledge test that allows considering the level of your understanding of the material via practice. Students will be given a task and will have to follow the steps they remember from the previous section.
The check and analysis of the results is the last part of any lesson. With the help of different multimedia elements such as graphs, visualization, and animation, students will be able to see the mistakes they made. Except for the lessons, students will be offered an examination section. Choosing this option, students will have an opportunity to check their knowledge and skills in Microsoft Publisher and get a mark for their work.
Organizational learning plan
The Microsoft Publisher is the software that is studied on the Information Technologies classes. Representing the educational Microsoft Publisher software in the class (while checking the pilot for the first time), we are going to use the lessons of the information and technology. On the basis of the college curriculum and the use of the pilot package, the following outcomes are going to be achieved.
First of all, students will get general knowledge of the Microsoft Office structure. Second, the structure of the Microsoft Publisher 2007 will be considered, the pilot package will show students the main opportunities of the program. Furthermore, students will get to know where they can implement their theoretical knowledge and practical skills of the Microsoft Publisher. Still, the main purpose of the pilot package we are going to design is to teach students to use it in practice.
On the basis of the main functions of the software, the educational program we shall design will help students in creating documents of all publication types, such as brochures, business cards or calendars. Furthermore, students will be able to format these documents and change according to personal desires and needs. Students will be taught to assist, combine and edit targeted mailing lists within the program form different sources, such as Excel, Assess, and Outlook.
The individual lessons will help students pay more attention to the options they like. Turning to the more complicated functions of the Microsoft Publisher, the pilot package will be aimed to teach students manage marketing campaigns by means of Microsoft Publisher 2007 use. Also, the distribution of marketing materials will be an important skill obtained via pilot educational Microsoft Publisher package.
Financial Sustainability
Market analysts urge private organizations and business to should try and find a model that responds to their unique characters of their organizational problems. Wolk (2004) statements stressed organization to obtain their own financial sustainability that will cushion them through the hard economic times and engage in social reality projects that prefer productivity and efficient management of their resources.
He argues that businesses that adopt this approach often report good report results on organizational performance and cost benefit returns on investment. These organizations are also required to integrated financial and programmatic initiatives into business activities to effectively capture organization problems and maximize their profits (Wolk 170).
Taking into consideration the existed problems, the company will provide pilot software package in a DVD format, as it is the most widely spread multimedia platform that can store MPEG-2 audio and video information (Kipphan 1993). Therefore, ADWC students should be provided with computer with DVD drives.
DVD players cannot applied in this case, as it enables student to look through the training package for using Microsoft Publisher rather then working on different assignment designed within the program frames. However, it is possible to use some DVD carrier for the software packages in order to be able to use it at any place. In case the students are going to work at home that should also be provided with software security programs in order to roll them in random-assess memory.
Apart from hardware carriers, ADWC students should be familiar with all common Microsoft Office programs (Excel, Access, and Word) and other known formats of data storage. They should also be able to transform the information from one format to another.
As student of IT department will work at home, they should have online connection to be able to consult their professors and other web applications for fostering the learning process. Besides, they can also exchange information with each other online to share the experience and difficulties occurring during the training program implementation.
Testing and Evaluation
First of all, the pilot package will be tested in class in order to check the students learn the basics of the program. For the testing, students will be invited to the computer classes where a teacher will explain the theoretical material and will track the way student accept the information from the pilot training program.
Then, the students will be proposed to fulfill the assignment established by the program creators to check how they understand the theoretical material. Once the practical assignment is completed, students will be offered to look through other options of the program. Finally, a teacher will provide with other helpful hyper-links that might be helpful for students when working at home. The evaluation of the results will be based on the validity and reliability verification.
Project Location And Duration
The pilot implementation will be conducted with the help of ICT facilities for the project managers to accurately test and evaluate the effectiveness of the Microsoft Publisher training package. More importantly, as Master IT Design deals with exclusive production, it has the correct training software that can work out a consistent plan of publishing program implementation.
The project results are planned to be delivered in three weeks, as the training software should be properly tested and evaluated. The operation will be defied into three stages. First, the department should study the main difficulties in handling Microsoft Publishers that may appear among the students dealing with this program.
Second, the project team should conduct a research in the field and define what software platforms and technologies will fit best. This stage will take the most of the time allocated for the scheme. Finally, it is necessary to conduct pilot implementation in order to eliminate all possible drawbacks of the training program.
SWOT Analysis
I will formulate company strategies based on this analysis.
The SWOT Analysis of the Master IT Design position in the market is necessary for the development of the marketing plan presented below
In the marketing mix, product is the strongest point of Master IT Design as far as the variety of products is rather wide, constantly updated, & accessible to the customers all over the world. Prices need to become more flexible which would allow larger numbers of people to afford translation or text-processing solutions by Master IT Design Place is also at the proper level of development, meaning that distribution facilities of the company are situated all around the globe.
At the same time, promotion is another component that needs improvements, especially in respect of customer involvement & better company-customer communication. The following marketing plan is set up to make those improvements.
Cash flow
INCOME STATEMENT FORM MasterIT Design FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS
(Amounts are in $’000)
Its Income statement displays a negative cash flow in the first years of business. This business was in the habit of short term planning, with simple budgets that projected only into the immediate future. This could not enable them develop new markets and extend credit facilities to their clients due to the cash flow crunches they faced as result of overtrading as the case of Master IT Design.
Master IT Design experienced overtrading within its first two years of trading since it had incurred large capital expenditure in purchasing production facility that made it difficult to meet orders it had already taken due to lack of funds.
Also, the business was not in a position to extend credit facilities to the customers and did not have enough buffers in case of such emergencies. However, Master IT Design credit availability improved over the years as the Company was able to build up on its profit base as owed to effective management of production and selling cycles.
Risk analysis
All the information presented in this analysis, other than the factual matters, are future plans projected in accordance with Master IT present plans, outlooks and strategies based on the information currently available. Risks and uncertainties experienced by the company and likely to cause changes in the application of the software include events such as;
- Difficulties in the adaptation of the software due to the current economic downturn as well as instability in the capital markets
- Fluctuations in exchange rates between its country’s currency and the adopting country’s
- Numerous trade restrictions in adopting countries markets and;
- The company’s ability to provide new technologies amidst rapid technological innovations increases competition in the markets.
Conclusion
To conclude, it should be stated that the activities of every business company should be customer-oriented, & Master IT Design is not an exception. Having the product-led structure, the company currently demands a marketing plan that would facilitate its relations with the customers, make its production more available & promotion policies more customer-oriented. The offered marketing plan should be a consideration by the management of the sales & marketing department proved.
Organizations on the other hand should integrated financial and programmatic initiatives into business activities to effectively capture organization problems and maximize their profits. Incorporating new ideas from experts in the field of social entrepreneurship provides a fertile ground for young and upcoming entrepreneurship growth by identifying present change in a social economic environment.
Works Cited
Ashoka. What is a social entrepreneur? Available at; https://www.ashoka.org/en/focus/social-entrepreneurship.
Kipphan, Helmut. Handbook of print media: technologies and production methods. New York: Springer, 2001.
MasterIT. Technology working for business, 2009. Web.
Morley, Deborah and Charles, Parker. Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow, Comprehensive. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print
Wolk, Andrew. “Social entrepreneurship and government: A new breed of entrepreneurs developing solutions to social problems” Social Entrepreneurship and Government 59 (2004): 151-221.