GM13
Entrepreneurial Management
Assignment I
Assignment Code : 2014GM13B1 Last Date of Submission : 15th October 2014
Maximum Marks : 100
Section A
1. Do you agree that the most important elements of an entrepreneurial culture are; creativity and innovation, empowerment, strong relationship, continual learning and measured risk taking? Elaborate.
2. Describe the human resource management issues with which entrepreneurs have to deal with.
3. How will you conduct a feasibility study for the following :
a) A good catering service
b) A book shop
4. What is franchising? Do you consider a ‘Franchisee’ to be a smart entrepreneur? Give some example of a successful franchising enterprise.
Section B
Case Study
Dell
Dell assembles computers. Originally assembled in the USA, they are now assembled also in Ireland, Malaysia, China and Brazil. However, from the start ,Michael Dell knew what the critical success factor for his business was. He used an expert to build prototype computers whilst he concentrated on finding cheap components. And the company still sources its components from around the world. Dell grew at an incredible pace, notching up sales to £3.7 million in the first nine months. The company pioneered direct marketing in the industry whereby systems are built to the customer's specifications after an order is placed, and then shipped directly to the customer. More lately, it has pioneered the development of integrated supply chain management, linking customers orders directly to its supply chain. At all the times it has focused clearly on a low-cost /low-price marketing strategy
'We built the company around a systematic process: give customers high-quality computers at a competitive price as quickly as possible, backed by great service.'
Each division in Dell is tasked to continuously improve efficiency and reduce costs, and workers undertake extensive training through its team-based Business Process Improvement programme. This is aimed at not only reinforcing the importance of cost reduction, but also putting in place processes and procedures that allow efficiency savings , giving the team control over implementing new ideas. As Dell says, 'Empower workers with the tools to make a difference and the innovation will follow.' Productivity at Dell, measured by the number of computers built per employee, has increased 240% in the last five years.
Dell was a pioneer of e-business. What makes Dell special today is its 'fully integrated value chain' - B2B2C. Suppliers, including small firms, have real-time access to information about customer orders and deliveries via the company's extra net. They organize supplies of hard drives, motherboards, modems etc. on a 'just-in-time' basis so as to keep the production line moving smoothly. From the parts being delivered to the orders being shipped out, takes just a few hours. Inventories are minimized and, what is more important, the cash is received from the customer before Dell pays its suppliers. These systems and processes are part of Dell's competitive advantage. They help keep Dell's costs low and allow it to build orders. In the 1990s, in order to protect this, the company started applying for patents, not for its products, but for different parts of its ordering, building and testing processes. It now holds over 80 such patents.
Dell has created a three-way 'information partnership' between itself and its customers and suppliers by treating them as collaborators, who together find ways of improving efficiency:
'The best way I know to establish and maintain a healthy, competitive culture is to partner with your people - through shared objectives and common strategies... Dell is very much a relationship orientated company how we communicate and partner with our employees and customers. But our commitment doesn't stop there. Our willingness and ability to partner to achieve our common goals is perhaps seen in its purest form in how we forge strong alliances with our suppliers. Early in Dell's history we had more than 140 different suppliers providing us with component parts. Today our rule is to keep it simple and have as few partners as possible. Fewer than 40 suppliers provide us with about 90 percent of our material needs. Closer partnerships with fewer suppliers is a great way to cut cost and further speed products to market.
Dell's market place is highly competitive. Dell prides itself on not only good marketing of quality products but, most importantly, speedy delivery of customized products - factors it believes are reflected in the Dell brand.
'The idea of building a business solely on cost or price was not a sustainable advantage. There would always be someone with something that was lower in price or cheaper to produce. What really important was sustaining loyalty among customers and employees, and that could be derived from having the highest level of service and very high performing products.'
Nevertheless, whilst Dell might not sell the cheapest computers in the market place, the price it asks must always be competitive and that means costs must be kept as low as possible.
Questions
1. How much of a generic product is a Dell computer?
2. What do you think of Dell's marketing strategy?
3. From what you know about the company, is Dell's competitive advantage based solely on its external architecture? What else might contribute to this?
GM13
Entrepreneurial Management
Assignment II
Assignment Code : 2014GM13B2 Last Date of Submission : 15th November 2014
Maximum Marks : 100
Section A
1. What organizational processes would reinforce the message that an organization is entrepreneurial?
2. Describe briefly any two
a) SWOT analysis
b) Environment Scanning
c) Competitive advantage
3. Give an overview of venture capital industry in India, today.
4. E-commerce has emerged as a new area of enterprise. What is the level of its acceptance and its future in India?
Section B
Case Study
Virgin
Virgin is one of the best known brands in Britain today, with 96% recognition, and it is well known world wide. It is strongly associated with its founder - 95% can name him. In 2004 Interbrand ranked it eighth in the global rankings as Brand of the Year. Research shows, it is associated with value for money, quality, good service, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive advantage. But despite its high profile, Virgin is actually made up of lots of small companies - 20 umbrella companies with some 270 separate, semi-independent businesses, most set up in partnership with other companies. This mirrors a Japanese management structure called 'keiretsu', where different businesses act as a family under one brand, each empowered to run its own business unit independently, offering help and support when needed. Richard Branson explains:
'Despite employing over 20,000 people, Virgin is not a big company - it's a big brand, made up of lots of small companies. Our priorities are opposite to our large competitors ... For us our employees matter most. It just seems common sense that if you have a happy, well motivated workforce, you're much more likely to have happy customers. And in due course the resulting profits will make your shareholders happy. Convention dictates that big is beautiful, but every time one of our ventures gets too big we divide it up into smaller units... Each time we do this, the people involved do not have more work to do, but necessarily they have greater incentive to perform and have a greater zest for their work.'
Virgin uses its brand as a capital asset in joint ventures. It is continually searching out opportunities where it can offer something 'better, fresher and more valuable'. Virgin contributes the brand and Richard Branson's PR profile, whilst the partner provides the operating capability and often the capital input - in some ways like a franchise operation. New firms are set up and sold off to finance Virgin's global expansion. In 2002, Virgin raised an estimated £1.3 billion in this way. Among these the biggest was the sale of 49% of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines for an estimated £600 million, followed in 2001 by a £75 million mortgage secured on his remaining stake. Virgin sold 50% of Virgin Blue, the Australian low-fare carrier to Patrick Corp. for £96 million. It also sold Virgin One, to Royal Bank of Scotland for £45 million, the Virgin Active health clubs for £75 million and the French Megastore business to Lagardere for £92 million. Virgin has also raised smaller amounts by selling stakes in Raymond Blanc's restaurants.
The brand has been largely built through the personal PR efforts of its founder. According to Richard Branson:
'Brands must be built around reputation, quality and price... People should not be asking "is this product too far?" but rather, "what are the qualities in my company's name? How can I develop them?”
According to Will Whitehorn, director of corporate affairs at Virgin Management:
'At Virgin, we know what the brand name means, and when we put our brand name on something, we're making a promise. It's a promise we've always kept and always will. It's harder work keeping promises than making them, but there is no secret formula. Virgin sticks to its principles and keeps its promises.'
Virgin defines its consumers as 'the public at large - anyone who will buy from us.' It defines its customers as 'people who are using Virgin products or services' and would like to extend its relationship with them, for example through Virgin Mobile. It believes its products and services are about making life easier - 'developing better value for money, a better service, challenging the status quo, and injecting an element of fun into what have traditionally been .dreary marketplaces.' For example, the airline industry, aims to offer excellent customer service and has consistently innovated in many ways like offering on-board messaging. In 2004 Virgin Atlantic was voted best long haul business airline by Business Travel and best transatlantic airline by Travel Weekly. Virgin Mobile offers one simple tariff with no extra charge in contrast to the complicated contracts offered by other mobile phone companies. In 2003 Mobile Choice Consumer placed it first, for the best pre-pay package and best for customer service.
Service quality is at the core of many of the businesses and this is delivered by staff having the culture of 'going the extra mile'. Staff are seen as the company's most valuable asset. They give the company its personality, shape its culture and innovate. Staff training encourages empowerment and challenges the existing rules and reinforces the brand culture. There are numerous activities designed to promote team spirit and reinforce brand values, including Richard Branson's summer party for staff. All staff have annual appraisals and a continuous service policy allows them to move freely around the Virgin Group of companies. They enjoy a group-wide discount scheme. The Group conducts regular employee satisfaction surveys and focus groups. It has staff committees and makes use of ideas/suggestion boxes. The company encourages employees to 'go that extra mile' by schemes that reward this, such as Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays' Heroes, Virgin Mobile Shout Scheme, Virgin Money's Academy Awards and the group-wide Star of the Year prize dinner. In 2003 Virgin was voted, by Business Superbrands, the brand that values most its employees.
Richard Branson now runs the Virgin empire from a large house in London's Holland Park. Although there does not appear to be a traditional head office structure, Virgin employs a large number of professional managers. It has a devolved structure and an informal culture. Employees are encouraged to come up with new ideas and “development capital” is available. Once, a new venture reaches a certain size it is launched as an independent company within the Virgin Group and the intrapreneur takes an equity stake. Will Whitehorn, Branson's right hand man for the past 16 years, says of Richard: 'He doesn't believe that huge companies are the right way to go. He thinks small is beautiful. .. He's a one-person venture capital company, raising money from selling businesses and investing in new ones, and that's the way it will be in the future' (The Guardian, 30 April 2002). In 2007 Richard Branson announced that he would be taking a less active role in the day-to-day management of his companies.
Questions
1. How would you describe the structure of the Virgin Group?
2. Do you agree that Virgin is now just a 'branded venture capital company?” Explain what this means.
3. What does the Virgin brand bring to a product or service? How far can the brand be stretched?
4. How dependent is the Virgin brand, on its founder, Richard Branson?
Entrepreneurial Management
Assignment I
Assignment Code : 2014GM13B1 Last Date of Submission : 15th October 2014
Maximum Marks : 100
Section A
1. Do you agree that the most important elements of an entrepreneurial culture are; creativity and innovation, empowerment, strong relationship, continual learning and measured risk taking? Elaborate.
2. Describe the human resource management issues with which entrepreneurs have to deal with.
3. How will you conduct a feasibility study for the following :
a) A good catering service
b) A book shop
4. What is franchising? Do you consider a ‘Franchisee’ to be a smart entrepreneur? Give some example of a successful franchising enterprise.
Section B
Case Study
Dell
Dell assembles computers. Originally assembled in the USA, they are now assembled also in Ireland, Malaysia, China and Brazil. However, from the start ,Michael Dell knew what the critical success factor for his business was. He used an expert to build prototype computers whilst he concentrated on finding cheap components. And the company still sources its components from around the world. Dell grew at an incredible pace, notching up sales to £3.7 million in the first nine months. The company pioneered direct marketing in the industry whereby systems are built to the customer's specifications after an order is placed, and then shipped directly to the customer. More lately, it has pioneered the development of integrated supply chain management, linking customers orders directly to its supply chain. At all the times it has focused clearly on a low-cost /low-price marketing strategy
'We built the company around a systematic process: give customers high-quality computers at a competitive price as quickly as possible, backed by great service.'
Each division in Dell is tasked to continuously improve efficiency and reduce costs, and workers undertake extensive training through its team-based Business Process Improvement programme. This is aimed at not only reinforcing the importance of cost reduction, but also putting in place processes and procedures that allow efficiency savings , giving the team control over implementing new ideas. As Dell says, 'Empower workers with the tools to make a difference and the innovation will follow.' Productivity at Dell, measured by the number of computers built per employee, has increased 240% in the last five years.
Dell was a pioneer of e-business. What makes Dell special today is its 'fully integrated value chain' - B2B2C. Suppliers, including small firms, have real-time access to information about customer orders and deliveries via the company's extra net. They organize supplies of hard drives, motherboards, modems etc. on a 'just-in-time' basis so as to keep the production line moving smoothly. From the parts being delivered to the orders being shipped out, takes just a few hours. Inventories are minimized and, what is more important, the cash is received from the customer before Dell pays its suppliers. These systems and processes are part of Dell's competitive advantage. They help keep Dell's costs low and allow it to build orders. In the 1990s, in order to protect this, the company started applying for patents, not for its products, but for different parts of its ordering, building and testing processes. It now holds over 80 such patents.
Dell has created a three-way 'information partnership' between itself and its customers and suppliers by treating them as collaborators, who together find ways of improving efficiency:
'The best way I know to establish and maintain a healthy, competitive culture is to partner with your people - through shared objectives and common strategies... Dell is very much a relationship orientated company how we communicate and partner with our employees and customers. But our commitment doesn't stop there. Our willingness and ability to partner to achieve our common goals is perhaps seen in its purest form in how we forge strong alliances with our suppliers. Early in Dell's history we had more than 140 different suppliers providing us with component parts. Today our rule is to keep it simple and have as few partners as possible. Fewer than 40 suppliers provide us with about 90 percent of our material needs. Closer partnerships with fewer suppliers is a great way to cut cost and further speed products to market.
Dell's market place is highly competitive. Dell prides itself on not only good marketing of quality products but, most importantly, speedy delivery of customized products - factors it believes are reflected in the Dell brand.
'The idea of building a business solely on cost or price was not a sustainable advantage. There would always be someone with something that was lower in price or cheaper to produce. What really important was sustaining loyalty among customers and employees, and that could be derived from having the highest level of service and very high performing products.'
Nevertheless, whilst Dell might not sell the cheapest computers in the market place, the price it asks must always be competitive and that means costs must be kept as low as possible.
Questions
1. How much of a generic product is a Dell computer?
2. What do you think of Dell's marketing strategy?
3. From what you know about the company, is Dell's competitive advantage based solely on its external architecture? What else might contribute to this?
GM13
Entrepreneurial Management
Assignment II
Assignment Code : 2014GM13B2 Last Date of Submission : 15th November 2014
Maximum Marks : 100
Section A
1. What organizational processes would reinforce the message that an organization is entrepreneurial?
2. Describe briefly any two
a) SWOT analysis
b) Environment Scanning
c) Competitive advantage
3. Give an overview of venture capital industry in India, today.
4. E-commerce has emerged as a new area of enterprise. What is the level of its acceptance and its future in India?
Section B
Case Study
Virgin
Virgin is one of the best known brands in Britain today, with 96% recognition, and it is well known world wide. It is strongly associated with its founder - 95% can name him. In 2004 Interbrand ranked it eighth in the global rankings as Brand of the Year. Research shows, it is associated with value for money, quality, good service, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive advantage. But despite its high profile, Virgin is actually made up of lots of small companies - 20 umbrella companies with some 270 separate, semi-independent businesses, most set up in partnership with other companies. This mirrors a Japanese management structure called 'keiretsu', where different businesses act as a family under one brand, each empowered to run its own business unit independently, offering help and support when needed. Richard Branson explains:
'Despite employing over 20,000 people, Virgin is not a big company - it's a big brand, made up of lots of small companies. Our priorities are opposite to our large competitors ... For us our employees matter most. It just seems common sense that if you have a happy, well motivated workforce, you're much more likely to have happy customers. And in due course the resulting profits will make your shareholders happy. Convention dictates that big is beautiful, but every time one of our ventures gets too big we divide it up into smaller units... Each time we do this, the people involved do not have more work to do, but necessarily they have greater incentive to perform and have a greater zest for their work.'
Virgin uses its brand as a capital asset in joint ventures. It is continually searching out opportunities where it can offer something 'better, fresher and more valuable'. Virgin contributes the brand and Richard Branson's PR profile, whilst the partner provides the operating capability and often the capital input - in some ways like a franchise operation. New firms are set up and sold off to finance Virgin's global expansion. In 2002, Virgin raised an estimated £1.3 billion in this way. Among these the biggest was the sale of 49% of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines for an estimated £600 million, followed in 2001 by a £75 million mortgage secured on his remaining stake. Virgin sold 50% of Virgin Blue, the Australian low-fare carrier to Patrick Corp. for £96 million. It also sold Virgin One, to Royal Bank of Scotland for £45 million, the Virgin Active health clubs for £75 million and the French Megastore business to Lagardere for £92 million. Virgin has also raised smaller amounts by selling stakes in Raymond Blanc's restaurants.
The brand has been largely built through the personal PR efforts of its founder. According to Richard Branson:
'Brands must be built around reputation, quality and price... People should not be asking "is this product too far?" but rather, "what are the qualities in my company's name? How can I develop them?”
According to Will Whitehorn, director of corporate affairs at Virgin Management:
'At Virgin, we know what the brand name means, and when we put our brand name on something, we're making a promise. It's a promise we've always kept and always will. It's harder work keeping promises than making them, but there is no secret formula. Virgin sticks to its principles and keeps its promises.'
Virgin defines its consumers as 'the public at large - anyone who will buy from us.' It defines its customers as 'people who are using Virgin products or services' and would like to extend its relationship with them, for example through Virgin Mobile. It believes its products and services are about making life easier - 'developing better value for money, a better service, challenging the status quo, and injecting an element of fun into what have traditionally been .dreary marketplaces.' For example, the airline industry, aims to offer excellent customer service and has consistently innovated in many ways like offering on-board messaging. In 2004 Virgin Atlantic was voted best long haul business airline by Business Travel and best transatlantic airline by Travel Weekly. Virgin Mobile offers one simple tariff with no extra charge in contrast to the complicated contracts offered by other mobile phone companies. In 2003 Mobile Choice Consumer placed it first, for the best pre-pay package and best for customer service.
Service quality is at the core of many of the businesses and this is delivered by staff having the culture of 'going the extra mile'. Staff are seen as the company's most valuable asset. They give the company its personality, shape its culture and innovate. Staff training encourages empowerment and challenges the existing rules and reinforces the brand culture. There are numerous activities designed to promote team spirit and reinforce brand values, including Richard Branson's summer party for staff. All staff have annual appraisals and a continuous service policy allows them to move freely around the Virgin Group of companies. They enjoy a group-wide discount scheme. The Group conducts regular employee satisfaction surveys and focus groups. It has staff committees and makes use of ideas/suggestion boxes. The company encourages employees to 'go that extra mile' by schemes that reward this, such as Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays' Heroes, Virgin Mobile Shout Scheme, Virgin Money's Academy Awards and the group-wide Star of the Year prize dinner. In 2003 Virgin was voted, by Business Superbrands, the brand that values most its employees.
Richard Branson now runs the Virgin empire from a large house in London's Holland Park. Although there does not appear to be a traditional head office structure, Virgin employs a large number of professional managers. It has a devolved structure and an informal culture. Employees are encouraged to come up with new ideas and “development capital” is available. Once, a new venture reaches a certain size it is launched as an independent company within the Virgin Group and the intrapreneur takes an equity stake. Will Whitehorn, Branson's right hand man for the past 16 years, says of Richard: 'He doesn't believe that huge companies are the right way to go. He thinks small is beautiful. .. He's a one-person venture capital company, raising money from selling businesses and investing in new ones, and that's the way it will be in the future' (The Guardian, 30 April 2002). In 2007 Richard Branson announced that he would be taking a less active role in the day-to-day management of his companies.
Questions
1. How would you describe the structure of the Virgin Group?
2. Do you agree that Virgin is now just a 'branded venture capital company?” Explain what this means.
3. What does the Virgin brand bring to a product or service? How far can the brand be stretched?
4. How dependent is the Virgin brand, on its founder, Richard Branson?
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