Exam 4: Managing Entrepreneurially

Which of the following is not one of the seven questions to ask when identifying a new opportunity?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Angela's Thesis Coaching Company (Scenario) Angela is finally starting to feel more at ease with her business. Six months since the launch of her Ph.D. Thesis Masters she is starting to see revenues climb and her associates are producing great work-and more importantly, her customers are happy. Ph.D. Thesis Masters (PTM) provides coaching and research services for masters and Ph.D. students working on their theses. Angela discovered that many students need help with much of the grunt work of formatting, meeting deadlines, and doing secondary research of the existing literature. Her associates are Ph.D. graduates who have successfully completed their theses and can now guide other students and help them with the related pressures and quality guidelines. Angela has worked out a formula where she charges student clients $75 per hour and pays her associates $45, leaving her with a $30 gross profit (or gross margin) for every hour of work completed. Her customers are happy and her associates are happy. -To get here, Angela had to do complete a number of research tasks herself, the majority of which had to do with the potential of the student market, competitors, and the viability of her associates model, as well as ongoing understanding of how her services need to evolve. This type of research is most likely _________________.

In a short essay describe the nature of opportunities and role of entrepreneurial managers linking these to the importance of entrepreneurship in today's business world. Give specific examples where possible to illustrate your answers.

Which of the following is NOT an organizing issue for an entrepreneur when creating a new venture?

The ability to adapt and fashion new tools to solve problems is referred to as _____________.

Social responsibility and ethics do not play an important role in an entrepreneurial startup.

Lisa has been hired by Lexman Corporation, a large mutlinational hydro-electric engineering firm, to launch a brand-new business under a different name. Funding will come from Lexman, but they want to take a hands-off approach and let Lisa run it as if it were her own business. The enterprise will market small, low-cost solar generators that individual homeowners can purchase and then easily relocate to a new home if they move. Executives at Lexman have told Lisa that the main objective in the first three years is growth and market penetration and then more of a focus on profit in year 4 and beyond. This is definitely a(n) __________.

Being a change agent and supporting innovation together represent the single most important function of an entrepreneur in the early years of the venture.

In face of change, an entrepreneur must take into consideration how the change impacts the company and immediately_______________.

Research supports entrepreneurial innovation, but not all types of research are the same. Research that focuses on investigative activities that an organization conducts to lead to discoveries that will fuel new products or procedures is known as _____________________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. A Mature Café (Scenario) Sarah has been growing and operating her café in an upscale neighbourhood. She is happy with how the business has continued to increase in revenues as her customer base has become loyal over the years. She has just over 30 employees, two of whom are managers. The lease on the space is coming up for renewal and this has brought up the notion of leaving the business and exploring other interests she has in travelling through Africa and Southeast Asia. Sarah has worked hard and she wants to be sure she gets as much out of the business as she put into it. Another factor is the increasing competition in the area and the sinking feeling she has that it will be next to impossible to differentiate her business from the big chains opening on several street corners. Her fear is that her sales may have plateaued and there in fact will be a decrease in sales in the near future. -It is difficult for Sarah to sell her business, as it would be for many entrepreneurs. She has created it from nothing and sees all of her heart and soul in the venture. She has consoled herself that it is at least worth a lot of money-perhaps enough for her to retire on (and she is only 42). She needs to be sure she gets a(n) _______________ so she can decide clearly if it is worthwhile to sell the business.

For successful companies ____________ matter more than R & D in enabling innovation.

You are the entrepreneur behind a two-year-old firm whose main business is engineering and servicing road salting equipment. You entered the field via an innovation in salt distribution technology that reduces the need for environmentally damaging road salt by 25 percent and yet provides effective coverage in icy conditions. You are continually engaging in _____________ via worldwide sources to seek other, complementary innovations and developments so you can enhance your services to clients.

As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to retain the good employees you have hired. The main reason being that when talented employees leave a new venture, ______________ can be negatively affected.

In evaluating an idea for an entrepreneurial venture you need to examine the marketplace considerations as well as the ______________ considerations in order to obtain a balanced view.

Entrepreneurship is ________________.

describe the three main types of research that could be conducted by an entrepreneurial venture, with the knowledge that a venture could be involved in any one of the three and not necessarily all of them at any one time. Please provide a clear example (or scenario) that illustrates each of the three types.

The final step in the entrepreneurial process is _______________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. A New Subsidiary (Scenario) Philip works for a large multinational corporation with offices in 23 countries, 64,000 employees worldwide, and $8 billion in annual sales. The company was involved in several different industries: automotive parts, rapid transit systems, and recreational vehicles. Philip is the executive vice-president of new technology ventures. Philip wants you to investigate and potentially launch a business focusing on alternative energy systems. The first area you are to explore is the potential business opportunity of ocean tidal energy. You are to explore what technology already exists that can be exploited, what additional technology development is needed, and figure out the viability of the tidal energy as an entrepreneurial venture. -When Philip asks you to look at the potential viability of the business opportunity of tidal energy, he is really asking you to complete a ______________.

Shelley is very excited about launching her new business-providing customized and personalized umbrellas. Her business will be completely online, and she is convinced she has thought everything through. The last step is getting investors interested in her venture, but they do not seem to be as excited as she is. When they ask her what the business is about, she can speak about it, but her documentation is confusing. She is concerned that she will never find the necessary investment or financing to get the business off the ground. What is the first thing you would recommend Shelley do?