Mary Kay Incs Nine Leadership Keys to Success - Case Study Example

Mary Kay Introduction Mary Kay Ash established Mary Kay Inc. in 1963 after retiring from the Stanley Home Products. Even though she launched her new company with just $5,000, her new enterprise would quickly develop into being an international corporation under her capable leadership. Paul Burn’s characteristic qualities of entrepreneurs in his ‘model of start-up influences’ include self-confidence, internal locus of control, self motivation, and the desire to succeed. Does your analysis support Burns criteria for distinguishing between ‘owner-managers’ and ‘entrepreneurs? Even though Mary Kay had numerous qualities that Burns attributes in his model to owner managers, her entrepreneurial qualities also helped to make her a competent manager of her business. In Mary Kay, it would seem that there was not an evident breach between the roles of entrepreneur and owner-manager (Underwood 2003). Mary Kay embodied the traits of both roles and appears to have been able to comfortably slip into one role or the other depending on circumstances. For instance, as an owner-manager, Mary Kay exhibited a very strong internal locus of control. Essentially, she was able to encourage herself to embrace new roles. She was actually motivated by her own ability to believe that she could make her business a success just by making the most of her god-given traits. In addition, she exhibited great courage in her ability to take risks in order to develop her business while also aiming to be the best in her chosen field. There were also situational factors that helped Mary Kay to success after she launched her business. Her demotion in her place of work at a time when she was supposed to be promoted merely served to spur her into launching out on her own. While it may be seen as a disadvantage, the absence of women from the workplace may actually have helped Mary Kay to reach the level of success that she did. If there were more women in the Beauty industry, the competition would have divided the market and forced Mary Kay Inc. to be more innovative in order to win clients (Underwood 2003). Mary Kay’s religion also played a major role in her life. She believed that God wanted the best for her, and this belief spurred her into action even when she faced rejection. Mary Kay launched a business with just nine employees and hardly enough capital at a time when the majority of women in America tended to focus on making homes for their families. She faced discrimination on the basis of her gender when she approached financial institutions for huge loans. She did not have enough money to launch her operation, but did it anyway. Mary Kay’s ambitiousness showed in her decision to leave her steady job to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. It is a fact that she made this decision because she had been passed over for promotions many times at her place of work. Mary Kay was an opportunist who refused to be limited by society’s expectations of women in the sixties. She had to be extremely self-motivated to launch a business in an era that frowned on single mothers working outside the home (Zimmerer and Scarborga 2006). If her business failed, she was aware that she would be derided and held up as an example to discourage women from focusing on their “God-given” tasks. She had to be reconciled to living with the constant threat of risk. In addition, as an entrepreneur, Mary Kay had a distinct flair that came to be associated with the ‘Mary Kay’ brand. In 1969, for instance, the best sales directors at Mary Kay were rewarded with pink Cadillacs. This is something that stayed with customers and drew their curiosity even if they were not already customers. Do Burns ‘Start-up influences’ adequately explain the components of entrepreneurial success? If not then what other factors need to be taken into account in the venture creation process? Even though Burns’ theory of ‘Start-Up influences’ gives many real traits that are common in most entrepreneurs, there are certain issues that it does not adequately address. For instance, the adversity in Mary Kay Ash’s background provided a huge incentive for her to be so entrepreneurial. Mary Kay’s mother was the sole breadwinner in the home because her father was an invalid. Instead of seeking for assistance from the state or from neighbours, Mary Kay’s mother chose to work tirelessly in order to support her family (Underwood 2003). Mary Kay would simply copy her mother’s work ethic in her adult life. Her mother earned money at a time when it was even harder for women to get well-paying jobs than was the case in the sixties. Mary Kay learned the lesson of courage from her mother. It is likely that she had to be incredibly imaginative and resourceful to find ways of feeding her family in the face of so much adversity. Mary Kay’s initial belief in herself and her abilities was all the more astounding because she did not come from the middle or high classes (Underwood 2003). Being acquainted with wealthier people would have helped her to become successful faster because she would have been able to sell her first products to them; thus establishing a loyal customer base. In addition, Mary Kay did not have multiple degrees in marketing – something that most would judge as being necessary for any business to succeed. She obviously experienced these lacks as ‘types of adversities’ because they made it much harder for her to realize her dreams. In addition, Burn’s “Start-Up influences” do not mention the trailblazers in each industry whose contributions and achievements make it easier for their successors to reach the market (Mariotti 2007). Mary Kay hugely benefitted from her experience at the World Gift Company and Stanley Home Products. She also had an easier time of gaining customers who understood what she was trying to do because of the efforts of the trailblazers who had gone before her in the Beauty industry like Elizabeth Arden, Madam C. J. Walker, and Helena Rubinstein (Zimmerer and Scarborga 2006). Personal Conclusions on the Key Factors that Determine Entrepreneurial Success Bandura’s theory of self efficacy asserts that entrepreneurs have intrinsic motivational aspects even before they determine a course of action to take (Drucker 2007). For example, entrepreneurs like Mary Kay who have a high internal locus of control motivation, will perceive challenges that would overwhelm other people as simply tasks that can be mastered. According to Bandura’s theory, self-motivated people also have a deep interest in all the tasks that they undertake and thus form deep attachments to their jobs. Such individuals also tend to ‘bounce back’ easily from disappointments and delays that they may encounter. This proves that Burns’ assertions about the internal locus of control that is found in successful entrepreneurs like Mary Kay is accurate. Schumpeter’s innovation theory would seem to negate the importance of the background of entrepreneurs or their abilities to motivate themselves while laying more emphasis on their capacities to make innovations to their products (Zimmerer and Scarborga 2006). The accuracy of innovative part of this theory was evident in Mary Kay’s continuous transformation of her company. Throughout her life, until her passing in 2001, Mary Kay ensured that her company kept up with technological advances that would impress successive generations. Hoselitz theory of entrepreneurship supply, on the other hand, postulates that spark of entrepreneurship in different citizens is mainly determined by cultural factors. Hoselitz further asserted that minority groups in every society tend to be the bulwarks of the entrepreneurial spirit. This, he stated, would explain why some socio-cultural ethnic groups have contributed so much to their adopted nations (Hisrich 2011). Hoselitz’s theory appears to concur with Max Webbers notions of the importance of ‘protestant ethic’ and how it basically propels capitalism. This is accomplished through the understanding that distinct socio-cultural ethnic groups drive entire economies through their entrepreneurial activities (Burns 2004). In the case of Mary Kay, Hoselitz theory would appear to be positing that marginalized individuals such as women are best suited to generate ‘creative adjustments’ during uncertain times, such as those that were characteristic of the 1960s. Mary Kay launched her business at a time when the entire American nation was undergoing different changes in terms of civil rights as well as women’s rights. It can be stated that the adjustment that her business inspired in the way society perceived business women helped in inspiring genuine changes in social behaviour in the workplace (Beech and Chadwick 2005). Conclusion It would seem that there are many theories that have genuine explanations about what spurs entrepreneurs to act as they do (Zimmerer and Scarborga 2006). There are also, evidently, internal as well as external factors that contribute to the success enjoyed by entrepreneurs. Moreover, it would seem that in the case of female entrepreneurs, there is a need for more intrinsic abilities than is the case for men because, even today, women have to confront more stereotypes to reach success than the ordinary man. Mary Kay might never have started her business if she was a man because, with her self-motivation, she would obviously have been promoted several times in her old places of work. Moreover, as a woman, she had to keep encouraging herself even after she left her place of work due to gender discrimination and the distrust of her business plans by banks. References Beech, J. & Chadwick, S. (2005) The business of tourism management, Financial Times Prentice Hall, New York Burns, P. (2004) Entrepreneurship and small business, McMillan, New York. Drucker, P.F. (2007) Innovation and entrepreneurship, McGraw Hill, Inc. New York. Hisrich, R. (2011) Entrepreneurship 6/E, McGraw-Hill Education Pvt Limited, India. Mariotti, S. (2007) National foundation for teaching entrepreneurship, Prentice Hall, New York. Underwood, J. (2003) More than a pink Cadillac, Mary Kay Inc.’s nine leadership keys to success, McGraw-Hill, New York Zimmerer, T.W. & Scarborga, N.M. (2006) Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management (4/e), Prentice Hall, New York. Read More