Charecteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur:

• Term applied to a personality who is willing to do a new venture/enterprise + takes responsibility for the outcome.

Leadership:

• Capacity to lead, guide and show direction

Calculated risks:

• Risk decisions based on a careful comparison of risks against rewards expected from a decision..

Innovation:

• New ideas bought to the market

Mentor:

• An experienced advisor, to be there when needed.

Social entrepreneur:

• Those who use their business skills to try and make the world a better place.
• E.g. FareShare
  

Ethics:

• Rules or standards governing the conduct of a business
• Moral code. What is right and wrong.

Amoral firm:

• Sets to win at all costs, has no morals

Responsive firm:

• Accepts that being ethical can pay off.
  

Ethically engaged:

• Wants to be ethical, but isn't fully integrated into their business culture.

Ethical firm:

• Ethics are core value and permeate the organisation
  

• Creates tensions between stakeholders, as they want different things. E.g. Shareholders want as much profit as possible so will want to be unethical, employees want a secure job, local community does not want pollution etc.

• Leadership=Show what to do
• Management=Tell what to do

6 key qualities of leadership

• Integrity- always behaving in a way that is consistent with your core values
• Dedication-hard working and committed to achieving your goals.
• Magnanimity-gracious in defeat, but happy to acknowledge the success of others.
• Openness- ensuring that no secrets are kept between different cliques, and being open to new ideas.
• Humility-not getting carried away with success and not showing arrogance.
• Creativity-finding new ways around old problems

Autocratic:

• Strict discipline
• Giving orders
• Old fashioned e.g. Army
• Tall structure (Many layer of management)

Advantages:

• Controlled
• Done how you want
• Higher productivity and efficiency

Disadvantages:

• Fear
• High absenteeism and high staff turnover= Increased costs

Paternalistic:

• Still autocratic
• Employees are seen as an asset to the company.
• Employer supports their employees
• "Father figure"

Advantages:

• Higher morale
• Higher productivity
• Still has good control

Disadvantages:

• May be too relaxed
• Perhaps low morale due to no consultation

Democratic:

• Employees are involved in decision making
• Consult employees, but decision is still at the top.
• Could scapegoat employees if things go wrong.

Advantages:

• Motivation increases
• Less absenteeism

Disadvantages:

• Can cause tension
• Decision making takes longer

Laissez Faire:

• Where employees are left to their own devices
• Does depend on the type of business. E.g. Creative individuals
• Might not work in TNCs.

Advantages:

• Employees are almost in charge
• Independent
• Lower costs

Disadvantages:

• Distraction
• No shaped vision
• No control

Resilience:

• Need to be able to bounce back from a bad decision
• Otherwise you may not be able to profit

Initiative:

• Without it you may fall behind a competitor
• Looking for market niches
• Take control of bad situations
• Getting the product into the market

Creative:

• Need to create a unique product with a USP
• Need a diffentiated product

Self Confident

• Believe in your own abilities
• Respect
• Must have self confidence, otherwise they won't be able to expand

Take calculated risks:

• Research it
• Respect it
• It will help the business grow
• Have a sense of danger
• Need to calculate it properly, otherwise it may be stupid

Hard Working:

• Dedication and meeting deadlines
• Long hours and employ less people

• Buys or takes food from industries that would otherwise send it to landfill
• 12 depots
• Relies on donations and volunteers
• Combats food wastage in the process
• Gives the food to disadvantaged people.
• Is a registered charity and makes no profit
• In 2009/2010 FareShare distributed 6.7 million meals
• Every day 29,000 people benefit
• Redistribution of food also helped reduce CO2 emissions
• Redistributes 20,000 tonnes of food

Most desired:

• Self actualization: Realising your full potential
• Esteem: Others respecting you, being part of a successful company, confidence, achievement.
• Love/belonging: To feel accepted, trusted and supported/ a sense of belonging.
• Safety: To be protected against events that could damage the individual. Safe from dismissal.
• Physiological needs: Food, water, shelter, good working conditions. Basic needs.

Basic Needs

• Motivating factors: Sense of achievement, chance of promotion, responsibility, nature of the job itself, recognition, training.
• Demotivating factors: Pay, working conditions, company policy, fear of redundancy, feelings of inadequacy.

Theory X manager believes that the average worker:

• dislikes work
• seeks to avoid work
• must be forced to work.
• must be controlled and threatened
• seeks to avoid responsibility
• isn't ambitious

Theory Y manager believes that the average worker:

• will seek and accept responsibility
• set themselves targets
• don't dislike work
• can be creative
• seek their potential

Theory Y Response:

• more democratic leadership
• share responsibility
• delegation
• use of quality circles
• development of communication skills

Theory X Response:

• Autocracy
• No consultation
• Piece rates
• No training