Bardak Management
Services is normally a "boutique" management
consulting firm specialising in advice to owner/managers
of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). However, since
early in 2008, Sue, who is the firm's principal, has embarked
on a three year research project. This means that consulting
activities are on hold for the time being, except for a
small number of long term clients who are reluctant to
make other arrangements.
Sue has been awarded an APA scholarship
to RMIT University in Melbourne to pursue research towards
a PhD. This activity fulfills a long time ambition to
address the problem that owner/managers face, in never
having enough time to work "on" their
business as they are so busy working "in" the
business. (From Gerber's book, The e-Myth). Empirical studies
have shown that businesses that regularly attend to the
planning and control function, tend to be the ones that
grow and prosper.
The title of the research is "Effective planning
and control systems for Australian small enterprises".
From the large body of knowledge concerning
how to manage a business, this research will try to develop
a standardized approach that is designed specifically for
small firms. The main problem to be solved is to see if,
by using advanced information technology, the ideal planning
and control method can be made easy to understand and implement.
Planning and control should be an everyday function of
running a business and it should not be expensive (e.g.
using consultants) and it should even be fun to do.
This is what the research is about. If successful, clients
of Bardak Management Services, may be able to use the system
(software?) developed. Of course the outcome of the research
is not known at the beginning.
It is planned to use this web site to keep past customers
and others, up to date with the findings and developments.
There will be a large survey of small enterprises and possibly
some in-depth case studies. It is planned to publish several
papers on the results of the research as the project progresses.
These papers and other reserarch notes will be published
in the research section of the web site.
The remainder of the site contains
Sue's profile and some history of past activities. The
previous "services" section
of the web site has been retained for completeness, even
though those services will not be available until the research
programme is completed. Note that the company has moved
from the Sunshine Coast to the Melbourne CBD. Details are
contained on the Contacts page.
Welcome to the site and enjoy!
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