Growth
Nate
Instructions:
Assess organizational growth and expansion in a minimum of 1,100 words in which you discuss the following:
Consider what resources are available for organizational growth and expansion.
Assess what skills and knowledge are needed to access these resources.
Evaluate how you would use your leadership abilities to advance your company as an intrapreneur.
Assess how you would use your access to resources to advance your company as a social entrepreneur. Discuss both tangible and intangible resources.
Solution
Nate
Many companies are striving to meet their growth targets in profitability and revenue. A company can only realise this kind of growth when they have a clear strategy for achieving their objective and a reliable infrastructure to aid in execution. Regardless of their size, all organisations have a desire to grow and expand as much as possible. As time passes, business expenditure such as salaries will increase and hence companies must improve too so as to sustain the expenses. Growth and expansion allow small businesses to benefit from economies of scale among others.
Various resources make it possible for a company to achieve their desired growth (Penrose, 2009). There are both internal and external depending on the strategies employed. Internal growth comes about when a company uses its resources like ploughing back profits into the business. There are also external strategies when a firm uses resources from other businesses to inspire growth and expansion.
Internal Growth
Companies use various internal approaches to achieve growth and development. Most of the internal strategies revolve around expanding the market share of a company to increase revenues. Product development is a crucial strategy used to create new items to sell in the existing market. Companies may decide on market penetration by lowering their prices or improving the quality of products to increase demand (Penrose, 2009). Market development is a strategy that relies on finding new markets to sell existing products. Businesses expand their range and are accessible to a large number of consumers. Product diversification is a risky strategy used by companies when they develop new products to deliver to new markets. These four strategies help a company to increase their market share and hence growth and expansion in the long run.
External Growth
Businesses have to look around and realise other resources outside of the company that may help in growth. Networking is a vital resource that companies ought to utilise if they wish to realise growth. When managers network with other people within the industry, they can stay ahead of all the developments that may occur. Social media is one of the areas that businesses are considering seriously when it comes to matters of networking since it is cheap and highly efficient. The digital era has seen many social platforms where people go to share their views and interact with others. Companies have realised that interacting on social media will bring new ideas and help management to understand the customers in a better manner.
Mergers help companies to increase their size and market coverage (Penrose, 2009). A company may buy another one and merge them together, or two companies could come together to form a bigger entity. The result of a merger is a larger share of the market as well as increased business resources. A company could merge with another to enter into a new line of business or just to achieve economies of scale. Mergers will help businesses to expand quickly compared to internal methods.
Another strategy used by companies is that of a joint venture. A small business may join with another one on a temporary basis to take advantage of prevailing market conditions or exploit a particular business opportunity. Small businesses benefit a lot from joint ventures since they can acquire more resources to venture into a new market or come up with a product. Companies can share risks and exploit opportunities to accelerate their growth and expansion (Penrose, 2009).
Companies with proprietary technology or other resources have an advantage since they can utilise licensing to increase their market coverage. The company can reap maximum returns from its technology by licensing it to other businesses and growing market coverage (Penrose, 2009). Other firms may utilise franchising to increase the market coverage of a brand. If a particular brand does well in one market, opening up franchises will enhance the visibility of the product, and the parent company will grow and expand in the long run.
Outside financing is another strategy that companies employ when they want to improve. Businesses will seek capital from financial institutions to finance projects aimed at growth. Companies may decide to acquire new assets to increase productivity by securing loans and other financial packages to meet their objectives.
These strategies are accessible to businesses that are proactive and progressive in their growth agenda. Managers must have a keen sense of understanding to implement the right policies at the appropriate time. A resource for social media networking requires a manager who understands how this avenue can contribute to increased sales. Vision is an important skill needed in accessing these resources for business growth (Penrose, 2009). A manager with vision will understand the need to grow the business and make sure of future sustainability.
An intrapreneur is focused on innovatively developing products and marketing strategies. Product development requires a manager that understands the needs of the customers in a detailed manner. It is vital to know what the customers want before spending resources to come up with a product that may fall short of market expectations. As an intrapreneur, I would be ready to take the initiative and come up with new ideas to market the products. I will leave my area of expertise to focus on other sectors that will bring future growth to the company.
I will use my self-confidence to inspire other people to work towards expanding the business. As an intrapreneur, I understand my areas of strength and weakness, and I will exploit this knowledge to trust my ability and communicate new ideas on product and market development. My behaviour will inspire other people to trust their skills and judgement.
Social entrepreneurs are guided by the desire to solve various problems in society while making some money in the process (Lyons, 2013). As a social entrepreneur, I intend to use my access to resources to help in advancing the company. As an entrepreneur, various assets at my disposal could be used to improve the business and increase revenues. The resources are both tangible and intangible, and they help in advancing the organisation.
Tangible resources include land, machinery, buildings and equipment. I will use these physical resources to improve innovation on methods of dealing with the particular problem. Researchers will gain access to equipment and other materials needed to come up with revolutionary ideas and processes. I will make sure that the employees of the company conduct themselves in a manner that is conversant with the principles and mission of the enterprise.
Intangible
assets include items that are owned by the company without any physical
presence such as brand recognition and trademarks (Lyons, 2013). As a social entrepreneur, I will use
the reputation of my company to organise public rallies to sensitise people on
the importance of sustainability. Messages from recognised brands are more
likely going to resonate with the public compared to unrecognised firms.
References
Lyons, T. (2013). The Role of Social Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Business. Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. Retrieved 3 June 2017, from http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/09/role-social-entrepreneurship-sustainable-business/
Penrose, E. (2009). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm (1st ed.). Oxford: OUP Oxford.