the organization is losing , I can ’ t win ’ is called entrepreneurship . Factoring in risk while chasing the mission is entrepreneurship . Good employees understand the relationship between efforts and returns . They develop entrepreneurship when they understand relationship between risk and return .
The fate of the leader and his entire team is always connected strongly to the fate of the organizational mission .
Target Superstore is one of the largest chain of stores in the USA . We were one time shopping at Target store . My daughter saw a special deal on ladies hoodies . They were placed on a separate rack besides the hoodie rack . There were only a few colors and specific sizes but great discount of 50 %. Fortunately , she was able to find a couple of hoodies and she was so happy to take them to the cashier for billing .
The cashier scanned the first , it showed discounted price . When she scanned the second hoodie the full price was displayed on the cash machine . My daughter immediately objected and insisted for the discount . But the cashier politely said there wasn ’ t any discount on the second piece . It wasn ’ t from the special discount rack . My daughter was annoyed and she insisted that hoodie was taken from the special rack . She refused to buy and expressed a strong displeasure .
The cashier felt her anger and understood that she was talking the truth . She scanned the hoodie and entered an authorization code by calling the supervisor . The hoodie was sold to us at the discounted rate . We were delighted . Thereafter , every time we go to Atlanta we go to that store and buy loads of things .
The cashier at Target demonstrated entrepreneurship and hooked the customer for life . She sensed the feelings of her customers and realized the merit in their demand and obliged . Entrepreneurship is about looking at the customer life time value rather than the cost of a transaction and obsession with short term profit .
Bringing the culture of entrepreneurship
That is the biggest challenge . Companies have to create a culture conducive to risk taking and innovation . Mistakes must be pardoned so that the team shall not have the fear of failure . If anything goes wrong the analysis must be done to figure out whether the actions were wrong or intentions were corrupt . Only the corrupt intentions must be punished . Wrong actions should be highlighted and taken up for punishment .
Understanding and personal chemistry at senior leadership is conducive to the organization culture wherein people don ’ t fear to make bold decisions .
Consulting , Law & Accountancy firms : Pioneering Entrepreneurship and Autonomy
Consultancy , law , and accountancy firms have perfected an art of creating entrepreneurship as an organization culture . The term ‘ Partner ’ refers to a senior position within a consulting or financial services firm such as KPMG or Deloitte . These firms were set up as partnerships in which partners shared the profits . The name remained even though firms were incorporated as companies . In addition to advising clients , partners are also responsible for developing and managing client relationships , identifying new business opportunities , contributing to growth and development . The partners have to make sure financial targets are met , and that the right team is in place to meet the needs of their clients .
Dhirubhai Ambani left inheritance in terms of entrepreneurship . He provided a fishing-net rather than the fish .
Why could Mukesh Ambani carry forward legacy of Dhirubhai while other family managed businesses in India couldn ’ t ? There are many reasons but primary reason being Dhirubhai ’ s training that imparted entrepreneurship . Dhirubhai was a great visionary who understood the importance of imparting risk-taking attitude before providing autonomy .
Tatas are another best example of fostering entrepreneurship among their team . JRD Tata provided free hand to the leaders he created . He provided them autonomy and never interfered in their company affairs . Tata executives like S Mulgaonkar Russy Modi , Ajit Kerkar , Xexus Desai , etc . were the products of the risk-taking leadership culture that was fostered by J R Tata . Mr Ratan Tata truly inherited JRD ’ s legacy by practicing entrepreneurship while performing his duties as the group chairman . His decisions to take over Jaguar- Land Rover & Corus steel were pursued to be risky decisions by many .
When Walmart founder Sam Walton passed away , Walmart was $ 50 billion company . The entrepreneur team made it $ 500 billion company in the next 25 years .
Sam Walton nurtured entrepreneurship by providing autonomy to his team . Today Walmart is there on 11,000 locations globally . This scale can ’ t be run without having a culture to take risks and exercise autonomy with responsibility . The latest example is Alibaba of China . This customer centric company needs employees who take risks and exercise entrepreneurship . Such companies serve employees very well so that they in turn serve their customers well . Sam Walton used to say , “ serve your employees rather than they serving you .” Serving employees involves providing them freedom and experience that they are running their own business .
Jack Ma says , “ recruit people who are smarter than you . Don ’ t tell them what to do . Smart people should tell you what to do .”
Developing entrepreneurship
Developing entrepreneurship is the real task . Recruiting the right people who can take risk is important . Dhirubhai always preferred employees who had past experience of doing their own business . He knew succeeding in business in India takes a lot of other factors but the ability of such people to take risk is important even while they work for others . Jack Ma realized the best way to develop risk taking ability of people is by catching them young . The average age of Alibaba employee is 29 . Well thought and planned efforts should be rewarded and not just rewarding the success . Failure should not cost people their careers rather risk averseness should .
Prof . Dr . Ajit Patil was awarded ‘ Top Voice on LinkedIn - 2017 ’. He is a Management Writer ; Marketing , Business Development & Retailing Consultant . He conducts Management Development Programmes ; trains & coaches Sales & Marketing teams . He has been teaching MBA students in India & overseas for over 20 years . He can be reached at : Ajitpatilmumbai @ yahoo . co . in .