Shine Communication A Small

Business Enterprise

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Executive Summary
Following is a report on Shine Communication which is a small business enterprise operating in
UK. The company employees over 50 staffs and is in the field of communication and public
relations. Based on the performance and the team strength the company has been recognized by
various organizations through various awards.

In this report the profile of Shine Communication has been analyzed with the factors such as
internal and external factors affecting its performance. The performance of Shine
Communication has also been analyzed using comparative measures of performance. Based on
the analysis changes are proposed to improve management and the performance of the company.
Proposed changes are justified with appropriate actions to overcome the weaknesses in shine
communications.

Change has an ability to affect the management, employees and the business. In view of this it is
necessary that the company strengthens and maintains its existing performance. Further the
report proceeds to analyze the existing business plans of Shine Communication and recommends
changes necessary for the same based on the proposed changes. The report also includes an
action plan to implement the recommended changes which includes provision for responsibility
and time frame with in which the activities has to be completed. Finally the report concludes
with analyzing the impact of proposed change management on the operations of the business of
Shine communication. Analysis of impact is made based on the impact on finance, workloads,
organization structure. Change cannot be established without measuring and monitoring the
performance of the change. Hence the necessary actions needed to manage the changes and its
monitoring is also briefed in this report.

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Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................2

Introduction....................................................................................................................................4

Task 1 Shine Communication Ltd..............................................................................................5

1.1 Profile of Shine Communication Ltd and its Strengths and Weaknesses..............................5

1.2 Analysis of Shine Communications Using Comparative Measures of Performance............7

Task 2- Proposed Changes to Improve Management and Business Performance...................7

2.1 Recommendation with Justification, Appropriate Actions to Overcome the Weaknesses in

Shine Communications................................................................................................................7

2.2 Strengthening and Maintaining Existing Performance of Shine Communications...............8

2.3 Areas in Which Shine Communication Could Be Expanded................................................9

Task 3 Revision of Business Objectives and Plans to Incorporate Proposed Changes......10

3.1 Assessment of Shine Communication Existing Business Objectives and Plans................10

3.2 Revise in Business Plans To Incorporate Appropriate Changes..........................................11

3.3 Prepare an Action Plan to Implement the Changes.............................................................12

Task 4 - Impact of Proposed Change Management on the Operations of the Business........13

4.1 Impact of the Proposed Changes on the Business and Its Personnel...................................13

4.2 Planning to Manage the Impact of Proposed Changes to Shine Communications..............14

4.3 Monitoring of Improvements in the Performance of Shine Communication Business.......15

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................17

References.....................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
Scope of term small business varies based on the country of operation. In UK the European
Union defines the small business as firm which has less than 50 employees in it. Further, other
information such as value of assets, annual turnover of the company, net profit are also
considered in categorizing a business as small business in UK.

As per the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) there are about 4.9 million business in UK and
are offering a combined turnover of 3,300 billion in the year 2013 and about 24.3 million
people are employed in these business (Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, 2013).
Further, 99.2% of these 4.9million businesses were small business. Small business alone in UK
accounted for 47% of private sector employment and 33.1% of turnover (Department for
Business, Innovation & Skills, 2013).

Small business enterprise although require low capital investment are giving new opportunities
for those who would like to pursue their career as entrepreneurs. They are low risky compared to
the medium and large business enterprises. Once the business grows these small business
enterprises can change over to medium enterprises by making changes in business policy and
plans.

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Task 1 Shine Communication Ltd

1.1 Profile of Shine Communication Ltd and its Strengths and

Weaknesses
Shine Communication is a media and communication company and is ranked the 6 th among the
100 small businesses in UK that took part in the Sunday Times Best Small Companies To Work
For 2013, the company ranked 1st in the year 2012 (Sunday Times, 2013). In the year 1997, the
company was founded as an agency for public relations and marketing communication. The
company four basic values are Smart, Fresh, Connected, Committed. CEO Rachel Bell of Shine
Communications won the runners up for best leader category in the year 2012 (Shine
Communications, 2013). The company delivers social media activities and organizes many
campaigns in various forms. Credit of the success goes to the team strength of the company as it
believes in hiring the best people in the business and investing on them. The company was
honored as the Best UK Consultancy to Work in the year 2013 by The Holmes Report (Holmes
Report, 2013). They dont buy attention but earn it (Shine Communications, 2013).

1.1.1 Internal and External Factors Affecting Shine Communications

Performance
Following are the internal and external factors affecting Shine Communications which is a
people centric company:

Market position: The Company has good market position in the market and is one of the
pioneers in terms of personal relations in UK.

Client portfolio: Due to its strong market position it has strong client portfolio. Its list of clients
includes ebay, Intercontinental hotel group, paramount, Sony Computers, etc. (Shine
Communications, 2013). The strong client portfolio and the market position have complimented
each other for the company and have made it to reach good level in the field of communication.

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Diversification: The Company is diversified in offering its campaigns to its customers. It builds
its strategies and delivers brand management solutions at Shine 1 through valuable ideas and PR
related materials via marketing mix. Its Shine Studio delivers its clients higher quality collateral
design, photography and production of videos to clients. Its events are developed sampled and
marketed through Shine Live. The company uses social media for marketing as it has gained
high popularity (Shine Communications, 2013).

Team strength: Head count of the company is just 50 and makes the team work at times in tight
schedule and is a disadvantage (Shine Communications, 2013). Despite this team strength the
company has the ability to broaden its client base and is tirelessly working at it. Every employee
at Shine Communication on an average receives 200 hours of formal training every year (The
Holmes Report, 2012). The company spends about 1,650 every year on each employee for these
trainings (The Holmes Report, 2012).

Threats of competitors: The Company faces stiff competition from the local small firms and
international worldwide firms operating in that area.

Staff Retention: In the year 2011 the company has 94% staff retention within the agency.

Community Support: The company work among the local community offering help and raising
funds close to 500 in the year 2012 through Shine Bake stand offering delicacies from cupcakes
to Homemade Ketchup (The Holmes Report, 2012).

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 Internal and External Factors

Fig 1: Made by student adapted from (The Holmes Report, 2012) (Shine Communications, 2013)

1.2 Analysis of Shine Communications Using Comparative Measures

of Performance
Shine Communication is a PR company and faces continuous competition from existing players
and new entrants in the market. The change over cost for the client companies to its competitors
is very low except in terms of risk involved in success of the clients business. The PR industry
being attractive segment and does not involve much capital investment too open wide
opportunities for the new entrants in the market and thereby increasing the competition for Shine
Communication.

Due to the number of local and the international companies operating the sector the bargaining
power of customers is very high however public relation sector operates based on the knowledge
and hence despite the competition bargaining power has moderate effect on the company as the
team not only has young and energetic apprentices but also oldest hands. The staff is creative and
full of insights and happy people eager to make a difference to every campaign on which they
work (Shine Communications, 2013).

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Task 2- Proposed Changes to Improve Management and
Business Performance
Shine Communication ranked the 6th among the 100 small businesses in UK that took part in the
Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For in the year 2013 (Sunday Times, 2013). The
company however ranked 1st in the year 2012 (Shine Communications, 2013). This means either
the performance of the company has gone down or there are these competitor companies who
have woken up to the changing market situation.

2.1 Recommendation with Justification, Appropriate Actions to

Overcome the Weaknesses in Shine Communications
As mentioned earlier the company has over 50 employees working in tight schedule. Further
each employee in the company will be working in more than two to three projects at once. This
can lead to duplications or also sometimes the employee may not be able to give their full
attention to a single project. The employee may also face problems with lower flexibility in the
timings. As the company is in PR they need to innovative and new concepts which can be
originate only if they can work with patience. The company for this reason can bring in new
minds that can foster the existing employees.

As mentioned the company has huge competition from the existing local and the international
competitors. Further the new entrants to the business also pose threat to the company. For this the
company needs to attract more and more valuable customers through marketing itself through
promotional campaign emphasizing their awards.

2.2 Strengthening and Maintaining Existing Performance of Shine

Communications
The company focuses on the core values around which its business functions helping it to
achieve great heights. However, the communication and PR industry is ever growing and the
company has to refresh their ideas continuously in order to maintain their performances. Every
time the clients approach them they expect a different result in every business deal. Shine has to

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constantly identify the cultural trends in the market and society and upgrade themselves based on
it. Trends change customers preferences. Shine Communication work does not end with their
clients but they need to reach their client customers too.

The team strength is one of the key forces for success in this type of business. For this it is
necessary they need a good team leader and no doubt CEO Rachel Bell of Shine
Communications has lived up to the expectations of the team. The team at Shine Communication
has a long lasting relations and this is evident from the fact that Erika Kessel who is the director
of Shine communication has been with CEO Rachel Bell since the inception of the company
(Shine Communications, 2013). The company also take pleasure in spending about 1,470 every
year for the staff expenses including an annual sports day, monthly company nights out for pub
quizzes, cocktail making, gallery visits etc., (Jones, 2011). The company also maintains a good
public image by donating more than 47,000 in a single year for charity activities (Jones, 2011).
The company also offers unusually flexible package of perks and invests 25% of profits to staff
(Holmes Report, 2013).

Being a small business enterprise Shine communication takes effort in holding its existing client
list although adding the new ones to its list. The company aware of the fact that its existing
customers are those who value them for what they are besides it is easy to work with people
whom we already know. The company also uses different platforms to reach new customers to
extend its client list.

2.3 Areas in Which Shine Communication Could Be Expanded

There is always scope for expansion in any business. As Eudora Welty quotes Never think
you've seen the last of anything so it is in the business. Expansion brings new opportunities for
growth and development for the business and also the people involved in it. Shine
Communication can explore opportunities beyond public relation field into many other fields.
There is vast scope for the public relation business to enter sector of marketing research. A field
that links markets, consumers, public and the customers through information is marketing
research field. In the field of marketing, market information is used to identify market

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opportunities, and solve problems, evaluate marketing action and the understanding of the
marketing process is improved.

Shine Communication while designing their campaigns for their customers intensively study
market changes as well as every aspect of the society and are able to understanding behavior of
their customers. The company has a passion for researching. The company also uses Evaluating
Results in Integrated Campaigns (ERIC), evaluation system which focuses on consumer
perception, sentiment and behavioral change for measuring the outcome of communications
campaigns, rather than simply the output of activity (Shine Communications, 2013). The same
technology can be used by Shine Communications to evaluate a particular company impacts and
benefits of products and services in the market.

Task 3 Revision of Business Objectives and Plans to

Incorporate Proposed Changes
The goal, a business wants to achieve in a given period of time is determined by the business
objectives (Griffin, 2010). Every business sets its objectives based on the vision and mission of
the company. The objectives set may be short term or long term.

3.1 Assessment of Shine Communication Existing Business

Objectives and Plans
Following is Shines Mission Statement: when we let our light Shine, we unconsciously give
others permission to do the same (The Holmes Report, 2012). This is taken from Nelson
Mandelas inaugural address in 1994. Based on this statement the company aims to build an
atmosphere in the business where every employee is given a chance to out shine.

Goals of Shines Communication: The Company has six business goals representing its visions
(The Holmes Report, 2012),

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 Vision for staff: support the employee to shine, employee the best in order to be the best
in the business.
Client vision: sustain an enviable client list, expectations of the clients are exceeded
Shareholder vision: accomplish managed growth, be successful financially

Based on these six goals there are group internal objectives mapping to the company main
objectives and these are reviewed annually to ensure Shine Communication remains at the top
(The Holmes Report, 2012).

Shine Communications has an objective to move more closer to its customers so as to deliver
customary service to them. To fully satisfy its customers, Shine Communication has look into the
deepest level of specific satisfaction. In order to suit to the present day demand Shine
Communication plans to customize its distribution channels.

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 Goals of Shines Communication

Fig 2: Made by student adapted from (The Holmes Report, 2012)

Business plans: Twice in a year the staffs at Shine are reviewed for their performance against
their SMART objectives (The Holmes Report, 2012). These objectives are set in the month of
July every year. Every employees key competencies have been identified and including what is
expected from the employee at the current level and what the next level looks like (The Holmes
Report, 2012). The company business plans include Motivation Plans. The motivation plans
highlight each staffs strength and career goal. Further, these are used to evaluate and fix the next
year financial targets in connection to staffs career aspirations.

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3.2 Revise in Business Plans To Incorporate Appropriate Changes
Business plan are general to know where the business and what are the future prospects of the
business or in other words where the business is heading (Griffin, 2010). However business plans
can be amended time to time to incorporate the changes in the market condition or the company
situations. As per the recommendation to venture in the field of market research it is necessary
that the company makes changes in its business plan to accommodate the same.

To incorporate this change the company firstly has to develop a methodology to conduct the
researches. The company has to understand the ways and means of gathering information and
evaluate the outcomes of this gathered information. Based on the success of the outcome the
methodology can be adopted. Further, the company has to recruit efficient human resources
necessary to do the work related to market research. Last but not the least a new business plan
needs to be developed to promote new business area to in the market. As the company is already
in the field of communication and PR it can use its skill to market this to the existing customers
as well as the new customers.

3.3 Prepare an Action Plan to Implement the Changes

Through proper action planning a business can achieve its future goals. Action plan help the
business to understand what needs to be done first (Cawsey, et al., 2011). It is basically
prioritizing the actions to be taken to reach the goal. Action plan starts with listing the goals that
needs to be achieved, prioritizing the tasks, recognizing the steps needed to reach the goals with
the responsibilities and delegation of powers, preparing a contingency plan.

For Shine communication to venture into the market research business, the company first needs
to identify the best methodology the company can choose to collect information about the
company from direct contacts. The next step is to depend on small and medium scale groups to
gather information. Finally the company can use their social media activities in order to collect
information. This information needs to be dealt to understand the best methodology for
collecting information and finalize it. The company also should have a specific time frame to do

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all these activities through assigning the responsibilities to the existing employees. Based on the
results the company can recruit future employees with the specific skills who can work full time
on these assignments. Meanwhile the existing staffs should also work on promoting the new
business venture to a greater height.

Action plan to implement the proposed changes

Tasks Responsibility Planned time Actuals time taken

Drafting a plan for the
new business venture

Analysing methodology
to gather information

Resource Planning

Cost and Time Estimates

Recruitment of new staff

Marketing the new

business to the market
Table 1 Made by student (2013)

Task 4 - Impact of Proposed Change Management on the

Operations of the Business

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4.1 Impact of the Proposed Changes on the Business and Its
Personnel
Any change in the business operation can have an impact on the business and can be either
positive or negative. The change not only affects the development of the organization but also the
environment in which it operates. The change proposed can help the organization gain
competitive advantage over the other players or may as well cause to collapse the entire
organization (Paton & McCalman, 2008).

Following are the anticipated changes due to the proposed changes in Shine Communication:

Finance: In terms of finance the proposed change is a new venture for the company and
can have positive impact if it is carried out systematically. However the success of the
new venture also depends on the new team that will be recruited.
Workloads: The Company already is tightly scheduled and hence in the action plan it has
been proposed to recruit a team which can work on the new venture having the necessary
skills. However the company current employees also can be trained on the new business
venture so as to carry forward the operations smoothly.
Morale: As new team is recruited there are chances of that the existing employees may
feel insecure. But since Shine Communication has always been a place where team spirit
is encouraged and the company is well known for the same it would not have much
impact on the employees.
Organizational structure: There may be changes required in the structure of the
organization and also the job profile so as to make space for the new team which will be
working on market research.

4.2 Planning to Manage the Impact of Proposed Changes to Shine

Communications
Most of the small scale organizations dont take up business and policy changes due to the risks
involved. Even if the changes are done the intension of implementing the change is to create a
better work place and work environment (Williams, 2010).

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At Shine Communication the proposed changes can have impact on the business as well as the
staffs. By venturing in to the field of market research, Shine Communication business will
receive a new dimension towards the success. The business will bring in more profits as the
company will focus on the local as well as the national customers. Until the systems of policies
become more established there may be effect on the performance of the organization but once the
organization stands its ground in the field of market research as it has in the field of PR and
communication then things will change and the company can outperform its competitors.
Further, as the employees grow and develop their confidence in the new field performance will
further improve.

Change is inevitable but most organization employees resist change. It is necessary as the change
is implemented in the organization employees are more flexible on the new projects and be
willing to learn the new tasks without any hesitation. The existing employees should also be
trained on the business to perform the operations required in the field of market research. It is
necessary the tea spirit is maintained through efficient leadership during this change
implementation process by CEO Rachael Bell. There needs to be more of open forums where the
problems encountered during the change implementation are put forth by the existing and the
new staff and the management handles them effectively taking necessary actions.

Any policy or business plan change brings with it a wide range of improvements with it.
Changes can leads to changes in the policies of the business, impacting management and can
also have an impact on the employees as well.While bringing in changes it is necessary that the
impact of these changes are kept low on the business functions and performance and also on the
management and their staffs. Competition among the existing and the new stffs can increase rivly
leading to failure in the performance of the team. The company has to take necessary step to
keep up the spirits of all employees such that they as a team work towards the success of the
change implemented.

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4.3 Monitoring of Improvements in the Performance of Shine
Communication Business
The company has to monitor the implementation of the changes closely and keep track of the
prospects so that they are in line with their prepared action plans (Eckerson, 2010). After the
completion of each task the action plan has to be updated this will help the company to know its
progress on the implementation of proposed changes. During implementation of change, the
company also should have control measures to handle any deviations. There should also be
documents and records of the deviation and how these were controlled or minimized. In case of
deviation the action plan may need updation, and in such cases a revised action plans needs to be
circulated within the team so that every member of the team is aware of the change. The
company also should document the lessons learnt by the team for further use during the
implementation of change.

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Conclusion
It is evident that change is inevitable in business. As the business grows there will be changes in
the internal factors such as management and employees change and also external factors such as
the technological changes, new methodology of operations. Shine communication, which is a
small business enterprise, has been in the field of communication and PR over the years. But the
company can grow to a new level by focusing on the field of market research. The company has
good bonding between its team members and has been recognized in the market for the same.
This strength can be further developed as the company implements changes in the business plans
and business policies.

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References
Cawsey, T. F., Deszca, . & Ingols, ., (2011) Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit.
London: Sage .

Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, (2013) Business Population Estimates 2013,
London: Federation of Small Businesses.

Eckerson, W. W., (2010) Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your
Business. Melbourne: John Wiley & Sons.

Griffin, D., (2010) Business with a Purpose: Starting, Building, Managing and Protecting Your
New Business. Parker: Outskirts Press.

Holmes Report, (2013) Edelman, Hotwire, Shine, Hering Earn EMEA Best Workplace Honours.
Holmes Report, 19 May.

Jones, S., (2011) Best small firms to work for 2011. MSN money, March.

Paton, R. A. & McCalman, J., (2008) Change Management: A Guide to Effective

Implementation. London: Sage.

Shine Communications, (2013) About Us. [Online]

[Accessed 28 October 2013].

Sunday Times, (2013) Sunday Times List 2013 - 100 Best Small Companies. Sunday Times .

The Holmes Report, (2012) Shiney Happy People. The Holmes Report, 11 July .

Williams, C., (2010) Management. New York: Cengage Learning.

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