“Doing Business: Male vs Female”

Man and women can change their roles, can compete, can develop skills characteristic for the opposite gender, but still they are too different.

Women want RESPECT while man want MONEY.

Both for men and women their job is the most important life’s objective, but when referring to the job, men and women expectations are divergent.
According to an overview of 7.000 managers and employees, men and women appreciate distinct things at the working place. Male entrepreneurs often place greater weight on economic objectives while female have a greater tendency to consider intrinsic factors such as: as personal enjoyment and the opportunity for self actualization.

What female managers want?
1. to be treated with respect
2. to supervise
3. revenue/benefits
4. an appealing job
5. self-accomplishment
What male managers want?
1. revenue/benefits
2. an appealing job
3. promotion possibility
4. decision-making authority
5. self-accomplishment

A number of studies have also shown that female business owners are likely to have training and experience in fields other than business (Belcourt, Burke and Lee-Gosselin 1991; Fischer, Reuber and Dyke 1993; McGraw and Robichaud 1998; Minniti 2004).
Others (Chaganti 1986; Hisrich and Brush 1984) have highlighted the fact that females have a propensity to perceive their financial skills as being inferior to those of male entrepreneurs, but at the same time, believed themselves to have superior interpersonal skills.

Moreover, when taking into consideration such indicators as sales, number of employees, and net earnings, businesses owned by women show more modest levels of performance than those owned by men. It has been found that female-owned firms are smaller and grow more slowly than businesses owned by males.
For instance, it has been shown that forty-one per cent of positions within the US federal government that command senior levels are held by white men, while only 26 per cent are held by white women. Of the 15,308 positions, an additional 7 per cent are held by african americans, while just 3 per cent are held by Latin. Only 9 per cent roles that directly lead to senior roles are held by women.

Modern society has accustomed us with the female as a negotiator, corporation president or politician. It has also familiarized us with men interested in cosmetics, out-fits, diets and fitness. But anyways, the common mentality sees the woman as a housewife and the man as the one responsible for finances.

References:
http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/
http://www.financiarul.com/
neumann.hec.ca/chaire.entrepreneuriat/Projets%20en%20cours/GEM/Articles/CCSBE05.doc

"The biggest obstacles to innovation"

Innovation means adapting, adjusting or altering that which already exists for the purpose of adding value.

As Paul M. Cook, founder and CEO of Raychem Corporation, said “one of the biggest obstacles to success is success itself”. A truly innovative company will never stop asking fundamental questions concerning its most successful products and services, such questions as: how can we make it a little better, more sophisticated and what are the ways that might cut the costs. Also, an entrepreneur has to know the market place for his product, understand the customers’ needs and define how easy his product can be reproduced.

Another obstacle is….competitors. Usually, the entrepreneurs are repeating themes and patterns which have been noticed during the past two decades. That is why they have to deliver a demonstrably better product at the same price of the competitors’.

One more reason innovation declines over time in an organization is that the skills required by managers to run a company smoothly are very different from those of an innovative entrepreneur. Innovation is an emotional experience, and you can train people technically, but you can’t teach them curiosity.

As to conclude, innovation capability depends most of all on economic flexibility. The U.S., with its entrepreneurial culture, relaxed labor markets, and free capital flows, continues to be the most innovative economy in the world.

References:

1) The Entrepreneurial Venture, Second Edition by Howard H. Stevenson, Michael J. Roberts, Amar Bhide, William A. Sahlman

2) http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/

"The Recipe for Success"

Behind any success stands an offsAprinAg who grew up with the idea Aof becoming an entrepreneur. However, why there are only few of us that succeed?

From passion to optimism, from leadership to ambition and adaptability an entrepreneur follows his road to accomplishment.

Firstly comes passion…

For me the most eloquent example is Richard Branson, the founder of the mega-brand Virgin. The passion of this entrepreneur arises from his appetite for risk, for a new start.

With around 200 companies in over 30 countries, the Virgin Group has now expanded into leisure, travel, tourism, mobile, broadband, TV, radio, music festivals, finance and health.

Then follows the optimism…

The power of positive thinking would say Jeff Bezos, who follows the motto “each challenge is an opportunity” is the engine of entrepreneurship. Bezos is the man behind the biggest library in the world, beginning with an on-line start-up which he named “Amazon”.

Amazon.com started in July 1995, and in 30 days, with no press, Amazon had sold books in all 50 states and 45 foreign countries. By September, it had sales of $20,000 a week. Even if the end 0f ’90 envisioned a decrease of dot-com businesses, Bezos continued his way with optimism, proving his critics the opposite. Amazon moved into music CDs, videos, toys, electronics and more. When the Internet's stock market bubble burst, Amazon re-structured, and while other dot.com start-ups evaporated, Amazon was posting profits. And, due to Bezos’s positive thinking Amazon.com is now worth 5.7 billion dollars.

Another ingredient is adaptability…

Maybe the most important quality of an entrepreneur is adaptability, which is vital for the growth of a company. A business should be permanently improved, refined and individualized. The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page knew how to react to change. Always with a step ahead from its competitors, Google exploits the available resources, becoming the most powerful internet brand.

Leadership…

Any entrepreneur has the attitude of a dreamer, the charisma, a well developed sense of morality, enthusiasm and the capacity to forecast. A good example is Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, a company that helps million of women to achieve their dream of having their own business. As an inspirational and motivational leader, Ash has created that attitude of “You can do it”, ranking top 25 most successful entrepreneur of the last 35 years.

The last but not the least is ambition…

At the age of 20, Debbie Fields was a typical housewife, without any experience in business, but she had a recipe of chocolate cookies and a dream to share with others. She opened her store Mrs. Fields in 1977, even though nobody believed in the idea of a business based on selling cookies, but Debbie’s ambition transformed her little shop in a 450 million dollars company.

References:

http://entrepreneur.virgin.com/

http://www.achievement.org/

http://www.angelfire.com/

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/

...Entrepreneurs and innovation …

As Michael Gerber said: the entrepreneur is not really interested in doing the work; he is interested in creating the way the company operates. In that regard, the entrepreneur is an inventor. He or she loves to invent, but does not love to manufacture or sell or distribute what he or she invents.
Innovation is the specific instrument of the entrepreneurship. Innovation creates a meaning for the existing natural resources, finding an economic value for them. Till then each plant is an herb and each mineral is another stone.
Among all the modern economists, Schumpeter was the first to inquire and concern about the entrepreneurship and its impact on economy. He concluded that the entrepreneur is an important figure that has an immense influence on the economy. The same thing is available for the social sphere. There are no bigger resources in the economy than the power of purchase. But the power of purchase is the creation of an innovative entrepreneur as Peter Druker said in “The new society”.

A good example could be that of an American farmer that had a very low power of purchase in the beginning of 20-th century; this was the reason why he couldn’t buy the equipment for his farm. Then, one of the machinery inventors, Cyrus McCormick, invented the payment in rates.
Therefore, the potential of making money out of existing resources is an innovation.

I consider that the solution for the stimulation of both entrepreneurship and innovation is a closer collaboration between the business environment, local service, research centers and academic environment. The exchange of information, resources and even employees between these entities should be accelerated.

“Why would I consider becoming an entrepreneur?”

Entrepreneur is the one who organizes and manages the business and undertakes the risks for the sake of profit.

The first reason why I would consider becoming an entrepreneur is the possibility to develop my own innovative ideas. It can make me fully appreciate the freedom and flexibility of being my own boss.
Another reason will be the possibility to make more money. The biggest difference between working as an employee and having your own company refers to money. As an employee you can have a fix wage which will only increase if you get promoted, or do some extra work. But if you own the business you have the possibility to gain more and more money as your company evolves.

Furthermore, being an entrepreneur also means working with the people you chose according to your criteria of evaluation. Working with the right people and understanding their creative-thinking can facilitate the set-up of the enterprise and its future evolution.
As an entrepreneur you have the opportunity to schedule your working hours according to your own necessity and expectations from the business. As well, the freedom to take decisions is also a challenge. You can feel a huge satisfaction when you realize that you have done something through your own efforts!
Another point is that everyday you have to learn something new in order to surpass your competitors and develop your business.

As well, an entrepreneur can help reduce the employment rate by supplying the labor market with new working places.

The one that starts a new venture doesn’t aim exclusively on material advantage; he aims to come out from anonymity that is very characteristic for the employees of an enterprise or an institution.
If you want to be known and appreciated for your work and merits, you have to be different…and have initiative.

Assignment Nr.2- Veronika “Module literature”

“What a star- What a jerk”

The article about Andy Zimmerman, the prototype of the bad attitude employee and at the same time the top performer made me think and reflect upon the actions I would undertake to face this Andy.
I came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with attitudinally deficient employee is to put aside the concern about the attitude itself and not even try to fix it, because it will do no good. A person’s core attitudes are well fixed by the time he is three years old.
I agree with the solution proposed by Chuck McKenzie, that is: “rather than wasting time on that hopeless strategy, carve out a role that lets him focus on what he’s best at: developing sales plans and selling”.
There is also a saying that confirms the above mentioned: “It’s easier to develop someone’s qualities, than to eliminate his weaknesses”. Another good idea is that Jane’s group could eventually become stronger and more creative in case it could deal with true diversity that comes with clashing personalities.

Another thing to do, in my opinion is to show Andy who’s the boss. Jane should directly tell Andy:”Stop behaving like this, it is unacceptable”, and tell the individual exactly what kind of behavior is required: courteous, cooperative and helpful.


The other article “Weird rules” made me think if hiring people you don’t like, rewarding failure, getting your best workers argue are a fuel for innovation.

I personally believe that applying these rules is extremely risky and these weird creative implications must be managed by ingenious professionals in order to succeed.
I think a huge attention should be focused on the elaboration of the weird rules that will probably work for your company, depending on its future goals and expectations. Because things that work for a company will not surely work for another one. And it is not so easy to ensure your company with an innovative workplace. First, you have to choose the right people with creative-thinking skills, then your innovative ideas should fire up their intrinsic motivation- their passion for particular challenges.
Also, a good point I agree with is to offer employees few hours per week to play with their ideas, the time when they are not compelled to follow the job schedule and obligations, but just wreak the imagination and creativity. That is, telling them what mountain to climb …but not how to climb it, and let them know that what they do matters.

Unfortunately, there are only rare occasions when owners of companies allocate money for innovative strategies development and elaboration of new concepts. They would rather apply the traditional management of making money from tried-to-true products and services.

References:
“What a star-What a jerk”, Sarah Cliffe
“The weird rules of creativity ”, Robert I. Sutton

Assignment Nr. 1-Veronika “The path to creativity”

To be an innovative company you have to ask for innovation.

The first thing I would do when starting up my own company is assembling a group of talented people and put them in an environment where creativity is expected.

A huge amount of time and a major attention would be paid to the process of recruiting, interviewing and training the stuff. I consider finding the right people for my company as being the most important factor. In an innovative company the right people are those who veritably serve their customers and are eager to build new products superior to anything that’s come before. For an entrepreneur is important to learn how the employees mind work, what they think about the creation of new specific products or services, what excites them and how they approach the problems.

In order to increase creativity and effectiveness, the company would motivate its personnel. And, it is not only the salary, bonuses and promotion that motivates the stuff…the most important factor is individual recognition. Every person, either they are business managers, or engineers, or machine operators, they all want to be creative and identify with the success of their profession and their organization. The biggest reward for the workers is to realize that they did contribute to making something meaningful happen.

Other means that will increase the effectiveness of the company could be: the rotation of the work places, the participation of the employees at the decision making process, the possibility to advance in job position, remuneration of the economic performance of teams.
I consider that the most important thing, when you start up your own organization is to create an environment that will encourage team work, fun and excitement, that will encourage the members to do things differently and better.