FACTORS SUPPORTING ENGLISH COURSE MANAGEMENT

Course management systems are a class of information systems that manage teaching and
learning. Course management systems are developed to support and enhance the organizational
processes of content creation, storage and retrieval, transfer, delivery and application. There are
many factors which support English course establishment. Those factors are going to be
discussed in this chapter.

A. Knowledge/Expertise

Any business requires some amount of basic knowledge and experience. The definition of
knowledge, according to Merriam Webster online dictionary (2013) is the fact or condition of
knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (2) : acquaintance
with or understanding of a science, art, or technique. Moreover, bussinessdictionary.com (2013)
defines knowledge as Human faculty resulting from interpreted information; understanding that
germinates from combination of data, information, experience, and individual interpretation. It is
important to people who want to create an organization to have basic knowledge of what they
intend to build. In an organizational context, knowledge is the sum of what is known and resides
in the intelligence and the competence of people. In recent years, knowledge has come to be
recognized as a factor of production (see knowledge capital) in its own right, and distinct from
labor.

Knowledge and expertise about the product or service are keys to a successful business. In case
of limited knowledge the owner may not be able to sustain the business and can be fooled by the
vendors, suppliers and competitors. When you ask yourself a question “What business shall I
start?” you need to get a convincing reply about what you intend to do and how you are going to
go about it. Expert knowledge is especially required if the field of business is a niche field. For
instance the construction or software industry would require more knowledge as against a retail
business selling a particular brand of clothes or shoes.

B. Market/Demand

Once a decision is taken on the business you intend to start, the next step is to explore the
demand / market for the product / service. Certain products will only have a domestic market for
them whereas others can be successful on an international level. The key question is “Who are
the customers?” A market survey can be conducted to identify the market for the business to be
started. If the product / service is expected to be sold locally, the demand for it needs to be
assessed. In case an international market is expected then rules and regulations for dealing
internationally need to be found out.

C. Total Project Costs

It is important to correctly assess the total project cost required to set up and run the business
successfully. In a capital intensive business such as starting a manufacturing plant, the startup
costs can be very high. You need to identify the total amount which will be spent on the land &
building, plant & machinery, furniture and office equipment, vehicles etc. In case of an office,
the major cost will be for the furniture and office equipment. An office can be started at a
relatively lower cost initially with only the basic requirements.

D. Financing/Capital

After identifying the initial costs required for starting the business, the financing pattern will
need to be decided. The financing pattern will be mainly by way of capital introduction by the
owner and borrowed funds. Depending on how much capital the owner can introduce the balance
amount will need to be borrowed. Funds borrowed will be either short term loans or long term
loans. The terms and conditions for borrowing funds will need to be studied such as the cost of
borrowing, security required, rate of interest and the repayment terms. The owner will need to
approach a number of banks to get information about their terms of lending and draw a
comparative analysis to identify which funding is the most beneficial for him.

As a thumb rule short term funds should not be utilized for the purchase of fixed assets. Short
term funds are mainly used to meet the working capital requirement. The logic is that if short
term funds are used to purchase fixed assets how are you going to repay the short term loan if the
business has not progressed. Once the financing pattern is identified the owner will need to
decide how the money is going to be utilized.

Financial capital is money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make
their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation,
i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc.

E. Competition

Before entering new business, information about market competition needs to be found out. In
case a product is a monopoly then the competition will not matter. Otherwise the success of the
business will depend upon the demand and supply gap. Thus if there is a huge demand then you
can enter the business in spite of the market competition. Otherwise you will need to be stronger
than the competitors to gain an entry. Normally existing firms will always have an advantage due
to the experience they have and because they may be well equipped.

The question which needs to be answered is “What is unique about the product / service which
will be offered to survive the market competition”? Information such as who are the competitors,
what is their market strategy and what factors are required to compete with them are important.

F. Location
Deciding an optimum location for the business is a strategic and an important one. A good
location goes a long way in making the business successful. The location needs to be carefully
chosen. Some places have advantages over the others. You can save out on taxes, water and
electricity costs if you are located in some areas. The raw materials can be easily sourced, the
manpower would be easily available and you can save out on transportation costs in case of
certain locations. Setting up a business in certain location could lead to subsidy and rebates from
the Government.

Finding a suitable place for your business start-up can be a tricky question. Most products are
region specific. What I mean is that some products sell well in some areas while the same
product does not sell that much in another area. It is simply the demographics of the area which
decided which goes where.

The location of a business is the place where it is situated. There are a number of factors that
need to be considered in choosing a location for a business. One of the earliest decisions any
entrepreneur has to make is where to locate his or her business. In order to do this, he or she has
to make a careful assessment of costs. The ideal location would be one where costs are
minimized. The entrepreneur would need to look at the benefits which each area had to offer as
well as any government help which might be available. The main factors affecting location are:

1. Market

The nearness of the market and the cost of delivering the goods are likely to be important factors.

2. Raw materials

If the raw materials are bulky and expensive to transport it will clearly be in the entrepreneur's
interest to locate near to them.

3. Transport costs

The two major influences are the pull of the market and the pull of the raw materials and these
are determined by whether or not the industry is bulk-increasing or bulk-decreasing.

4. Land

Land costs vary considerably nationally and some firms, e.g. wholesalers, might need a large
square-footage. They might, therefore, be influenced by the cheaper rents and property prices
found in some areas.

5. Labor

The availability of labor might well attract firms to an area, particularly if that labor force has the
skills they require.
6. Safety

Some industries have to locate their premises well away from high density population levels and
their choice of location is limited.

7. Waste disposal

Certain industries produce considerable waste and the costs associated with the disposal of this
might affect their location.

8. Government

Government provides special assistance to areas of high unemployment. This takes place within
the UK, and is also a feature of wider European Union regional policy.

9. A convenient location

A number of businesses have set up close to Heathrow Airport because of its location. For
example, companies engaging in importing and exporting find this a convenient location. In
addition there is a range of hotels, and taxi firms who benefit from the international flow of
passengers. Additionally security and aircraft maintenance firms have located there.

Here are 13 factors for choosing a perfect business location:

1. Does the area you select have activities relating to your business core?

Would you be selling anything if you open a rock music shop near a temple? No. However if you
have a pub or a night club near your sock music store chances are that your sales will go sky-
high.

2. Buy a location for your business or lease them

Most start-ups prefer to rent spaces for their offices and not having land and building on their
own. One such example is technopark in Trivandrum. Software companies buy space in this
huge commercial area. Ready-to-use infrastructure and developed plots, enabling lower
operational set-up time and cost.

3. Virtual office space for start-up business

This is something like you own a business address anywhere in the world, you have your own
private telephones, conference halls, mail forwarding and related. The only catch is that you are
not physically in that office. This is the new era of virtual office. Normally this is for people
seeking a cost-effective alternative to renting a conventional office.

4. How long do you plan to run in the present site?

5. Transportation to the site

A very important aspect while choosing your business is transportation. It is really a no brainer.
You need to have good access to the site. If you can‟t get the raw materials or finished products
for your business into your store/ factory then what use does it serve? You will need to employ
people to carry the materials over to your site.

6. Availability of workers

This is one that is mostly overlooked. You have to make sure that human resources are at your
disposal. If not then you will have the extra cost of having to lodge your workers. It is also
necessary to look into the average wage rate of the people in that location, the retention rate of
the workers there. You also want to research about the level of education in the area, the number
of educational institutes around and related to get an idea of the education background of the
area.

7. Economic condition of the place you selected

You can‟t sell costly perfumes near slums, can you? So you must strategically place your
business where it sells. It would be a good choice to place a medical shop near a hospital and so
on.

8. Is this a new growth area or target market for future business?

You must always target the future audience while planning a business start-up. Do you plan to
start a business that is just a trend and will soon die off? Then think again. Normally a business
takes time to flourish and hence you must target a business that could run for a long time. The
location you choose for this is very important. If you don‟t see a growth in the business in your
present location, then you may consider moving to another location.

9. Near your competitors?

You may find this absurd, but it is true. Sometimes placing your business close to your
competitors can be your best free source of traffic, especially if you are near an established
competitor. You will have a large amount of traffic to your business just because of your location
and this is true in the case of businesses like shopping malls.

10. Operating costs

- What are your country tax structures?

- What about business taxes?

- How much should you pay as compensation to your workers?

- How long does it take to get a permit and what is the process involved?
- Is sufficient amount of land and cheap fuel available?

- What about the building modification rates if required and electricity charges?

- Do you need extra utilities to work efficiently

11. Factors relating to your environment

- Does your business involve chemicals or hazardous materials? If so choose a location

that is strategically away from the townships. Each country may have specific laws that state that
such industries must be located outside the city within a specific radius.

- What about the natural resources available? Do you need to import resources from other
places which would incur added costs or are they freely or cheaply available locally?

- Ensure supply of clean water. If not then you have to set up water filtering plants.

- Do a research about the quality of the air around the region and noise rate. If you do not
run an industry or your industry demands cleanliness such as in pharmaceutical industry, then
this point is a must see.

- Make sure you analyze the environmental reports thoroughly.

12. Business considerations

Most countries offer small business start-up incentives. These may range from cutting on taxes,
allocation of area for development and so on.

13. Other factors

- How much does it cost you to buy or rent a house nearby?

- What necessary facilities like hospitals, fire stations etc. are available immediately?

- What is the geographical situation of the current location? Is it a zone where earthquakes
or other natural calamities like floods etc. occur?

G. Laws, Rules, & Regulation

Setting up a new business would require compliance with various laws & regulations. Each
country is governed by separate laws and regulations which require that any new business be
registered with certain authorities and meets certain compliance. Awareness is required of such
rules and regulations. It is always better to consult a lawyer before setting up a new business in
an unknown environment. There are certain accounting / consultancy firms which would have a
division giving advice on legal and statutory compliance. In case of lack of expertise it is better
to approach a lawyer / accounting / consultancy firms. Noncompliance with the statute could
lead to huge fines and penalty and hamper the success of a new business.

H. Return on Investment

Return on Investment (ROI) is calculated as Net Profit divided by the Investment made. The ROI
is low in the initial years and is expected to grow on a year on year basis. The ROI needs to be
compared with the return that would be earned from alternative business options available. For
instance it could be compared with any other source of income such as money earned from
investment in the stock market. Similarly the Return On Capital must be greater than the rate of
interest earned from a fixed deposit kept with a bank.

I. Staff/Manpower

Any business requires efficient manpower to succeed. The staff needs to be carefully chosen
since they are the ones who could make or break the business. The cost of manpower varies
depending on the location of the business and thus this needs to be factored well. The business
needs to be set up in a location where there is sufficient availability of manpower both skilled as
well as unskilled. This remains one of the key criteria‟s whether the business is going to be run
with a staff of 2 or 2,000.

J. Technology

It is always better to invest in the best technology at the time of startup itself. Post investment,
monitoring of the technology purchased is required. Technology would include plant &
machinery as well as latest office equipment. One should not exclude the software required to
monitor the business. Choosing optimum software is a challenging task. A technologically
advanced business is expected to perform much better in the longer run.

All the above factors are important to start a successful business. Compromising any of these
factors could hamper the growth. Starting a business these days is very challenging and an all-
round knowledge of various factors is required to run a successful one. It is important to make a
Project Report on the basis of the

The reason why we need those factors is to keep the sustainability of the business. For the sake
of business survival, we need all of them to be collaborated. The more important, the high
quality of the staff and teachers also support the business.