...The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan Executive Summary * Successful executives will learn to master uncertainty through the skills of entrepreneurial leadership * This calls for different disciplines than in conventional management * There are five key elements: * Creating a climate supporting continuous search for opportunity * Framing * Stocking an opportunity register * Focus * Promoting adaptive execution Entrepreneurial leadership: The most important job Although uncertainty might cause many to freeze, it can be used to your benefit. Uncertain situations are full of new opportunities. Your task is to continuously identify high-potential business opportunities and exploit these opportunities with speed and confidence. Thus, uncertainty can become your ally, not your enemy. Entrepreneurial leaders are distinguished from other managers by their personal practices. These fall into three categories: setting the work climate, orchestrating opportunity-seeking and moving particular ventures forward personally. * Climate setting practices create a pervasive sense of urgency for everyone to work on new business initiatives. Dedicate a disproportionate share of your own time, attention and discretionary resources to finding and supporting new business models. Gary Wendt, who drove massive growth at General...
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...The Responsibility Project Sharon Lewis ETH/316 May 21, 2012 Michael Mc Neal The Responsibility Project The issues in the film are important because ethical principles are what shape and define the values of any organization. The Responsibility Project is what Liberty Mutual has addressed to put together a program that helps those in need in the communities around them and to better themselves as well. This is one company that has gone above and beyond to help those within their community. The need and desire to improve and to make a better life for their children is what Greyston Bakery has in mind. They are a for-profit business that has a bottom line that they go by: “We don’t hire people to make brownies; we make brownies in order to hire people” (Greyston Bakery, 2011). They hire those people that might be considered “hard to employ”. They are part of a foundation that helps individuals get back on their feet and get their lives together as a way to succeed. This bakery is just one of the Foundation’s enterprises in which its program is capable of reaching 2,200 community members annually. The Greyston Bakery was founded in 1982 by a Zen Buddhist meditation group that was led by Bernard Tetsugen Glassman. Glassman who was a former aerospace engineer had an entrepreneurial spirit and a bold vision. He borrowed $300,000 and opened the small bakery in the Bronx. His original goal had been to produce quality, locally made products that would give...
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...MCDONALD’S: POLISHING THE GOLDEN ARCHES VIEWPOINT Jim Cantalupo, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman TIME CONTEXT Year 2004 I. PROBLEM STATEMENT How can McDonald’s adapt to changing market conditions to sustain the growth it had experienced? II. STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES To have an annual system wide sales growth of between 3 and 5 percent by 2005 and beyond III. AREAS OF CONSIDERATIONS STRENGTHS 1. McDonald’s has the strongest international presence and greatest amount of worldwide sales since the beginning of overseas expansion. 2. It has vast real estate holdings. WEAKNESSES 1. Lack of employee trainings, reflected on its poor service ranking. OPPORTUNITIES 1. With expected growth of the global food-service industry McDonald’s has more opportunity of expansion. 2. With the changing customer preference McDonald’s has the opportunity to come up with more unique and innovative ideas. THREATS 1. Increased domestic expansion led to cannibalization in existing franchises, but this was resolved by focusing more on international expansion. 2. New entrants and existing competitors. 3. Government regulations. IV. ASSUMPTIONS No assumptions. V. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION (ACA) 1. Focus on its international expansion. This alternative will focus on its strength of expansion. There will be a continuous growth...
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...Analysis of Starbucks’ Vision Statement After analyzing Starbucks’ vision statements, the ‘directional’ element can be found. One neighborhood is the company’s direction on where it is heading to. By having this element in the vision statement, Starbucks possesses the strength of having a clear view on what it wants to be that benefits the community. As mentioned before, Starbucks aims to be a responsible and good neighbor no matter where they do business. This eventually provides the opportunity to widen the market segment and serve more people. Unfortunately, being a globalised company, the directional element may not be synchronized around the globe because different region has different management system. Thus not all will follow exactly the original protocol set Next, the ‘graphic’ element can be found where it shows clearly what type of company Starbucks is. Being as a food and beverage company, Starbucks holds the strength of having the ability to generate high income because food is necessity. Besides, customers will obtain satisfaction from various products offered thus it creates high demand from diverse customer range. On the other hand, the major weakness of a food and beverage company is that the shelf life of fresh food items or perishable items is relatively short so it will cause wastage. The ‘focus’ element in the vision statement indicates that Starbucks emphasizes on providing premium quality coffee beverages. By having this clear focus, Starbucks has the...
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...Problem Solution: Global Communications This paper will review the issues and events Global Communications (henceforth referred to as GC) is facing, identify mistakes the company made in its decision-making process, and propose a solution that will correct those mistakes and help the company to transform into a global corporation within three years. Situation Analysis Issue and Opportunity Identification GC’s stock has dropped more than 50% over the last three years because of excessive competition in the telecommunications industry. The company chose to address this issue by developing a plan that focused on growth through new services and cost reduction through outsourcing some of their technical call centers. GC did not include the union, a major stakeholder, in the development of this plan. This resulted in conflict between the company and the union. “Conflict gives you an opportunity to deepen your capacity for empathy and intimacy with your opponent,” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004, p. 4). GC has the opportunity to address the unions concerns, repair the damage to the public image of GC caused by the union press release, and develop a strategic plan that meets all the stakeholder’s needs. According to Weiss (2006), understanding a company’s central issues and how they evolved can help manage changes in a company’s direction and operations. Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas The main stakeholders in the GC scenario are the customers interested in efficient communication...
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...“Globalisation creates more opportunities for businesses than threats”. Using knowledge of businesses, to what extent do you agree with this statement? “Your shirt was made in Mexico and your shoes in China. Your CD player comes from Japan. You can travel to Moscow and have a BIgMac there and you can watch American films in Rome. Today goods are made and sold all over the world thanks to globalisation.” ‘Vince Cable’ Bill Gates said, “The whole pace of business is moving faster. Globalisation is forcing companies to do things in new ways.” this could relate to the action, or lack of it by Apple to towards accommodating for the Chinese market and the reason their iPhone in late 2008 flopped on its debut release, only selling 5000 handsets. Apple made a surprisingly common mistake of not taking into account local Chinese consumer preferences. Apple failed to breakthrough into the Chinese market and get past the social cultural boundaries, a common error with Tesco’s Fresh&easy making similar misconceptions in America. As ‘Bill Gates said “The whole pace of business is moving faster.” Apple didn't take the time or execute the opportunity they had to expand into China, yet they still had the opportunity thanks to globalisation. Unlike Apple, BMW did and do research the habits of its potential clients, pinpointing that the average Chinese buyers of luxury cars are on average 40 years old, much younger than other markets. they also often have chauffeurs during weekdays...
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...from You!) -Take notice of the strengths! Compliment others on their talents and strengths. -IF there is a PROBLEM: Identify the problem, analyze the problem, and generate all possible solutions (“band-aid” or “cure” it), analyze all possible solutions, choose the best solution, ACT ON IT! -“QTIP” effect---Quit taking it personally!!—Give the answer and stop listening for criticism that is non-existent! Don’t misconstrue a statement; most likely that person was not intending to offend YOU directly; they PROBABLY were just having a bad day! -“DTTB-Don’t Take the Bait”- PICK YOUR BATTLES!! Watch out for guilt trips. Don’t allow yourself to be taken in by negativity. -Practice clarifying what you need and clear communication. Not all CONFLICT is bad, just make sure we are dealing with it in the right WAY. HOW CAN WE BE OPEN/ STAY POSITIVE IF CHANGE NEEDS TO OCCUR? “Without Change-Growth is Impossible!”-Unknown -CHANGE=CHAOS + OPPORTUNITY -Forbes says, “Do what you can to ease the transition, minimize the chaos and enhance the opportunity.” -Recognize if you are being resistance to the change. --DO A SELF ASSESSMENT -Leo Tolstoy said, “Everyone thinks of the world but no one thinks of changing himself.” -Change is inevitable; we all have to deal with it. On the other hand, Growth is OPTIONAL! -You can choose to GROW or you can choose to FIGHT it....
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...on campus, The Pub is required to comply with regulations set forth by the University, leaving it without the ability to advertise drink specials or make upgrades without approval. This also means that the students are their main customer base. Because The Pub is operated as non-profit and its ideal location, this allows students not only the lowest prices in alcohol, but the ability to walk home and not drive drunk. The Pub’s website makes it easy for student’s to plan which nights they want to attend based on entertainment. Scooter’s social standing within the community has played a big role in the flow of traffic due to his strong ties to the community. The Pub is expecting to move to a new location in August that will offer an opportunity for a fresh start including newer facilities, the ability to change the atmosphere and attract a new target market (conference attendees and professionals). Unfortunately, The Pub has been experienced financial difficulties over the past several years and the chances of it turning a profit in the future is tentative. The Pub’s is expecting the...
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...CYCLERMATE PROJECT REPORT Integrated Business Contents * Introduction * Analysis of Business Environment * Analysis of Business Management * Solution * Conclusion Introduction Dai Armstrong and Lewis Llewellyn are the two men who planned to open their own company after being superfluous due to the shutting down of the steel plants in their town of South Wales were Dai Armstrong and Lewis Llewellyn. They both were the part of the local club of cycle touring and because of that, they both became good friends and as a result decided to start Cyclermate which was a bicycle manufacturing company that was laid down in the year 1988. In the initial year Cyclermate possessed a great influence over the share of the market. The whole lot appeared to function with no problems and difficulties up to the year 2010, the time when the company confronted lots of consequences with respect to operation human resource and finance. Specifically, demand by the purchasers fell continua sally even though the prices were cut down by the company; the distinguishing attributes of the goods were not up to the quality as they were earlier. The rising complaints from the customers regarding degrading quality and faults in the product and the concern by the bank manager regarding the overdraft could cause trouble if the problems are not solved as soon as possible. The report is with regard to the financial problems and various other problems confronted...
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...either before or after the training. There are few points that they have to restructure so they can guarantee better results for the training, and for the hospital itself. Having a motivational atmosphere creates multiple benefits for both employee and employer. In addition to the employee feeling more engaged and thus more motivated, that employee also gains new skills. At the same time, the employer benefits not just from a more motivated employee but also from one who is now better equipped to perform their duties. Before the training begins: First of all, managers should identify employee strengths. Training can be a terrific opportunity for an employee whose manager has identified specific skills that can be enhanced. For example, an employee who is particularly good at written communication or with numbers might be given the opportunity to develop those skills further in training. The corollary to this is that employees should be offered training that is interesting and relevant to their work. Managers have to set some learning points. Those points have to be the ones managers thinks are the most essential for employees know. Doing that, when the training is over, they can analyze and measure if employees really learned the most important points. It’s very important that before the training begins, managers explain to their employees the purpose of the training and contextualize the importance of using the new equipment. Depending on the type of work employees do,...
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...lunch for women executives in the company—but she isn’t convinced she ed needs her own web site. “I don’t want a ‘Who does o she think she is?’ response,” she frets. That’s not the kind of thing that troubles Arruda. When he isn’t doling out doses of oomph, he is busy e recruiting coaches to help him build his own brand. n Currently there are 150 Arrudaites around the world, he preaching his gospel of personal branding. They pay him $3,200 for 60 hours of training plus a 5 percent cut of their consulting gigs. Questions 1. In which aspects of charisma is William Arruda providing coaching and training? 2. To what extent is Arruda professionally qualified to correct the personalities of his clients? 3. What is your reaction to Arruda’s statement, “If you don’t show up on Google, you don’t exist”? 4. Explain whether you would invest your own money in having the CareerCoach Institute help you develop a personal brand. 5. Out of curiosity, if you were a car, what make and model would you be? What about the instructor of this course? Source: Excerpted from Suzanne Hoppough, “You Inc.: Image Doctor,” Forbes, February 26, 2007, p. 60. Reprinted by permission of Forbes Magazine © 2008 LLC. Leadership Case Problem B Time to Rebound at Willow Pond Heather Osaka had worked ten years in the hospital administration...
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...Analysis The Nike Adjust will require a new division of Nike, Inc. to be formed which will provide customer focus specifically for those in need of the new product. The mission, vision and values of the Nike Adjust division will mirror and expand on Nike, Inc.’s current mission, vision and overall values while also adding to them. The specific mission statement of the Adjust division will be: Bring inspiration and hope to every individual in need of foot health help by providing the product necessary for them to become the athlete Nike, Inc. believes they all are. As with any new organization or division, a proper SWOTT analysis of Nike and the Nike Adjust has been completed. The analysis looks at several different areas including economic and legal and regulatory forces and trends as well as the Nike supply chain. SWOTT Analysis of Nike, Inc. In business, there is a strategic aspect used known as the SWOTT analysis. This analysis allows the organization to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and trends of the business. Generally, the strengths and weaknesses will come from internal factors, whereas opportunities, threats, and trends seem to come from more external factors. Strengths For example, with the new Nike Adjust, there are many strengths this new and innovative product could bring to Nike. Some of these strengths would be: * Nike would be the first company to offer a running shoe in conjunction with a podiatrist. Part of the strategy of...
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...competitive with limited opportunities for people looking for a career opportunity. In fact, many of industries demand an MBA to purse a position which can provide a decent salary to satisfy human’s basic needs. For example, it is almost impossible to get a consultancy or finance job without an MBA. There are also a number of companies that will only give promotions for individual who have an MBA education (Thomas, 2009). Accomplishing an MBA preparation is an effective approach of demonstrating your suitability and commitment to upper level management in any organization or industry. It is also one of the best ways for someone who has followed a technical or specialist track; showing that they are ready, serious and capable to continue their career advancement or professional growth. In addition, it is crucial to reveal the level of motivation and self-development or improvement of an individual. If you can make the sacrifices of investing your money and time to study for an MBA, then you must be real interested to achieve a higher management or leadership position (BNET, 2010). Most of the business professionals understand that education give you power, prestige, credibility and positioning. However, it is a lifelong journey which has many different paths. Achieving successfully an MBA education is the only way to acquire the adequate knowledge to confront problems and solve them effectively and efficiently; able to compete for new career opportunities. As much education a...
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...always be a time and a place for you to shine. Do not miss out on that moment when it comes." " Don't be afraid to fail. Get out there and experiment and learn and fail and get a rate based on the experiences you have. Go for it and when you go for it you'll learn what you're capable of, what the potential is, where the opportunities are, but you can't be afraid to fail because that's when you learn." " Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict." " Remember behind every gray sky, with clouds, is the sun shining and ready to peak through those clouds!" " The past is gone so it cannot be undone; all we can do is learn from it to help for a better future which is yet to come. A New Year is another new beginning and new directions to follow where you are destined to be." " The best moment in life is when you start believing in yourself." " Open every door of opportunity, and if it appears to be locked, kick it down." " We learn more about ourselves when we fail...so, don't be afraid of failing. Failure is a part of the long process of success. People who do not fail are those who do nothing." " Opportunity is the key to open the door of the Hall of Fame. After opening it with the keywords "I CAN" and pursuing the concrete set of goals with self-confidence and perseverance, you will find the VICTORY chair to relax and enjoy." " Smile because you can. Smile because you're alive. Smile because you're beautiful in every way...
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...bears the responsibility and obligation of following the rules and doing the best she can. I’m pretty sure cheating wouldn’t be considered following the rules. She also has a responsibility to earn her grade point status the right way. b) Helen stealing the exam is really setting an unfair advantage against her fellow students. Everyone should be even the same rights and opportunity to achieve the same grade on the exam. c) Helen has a responsibility to her future employer to give them what they are asking for; a CPA with integrity and knowledge. Cheating shows a lack of strength and ability in both areas. What if a serious problem came up and she didn’t have the correct knowledge on how to handle it and her company ended up being sued? d) She has a responsibility to live up to the standards and rules the professor laid out in their class. e) Helen should encourage her friend to not lie, cheat or steal. She has a responsibility to help her friend become a better person and anyone who doesn’t do that shouldn’t be considered a real friend. f) She is really just cheating herself out of the opportunity to learn, grow and achieve the status on her own. She had a chance to prove to herself that through hard work and discipline she could of accomplished the same grade the right way. Once that line gets blurry, it’s hard to tell when you cross it. 2. Fairness is the first one that comes to mind. It really isn’t fair to the professor, who invested a fair amount of time to teach...
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