Entrepreneurship Acunu Ltd - Assignment Example

Entrepreneurship – Acunu Ltd Table of contents Part One 1.1 Nature of the business startup 3 1.2 Business objectives 3 1.3 Vision and mission of the business 4 Part Two 2.1 Entrepreneurial and Non-entrepreneurial businesses 4 2.2 The case of Acunu Ltd 7 References 9 Part One 1.1 Nature of the business startup Acunu Ltd was established in London, UK, in 2009. The firm offers to businesses advanced software applications that support different organizational sectors, especially as in regard to data analysis: for example, using the software tools provided by Acunu Ltd, as these tools are incorporated in the software programme named as ‘Acunu Analytics’ a firm is able to check all parts of its infrastructure or to visualize data that need to be organized in the form of graphs/ tables (Acunu Ltd 2014, Organizational website). 1.2 Business objectives The objectives of a business can be identified if reviewing carefully specific parts of the business, such as ‘knowledge, skills and attitudes’ (Kozami 2002, p.17). Using the above approach the objectives of Acunu Ltd could be described as follows: a) the firm emphasizes on the use of information as a strategic tool for supporting daily operations of firms in all industries; in fact it is the rapid, even on real-time, process of information/ data on which Acunu Ltd focuses in order to secure its competitiveness in the UK market; b) Acunu Ltd has developed a unique software programme, the Acunu Analytics, which is able to offer data analysis support of high quality using advanced features, as described in the organizational website; the promotion of this programme, as the basis of its services, is among the key objectives of Acunu Ltd; c) Acunu Analytics, the key programme of Acunu Ltd, addresses businesses in all sectors; there are no specific criteria set by the firm in regard to the provision of its services; this means that the above programme can be applied in a quite wide business area; the approach used by Acunu Analytics for communicating with its potential customers can be characterized as generalist approach (Kozami 2002), not being limited on the basis of specific terms. 1.3 Vision and mission of the business A successful mission statement needs to be broad so that it cannot easily become ‘outdated if the business changes its objectives/ priorities’ (Lamb et al. 2008, p.35). Moreover, such mission statement would focus ‘on the market that the firm is interested to attract’ (Lamb et al. 2008, p.35); a description only of the goods/ services of a business would not constitute an effective mission statement. In Acunu Ltd there is no a clear description of the mission statement; after reviewing the organizational website the following mission statement would result: the firm aims to help businesses to secure their growth by using their data more wisely. As a concept, business vision is usually related to the identification of ‘a unique path for the business’ (Wenger 2007, p.19), i.e. a path that would make the business to secure its competitiveness. In order to be successful a vision statement needs to be clear and realistic (Harvard Business Press 2005). The vision statement of the business would be also derived from the organizational website: the firm aims to establish its position in the local and the global IT sector by introducing software products that are distinguished for their innovative features and their credibility. Part Two 2.1 Entrepreneurial and Non-entrepreneurial businesses Entrepreneurship is a concept denoting the existence of a series of qualities that are critical for business activities: innovative way of thinking and quickness in responding to emerging problems are two examples of such qualities (Fayolle 2007). In any case, entrepreneurship should not be considered as fully depended on personal characteristics; rather, it can be highly affected by a person’s external environment (Fayolle 2007). At the level of a business, the term ‘entrepreneurial’ is used for highlighting the willingness of the business owner to support the growth of his business (Chell 2008). In this context a business where emphasis is given on the continuous increase of profits should be characterized as entrepreneurial (Chell 2008). Towards the same direction, a business that promotes innovation for securing the uniqueness of its products/ services can be also characterized as an entrepreneurial business (Chell 2008). On the other hand, a business that does not meet the above two criteria would be considered as of non-entrepreneurial (Chell 2008). For example, a business that has the same level of profits for a long period of time, i.e. for several years, is clearly a non-entrepreneurial business (Chell 2008). At the same time, an entrepreneur is characterized by exceptional capabilities in regard to categorization, a skill referring to the cognitive qualities of an individual (Vermeulen and CurSeu 2010). Due to the above skill, an entrepreneur can ‘store and process ambiguous data’ (Vermeulen and CurSeu 2010, p.103) easier than a non-entrepreneur. At the next level, such data can help the entrepreneur to develop innovative business plans, a fact that would allow the entrepreneur to secure business success; for a non-entrepreneur the design of such plans is rather difficult due to the non-existence of cognitive skills that meet the terms described above (Vermeulen and CurSeu 2010). According to the above, entrepreneurial businesses are not related to higher risk, as commonly believed, but they are rather based on highly innovative strategies, a condition that helps these businesses to achieve growth quicker and easier than non-entrepreneurial businesses (Vermeulen and CurSeu 2010). In any case, an entrepreneur is characterized by exceptional skills in regard to the ‘identification of opportunity’ (Bjerke 2013, p.16); from this point of view, an entrepreneurial business is the business that is able to employ market opportunities for enhancing its growth (Bjerke 2013). For Urban (2010) also, a business can be considered as entrepreneurial when it is characterized by the effective use of opportunity and innovation in supporting its growth. It should be also noted that entrepreneurs are likely to be higher motivated in regard to the achievement of business objectives and in regard to business growth (Lal 2003). From this point of view, entrepreneurial businesses could be distinguished from the non entrepreneurial ones at the following point: in the former the measures taken for supporting the growth of the business, as related to the development of employees, would be clear (Lal 2003). In opposition, the non-entrepreneurial businesses would be rather characterized by stable performance and low employee morale since the low motivation of the leader would affect the motivation of his followers (Lal 2003). The difference between entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial businesses can be also based on the type of their strategy and of their potential to respond to the needs of the specific strategy (Chell 2008). More specifically, the strategies promoted in entrepreneurial businesses need to meet the following two criteria: a) they should be integrate, meaning that all their parts should be appropriately bonded and no gaps exist and b) they should be feasible taking into consideration the characteristics, including the efficiency, of the operational units of the firm involved (Chell 2008). At this point reference should be made to the following fact: the categorization of a business as entrepreneurial or non-entrepreneurial may be difficult in markets with quite distinctive culture (Fayolle 2008). For example, in certain countries the development of specific business activities by foreigners is not welcomed, at least not at satisfactory level. The hostile behaviour towards foreign entrepreneurs may not be related to the government but to local ethics/ culture (Fayolle 2008). In these countries promoting innovation for securing business success may be quite difficult (Fayolle 2008). The case of Wal-Mart in China is an indicative example. The firm’s units in China failed in understanding local culture and customers’ expectations/ preferences (Forbes 2014). As a result, the firm had to close many of its stores in China (Forbes 2014). Wal-Mart, so far, can be characterized as entrepreneurial businesses but this characteristic did not help the business to secure growth, a result of the critical role of culture in business activities across China. 2.2 The case of Acunu Ltd References Acunu Ltd, 2014. Organizational Website. Available at http://www.acunu.com/ Bjerke, B., 2013. About Entrepreneurship. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Chell, E., 2008. The Entrepreneurial Personality: A Social Construction. London: Routledge. Fayolle, A., 2008. The Dynamics Between Entrepreneurship, Environment and Education. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Fayolle, A., 2007. Handbook of Research in Entrepreneurship Education: Contextual perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Forbes (2014) Challenges Wal-Mart faces In Mexico and China. Feb 4, 2014. Forbes. Available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/04/02/challenges-wal-mart-faces-in-mexico-and-china/ [Accessed 30 July 2014] Harvard Business Press, 2005. The Essentials of Managing Change and Transition. Boston: Harvard Business Press. Kozami, A., 2002. Business Policy and Strategic Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Lal, S., 2003. Entrepreneurial Performance in Role Perspective. Abhinav Publications Lamb, C., Hair, J. and McDaniel, C., 2008. Marketing. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Urban, B., 2010. Frontiers in Entrepreneurship. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. Vermeulen, P., and CurSeu, P., 2010. Entrepreneurial Strategic Decision-making: A Cognitive Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Wenger, D., 2007. Business Vision: Beyond the Horizon. Lulu.com Read More