Exam 4: Managing Entrepreneurially

Curiosity-driven research and applied research are essentially the same thing: both generate new knowledge that can be used in some practical or commercially driven way.

Typically, entrepreneurs are looking to hire individuals who are both high-potential people who can perform multiple roles during the different stages of business growth, as well as those who connect well with the venture's culture.

To be an entrepreneurial venture, a small business must also be innovative and constantly seeking out new opportunities.

All organizations have had a starting point and, if successful in the long term, experienced one key thing in common: each venture has had to ________________.

Organizations that are started in response to needs within the community are known as ___________________.

Dwayne is 24 years old and has a degree in horticulture. He loves plants and wants to specialize in what he calls Optimum-Eco landscape design for condominium developments and office complexes. Optimum-Eco focuses on implementing a landscape that relies solely on local weather conditions, with less than 10 percent watering on top of natural rainfall. It also means that the plants, shrubs, grasses, and flowers that are planted are easily managed using a silent-gardening approach (i.e., no power tools), which supports living and working in a quieter environment. Dwayne smiles when people call him a plant geek! Where he is stuck is how to get the business off the ground. You are a friend of Dwayne's and understand what has to be done before a business gets launched. You tell him that he needs to articulate his idea clearly, on paper. He then needs to complete a feasibility study. describe what a feasibility study is. What are the key elements of a feasibility study? What is a value proposition? What are six questions that can be asked and answered by the study? Using the mini case above, provide two examples of how a feasibility study can assist Dwayne.

In a study it was discovered that the biggest source of ideas for entrepreneurial ventures is ______________.

The best time to plan an exit strategy from your venture 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. -It is rumoured that Philip has been directed to develop this business for the overall good of the planet, as a way of contributing to the turnaround of greenhouse gas and oil consumption issues. The company would be set up as a public trust, with all profits either returned back to the organization for further development or donated to specific organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. If so, this would then become a ________________ venture.

Growing quickly can kill a venture if the related stresses caused by growth are not managed properly.

A business plan ________________________.

In organizing a business venture, the entrepreneur must address four main issues: organizational design and structure, human resource management, how to stimulate and make changes, and the continuing importance of innovation.

In a fear-of-failure culture managers are hesitant to try new things in case they might fail leading to a stagnant organization. Alternatively, start-ups need ____________ culture that will enable the adaptive capacity of an organization.

One of the most important roles an entrepreneur can provide is that of _______________.

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. -Sarah needs to do some work to figure out what the true worth of the customer experience is to her clientele. She needs to clarify what her customers truly appreciate about her café that is not the same as her competitors. She needs to redevelop her ______.

Kurt has built his new healthy snack company over the past year into a viable business with six employees. He is focused on innovating the company's products to fit with the current trends among older population to lead healthier lives. He understands clearly that among other things innovation must consider creating _____________.

Max wants to be an entrepreneur but in today's climate it is difficult to come up with a totally new idea and build a business around it. Max is scanning the environment as well as actively searching for an opportunity. He knows there is one just waiting for him, but how to find it is his challenge. He would most like to come up with something completely new where neither the supply for the demand is known. Max is involved in the process of __________________.

In exploring the context of a potential venture, the entrepreneur generally does three things: _____________, ______________, and _______________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Growing a Web-Development Company (Scenario) Vincent and Alice are partners in a one-year-old web development business called Spy-der Web Execution. Vincent comes from a graphic design background and specializes in the look and feel of web projects. Alice comes from the computer gaming industry and is a highly experienced programmer and web developer-with a particular leaning toward Wordpress as a website backbone. So far they have brought in less business than they had anticipated-about 25 percent less. As a result, they are operating at just a little below break even, and it is costing them about $500 a month to cover expenses (including rent on a small office space where they meet clients). The situation is disappointing and was not anticipated by either Vincent or Alice. As with many businesses like this that are easy to get into with little investment, they did not do a full feasibility study or business plan. They are unsure about how to divide up their responsibilities (who is responsible for what), and therefore neither person is proactively going after new business, managing each project's budget, and determining even if they are making money on the work. You are now in the role of advising the partners about a number of issues. -Of all the key elements of organizing their venture, the two-person partnership would likely have been least concerned about ________________.

Along with organization design and structure, human resource management becomes more important as employees are brought in. The two key elements that go hand in hand and that are particularly important are ____________ and _______________.