Enterprise Strategy Essay

This type of wrinkle structure that is E- demarcation is much than common in the developed countries than in third class countries to address products clients in the comfort of their homes is widespread in these countries, so Forejustin Passman the founder and wide distrisolelyed manager plans to make widespread this type of care withal in a developing country, Botswana. 1. 0 THE enterpriser 1. 1 The motivation for starting time the pedigree Pull factors ar exploiting opportunity and a financial bonus whilst the push factor that led him to open the crease was threat of unemployment.The braid factors He was pulled into this short letter beca riding habit he deficiencyed to exploit an opportunity to denounce gad take offs such as t commensuratets i. e. Apples Ipads, Amazons furthestm and Barnes &Nobles the nook. Consequently he obdurate to open assembly poor, a predominantly virtual gild, having little physical presence and high lucre presence. After a market wide of the markcast research he realised that approximately gadget stores in Botswana undermine internet trading and he distinct to exploit this opportunity.Citing close gadget stores are set up match to a scheme and are purposely designed to make customer experience as pleasant as possible that their websites unremarkably do non gain a similar system persona to them, as the sites are normally a glorified business billhook that does non engage visitors and in more or little cases redden harm the business image. Mr Passman was in like manner pulled to gain financial incentive he paid meticulous attention to primary research in order to weigh the benefits, the live and opportunities of his blast. The push factors The threat of unemployment is the only push factor that influenced Forejustin to start his business.At age 18 he performed poorly in his A-level results which caused him to fail to chase a business degree at university, an a nonher(prenominal)(prenom inal) than compromising and act other degree programmes that he lacked inte wait in he fixed to re-sit some examinations. Whilst in wait for examination results he did not want to be considered to be part of the unemployed so he started his comp any(prenominal) radical runty. 1. 2 Forejustin Passmans character traits Proactive- he is one of the hardly a(prenominal)er people who do not believe in luck, he seeks later opportunities other than wait for them to present themselves to him.He is withal quick and decisive, when approach with the dilemma of whether to go into just conventional retailing he decided and to befool the virtual retailing, where he has limited physical presence and a fully-fledged internet presence. His logic behind such a decision beingness that the internet is a necessary portal for mastery in the twenty-first century business and beyond. He is regarded by some a energetic while he considers himself easily bored because as he says he is easily divert ed to the most recent market opportunity.He is specially known as a man who acts and then scans from the outcomes of his action, and thus far his upbeat approach has subject areaed positively to advance the partnership. Visionary- Mr Passman has and had a clear fantasy for base lowly for it to get going a household name in virtual companies of Africa and to be an expert in Africas virtual market space. He wants company half-size to be benchmarked by any world-wide company exploring to invest in the virtual market tell of Africa. this instant this visionary flair has positioned him to be always at the right place at the right time and being able snatch opportunities within his vision. 1. MR Passmans personality type Mr Forejustin Passman is certainly spontaneous. Spontaneous because most of the things he does, he does instinctively. This matches positively with his proactive character trait mentioned previously in section 1. 2. He is a creative, lively and open-minded p erson. His humorous spirit disposes a contagious zest for life. Forejustins enthusiasm and sparkling animation inspires the police squad to work harder, his strengths therefore are creative problem solutions, disc everyplaceing in the altogether ways and opportunities, the conceptualization of new ideas on one hand, and not so much his concrete implementation on the other.To compensate for this helplessness he has staff of capable colleagues that takes over his concepts and runs with them. Spontaneous is the best classification of Mr Passman, other than classifying him as an introvert or extrovert which is a widely used approach of personality type definition, which in some cases is trammel to define peculiar individuals as Mr Forejustin Passman. 1. 4 Decision devising and leadership style Decision making style Forejustin Passmans decision making style is conceptual.He has high tolerance for ambiguity in that even when he was not sure how Batswana will respond to an e-busi ness he let off went on decided to do what he planned. He has a broad outlook in business, with the resident of truth being not tolerable Batswana are connected to internet currently, he deemed it fit to go earlier because most industries around the world are adopting e-business and even though Botswana is unbosom lagging behind the time is eminent for her as well to critical point in. His conceptual decision making style is in like manner evident in that he has found a creative way to cypher the local problem of segregated demand and supply.Where people in difficult to stint areas work a high quantity demand of some products from businesses to that extent they cannot come through those businesses to be supplied with what they demand, so he decided the customers will blackleg in the comfort of their own far away home and he will deliver the products to them. 1. 5 Leadership style Laissez-faire style, he is a leader who has consciously made a decision to extinguish cen tralize of power to the outsourced employees. He considered since the workforce is already talented and subject to do the job they must be able to positively manipulation judgement to respond to issues.Mr Passman patently sets out the targets and deadlines afterwards he charges the taskforce to do the work that is at hand, he is not very interested in how they do the job he just wants the work to be make in due time. Some eat up criticised his type of leadership axiom he is risking the success of his business by delegating power the employees but according to him this type of milieu breeds creativity, and that is what he wants from his team, creative ways to solve problems, which is a direct match to his decision making style he wants them to think like him. 1. 6 Mr Forejustin Passmans role within the businessForejustin oversees the review of pigeonholing Littles corporate strategy, looks for market opportunities, acquires strategicalal assets and protects chemical group Littles pull throughing competencies. As this organisation is relatively small, Forejustin has take this multidisciplinary role. His acquisition of strategic assets is done in order to change integrity their position in the market, he cites sometimes organic growth is in like manner slow for the companys vision therefore acquisition of some assets leaves an impetus to desired growth. The staff The studyity of his staff is outsourced, the employees are passing knowledgeable about internet business.Being a cheerful entrepreneur he advocates for a cheerful workforce because he believes if employees are happy that drives up productivity which in turn brings healthier profit margins. 1. 7 Entrepreneurial networking Forejustins decision to effectively network sprung up in the beginning stages of his business, he wanted a trademark for Group Little and he just happened to remember months earlier he sent his tough calculator to some young technicians one of them named Kabelo ha d recently graduated from a creative arts university of Limkokwing where he studied graphic designing.He had salve his contacts in case he need computer help but his contact wound up birthing more than just computer solutions but also a trademark for his business. This was a highlight to Forejustin that networking specially in imposing networking is a tool for success, his response * He strikes conversations with st vagabondrs, to get any bit of information he can, exchanges contacts with such an individual and then on a regular basis contact that individual until they establish a network that can provide him relevant business information, advice and support table services. Chats with movers and shakers of different industries in order to get some referrals and leads. Mr Passmans formal networks In this the entrepreneur is lacking. He has not signed up to any formal network which means his chances for cooperative opportunities with others are diminished. It is highly unlikely f or him to form new business relationships and last it is slow to solve problems because there is no access to a evidential number of possible solution providers as emphasised by Kay (2010).His professed inhibitors to formal networking are high membership fees of some formal arrangements. He also attributed inflexible structured timetable for some of these formal networks as a major impediment for him join as he prefers groups that are open where he can come on casual drop in basis. barely considerations are still being made to join the Diamond handicraft Company (DTC) network an outlet that informs and organizes exhibitions for small enterprises. 1. 8 Innovation at that place a certain drivers of innovation that prompted Forejustin Passman to pursue e-business and figure a, is quite very useful in illustrating that. Source Sheth and Ram (1987) Figure a Because of scientific advances, after the internet boom he realised he needed to adopt an approach in business which matches th e changes in technology. The change in technology alters the business environment. This then means that threshold competencies and basic resources are redefined, he implication to Forejustins company is, whatever used to be basic necessities of in(predicate) trading is now redefined to fit the current sturdy and continually changing business environment. Group Littles business environment is no longer just about having the right gadgets, it is also about close interaction with customers and widespread, effective market therefore Mr Passman had to approach service delivery differently. Competition for selling gadgets has intensified, with Incredible Connections, Hi-Fi, Game and other gadgets stores exerting pressure, Group Little had to distinguish itself by going online.Understanding that service delivery is directly related to the customers psyche he found it fit to put out technical products in a scientific platform such as the internet which sends a message to customers of t echnological proficiency. He also had to innovate since customer needs are oft changing consequently he had to effectively address them. The weakness of his advance(a) approach scour though innovation is commendable and obtaining ideas from the international count is encouraged it is evident Forejustin Passman has failed to address the contextualization of this worldwide trend.His payment outlets for instance should have been modified to fit the conventional payment outlets other than just adopting the internationally proclaimed payment system PayPal. 2. 0 The enterprise 2. 1 lineage strategy According to Meyer (2010) strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term. General enterprise strategy E comminglent strategy is Group Littles adopted strategy. Having considered the high turbulence in the industry he trades in Mr Passman decided to use this approach to engineer his business. This strategy has been adopted since this industry is uncertainty and innovation based.It allows frequent feedback on the business environment which in turn permits reallocation of resources to address any information that is standard about any changes in the business external environment. Operations strategy Figure b Sourceibbusinessandmanagement. com(2012) Using Michael Porters generic model figure b above, Forejustin has opted differentiation operational strategy. In this strategy unique attributes that are valued by customers and which are perceived to be better than the gadgets of the competition are intensively adopted by Group Little.This company has the following internal strengths to make this differentiation strategy successful * Highly skilled and creative development team. * Strong sales team with the ability to successfully communicate the perceived strengths of the gadgets The risks linked with this strategy accept imitation by competitors and changes in customer tastes. In concomitant, a range of firms pursuing focus strategies may b e able to achieve even greater differentiation in their market segments. 2. 2 E-businessAs Group Little is a typical example of an e-business it is quite instructive to use the SWOT model to try the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats this organisation it has Strengths Global leave to marketing. Since the web is an international platform Group Littles marketing is not just limited to local media and advertising opportunities it spreads out to other regions. There is improved customer interaction. The customer and the enterprise meet in the comfort zone of the customer, therefore the customer can openly offer ideas, orders and even complaints all this will better Group Littles service delivery.Weaknesses Security customers are always concerned with the integrity of their payments, most shy away from revealing confidential bank information in the web, which costs Group Little significantly. The other weakness is the customer has no idea of the quality and physical conditi on of the gadgets it is very common for discrepancies to exist between what sites advertise and the actual product. Opportunities New technologies surfacing could open up internet accessibility in Botswana which will be advantageous to Forejustins company since the critics argument pivots around this matter.Group Little also has prospects on cutting down local competition. As local competition has not adequately used the online trading space which can give Group Little an online competitive advantage if Forejustin Passman chooses to invest significantly to develop this area. Threats boloney given that there are some individuals that are out to shit for financial gain are always Mr Passmans concern, they may delusive Group Littles website and deceive the customers. Changes in law and enactment are always a threat.Regulatory authorities to protect customers from thespian they may place laws and regulations that will stifle Group Littles competitiveness. 2. 3 Organisational cultur e This has been defined as, a system of shared actions, set and beliefs that develop within an organisation and guides the behaviour. This is as cited by Uhl-Bien et al. (2010). Forejustin Passman has directed Group Little culture, one of the shared values is the no Sunday policy. In this Forejustin has reflected his Christian beliefs and his philosophy of people forward profit into the corporations culture.His belief in God prompts him to keep the Sabbath which to him is Sunday and his people before profits philosophy leads him to protect their wellbeing by giving them rest on Sunday. both order placed on Sunday is accompanied on Monday by rejuvenated and more productive employees. This has its obvious disadvantages such as foregone sales but Mr Passman believes his policy is beneficial to all parties involved. When work is on between Monday to Saturday the team is relaxed and open, this as Forejustin says allows for conception of creative ideas.Any facet that stifles creativi ty is minimized be it the tangible such as tables or chairs or the intangible aspect like a intellectual attitude that stigmatizes mistakes. This culture solves two important issues external adaptation, which deals with reaching goals how to reach those goals and if members have developed this freedom to make mistakes they can effectively guide their day-to-day activities. It also solves the issue of internal integration, members can easily merge and share ideas when mistakes are not stigmatized and this leads to greater productivity. . 4 Critical success factors of his business Branding Forejustins Group Little has to create a check that appeals to the African technologically adept. Now as asserted by Perry (2009) a brand is more than just a corporate image it is an intangible asset that provokes emotional responses from individuals which presents a sustainable competitive advantage. This entrepreneur must position his companys brand to be able to leverage from being one of Bots wanas few companies that are perpetrate to successful internet trading.Little is known of Group Little but this is an incentive not a deterrent because the brand can be driven in any direction that Forejustin sees proper to execute his vision. Even though his company was registered with the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property in 2009, not long ago every product and or service he introduces must align to the strategy of the company he has to monitor Group Littles identity, as the perception portrayed to customers over these few forms is the one that affords the company to leverage on the brand premium.Realising that the companys brand was its critical success factor efforts to protect his brand symbol from infringement were undertook he decided to copyright the brand symbol. diffusion Comprehending their need for effective systems, Group Little has rationalized their statistical distribution systems to enhance capital punishment of their products. As an attempt to en hance the logistics execution and capabilities Mr Passman decided to form a synergy with Botswana Couriers.This he decided to do in order to animate delivery of the gadgets sold, in contrast to sending the orders via Botswana Post with their renowned incompetency he decided to solidify his distribution by having an exclusive sympathy with Couriers. As Meyer (2010) asserts exclusive distributor agreements will constitute a major impediment to the distributors if the distributor wants to switch from the commitment. In this synergy Group Little is offered discounts because of the volume of gadgets it trades around the country and basic efficiency in the distribution of the products is greatly enhanced.Technology It seems obvious yet still noteworthy that Group Little has technology as their trading platform has to remain on vigilant and aware of new technology developments. Most gadgets they sell use mobile applications, applications are pieces of software that are designed to fulfi l a particular purpose, for Group Little that purpose simply is to make comfortable access to its websites content and increase sales, therefore Group Little is in the process of having their own application.The entrepreneur has looked at engaging a company named Bright labs which operates in Tlokweng for the development of Group Littles very own mobile application this will enable those who have bought these gadgets to also download the application and then browse for more products from Mr Forejustin Passmans Group Little. 2. 5 Conclusion Forejustin Passmans Group Littles performance has been average, but if he can put measures in place to direct its strategy the company will realise its potential to become a benchmark e-business in Botswana and even in Africa.He simply needs to re-assess who he is and what Group Little is, a point of focus (the target market to approach, how he is going to approach that market). In addition he is required to solidify his networks as this is one b usiness competence he has ignored and it will ultimately cost him and his business from evolution from being a small medium enterprise to being the project benchmark multinational. Contextualisation of Group Littles business model also can provide an impetus its success as well, Mr Passman shall consider adopting traditional transaction means in order not to inhibit his business from reaching every possible customer.Bibliography Books 1. Meyer, R, Wit, B, (2010), Strategy-process, content, context an international perspective, 4ed, Hampshire Cengage learning EMEA 2. Perry, B, (2009), opening operations, Oxford Cima publishing 3. Uhl-Bien. M, Schermerhorn J. R. , Hunt . J G, Osborn R. N, (2010), Organisational behaviour, Hoboken John Wiley & Sons 4. Kay. F, (2010), Successful networks, capital of the United Kingdom Kogan Page 5. Yves, L, Goz, G. H, (1998), Alliance Advantage-The art of creating value through partners, Boston Harvard business School Press. 6. Sugars. B, (2012), Super Size your sales, the entrepreneur, August, p. 2 7. Bessant J, Tidd J,(2011), innovation and entrepreneurship, 2ed, Sussex John Wiley and sons 8. Moon. R, Gee. S, (2012), Creating business opportunity, Hampshire Palgrave Macmillan 9. Mullins L. J, (2010), management & organisational behaviour, 9ed, Essex Prentice Hall Websites 10. Multiply (2012) Spontaneous idealist online Available from http//mirau. multiply. com/journal/item/116/My- face-to-faceity-Type-Spontaneous , accessed 14 December 2012 Appendix Personal reflection Studying real entrepreneurs and real companies always equips I as the student beyond lecture content.The study of this enterprise and Mr Forejustin Passman was a channelise because I got to know interesting real aspects about business, I have learnt when in real business some academic theories will have to be set aside and suspended to deal with the challenges of real business. The more I researched I understood what differentiates successful entrepren eurs and unsuccessful entrepreneurs and that content I learnt were not part of the assignment requisite but I did learn This module lectures are also noteworthy, I figured this was a anadiplosis of Enterprise anagement I did in my second year, so lectures consisted of emphasis of year two material. Even though the material is more or less the same as of second year the assessment was interestingly structured, it was strategic rather than operational that seems like an obvious comment but this has truly marked the difference in our approach. We were no longer just coverage facts, concepts and academic theories we had to apply and use our groomed understanding to critically analyse the business case.