Business Management System (BMS) Course

The Business Management System (BMS) course is intended for counseling growth and export-oriented companies in analyzing business performance through the use of Business Management Grid (BMG) developed by Dr Osman Atac through the Association of Training Institutions for Foreign Trade in Asia and the Pacific (ATIFTAP). The BMG is a model that provides a general framework for the success of any business thus allows enterprise owners and managers to define problems by establishing where the business ought to be.

The basic premise is that an enterprise is in business to make money. It makes money by exchanging something of value (offer) for something of a higher value to the enterprise (the price paid by the buyer). To do that, it has to produce something which it can exchange, and find someone to exchange it with. In other words, it needs a production and a marketing function. These are the core functions of an enterprise. They are what the business is all about. That is why managing a business start with defining what it produces for whom. In order to produce and market, an enterprise needs to access information, assets, human resources and networks, all of which require finance. So the core functions are supported by the management function, which covers finance as among the resources or activities that need to be managed.

Success in business is defined in terms of whether the business can generate higher returns than the next best alternative.

Three computer-based tools have been designed and made available to enable consultants to help entrepreneurs using the BMS paradigm:

1. DEMANDSME: Demand assessment for training and consulting services
2. PLANSME: Strategic planning for manufacturing enterprises
3. NEEDSME: Diagnosing business management problems.

Objectives: At the end of the training program, participants will be able to:

• Understand the BMG model (developed by Dr. Osman Atash for ITC Geneva
• Acquire competencies in the use of the different the software tools in diagnosing business performance (using the model):
  1. DEMANDSME: Demand assessment for training and consulting services
  2. PLANSME: Strategic planning for manufacturing enterprises
  3. NEEDSME: Diagnosing business management problems.
• Apply the knowledge and skills in a practicum i.e. actual visit to SME firms