The think tank for global entrepreneurs
Archive for the ‘Management Team’ Category.
Pointers from Harvard Business School Experts
Thinking about starting your own business? Read this collection of articles from Harvard Business School on legal issues, managing resources, product development, and keeping owner control.
- Should I keep control of my company?
- How do I turn potential into profit?
- How can a resource-challenged start-up grow?
- What legal mistakes should I watch out for in starting a new company?
Managing in High-Growth Environments
When a venture reaches Stage Five on the entrepreneurial life cycle, Full Launch and Growth, the venture team needs to be sensitive to certain high-growth management issues. Usually, rapid growth is seen as a positive sign of success. However, uncharted rapid growth can quickly change the status of an emerging growth venture from profitable to bankruptcy. Continue reading ‘How will you manage in the high-growth environment?’ »
Hitting the Growth Wall
According to Michael Porter, “The desire to grow has perhaps the most perverse effect on strategy.” Factors that drive initial successes are seldom enough to sustain a venture as it begins to accelerate through the growth stage. The external demands and opportunities change constantly, the venture’s value chain and internal capabilities must adapt, and the venture’s growth and evolution will ultimately necessitate a shift to professional management. Simply put by Jack Stack in his book The Great Game of Business, “The more successful you are, the bigger the challenges you have to deal with.” Continue reading ‘How will you avoid hitting the growth wall?’ »
Building Organizational Change Capabilities
It takes little time to destroy a high growth-potential venture. One turn-around expert says, “Ninety-five percent of the failures are due to internal problems. I can’t tell you how many companies I’ve been to that have the fast-growing-company plaque on the wall and are about to go under. They don’t have the systems and the people in place. Accounting is lagging. Purchasing is not done in the most efficient manner. Inventory gets out of control. All of a sudden, all these mistakes compound, and the least little burp kills them.” Continue reading ‘Is your company ready for your growth strategy?’ »
Discussions About Building Your External Team
Recall from a previous Article that the founders are the first of three strands of DNA assembled, the second being the early employees and specialists, and the third being the board of director members. Effective directors play a key role in ensuring an early stage venture’s future growth and value. Continue reading ‘How do we build our external team?’ »
Discussion About Legal Issues in New Business Venturing
To manage the relationship with any lawyer we feel it is important to know what they do, how they can help you, and how they think. This Article is merely intended to help guide you and to prepare you for your discussions with any legal specialist. Continue reading ‘What are the legal issues with starting a new business?’ »
Discussions About Venture Team Management
A business organization is composed of people and groups of people. It is goal-directed, meaning that it exists for a purpose, it has structured activities, and it is chartered or incorporated with the intention of profitably operating a business activity. It has an identifiable boundary, distinct from the environment, and a place in the ecosystem of capitalism. Continue reading ‘How will you manage your venture team?’ »
Discussions About Venture Team Compensation and Incentives
In the early stages, when the intrinsic motivation we discussed in a previous Article is high, there are many intangible rewards for the venture team. They have the chance to change and experience personal growth, to exercise autonomy, and to be exposed to new business venturing. Larry Page, co-founder of Google, said he found that when you get a small group of people motivated in an innovative environment “work isn’t just work—it becomes their enjoyment.” Continue reading ‘How do we pay our venture team?’ »
Introduction of Management Science
As we discussed in a previous Article, for thousands of years entrepreneurial capitalism was, quite literally, the capitalism. That was the case until the early 1900s and the introduction of Industrial Capitalism. Continue reading ‘What is management science?’ »
Managing A Global Business Enterprise
Developing organization and human resource strategies across multiple borders should not simply be a matter of adapting a domestic model to accommodate changes in distance and global scale. Starting with a global mindset discussed earlier, you will have to develop a fresh perspective in order to take into consideration the unique challenges of doing business globally. Continue reading ‘What are the challenges to managing a global business?’ »
Created in September 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay is “The World’s Online Marketplace” for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and businesses. Eight years later the eBay “biosphere” included some 62 million registered members from around the world. It is the most popular shopping destination on the Internet. Continue reading ‘Case In Point: eBay and Its Digital Biosphere’ »
In the fall of 1998, Edward Iacobucci, the founder of Citrix Systems, Inc., a company based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL far from Silicon Valley, was awarded Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Software and Information Services category. Before starting Citrix in 1989, Iacobucci was heading IBM’s operating system development team in Boca Raton, FL. Continue reading ‘Case In Point: Edward Iacobucci at Citrix’ »
Around 1890, during the height of the Industrial Revolution, the U.S. Census Bureau was in an information crisis. As a result, the Bureau sponsored a contest to find a more efficient means of tabulating census data. The winner was Herman Hollerith. His Punch Card Tabulating Machine used an electric current to sense holes in punched cards and keep a running total of data. Capitalizing on his success, Hollerith formed the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896. It was the world’s first electric tabulating and accounting machine company. Continue reading ‘Case In Point: IBM’ »
Who is the best CEO candidate? An insider with intimate knowledge of your company, or an outsider who is ready to put sacred cows out to pasture? The answer, says Harvard Business School professor Joseph L. Bower, is both. In this Q&A, he discusses his new book, The CEO Within, and why inside-outsiders are the key to succession planning.
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Discussions on How To Structure An Advisory Board For A Private Company
Very few privately-held companies have independent board members or formal advisory boards, yet these companies often have challenges and needs that are virtually identical to their publicly traded counterparts. By not having an advisory board one must question, are the private companies losing a competitive advantage? This article discusses how an emerging growth venture can structure and manage their first advisory board. Continue reading ‘How do we create and manage our advisory board?’ »
The CEO Within: Why Insider Outsiders Are the Key to Succession Planning
by Joseph Bower
With rising CEO turnover, companies are increasingly looking outside for qualified candidates. Sure, externally recruited CEOs bring fresh perspectives and connections. But they lack the in-depth knowledge of the company’s culture and history that they need to succeed. Result? Many deliver disappointing performances. Companies can avoid this scenario, contends Joseph Bower in “The CEO Within.” Continue reading ‘Book Review: Keys to Succession Planning’ »
Discussions about Strategic Leadership for Entrepreneurs: Inspiring, Motivating and Guiding the Venture Team.
Entrepreneurial success depends on the ability to think strategically, have a clear strategic vision, and achieve results quickly. Richard Siegelman, general partner at Kleiner Perkins, probes to find out how people got together and what motivates them as a group. He asks, “Is there a shared vision and culture?” Continue reading ‘What is strategic leadership for entrepreneurs?’ »
Marketing Through a Sales Crusader
There are many great marketing, sales, advertising, and branding books and courses out there. They all say the same thing, that you need to create a marketing strategy that goes out looking for the customer. Unfortunately, all this literature and great in-class discussion accomplishes little for the emerging venture. Continue reading ‘What is a sale crusader? Do we need sales reps?’ »
Assessing Your Critical Capital Resources
Leadership requires marshalling resources cooperatively toward a goal while simultaneously preserving and encouraging a strategic vision. To successfully execute a business plan, in order to translate the business concept into a reality, entrepreneurs have to surround themselves with the right mix of resources, which includes people, capital, and partners. Continue reading ‘What are critical capital resources?’ »
Managing During Tough Times
During the easy times, everybody can make things happen. But tough times, especially economic downturns, require a different approach to managing. In fact, the ability to re-assemble the team and manage the interpersonal conflicts that arise during tough times is seen as very key to potential investors. But what can you do to maintain morale when tough times strike? Continue reading ‘How do we manage during the tough times?’ »