Ten Largest Management Weaknesses of Mr Sid - Case Study Example

1) An entrepreneur in essence is a person who has the necessary aptitude, skill as well as a person who pioneers change. Thus what is more important while discussing whether Mr. Sid is an entrepreneur or not depends upon the multitude of factors involved in defining what factors exactly determine an entrepreneur. Tracing the history of Entrepreneurship from Schumpeter would suggest that an entrepreneur is a person who places an emphasis on innovation. (Bird, 1988). This innovation can come in many forms such as new products, innovative production methods etc. This position has further been corroborated by the fact that Peter Druker described innovation as the specific function of entrepreneurship thus the first sign of the fact that Sid is an entrepreneur is the fact that he is an innovator- a person who invented something to enhance the flexibility of working within roofing industry. The so called Rail is typical example of the fact that entrepreneurs are always technically savvy persons. Creating capital is often considered as the most important activity performed by the entrepreneur (Thompson, 1999) and the fact that the assumptions made by Sid to capture 1% of the market is indicating towards the fact that he is going to start the creation of capital which would further increase his business as well as employing other persons to create further employment opportunities. However, what is most important to note here is the fact that just innovation may not be sufficient until and unless it is not backed up by the certain characteristics as well as motivations of the entrepreneur. Creativity is considered as one of the biggest motivators for the entrepreneurs to continue to carry on activities which are not only creative in nature but also have the potential to be economically successful. (Mosakowski, 1998). The so called ladder rail of Mr. Sid is an example of how creativity has been the chief source behind the fact that he continued to work on his creative ideas despite a negative response from his company. Thus from this perspective, it is also clear and evident that Mr. Sid is an entrepreneur. Finally, perseverance is the key in entrepreneurship. It helps entrepreneurs to keep going even in the fact of difficulties. This allows them to have the necessary motivational drive to keep pursuing their dreams as once an entrepreneur decide taking a chance than it become difficult to retract from the position and that is what Mr. Sid showed. Despite reduction in the sales prices offered by the major buyers, the rejection of the product initially, the problems in getting the necessary finance for the new and start up business all points towards the fact that as an entrepreneur, he persisted the most difficult challenges and continue to work on accomplishing the objectives set by him. Overall my position on Mr. Sid being the entrepreneur is based on his innovative ideas, new and innovative product as well as motivation involved in the process identifies him as the entrepreneur 2) From the available facts given in the case study, it seems that the only cornerstone present in the rail ladder is the fact that it has been able to technically deliver the product. Given the technical superiority of Sid, it is very evident that his new and proposed product has the ability to technically deliver the product according to the specification of the buyers however it lacks the finances, sales as well as a good team to make it success. Thus in order to achieve success in entrepreneurship, it is very important that the Ladder Rail must sum up resources, improve upon the channels required to market the product as well as the formation of a team which can ensure the success for the business. As discussed in the case that initially Mr. Sid has to does most of his work himself suggest that he was unsure of what kind of persons he require to make his business success. In order to fill the gaps, it is very important that it must come up with a good financial plan as it appears from the facts that Mr. Sid is not fully aware of what actual the financial outlay would be required. Further, sales efforts needs to be improved. The distribution channels need to be broadened so that the product distribuability is increased in order to provide the more breadth to the company. Finally, the team of persons working in the business also needs to work more like a team. 3) The Ten largest management weaknesses of Mr. Sid are: 1. Lack of effective Leadership 2. Inability to motivate others. 3. Lack of Planning 4. Lack of decision making. 5. Lack of skills regarding the employee relationship management. 6. Lack of team building skills 7. Lack of effective financial management skills 8. Inability to identify the resources required to take the opportunity. 9. Lack of network building – i.e. relationship building with major buyers. 10. Apathy 4) The initial assessment of the marketing plan of the proposed company suggest that Mr. Sid have made an attempt to address many important variables of a good marketing plan however there are still many important things missing also. Firstly, the marketing plan completely fails to identify the distribution channels required to market the product. The outlining of the distribution channels is one of the most important elements in the overall marketing plan of the company as it helps to identify the required buyers of your product and the people and entities who will eventually sell out your product. This has also proved detrimental to the company as Mr. Sid was not being able to decide what distribution channels to use and he has to go through significant exercise to make it possible to sell out the products.(www.quickmab.com,2008). In order to meet that deficiency, it is very important that the he must understand the dynamics behind the market for ladder rail. That would also mean that he must understand and have knowledge of the various market segments, niches as well as other players in the market who sell the same products. This would enable him to understand the dynamics of the market in order to spot the correct distribution channels so that the product is placed in the right place to effectively sell it. Further, it is also important to note that promotional activities are not so highlighted. Though advertising may be a good method to promote the business however, direct selling as well as offering discounts might have served the overall purpose of the product better than the reliance on advertising only. 5) Sometimes to keep a balance between the personal life as well as the professional life is hard to maintain. It is because of the fact that the professional responsibilities takeover slowly and gradually and if business run is of private nature it becomes worse as one has to make tradeoffs between the personal life as well as the professional life. As discussed above that Mr. Sid lack the skills of team building which is in fact hampering his professional developments. This weakness is taking his time which could have been otherwise utilized for the purpose of spending time with his family. As also mentioned in the case that his father was able to hire an assistant manager who was able to look after the business in his absence is a very clear example for Mr. Sid that effective team building can yield results not only for the business itself but also for the personal benefit of the owner of the business. It is also important to note that Mr. Sid needs to maintain a set of managerial skills that can help him evolve as a good manager. It is clear that he lacks the ability to plan properly thus engaging itself into activities which are non-productive in nature and take most of his time. Thus this not only prove detrimental to the business but also for the personal life of Mr. Sid too. There are various options therefore available to face these challenges successfully. First, it is very important that Mr. Sid must organize his work and re-define his role within the organization. This is important in the sense that organization of work would greatly help him to understand and manage lot more complicated work in more effective as well as efficient way thus giving him room to look for other activities too. Further, it would also allow him to better manage the resources of the organization. Organizing the work in better and more efficient way therefore would give him added advantage of clearly setting his priorities not only for the work but also for his professional life. It is also very critical to understand that he must improve upon his financial management skills either through hiring of a skilled person who has the expertise and knowledge of managing the organization financial or he must develop his own skills. This would also mean that as an entrepreneur and as a manager he must develop his ability to negotiate effectively with his buyers and sellers. Negotiation with buyers i.e. stores to which the product is sold very critical not only for the success of the organization but also in ensuring that the organization has the necessary resources to meet the production and other overhead needs of the organization. Improving upon the cash flows is therefore of critical importance due to the fact that it will ensure the funds are effectively managed, working capital requirements are adequately assessed and necessary sources both short as well as long term are obtained to ensure the success of the organization. References 1. Thompson, John. 1999.’ The World of Entrepreneur- a new perspective’, Journal of workplace learning, Vol.11, no.6, pp 209-224 2. Mosakowski, Elaine. 1998.’ Entrepreneurial resources, organizational choices and competitive outcomes’, Organizational Science, Vol.9, no.6. pp 625-643. 3. Bird, Barbara.1988.’Implementing Entrepreneurial Ideas-The case for intentions’ Academy of Management Review, Vol.13,no.3, pp 442-453 4. www.quickmba.com. (2008). Marketing Plan Outline. Available: http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/plan/. Last accessed 02 August 2008. Read More