Bachelor's Thesis

The Proposal for Measures for the Family Business Development

Final Thesis 1.01 MB Appendix 8.07 MB

Author of thesis: Bc. Ondřej Bárta

Acad. year: 2025/2026

Supervisor: Ing. Veronika Bumberová, Ph.D.

Reviewer: Ing. Jana Andrýsková

Abstract:

This bachelor's thesis focuses on a family microenterprise operating in the field of electrical engineering and photovoltaic installations. The aim of the thesis is to propose measures for the elimination of critical issues in the company's functioning and to strengthen its further development. The thesis is based on a case study of a specific family microenterprise and draws primarily on internal company data for the period 2022 to 2025.
The analytical part applies the McKinsey 7S model and an analysis of financial and operational indicators to identify critical areas of the company's functioning. The analysis revealed key deficiencies in organizational structure, strategic planning, information systems and human resource management. Based on the results of these analyses, a GAP analysis was conducted to compare the current state with the desired state across all identified areas.
The proposed measures address nine critical areas and include the establishment of a formal organizational structure, the creation of a strategic plan with KPIs, the development of a proprietary digital management system, the introduction of a complaint procedure, the conscious management of word-of-mouth marketing, the introduction of service contracts and a financial reserve, the documentation of technical know-how and last but not least the establishment of a recruitment and staff management system. Each measure includes a basic estimate of opportunity costs, expected benefits, an implementation timeline and a risk assessment.

Keywords:

family business, strategic management, organizational structure, business growth management, GAP analysis, company performance, McKinsey 7S

Date of defence

22.06.2026

Result of the defence

Defended (thesis was successfully defended)

znamkaDznamka

Grading

D

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 part, the questions from the opponent's assessment in part. Questions from committee members: 1. Ing. Bumberová: What do you mean with internal systems? - partly answered 2. Ing. Ulč: What could have you done more in the analytical part? - partly answered 3. Ing. Ulč: What specific research methods could you use for data collection? - 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

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (BAK-ESBD)

Composition of Committee

doc. Ing. Robert Zich, Ph.D. (předseda)
Ing. David Havíř, Ph.D. (člen)
Ing. Jakub Ulč (člen)
Ing. Veronika Bumberová, Ph.D. (člen)
doc. Ing. Vít Chlebovský, Ph.D. (místopředseda)

Supervisor’s report
Ing. Veronika Bumberová, Ph.D.

The submitted bachelor's thesis represents a well-written and practically processed case study of a family micro-enterprise with an effort for further growth and development after an organizational crisis. The student demonstrated the ability to connect theoretical concepts of strategic management with practical analysis of a real company and to formulate specific development measures, however, due to the author's time constraints, there were significant shortcomings in the formal and citation aspects. Other reserves can be seen in the lesser depth of external strategic analysis, limited economic quantification of some proposals, and the sometimes overly ambitious scope of the proposed digitalization.

Question no. 1: How could the proposed measures be prioritized in terms of cost and speed of implementation?

Question no. 2: Do you think that developing your own comprehensive digital system is realistic for a micro-enterprise, or would it be more efficient to use an existing commercial solution?

Question no. 3: How would it be possible to preserve the family corporate culture and at the same time introduce a more professional business management system?

Question no. 4: Which of the proposed measures do you consider the most important for stabilizing the company in the short term and why?

Question no. 5: What main risk do you see in the planned future growth of the company and expansion of the team of employees?
Evaluation criteria Verbal classification Grade
Meeting the objectives The aim of the bachelor's thesis was to propose measures to eliminate critical points in the functioning of the company and strengthen its further development, based on an analysis of the current situation of the family business. From the point of view of the set goal, it can be stated that the work meets the goal. The student correctly identified that the main problem of the company did not lie in the lack of technical competences, but primarily in the absence of formalized processes, management systems and clearly defined responsibilities. A certain weakness of the work is the fact that it is strongly internally and experientially (subjectively) oriented, and some of the proposals remain at the conceptual level, while they are not sufficiently economically substantiated (for example, the proposal for its own complex digital system seems rather visionary). B
Selected procedure of the solution, the adequacy of the used methods The student employs a combination of strategic and organizational analysis methods. The McKinsey 7S model serves as the main framework for identifying problem areas in the company's functioning, the analysis of financial and operational indicators provides specific data support, and the GAP analysis subsequently systematically connects the current and desired state of the company. I also positively evaluate the use of internal company data for the period 2022–2025. The student appropriately combines a qualitative and quantitative approach and does not slide only into a general description. However, I have a critical comment about a certain methodological one-sidedness of the work. The analysis is strongly internally oriented and there is practically no deeper assessment of the company's external environment. For example, there is no analysis of competition, the photovoltaic installation market, the regulatory environment, or demand development. This is not a fundamental shortcoming for a bachelor's thesis, however, a broader strategic context would increase the analytical depth of the work. Another criticism can be directed at the fact that some parts of the GAP analysis are relatively extensive in text, but less systematically quantified. C
The ability to interpret the results and to draw conclusions The strength of the work is particularly the high level of detail in the analytical part. The student very openly and specifically describes the real operational problems of the company, for example the absence of a CRM system, informal information sharing, the absence of processes or problems with employee management. This authenticity gives the work a high informative value. The student demonstrates a good ability to interpret analytical outputs and formulate practically oriented conclusions. I consider the ability to identify the deeper causes of the company's problems to be a very strong point of the work. The student correctly concludes that the main cause of the crisis was not the employees themselves, but mainly the company's unpreparedness for growth and the absence of process management. The connections between the company's family structure and management style are also very well interpreted. The student critically reflects on the intertwining of family and professional relationships, informal decision-making or the influence of the father's authority on the functioning of the company. I also positively assess the ability to connect the individual identified problems into a broader systemic picture. The student does not perceive the absence of CRM or processes in isolation, but as part of the company's broader organizational immaturity. On the other hand, some proposals seem too ambitious given the size of the company being analyzed. In particular, the proposal to develop an internal digital system including CRM, warehouse management, process automation, a customer portal or a know-how database may be organizationally and economically difficult for a micro-enterprise to implement. Here, the student sometimes moves from realistic measures to a relatively extensive digitalization vision that may be unrealistic. C
The practical usability of conclusions The thesis is clearly based on an in-depth understanding of the analyzed enterprise and reflects real operational problems typical for family micro-enterprises at this stage. I highly appreciate that the proposals are not just general recommendations, but contain specific measures including implementation steps, responsibilities, cost estimates and benefits. I also positively evaluate the student's ability to reflect on the consequences of not implementing the proposed measures. However, a certain limit to practical usability is the scope of some of the proposed changes. For a micro-enterprise with limited personnel and financial capacities, the simultaneous implementation of a large number of measures can be very demanding. The work would therefore benefit from a more significant prioritization of the proposals according to their impact, complexity and time feasibility. C
The thesis´s framework, formalities, used terminology and the professional level of language The thesis has a good structure and logical continuity of the individual parts. The theoretical, analytical and design parts are well interconnected. However, the thesis contains an assignment in Czech written by the student, which was not generated by the BUT system. The thesis meets the formal requirements set by the guidelines, but due to the author's inattention and the time pressure for submitting the thesis, the declaration of honor and acknowledgements were included in Czech. The text of the thesis contains grammatical mistakes (e.g. „The Poposal“ in the title of the work) or Czech abstract. Significant shortcomings also appear within the formatted text (already in the keywords) or in the citations themselves, where the style is not unified. I also have a reservation about placing a sentence or paragraph in a separate subchapter, which is unnecessary (e.g. 1.5.1.1 to 1.5.1.9). The language of the thesis is generally consistent, professional and stylistically advanced. The student correctly uses the terminology of strategic management, organizational management and family business. However, the content appears essay-like, textual and descriptive without the inclusion of tables, graphs, etc., which makes it unclear and unnecessarily reduces the perceived quality of the entire thesis. Table No. 1 on page 51, which finally clearly represents the synthesis of findings, is absolutely illegible, the same applies to the Gantt chart on page 55. D
Using of information resources, including citations The sources cited in the assignment are not supporting or crucial within the final thesis. The theoretical part is based mainly on several basic sources and could be further expanded with current academic knowledge in the field of strategic family business management or the digitalization of small businesses. I positively evaluate the transparent statement of the use of the AI ​​tool Claude only for language proofreading of the text. As a result of the author's inattention and time pressure to submit the work, citations were given in the text in Czech (e.g., p. 22, p. 24, Peters, a další, 2004, Harnish, a další, 2021 etc.). Chapter 1.1 does not contain citations of the text source at all. The thesis was analyzed by the Thesis system and, according to the percentage of agreement (1.4%), there is no plagiarism and it meets the requirements. D

Grade proposed by supervisor: D

Reviewer’s report
Ing. Jana Andrýsková

This bachelor’s thesis addresses the proposal of measures for the development of the family-owned microenterprise BÁRTA COMPANY s.r.o. The objective of the thesis, as stated in the assignment, is to propose measures to address critical issues in the company’s operations and to strengthen its development. This objective is thematically fulfilled in the thesis: the author defines the problem, describes the current state of the company, identifies weaknesses, and proposes nine measures, including a timeline, costs, benefits, and risks.
The thesis exhibits shortcomings primarily in the analytical section, where the author focuses solely on an internal analysis of the company. It would be advisable to verify the internal data with an independent perspective based on external data. The proposals formulated in connection with this data tend to be somewhat too general in places.
Evaluation criteria Verbal classification Grade
Meeting the objectives The objective of the thesis can be considered largely achieved. The author identifies critical areas in the operation of the family microenterprise and formulates measures aimed at stabilizing and further developing the business. The analytical section examines issues related to strategy, structure, systems, management style, employees, know-how, and financial and operational indicators. C
Selected procedure of the solution, the adequacy of the used methods In the thesis, the student defines the methods and approaches used for the analysis. Specifically, the student employs the 7S framework, GAP analysis, and financial and operational indicators. The choice of methods is generally appropriate for the topic; however, all these analyses focus on the internal environment of the analyzed company. It would be advisable to supplement them with external analyses to complete a comprehensive picture of the analyzed problem. The thesis describes the use of methods but explains less precisely how they were specifically applied, according to what criteria individual areas were assessed, and how the findings led to the prioritization of proposals. The thesis lacks a specification of the specific data sources for the individual analyses. The student only generally mentions the use of internal company data and accounting documents in the thesis, but it is not clear what specific data was obtained for the analysis (e.g., interviews, questionnaires, internal company documents, etc.), how it was obtained, from whom (e.g., company management, customers, etc.), to what extent, and how its completeness and reliability were verified. For many qualitative statements regarding the company’s operations, it is unclear whether they are based on interviews, observations, internal documents, or the subjective perspective of company management. Similar to analytical approaches, it would be appropriate to supplement the analysis with external independent data that would validate and independently assess the company’s current situation. E
The ability to interpret the results and to draw conclusions The student demonstrates the ability to identify key issues facing the company and logically connect them. In particular, the student effectively interprets the link between informal management, a lack of competencies, the absence of an order management system, and the crisis in hiring employees in 2025. The thesis effectively links the findings of the analytical section with those of the proposal section. Some conclusions tend to appear overly subjective and based solely on the opinions of company management. I would recommend critically considering other alternative solutions for the proposals. The proposal section of the thesis is structured according to severity, priorities, and the resulting timeframe. This structure is logical. However, the student does not define clear criteria for assigning priorities to individual critical points and findings from the analytical section. D
The practical usability of conclusions The student is involved in the management of a family business. Therefore, the proposals will likely be useful in practice. C
The thesis´s framework, used terminology and the professional level of language The student demonstrates the ability to identify key issues facing the company and logically connect them. In particular, the student effectively interprets the link between informal management, a lack of competencies, the absence of an order management system, and the crisis in hiring employees in 2025. The thesis effectively links the findings of the analytical section with those of the proposal section. Some conclusions tend to appear overly subjective and based solely on the opinions of company management. I would recommend critically considering other alternative solutions for the proposals. The proposal section of the thesis is structured according to severity, priorities, and the resulting timeframe. This structure is logical. However, the student does not define clear criteria for assigning priorities to individual critical points and findings from the analytical section. The structure of the thesis is logical and follows the assignment. The terminology is mostly appropriate, but the thesis occasionally uses phrasing that is more managerial and descriptive than technically analytical. Some passages appear stylistically polished but generally vague in content. I find the thesis lacks a clear definition of what is meant by the term “critical point.” The thesis contains a large number of typos and grammatical errors. From the perspective of clarity, I would recommend presenting the findings of the analytical section using tables, graphs, etc. In terms of formal requirements, the thesis includes sections in Czech (assignment, acknowledgments, declaration). The original assignment was probably edited to a different format before being included in the paper.  E
Using of information resources The student uses basic literature for the given field, combining online and print sources. The thesis thus relies on several foundational titles but does not engage more broadly with current professional literature on the management of family micro-enterprises, the growth of small businesses, process management, CRM/ERP solutions, or employee management in small enterprises. In the proposal section, some cost estimates are based on online price lists and tools. Some paragraphs in the theoretical section lack citations. Citations are not formatted according to the ČSN ISO 690 standard. A weakness is the limited range of professional sources and their uneven quality. E
Topics for thesis defence:
  1. Why was the analysis focused solely on the internal analysis of the company?

Grade proposed by reviewer: E

Responsibility: Mgr. et Mgr. Hana Odstrčilová