N100 Business and Management : Growth and Scope

Answer:

Part A: 

The method of developing a fresh product to the marketplace is often referred to as commercialization. In the context of the public sector, commercialization can be stated as the association of the intellectual property, delivering improved efficiency and effective gains to the government. At the very basic level, the increasing focus by the governments is on the free release of the public sector information, through the open data agenda. Public sector has initiated the economic growth process as the developing countries are caught up in the inhuman cycle of poverty.

Only through proper economic planning and public sector expansion it would be possible in breaking down of the vicious cycle of the factor of poverty and accelerating the economic growth rate. The public sector needs to expand in the basic heavy industries like the steel and other chemical industries for securing the formation of capital that crucially determines the economic growth rate and the generation of employment in the economy for attaining self-reliance. However, in case of the private sector enterprises they hesitate in making sufficient investment in such matters as they do not capitulate in quick manner and high profit rate. Besides investment in them needs high resource amount that private enterprise might not always be able to mobilize.

Public sector enterprises has a significant role in setting up of the industries in the regions that are economically backward where the existence of natural resources is immense but the region has remained poor. Public sector enterprises helps in balancing the regional development and produce income and opportunities in employment for the poor people across the country. It is also playing an important role in the promotion of the social sectors like the education; alleviation of poverty, healthcare and in ensuring supply of drinking water is available in all parts of the country. Both the government and the public sector need to play an active role in such crucial areas.

The public sector needs to be expanded for checking the concentration of the economic power in few hands along with countervailing power to some of the big private businesses. This signifies the fact that public sector should not remain confined to basic heavy industries and infrastructure but also check the materialization of the conditions in monopoly inclusive of the investment factor and the production of consumer goods which requires large scale production.

For the economic growth and scope private sector investment is essential too. Governments need to encourage the zeal in entrepreneurs and offer sufficient support to the investors. It is important in creating a perception of opportunities in business. It takes in those that can witness opportunity into w new country or sector for realizing high returns. It also takes into account the environment of business, including political and infrastructural that are being apparent as stable and sympathetic of rewarding in the risk taking. The good news for countries that are developing is that opportunities in making money can be created anywhere and governments should be able to nurture those with detailed policies. For instance, polices can target the needs of the business with the public goods. This takes into account the infrastructure like the energy along with transportation as well as the ‘soft infrastructure’ like formalities of custom and trade. The things that makes entrepreneurs recognize an opportunity has always been the hardest to define. Nonetheless, for the developing economies, 2017 would be made the year for the entrepreneur that might hold the key in keeping the growth of private sector well on track and giving them the required shelter or protection from the threats of the prices of the commodity as witnessed in 2016.

Question: Evaluate the Differences the small medium and large businesses make to  the economy:

This portion of the entire paper is going to deal with the impact of small businesses in the economy.  The small business practices of the entrepreneurs are not going to be understood in comparison with the larger one.  It is true that the small businesses do not generate as much big money as the larger corporations. A business is considered too be small when it has the employees less than 500. According to SBA (Small Business Association of United States) , the US economy is contributed with 99% f small business firms. Hence it can be said that the US economy is largely dependent on the small businesses.  In the end of the twentieth century 64 percent of the new jobs have been generated by the small businesses. Local economies are highly influenced by the small businesses especially in the countries lie USA and Australia (kansascityfed.org 2017).

Small Businesses and the Future of Economy:

As per the report published by the SBA pertaining to the condition of the small businesses in the United States, it can b e stated that the small businesses can provide huge scope of immediate employment thus creating a realm of its understanding of general issues such as employment scope, creating huge opportunity of investment. One of the main reasons that the small businesses are highly encouraged in the developed and developing countries is that most of them belong to the service sectors.  Service sectors have direct impact upon the economy of a nation as well as the entire world (rba.gov.au 2017).  Following data show how small business has been effectively influencing the national and international economy:

As per the understanding of the aforementioned data it can be said that, though the corporations have huge impact upon the development and growth of a economy, the basic structure is made by the small businesses.

Question: Explore and examine different lines of arguments relating to entrepreneurial characteristics. 

This portion of the assignment delves into the investigation of the entire entrepreneurial characteristics in small, medium and large business sectors. As a matter of fact the basic requirement of the entrepreneurial discussion it has to be confirmed- the differences among the entrepreneurs in different working sectors.  This portion of the entire report is going to bring into the fact of line of argument and the situational factors that determine the entrepreneurial characteristics of an individual in specification with women entrepreneur. The report is going to cover the following points while determining the key aspects of entrepreneurial mindset.

1. i) Entrepreneurial characteristics and Mindset
2. ii) Skills set of the Chosen Entrepreneur
3. iii) Personal Entrepreneur Tendency

While assessing the characteristics of the female entrepreneurs,  the first name that comes in to mind is Oprah Winfrey.  The world famous actress turning into an entrepreneur with her show has become an idol having a net worth of almost $ 3 billion. Selection of Winfrey has  not been a spontaneous one  as her characteristic traits have been assessed through the behavioural pattern and driving potential that she has been proving through “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.  Her show has now become one of the most popular television shows in the world.

The realistic characteristics that she owns within her have to be understood in a different point of view. As a matter of fact,  she is hundred percent genuine in her dealings without committing false. The multifaceted roles that she has been playing in her show especially with her clients and the working members are highly praiseworthy. If we consider the entrepreneurial factors there are nothing more strong in her than the power to struggle against the odds. Being a black female entrepreneur, she has reached to the apex of her success without paying much heed to the social complexities in the United States of America. The Harpo Production Inc. has become one of the largest and most effective ones in the United States in terms of producing movies and television shows.   While assessing the skills of the entrepreneur the followings have been taken into consideration:

i) Characters of Optimism
ii) Character of Pessimism
iii) Character of Realism

 Optimism:

As far as the character of Winfrey is concerned, there is nothing more positive than her attitude towards the workforce and the business deals. s there is a common argument among the scholars and the researchers that  most of the entrepreneurs are optimistic. Optimism is something that has been a positive weapon of the leaders. In terms of making the most suitable decisions during the business performances, Oprah has been as great as the most sought after entrepreneurs in the world. The guts to say that she does not think herself a “poor ghetto girl” has clearly illustrated the fact how optimistic she is about her job in the organisation.  As per the cognitive characteristics of the entrepreneurial skills and characteristics it can be argued that Winfrey has been quite successful in making the changes she needed in her organisation. The struggle she has undergone during her childhood has put a direct effect on her character. However, she overcame all the follies and turmoil she had undergone in her childhood thus becoming a strong and optimistic character.  

Pessimism:

The chosen entrepreneur does not seem to be having pessimism in her character. From her early years of working in a grocery shop to becoming an actress she has been an idol for every female entrepreneur who has witnessed struggle and turmoil in their life.

Realism:

Realism is something that can be taken into consideration to frame her character into it. It can be stated that Oprah Winfrey has always been realistic in her nature.  Realistic entrepreneurial and leadership quality can be considered when a leader or an entrepreneur is likely to be realistic in making most suitable decisions. Willingness to take risks in making decision is considered to be optimistic; however the realistic view of an entrepreneurial characteristic can be taken into account when there is weaker positive tendency to work independently.  Creativity and control in risk taking ability constitutes the trait of a leader to be the entrepreneur in terms of realistic approach. Oprah Winfrey thus can be considered as an optimistic and realistic entrepreneur.  

Question: Examine different environments that foster or Hinder entrepreneurship.

This portion of the entire paper is going to examine different factors that influence or hinder the entrepreneurial decision making process. The factors can be divided into two different segments these are

1. i) Internal Factors
2. ii) External Factors

Internal factors are the ones that are conceived by the entrepreneurs within themselves. It is closely related to the behavioural traits that influence as person to be successful entrepreneur.  The internal factors are the basic skills or the setbacks of a person that has the possibility to the setting of the entrepreneurial plinth. Internal Factors constitute of the cultural aspects and the behavioural aspects of an individual to determine how capable he or she is to become an entrepreneur. In this aspect he main changes can be brought together.

Cultural Aspect:

One of the most effective impacts that determine the entrepreneurship of a person is the cultural one:

1. i) People who are traditionally engaged in an organisation has different attitude towards the decision making process thus creating an opportunity of the entrepreneurial success.
2. ii) The culture of consumerism has to be understood in a critical point of view so that there is an opportunity of the entrepreneur to determine the basic product activity in the market. In terms of the basic understanding of

iii) The culture of risk taking management is also a strong influence that determines the basic skills and zeal of an entrepreneur in terms of its marketing venture and sales innovation. This is strictly the internal motivation of an entrepreneur or organisational leader.  

Political environment;

This is the external environment that has both positive and negative impact upon the entrepreneurs. Political environment refers to the fact whether the political activity and the government policies have direct impact upon the role of an organisational leader. Followings are leadership factors in an organisation:

1. i) If the government policies are unstable, the direct impact upon the business seems to discourage the organisational practices and marketing ventures thus narrowing down the opportunities of the entrepreneurs.
2. ii) High taxes again put negative impact upon the entrepreneurial practices within an organisation. on the other hand, if the taxes are moderate the business practices are encouraged thus giving way to the entrepreneurs in understanding the actual business conditions thus creating a positive business criteria of its own .  

iii) Infrastructural availability in a particular region taken up by the government it has to be confirmed as it has the direct impact upon the business leaders who enjoy positive impacts.  As a matter of fact proper infrastructure helps an entrepreneur being innovative in terms of decision making and since a business deal need proper infrastructural assistance, it has to be confirmed by the government whether the business leaders are provided with grate support or not.

Economic Factors:

The economic nature of a particular economy also determines the basic decision making process of an entrepreneur. When an organisational leader shows interest to bring innovative context in the business performance, the economic factors determine whether the process is going to be successful or not.

1. i) Possibility of capital investment and the ability to put larger capital has to be determined through different business standards as they are highly proactive in terms of using the capital in different business sectors.
2. ii)  Economic slowdown also hinders the entrepreneurial development of a person. The great depression of 2008 caused a huge loss to millions of small business entrepreneurs who could not even recover the lost money. Whilst there is a sense of the basic understanding of the ongoing economic condition of a particular situation it is therefore needed for the business leaders, there are different issues that need to be shorted out during the business practices.
3. iii) an economy that is subsistence in nature hardly provides entrepreneurial facilities to the business leaders. As the basic criterion of the subsistence economy is agriculture, the scope of the organisational leaders is narrowed down.

Availability of Resource:

In order t perform business in an economy, the most important factor is the human resource factor. The availability of skilled human labour in an economy or the labour market provides an organisation with effective workforce that is basically an advantage for the entrepreneurs. In terms of the entrepreneurial understanding of the business deals it needs to confirm that the business and operations of a company is donr by skilled and well trained labours.

1. i) Human resource is nothing but the asset to an organisation. As a matter of fact, abundant labour in a particular region causes satisfactory amount of production thus creating boom in the business .
2. ii) If there is no availability of effective workforce, it is difficult for the entrepreneurs to handle the exact situation as the production level does not go up with the condition.

Part B: Leadership

There has always been a debate on the association between the management and the relationship in finding ways of evaluating whether a manager has it in him to be a great leader and whether the leader requires having good communication skills. Leadership has been stated to be the capability of a certain individual in motivating and influencing others for contributing towards the efficiency and organizational success. In case of management, it consists of unswerving and calculating a group of either one or more people for synchronizing and balancing that group towards the accomplishment of the goals (Nahavandi 2016.).

Leaders have brilliant personalities which are mercurial in nature along with having great appeal. They have always been the people who have been contented in taking risks and sometimes heavy risk. Their level of imagination is certainly very high. Trait theory takes into account the identification of certain personality styles that generally distinguishes leaders from the non-leaders. The trait theory is on the principle that leaders are ‘born, not made’. It is significant to note that certain characteristics were correlated with the perception of leadership instead of the leader behaviors or their performance and for that do not replicate the personal characteristics that might be related to the effectiveness of leaders. It has been studied several times that a leader’s generic qualities like sociability, charismatic personality are not only limited to themselves, however, the frequently held traits of the leaders can be collective by the diversified group of people who not necessarily become leaders. This theory is mainly based on both successful and unsuccessful leaders, and is largely used for the prophecy of the effectiveness of leadership. These theory proponents to the fact that development of leadership consists of recognizing and assessing the qualities of a leader along with screening of the probable leaders from the non-leaders and then training with those having potential. The ‘Big Five Trait’ is another concept that can be put into practice for describing the personality factor. The five personality traits can be stated as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

Difference in personality of manager to that of the leader is that managers has the ability of developing systems and get the missions done within a short period of time but leaders need to improve fresh ways of approaching issues for solutions of long terms. Leaders are innovative in nature, which is open to experience, eager to learn new things, imaginative in nature. For managers they are most likely to emulate solutions that are found somewhere else. At the time when new leaders join a particular group, they are highly successful in building trust, focus on the horizon for affecting the long-term bottomline and also focusing on the people. Leaders are generally compassionate and cooperative. A leader generally asks what needs to be done and why, but a manager simply asks how and when it is to be done, accomplishing the mission thereafter.

Leaders have always been people-oriented, whereas managers are said to be task oriented. In case of leaders, as they are stated to be people-oriented they inspire people for having assurance in themselves. They are generally positive in nature, having optimistic views of the things going around and the role they play within it. As per Renz (2016), they cultivate relationships with their subordinates and other leaders within the organization throughout their lives through maintaining the personal networks. Managers are said to be task-oriented people, often thriving at the level of middle-management, where teams generally focus on finishing off their assignments. Their responsibilities are stated to be based on the projects, having quick turnaround that needs management driven by deadlines. They have the habit of meeting the organizational objectives through the protocols, standard process of operating and disciplinary actions. Leaders believe in achievements, whereas managers focus on the results of the task.

Other style that goes with leaders is transformational and participative leadership. In transformational leadership style a leader generally works with his subordinates in identifying the required change, creating a vision for guiding the change through stimulation and implement changes in tandem. Participative leadership invites employee inputs on all the decisions of the company. The staff is being provided with relevant information related to the issues of the company with majority vote determining the action course of the organization. For managers their style is more of dictatorial, autocratic and transactional in nature. In case of the autocratic leadership, it is the individual who controls over the decisions all by himself and takes little input from other group members. Managers who are autocratic in nature are in the habit of making decisions on their choices and does not accept the recommendation of followers. For transactional leadership, the main focus is on the performance, promoting compliance by the followers through both the punishments and rewards.

Q2. Strengths and Weakness of managers in given contexts:

Among the three principle leadership styles- autocratic, delegative and participative- two of them are extremely people oriented. Delegative and participative are the ones that depends on the people, on employees for influencing and implementing decisions. Whether the management is deriving strong benefits or whether they suffer any sort of detriments from the leadership of people oriented depends is a utility of the talent, motivation and commitment of the staff and the ways it buys the goals and objectives.

Advantages:

In case of the people oriented leadership, the most energized party is the employees. Staff feels empowered under this people oriented leadership and the satisfaction level in jobs usually rise. Employees have this notion that they have a ‘say’ in the decision-making of the company along with the efficiency at the workplace. Through the process of employee feedback and different ideas, leaders at times develops a better understanding of their staffs, conditions at the workplace, enjoying some new ideas and suggestions for the developments. Hearing some of the most honest comments from the people in the trenches facilitates the leaders in having better understanding of the negatives and the positives.

Disadvantages:

At times when the employees obtain too much accountability without the guidance of the management, the duty of decision-making can become irresistible. The graph of the people-oriented leadership is rife at the far end with decisions that are ineffective, distorted job descriptions and ultimate dissatisfaction in jobs. This at times can lead to high turnover of employees, lower performance, decrease in profitability and dissatisfaction of customers.

Task-Oriented Leadership Style:

Managers of an organization are generally the task-oriented people who are in the habit of defining roles and setting of the goals for the employees and for themselves too. These managers try and make the employees understand the things that are required of them and manage their activities in accomplishing the objectives of business.

Advantages:

For task-oriented managers, their strength lies in the simplicity of purpose and accurate definitions of task. Managers are able to communicate to their employees on where they want the performance to be of the employees in attaining the objectives of the organization. They are the people responsible for organizing the groups’ tasks and ensuring that the group members have clear understanding of the roles of individuals. This sort of leadership style or managerial role is best suited for structured environment of work, like the enforcement of law and assembly line manufacturing, where repetitive processes results in standard high-levels of quality and productivity.

Weakness:

The weakness in case of the task-oriented leadership style is the fear of employees breaking the rules that may lead to low morale among employees, lack of creativity, and high turnover rate. Employees that are generally scared of breaking the rules might avoid taking risks, thus jeopardizing the innovative way of thinking. Eventually, this might lead to demoralization of the creative individuals and forcing them to leave the jobs in search for better opportunities. Retail and food sector business, which are highly competitive must react to external threats on immediate basis. It implies to the fact that employees in those industries should be able to grab initiative and take planned risks, which they might not feel contented in an environment that supports task-oriented leadership.

Situational Leadership:

Situational leadership can be defined as the situations in which the managers consider the in hand circumstances and acclimatize the style of leadership to it. Such style has been effective where managers implementing this leadership style tend to be more successful than the ones without it.

Advantages:

The advantage of the situational approach lies in the fact that it is easy to comprehend and apply in various company settings. It is generally prescriptive in nature, stating the ways a leader should act and accomplish the effectiveness of the leadership. It puts enough emphasis on the flexibility part of the leaders and puts emphasis on the fact that different styles are required depending on the situation requirements.

Disadvantages:

Situation leadership if applied into any management system in an inexpert way should be resulting in behavioral inconsistency on the supervisor’s part. Employers might be devoid of the idea of the type of response they might expect from the manager on regular basis, generating an environment that is full of uncertainty and fear (Hechanova and Cementina-Olpoc 2013). One criticism that is being labeled against the situational leadership style is that it is more of a technique of management rather than actual style of leadership. Managers generally have short term view, adopting a style of problem solving as per the specific situation that is short term in nature, whereas in case of leaders it is generally long-term standpoint.

Q3. How leaders and managers improve operational efficiency

In the present scenario, the structure of the business duffers a great deal from the traditional standards and the modern organizations are putting their focus on the most efficient operational practices for leveraging against the competition. Establishing an operations process that is effective in nature includes strategy development with some sort of error and trial, but the skilled operational leaders have the ability in shaping effective processes of business through employing few significant traits.

a. An Operations manager is Realistic:

A strong operational leader needs to understand that employees are important resource and can efficiently communicate with the operational staff. That takes into account the deliverance of the facts and offering productive feedback, but listening to authorized employees that are part of the same team. If an operational leader comprehends that the production is dawdling, augmenting the revenue of the company, the best approach would be to communicate with the employees in direct manner (Siegling Nielsen and Petrides 2014). Organizational leaders who are effective and efficient can impress upon their employees the requirement for developing and explaining clearly the reason behind such a call. If goals are not attained, employees are authorized in sharing with the management the relevant information for augmenting unconventional and achievable plans (Hayton 2015).

b. An operational manager focuses on Quality:

In the present scenario, the focus on matters like quality has progressed in ensuring enough value at the starting place. Instead of using supplier that has the rejection rate of 6 per cent with the offered parts, an efficient operations leader would always go for the supplier that has the lowest possible rejection rate, even if the rate charged by him is slightly more, it ensures satisfaction of consumers and longevity of product lifespan.

At times when the operational leaders vie for quality, it assists in inspiring their employees for striving hard in meeting the expectations of their leaders or managers. Anyone who has gone through the stories of the ways Steve Jobs operated in Apple would understand the ways his claim for perfection flocked his people in doing the things possible on their part in meeting those demands. Setting the standards high for himself and for everyone associated with Apple, Jobs was instrumental in taking Apple from a company once reeling, to the most important company of the world.

Focusing on quality not only helps in maintain the productive teams by nurturing satisfaction in the products, but also helping in driving down the costs, assisting the organization in gaining the required advantage over competition. Leaders when deciding to invest in quality development, their main motive would be to meet the reduction in prices of the competitors, keeping it at par or at times ahead of the competition.

c. Operational Leaders are efficient at Supply Chain Management (SCM):

Supply Chain Management plays an important role in the company’s success. Operational leaders are working tirelessly in designing and executing the strategies related to supply chain that has the ability in maximizing the productivity, minimization of risk and efficiently responding to the demand fluctuations. Operational leaders and managers have started have started treating their networks of supply chain, comprising of the logistics providers and contracting the manufacturers as partners for aligning the goals and efficiently orchestrating collaboration (Chiabrishvili and Chiabrishvili 2013).

An operational leader would only be able to function properly if he has the knowledge of warehousing, manufacturing, transportation and logistics along with customer service.

d. Operational Leaders do not manage, they Lead:

At times when the organizational objectives are not been met would the leaders be delving further into the matters of operations in determining the areas of problem. Strong operational leaders work in making sure that the staff is motivated and encouraged in performing the best as per their knowledge and abilities through provision of tools that makes tasks flawless. One of the hardest part of being a strong operational leader is the fact that the identification of the team member who is struggling in meeting the performance goals. Employees who do not perform only reduces the efficiency level of their co-workers, where recognizing the probable solutions as remedy is the disparity between forming of trust in leadership and building fear for the position that is being held by one in tactical positions (Algahtani 2014).

Q4. Different factors effecting business environment:

A business entity depends on both the external and internal factors for smooth functioning of the organizational process. An organization tries the best possible way it can in regularly improving on its internal factors; it finds difficulty in altering the events course taking place outside the horizon.

The role of the company leadership is significant in matters of internal business factor. The leadership style and the style subsisting in the other company management might influence the culture of the organization. The positivity or negativity nature, followed by the friendliness level, communication effectiveness and the employee value are the implications of culture resulting in the leadership advancement. Companies often offer structures that are formal in nature with proper mission and vision statements. These are some of the forward-looking statements in offering the business for the decisions of the company and the activities.

Employee strengths are integral to any business process. Employees who are highly motivated along with hard working and talented workers are the ones who construct best results than the unmotivated ones. The processes of the business along with the relationships existing within the departments and employees have important impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of business (Avolio and Yammarino 2013). In a high performance work culture, employees not only possess talent but also collaboration of the ideas. Effective leadership and man management helps in creating a work environment that benefits all, both personally and professionally.

One of the most important factors related to external business matters is competition. Effective leaders and managers need to know the competition and understand the rivals work process. Competitive analysis is important in comparing the offerings and the prices of theirs to that of the competitors. At time of developing the philosophies of business and the products, it is helpful in using the potency in quality production, customer service, and operational effectiveness in building the competitive advantages in benefitting the customers.

For the wider community, they need leaders with the vision of being able to see potential development in certain specific areas. Business have started investing in areas that have major impacts on the community, like developing school programs, and offering assistance to the disabled person. Taking active participation in community work helps boosting the position of the company. Customers take note of everything that the business does for the community, which increases the goodwill of the company. People consider the consumer social responsibility factor at the time of deciding the purchase of products and the place to shop for the same. Civic engagement is essential in broadening the customer base of the company.

Reference:

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