Month: November 2010

There can be a variety of definitions of an entrepreneur but typically it can be defined as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise”.

The first person that popped into my mind was none other than Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of the commonly-used, social networking site Facebook.

Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist, strongly emphasizes that the main focus of entrepreneurship is innovation.  This is clearly demonstrated as no other social network was able to provide as convenient of an access in connecting with your friends and family.

Four main requirements for Entrepreneurial venture:

1. Amount of Wealth Creation
– In 2007, Microsoft bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook for approximately $240 million.

2. Speed of Wealth Creation
– In one year’s time, Facebook was already able to generate $12.7 million in venture capital.

3.Risk
– Zuckerberg was absent for many of classes in order to create Facebook and eventually dropped out of Harvard.

4.Innovation
– Facebook is still continually expanding.  Mark Zuckerberg had replied saying that the site is still “work in progress”.

Thus, Mark Zuckerberg is an ideal example of a successful, multi-billion entrepreneur.

http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/growyourbusiness/radicalsandvisionaries/article197850.html

What’s the most creative excuse you’ve heard for skipping out on work?  Have you tried “my mother was being chased by a crazed chicken“? Or “a cow broke into my house so now I have to wait for the insurance man“?  These employees are making up these ridiculous to avoid having to go to work.  Why?  Because their job does not satisfy them!

More and more companies are beginning to realize that the traditional centralized business structure is no longer useful in increasing productivity.  Businesses now are becoming more decentralized meaning that they empower their employees so that they have more flexibility and are given the opportunity to make decisions. With more freedom to handle their own situations, employees become more interested in the creativity and flexibility their job provides, which then increases overall job satisfaction.

For example, the online shoe company Zappos has their office decorated with bright, artistic images, giving the company a very vibrant and lively work atmosphere.  The customer service employees at Zappos are not as restricted as typical call centers are as well.  They do not need to follow a set rule of guidelines as to what information needs to be obtained before proceeding to help the customer, but rather, their goal is to remain cheerful and helpful in order to provide excellent customer satisfaction.

Will Andrew, the new president of Trimark Sportswear Group, notices the connection and thus hosts various morale-boosting events from Halloween party to a “biggest loser” boot camp.  As well as giving his employees more decision-making power, he is trying to improve communication from top down as well as bottom up so that the company will be more decentralized.

However, this strategy will vary depending on whether your company focuses on production (e.g. assembly line) where innovation (e.g. software company) is not needed.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/managing/on-the-job/employees-get-creative-when-calling-in-sick/article1787970/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/business-categories/human-resources/capitalizing-on-culture/a-new-company-culture-from-the-top-down-and-the-bottom-up/article1790572/

The introduction of Television along with cable has definitely marked a huge milestone in technological advancements, however, are we ready to move on from this wonderful innovation?

Now, companies are beginning to offer an alternate way of viewing television: Internet TV.  Currently in Canada, Netflix is the most popular Internet television provider and costs only $8 per month to view.  Netflix is amazingly convenient because it can be accessed from a smart phone to an iPad, to video game consoles like Xbox 360.

Analysing this situation, media analysts have suggested that the demand for cable Television will drop and that the popularity for Internet TV will increase.  However, this forecast is incorrect.  Other than the fact that it is extremely difficult to make future assumptions since external factors may also vary the outcome, forecasts are meant to show the different possibilities or probabilities of the potential outcomes.  For example, a weather forecast will announce that there is a 30% chance of rain the next day.  Therefore, there is 70% chance that it will not rain as well.

These analysts have failed to provide accurate forecasts and this is further proven by looking at the disadvantages of Internet television.  Although sources like Netflix are able to offer movies at such low prices, they are not able to offer the most current shows that the audience wants to view.  As well, the picture quality is simply incomparable with the cable Television.  Therefore, although Internet TV may have a decent amount of supporters, it is not enough to threaten the existence of cable and satellite TV.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/hugh-thompson/will-internet-tv-change-the-way-we-watch-television/article1782864/