Whenever we think of the office mode of working, especially in the Government, we are reminded of the word “bureaucracy.” Originally conceptualised by Max Weber, it is a term used to describe high specialization, rigid hierarchy of authority, elaborate controls, and above all – impersonality. It is a condition where the structure of the organization, systems, rules, and procedures are stringently followed. With respect to daily operations, a bureaucracy encourages efficiency, creates predictability and avoids favoritism. However, it is also true that bureaucracy is often considered by many as counter-productive. It is perceived as a cage of regulations from which no one can escape.
Here’s what John Sculley III, an American businessman and investor, who was also the president of PepsiCo, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
Organizational Behaviour (OB) is an important concept in Management. It is a field of study that researches the impact that individuals, dyads, groups, teams, and structures can have on people’s behaviour within an organization. OB attempts to deploy this knowledge towards improving organizational effectiveness. It deals with the three determinants of behaviour in organizations: Individuals, Groups and Structure – and then applies this knowledge to make organizations work more effectively. In a nutshell, the subject is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how their behaviour affects the organization’s performance.
Here’s what Jennifer Griffith‘s (an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior) work involves:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
Your performance depends, to a large extent, upon your mindset – if you think you can do it, you will be able to do it. All aspiring young entrepreneurs require a mindset that is different from the mindset of a typical employee working in a corporate job. It is all related to one’s thinking and attitude!
If an employee is happy with his/her job content, able to earn an above-average salary every month and still able to save some money for the future – they will generally be considered satisfied with their career prospects. That is an employee’s comfort zone. However, this is not the case with an entrepreneur! An entrepreneur will love to operate with more and more degrees of freedom rather than looking for any kind of security or zone of comfort. An entrepreneur should find their comfort zone in being uncomfortable – chasing opportunities, doing innovations, and striving to create value for their customers and other stakeholders.
The concept of entrepreneurship caught momentum during the mid-1990s with the success of Microsoft and Apple — both companies were started on a small scale and grew into the largest enterprises in the world.
The mention of an entrepreneur usually makes one think of a “technopreneur“. Whereas the most prominent and successful entrepreneurs have emerged from the IT sector, it is not that entrepreneurial opportunities do not exist in other domains. So many successful entrepreneurs have originated from manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and other industries too!
There are certain universal traits in all the entrepreneurs. These have been listed below:
Entrepreneurs are strong-willed individuals who have high resilience, meaning — they are not easily discouraged from what they want to accomplish. They exhibit a never-say-die attitude.
Good entrepreneurs are effective and quick decision-makers. They very well understand that there is no result unless you make a fast decision. Once the decision is taken, they follow it up with a prompt action to implement that decision.
Good entrepreneurs always take responsibility for their decisions, actions, and outcomes. They do not blame other persons (or circumstances) for their failures and/or wrong actions. They seldom react – instead, they give a proactive response.
Entrepreneurs believe in intelligent risk-taking. They take calculated risks that will pan out in the long run.
Entrepreneurs are not afraid of failures – they hold the attitude, “I did not fail, my project failed.” Failures are their learning opportunities and stepping stones to success.
Entrepreneurs often operate outside their comfort zone.
Entrepreneurs possess a visionary mindset that allows an individual to see the value of a business idea before and ahead of other individuals.
Entrepreneurs demonstrate mental ability, agility, quick thinking, flexibility, tenacity, and a sense of productivity.
Entrepreneurs possess excellent problem-solving skills, and this provides them with a feeling of personal enhancement.
Entrepreneurs have an adaptive attitude and are open to learning new things – they have an enthusiastic attitude towards learning. Entrepreneurs will not mind learning even from their competitors.
Entrepreneurs are open to embracing new technologies, love research and experimentation to create new and innovative offerings for their markets.
Let me end the blog-post with the motivational words ofJack Ma Yun, who is a Chinese business magnate, investor and the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group:
Corporate Governance is the system of rules, procedures, processes, and systems by which a company is directed and controlled. Adhering to good governance practices brings about an excellent balance in the interests of a company’s many stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, management, suppliers, financiers, government, and the community. Since corporate governance also provides the structure for attaining a company’s objectives, it incorporates practically every aspect of management – planning, strategizing, instituting effective control systems, performance measurement and corporate disclosure.
Here’s what Dominic Cadbury, a British businessman and member of the Cadbury chocolate manufacturing dynasty, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
Decisions and the process of decision making are fundamental to all management processes. But it is an inescapable fact of both our work-life and our personal life. It involves making a judgement — sometimes a crucial judgement — between two or more alternatives or options. The decision-making process generally comprises steps like identification, analysis, assessment, choice, and planning. To arrive at a decision, a manager must define the purpose or the problem clearly, list the options available, choose between the options and then turn that choice into action. Sometimes, the decision to choose what not to do becomes as important!
Here’s what Denise Moreland,author of ‘Management Culture’, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
This is a new segment on my blog called #StoryoftheMonth. The idea is to bring forward short stories, fables, and anecdotes, that have a moral or insight for the delight of my readers! So, make sure you look out for these stories once every month!
The following story was contributed by my friend and an avid reader of the blog: Unnikrisnan Nair. This story aptly brings home the point that we must be thankful to the Universe for what we have received in life rather than unnecessarily focusing on what we do not have.
This is a widely-shared short story called “The Missing Goat”.
It all started one lazy Sunday afternoon in a small town near Toronto in Canada.
Two school-going friends had planned a mischief! They rounded up three goats from the neighbourhood and painted the numbers 1, 2 & 4 on their sides.
That night they let the goats loose inside their school building.
The next morning, when the authorities entered the school, they could tell that something was wrong.
They saw goat droppings on the stairs and near the entrance. They soon came to the conclusion that some goats had managed to enter the building and may still be present inside.
The authorities launched a search for the goats at once! Everyone was running around the school campus in search of the animals. Eventually, they found the three goats.
But the numbering on the goats’ bodies suggested that there was one missing. They could see that they had: Goat No. 1, Goat No. 2, and Goat No.4. Surely, one more goat was missing and was yet to be caught!
The authorities were worried: Where was Goat No. 3? They spent the entire day looking for Goat No.3. But it was in vain! The school had to declare classes off for the students for the rest of the day. A loose animal in a school would cause even more chaos!
Instead, the teachers, helpers, guards, canteen staff, boys were all busy looking for Goat No. 3, which, obviously, was never found.
Of course, Goat No. 3 did not exist!
Let me extend this analogy.
In our life, there are many among us, who despite having a good life, always keep feeling a “lack of fulfilment.” The truth is that they are looking for this elusive, missing, non-existent Goat No.3!
Whatever the area of their complaint — a relationship, a job, or an unaccomplished goal — the dissatisfaction or the absence of something always tends to be larger than the presence of many other things in life.
Let’s stop worrying about Goat No.3 and count our blessings! Let us have gratitude for what we have and enjoy life in the same spirit. Life would be so much happier without the worries.
Don’t let the imaginary Goat no. 3 consume your mind and keep you away from happiness.
No matter what, enjoy life with what you have!
MORAL:
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
~Eckhart Tolle
Did you like the story? Let me know in the comment section.
Workplace ethics are a vigorous set of beliefs that differ with people. These are a set of values and moral standards that need to be followed by both employers and employees at the workplace. Such ethical acts at the workplace promote both employee-employee relationships and employee-customer relationships. An organization may decide to put such ethical and moral practices into writing or not — they are, however, meant to be followed. Ethical behaviour at the workplace may involve — abiding by the rules and regulations set forth by the organization, effective communication, taking responsibility, accountability, professionalism, trust, and mutual respect for your colleagues. These examples of ethical behaviours ensure maximum productivity at work and could be crucial for career growth.
Here’s what Martin Luther King Jr.,the legendary leader of the American civil rights movement, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
Post-merger Integration Issues (PMIs) – this is the single main reason for the failure of M&As in quite many cases. Senior executives and other key managers generally remain occupied with negotiations and deal details of M&As rather than focusing on the vital aspect of post-merger integration. The merged firm needs a leader who can guide the combined entity and provide a sense of purpose and direction to the entire organization. This, among other things, will require visionary leadership, the magic of effective communication, aiming for high synergy and the ability to address cultural differences.
Let us take a closer look at the following image with this in mind:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
Last week, I wrote a post about start-ups. I discussed the difference between start-ups and small businesses and what traits make start-ups unique. You can read it here. This article is a sequel to the introductory post.
Today, in this blog post, I want to discuss the various problems that start-ups face and elaborate on the possible solutions. The most common problems that start-ups face are raising capital, or failure of business model, poor human resource management and many other unforeseen challenges. But let me take you through these challenges in a sequential manner.
Developing the Vision and the Business Idea – The success of any start-up rests on, to a large extent, the right selection of the product and/or service to be offered by the entrepreneur to his/her customers and the market(s), the entrepreneur is proposing to serve. We call this activity – Opportunity Sensing & Project Selection (OSPS). To effectively carry out the OSPS exercise, an entrepreneur must scan his/her external business environment thoroughly to spot and exploit suitable opportunities. An entrepreneur must possess the ability to see what others cannot see. While others see problems, an entrepreneur should see opportunities. An entrepreneur can also connect with various consultants and advisors, dealers, state level and central financial institutions, various government departments (which work for promoting industrial development in the country), various trade fairs and exhibitions for obtaining new business ideas.
Raising Funds for the Start-up – After deciding upon the business idea, the next challenge an entrepreneur faces when starting a business from scratch, is that of raising funds. Trying to convince investors about something that does not exist is certainly a challenge – but then there is an advantage with the entrepreneur – he/she knows everything about his/her project from the idea stage to detailed planning. And therefore – the entrepreneur can use all his/her knowledge about various aspects of the venture to convince prospective investors, venture capitalists, angel investors, banks, and others to raise required capital (both debt and equity) for the business.
Marketing and Sales related Problems – This is a major problem area for so many start-ups. Entrepreneurs should conduct desk research (from various secondary sources) as also structured market surveys during their business planning stage to have adequate knowledge about demand-supply gaps. All-out efforts must be directed to capture projected market demand for the product in various market segments. Suitable studies on customer needs and wants, buying behaviours and preferences should also be conducted. Only after such studies – entrepreneurs should decide about their product and market offerings. Entrepreneurs should also work on their marketing plan and strategies suitably to decide on their marketing mix – particularly about pricing, promotional, and advertising strategies.
Business Model Failure – This is one of the most common causes of failure in the start-up world. Entrepreneurs are generally quite confident about their strategy to acquire customers. They assume that because they will build an interesting website, product, or service, that customers will rush to their door. That may happen with the first few customers, but after that, it rapidly becomes an expensive task to attract, win, and retain customers. To take care of such complications – an entrepreneur should stay in regular touch with competent advisors/consultants – who can offer necessary professional help in striking the much-needed balance in three crucial functional areas – operations, marketing, and strategy. An insider and/or a mentor can also effectively do this role.
Poor Management Team – Another common problem that causes start-ups to fail is a weak management team. Weak management teams make mistakes in multiple areas – like building a product that no one wants to buy, poor marketing management, ineffective customer relationship management, and others. Such poor management teams also do not perform well in undertaking planning functions, exercising controls, and strategy formulation and execution. To avoid such problems – the main entrepreneur should focus upon building effective teams at strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Besides, they should also provide for proper learning, growth, and training opportunities for employees.
Liquidity or Cash Crunch – Another major reason that start-ups fail is that they run out of cash. A key job of the CEO is to understand how much cash is left and whether that will carry the company to a milestone that can lead to successful financing, or cash flow positive. The only way to manage liquidity is effective working capital management in consultation with your bankers and the Chartered Accountant.
Product Development Problems – Another reason that companies fail is that they fail to develop a product that meets the market need. Most of the time the first product that a start-up brings to the market does not meet the market requirement. The root cause of this problem lies in the business planning stage when the product was developed for the first time. Ideally, a product should be developed by a multi-disciplinary team comprising marketing, market research, operations, finance, purchase, and R&D members – with full support from the top management.
Finding Good Employees – Business owners know how difficult it is to find a hardworking, trustworthy employee. Most employees want to work less and get paid more. Finding a good employee who will be passionate about delivering his or her services is quite difficult. Finding good employees is a minor task compared to the business challenge of forging your hired employees into a team.
“The competition to hire the best will increase in the years ahead. Companies that give extra flexibility to their employees will have the edge in this area.”
Bill Gates
Dealing with Competition – Competition is yet another crucial challenge that start-up entrepreneurs face when they are starting a business. Most individuals see competition as bad, but competition is a good challenge. It is a benchmark for creativity, the main engine that stimulates innovation and production of quality products at the right prices. Without competition, there will be no innovation and without innovation, the world will be stagnant. Competition keeps us on our toes and drives us to constantly improve our products and services. Competition can make our business lose its relevance in the eye of our customers and therefore – we must always be on guard.
Lack of Research & Development Facility – We all know that it is a time for innovation and creativity. Any business can fail if no efforts are being made to constantly innovate. The start-ups lack financial viability and face cash crunch always, therefore, they find it difficult to take up R&D activities.
Unforeseen Business Challenges
The following grid lists some of the unpredictable challenges that can crop up for startups:
Unexpected Legal Suits
Inconsistent Government Policies
Unexpected Employee Turnover
Bad Debts from Customers
UNFORESEEN BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Force Majeure
Loss of Market Share (to competitors)
Working Capital and Inventory Problems
Unforeseen Increase in Business Expenses
Mitigation Strategies
Here are some things that an entrepreneur can deploy to mitigate difficult situations in business:
Defining and understanding the problem correctly. State all the facts and major issues involved. If need be – carry out the SWOT Analysis to understand the situation completely.
There are a few things that you can do nothing about. They are not problems; they are merely facts of life. Often, what appears to be a problem is an opportunity in disguise.
Do root cause analysis. Find out the root cause of the problem – rather than treating a symptom. If the root cause is not understood, the problem will occur again, perhaps with different symptoms.
Develop Options. The more possible solutions you develop, the more likely you will come up with the right one. The quality of the solution seems to be directly proportional to the number of options (possible solutions) considered in problem-solving.
Decide on a solution. Do not delay your decision. Postponing any decision-making will never ensure that you have made a good decision. Once you have made your decision – decide on a course of action. Be firm in your action and go ahead.
Instead of getting offended or embarrassed when your product does not do well or someone badmouths your brand in an attempt to elevate their own, look at the problem as a direct route to connect with your customers or competition. If your customers are unhappy, correct the problem.
Involve all members of your organization in process simplification, adherence to lean manufacturing, and quality assurance programs. They should also be trained to practice effective cost and expenditure control.
I hope you found this article informative and insightful. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
References
H, Mayuri. “Mobilising Resources for Startups: Types, Problems and Solution | Entrepreneurship | Business.” Essays, Research Papers and Articles on Business Management, 4 Sept. 2018, www.businessmanagementideas.com/startups/mobilising-resources-for-startups-types-problems-and-solution-entrepreneurship-business/18188.
Kanchana, R. S., J. V. Divya, and A. Ansalna Beegom. “Challenges faced by new entrepreneurs.” International journal of current research and academic review 1.3 (2013): 71-78.
Value Creation means enhancing the worth of products and/or services being offered by a company to its customers. Businesses today concentrate on creating better value for their customers as well as for their shareholders (or stakeholders) who want to see their stakes appreciate. A value chain is a series of activities or processes which aims at creating and adding value to an article (product) at every step during the production process. The logic is simple; the more value a company creates, the more financial surplus (or profit) it generates. When more value is created, the same is passed on to the customers and thus, it helps in consolidating a competitive edge.
Here’s what Sandeep Aggarwal,a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, Internet visionary and philanthropist, has to say:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Let me know in the comments section.
In this ongoing series #GreatMinds on my blog, I am shining a spotlight on the important ideas that some very successful people keep talking about in their public life.
