Master's Thesis

Proposal for Strategic Development Activities of Company

Final Thesis 2.61 MB

Author of thesis: Ing. Noman Razi

Acad. year: 2025/2026

Supervisor: doc. Ing. Robert Zich, Ph.D.

Reviewer: Ing. Jana Andrýsková

Abstract:

This thesis focuses on the strategic position of an SME that offers digital solutions and suggests a structured growth plan over three to five years that allows for sustainable growth. The research is based on a qualitative single case study methodology and applies the Business Model Canvas, VRIO, SWOT, and PESTEL frameworks to evaluate the business model, internal capabilities, market environment and the digital maturity. Key findings highlight the existing local knowledge and partnerships with local vendors as strengths and scalability, process standardisation, and reliance on vendors as challenges. Process formalisation, autonomy strengthening and implementation mechanisms are recommended to enable the competitiveness of the processes in emerging markets in the long term.

Keywords:

Strategic development, SMEs, digital transformation, business model, BEA1

Date of defence

12.06.2026

Result of the defence

Defended (thesis was successfully defended)

znamkaBznamka

Grading

B

Process of defence

In his presentation, the student informed the committee about the objectives, solutions and results he had reached in his thesis. The committee then read the opinions and evaluation of the thesis supervisor and the opponent. The student answered the questions from the supervisor's assessment in full, the questions from the opponent's assessment in full. Questions from committee members: 1. Ing. Milichovský - In the presentation, you mentioned "green digitalisation" - can you explain the term? - answered 2. doc. Doskočil - Why is there a difference between the time plan in the thesis and your presentation? - answered 3. doc. Doskočil - Can you explain the Gantt chart in more detail? - answered On the basis of the presentation and the answers to the questions asked in the discussion, the committee decided that the student defended the thesis.

Language of thesis

English

Faculty

Fakulta podnikatelská

Department

Department of Management

Study programme

International Business and Management (MGR-IBM)

Composition of Committee

doc. Ing. Zdeňka Konečná, Ph.D. (předseda)
doc. Ing. Radek Doskočil, Ph.D., MSc (místopředseda)
Ing. Jan Budík, Ph.D., MBA (člen)
Ing. František Milichovský, Ph.D., MBA, DiS. (člen)
Ing. David Schüller, Ph.D. (člen)

Supervisor’s report
doc. Ing. Robert Zich, Ph.D.

The diploma thesis presents a coherent proposal for the strategic development of the selected company. The student has demonstrated the ability to use relevant strategic tools, analyse the current situation of the company, and translate the findings into practically oriented proposals. The main weaker aspects include the more limited scope of primary data, a lower level of quantification of the proposals, and partial language and formal shortcomings. Nevertheless, the thesis meets the requirements for a diploma thesis, and I recommend it for defence.

How can Saemer Technologies Ltd. reduce its dependence on external software vendors without significantly increasing costs and risks?
Evaluation criteria Verbal classification Grade
Meeting the objectives The objectives of the thesis can be considered fulfilled. The student focuses on the proposal of a strategic development framework for Saemer Technologies Ltd., intended to support the company’s sustainable growth and competitiveness over a three- to five-year period. This main objective is further developed into partial objectives focused on the analysis of the business model, internal resources and capabilities, the external environment, and the formulation of strategic proposals. The thesis remains aligned with the defined topic, and the proposal part corresponds to the declared aim of the thesis. B
Selected procedure of the solution, the adequacy of the used methods The chosen approach is logical and appropriate for the nature of the diploma thesis. The student uses a qualitative case study and combines several suitable analytical tools, especially the Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, VRIO, SWOT/TOWS, PESTEL, digital maturity analysis, and the BEA1 framework structured around Today–Tomorrow–How. I positively assess the effort to connect the individual methods into a coherent logic of strategic development. A certain limitation is the narrower scope of primary data and the absence of deeper quantification of some analytical and proposal-related conclusions. A
The ability to interpret the results and to draw conclusions The student demonstrates the ability to interpret the results of the analyses and translate them into strategic conclusions. The analytical part identifies the main development problems of the company, especially limited scalability, dependence on software vendors, weaker sustainability of competitive advantage, and the need to align the offer with the financial possibilities of small and medium-sized enterprises. I appreciate that the results of the individual analyses are synthesised and used as a basis for the proposal part. Some conclusions, however, remain rather general and could be supported by more specific data. A
The practical usability of conclusions The practical applicability of the thesis is good. The proposal part includes the target strategic position of the company, the target business model, strategic directions, implementation initiatives, a RACI matrix, implementation phases, risks, and control mechanisms. The proposals are well linked to the analytical part and focus on relevant areas: process standardisation, strengthening scalability, development of recurring revenues, modularisation of the offer, and reduction of supplier dependency. The thesis would be stronger if the proposed measures were supported by more detailed economic or capacity-related argumentation. B
The thesis´s framework, formalities, used terminology and the professional level of language The thesis is clearly structured, and the individual parts follow each other logically. The structure corresponds to the requirements for a diploma thesis. The student appropriately uses tables, diagrams, and summary frameworks, which help to connect the analytical and proposal parts. The formal and language level is generally acceptable, although the text contains stylistically awkward formulations, language inaccuracies, and occasional repetition. These shortcomings, however, do not substantially reduce the comprehensibility of the thesis. B
Using of information resources, including citations The student works with a sufficient number of academic and secondary sources from the fields of strategic management, business models, the resource-based view, digitalisation, and the SME environment. The thesis appropriately combines academic literature, secondary data, and insights obtained from interviews. Citations are used throughout the text, and the list of references is adequate. In some cases, the use of secondary data in the analytical conclusions could be explained more precisely; overall, however, the work with sources is at an appropriate level. B

Grade proposed by supervisor: B

Reviewer’s report
Ing. Jana Andrýsková

This thesis examines a strategic development plan for Saemer Technologies Ltd., a Ghanaian SME operating in the fields of ERP, accounting systems, cloud services, POS solutions, and business automation for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The thesis addresses a clearly defined strategic challenge: while the company has achieved operational growth and possesses local market knowledge and technological expertise, it faces issues such as reactive decision-making, dependence on external suppliers, limited internal capacity, low process standardization, and the absence of a long-term strategic framework. The main objective is therefore to create a structured strategic development framework for a three- to five-year horizon.

I consider the thesis’s strengths to be its logical structure, the coherence between the theoretical, analytical, and proposal sections, and the effort to integrate tools such as BMC, Value Proposition Canvas, RBV/VRIO, PESTEL, SWOT/TOWS, digital maturity analysis, and BEA1 Today–Tomorrow–How. The thesis is extensive, relatively thematically coherent, and includes implementation elements such as strategic initiatives, a Gantt chart, a RACI matrix, risks, and control mechanisms. However, a fundamental weakness is the level of empirical grounding. For a master’s thesis, it is problematic that the primary data relies predominantly on an interview or interviews with a company representative.
Evaluation criteria Verbal classification Grade
Meeting the objectives The main objective of this thesis was to create a structured strategic development framework to support the sustainable growth and competitiveness of Saemer Technologies Ltd. The objective has been met in terms of structure and scope. However, the level of substantiation for some of the conclusions is weaker. The thesis identifies scalability, vendor dependency, insufficient process formalization, a lack of long-term positioning, and the financial constraints of SME clients as key issues; however, these findings are largely derived from a limited qualitative source and secondary data. A
Selected procedure of the solution, the adequacy of the used methods The main objective of this thesis was to create a structured strategic development framework to support the sustainable growth and competitiveness of Saemer Technologies Ltd. The objective has been met in terms of structure and scope. However, the level of substantiation for some of the conclusions is weaker. The thesis identifies scalability, vendor dependency, and insufficient form The chosen approach is logical. The thesis utilizes the BEA1 Today–Tomorrow–How framework, which effectively links the analysis of the current state, the definition of the desired future position, and the proposal of implementation steps. The overview of the analytical framework on page 20 illustrates the sequence: the current reality is analyzed using BMC, PESTEL, VRIO, and digital maturity analysis; synthesis is performed via SWOT/TOWS; the future direction is expressed through TO-BE BMC and BEA1; implementation is supported by a Gantt chart, RACI matrix, risk analysis, and KPI control. The methods are generally appropriate for the topic of the company’s strategic development. The Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas are suitable for describing value logic, VRIO for assessing resources and capabilities, PESTEL for the macroenvironment, and SWOT/TOWS for synthesis. Digital maturity analysis is also relevant given the company’s focus on digital solutions. process implementation, a lack of long-term positioning, and the financial constraints of SME clients; however, these findings are largely derived from a limited qualitative source and secondary data. A
The ability to interpret the results and to draw conclusions The thesis demonstrates a capacity for fundamental synthesis. The author links the results of individual analyses and identifies key strategic areas: process formalization, strengthening strategic autonomy, building a sustainable competitive advantage, and aligning offerings and pricing with the needs of SME clients. The proposal section builds on these findings and elaborates them into strategic initiatives and an implementation framework. I view it positively that the conclusions are not entirely separated from the analysis. The thesis successfully formulates a logical strategic trajectory: the company is currently implementation-oriented, dependent on vendors, and limited in capacity; in the future, it is to shift toward becoming a specialized, more scalable, and more autonomous provider of business software and compliance-based solutions for SMEs in Ghana. Primary research is limited; the methodological section relies on a single interview, although the appendices suggest the existence of additional interview guides and summaries. This ambiguity reduces the transparency of the research process. Another weakness is that some evaluation outputs appear to be the author’s qualified estimate rather than the result of systematic measurement. For example, the digital maturity assessment uses a score of 2.2/5, but the scoring methodology and the reliability of individual inputs should be explained in greater detail and verified. C
The practical usability of conclusions The proposal section defines the company’s target position, target business model, strategic directions, initiatives, implementation phases, milestones, a Gantt chart, responsibilities via a RACI matrix, risks, and control measures. Thus, the work does not end with a general formulation of the strategy, but seeks to translate it into an implementation framework. Another strength is that the proposals are based on the real constraints of an SME in an emerging market: limited resources, pressure to digitize, dependence on external software vendors, low digital maturity among clients, and financial constraints in the SME segment. The conclusion of the thesis correctly states that long-term success will depend on the ability to improve the scalability of operations, differentiate through compliance-based expertise, and create a more stable recurring revenue model. A weakness in terms of practical applicability is the lack of specificity in some of the measures B
The thesis´s framework, used terminology and the professional level of language The structure of the thesis is clear and appropriate for a master’s thesis. The terminology is consistent with the topic of strategic management: strategic development, SME strategy, business model, value proposition, RBV, VRIO, SWOT, TOWS, PESTEL, digital maturity, BEA1, implementation, KPI, RACI. The author demonstrates knowledge of the basic concepts of strategic management. A significant weakness is the linguistic and formal quality. The text is written in English, but in places contains awkward phrasing, grammatical errors, stylistic inaccuracies, and inconsistencies in terminology. Some sentences sound mechanical or unnatural. Formal errors also appear. B
Using of information resources The thesis draws on relevant sources from strategic management, SMEs, business models, and digital transformation. The assignment and theoretical section cite Grant, Johnson, Mintzberg, Osterwalder, Porter, Teece, and other sources. This is consistent with the thesis topic. I view it positively that the thesis combines professional literature, secondary sources on the Ghanaian environment, and internal/publicly available information about the company. The analysis draws on sources such as the Bank of Ghana, the World Bank, the Ghana Revenue Authority, the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, and the ITU, which is relevant for situating the company within the context of a developing market. Formally, citations are present, but linguistic and typographical shortcomings in the citations and captions for figures/tables lower the academic standard. C

Grade proposed by reviewer: B

Responsibility: Mgr. et Mgr. Hana Odstrčilová