Identifying
the Cause
After losing the job for the second time, Melodie figured
out that the job would not provide her financial security. And she had the
perfect idea to start her own business. We see she was really motivated ad-driven too. Although we notice that Melodie faced few challenges and made some
teaks too.
Melodie and Kim, as a young entrepreneur work really
hard, and maintaining work-life balance was difficult. Another issue was the male-dominated work
environment. Another challenge we notice is, instead of expanding, Melodie and
Kim started focusing on areas they considered to be their strengths. And I
think they will have to decide if they want to continue training, and
eventually how will they remain relevant in the long term.
Diagnosing
the Causes
Melodie did not have prior experience. When she got
into the business, she was not prepared for the effort that was required from
her. After she lost her job, she had an idea about business, but when she actually
started the business, she realized it needed way more work than she originally
imagined. And the amount of work actually stopping her from living a healthy
lifestyle. Even due to inexperience she and Kim had brushed aside the issue they
were facing in male-dominated meeting rooms.
Melodie had a matchmaking service for government,
business and not-for-profit organizations. But, as we witnessed that the
business kept on evolving and finally, Melodie and Kim settled on teaching
people networking skills and how to work in the business world. Initially, they did
not consider the challenges they would face. Due to inexperience they could not
consider. And they did not have any long term plans either. While they found
their niche but they still have not worked on their long term goals, developing
competitive advantage and strategy to beat the competition,
Prescribing
Alternatives
While I absolutely support Melodie's decision to
start her own business and I do applaud her enthusiasm and determination to
start her own venture, but there were instances where we see there was a lack of
planning and understanding. I think Melodies should have gone to or should have
found a mentor. A mentor would help her to be better prepared in every step.
When Melodie and Kim were swamped with work, they
could have considered hiring someone else, although training that person would
have taken some effort, but that way they could keep some businesses.
And there is an issue that they chose to put in the
back, which is dealing with the men in the boardroom. They should have taken
training or found a mentor who faced the same issue and then they could have
figured out how to deal with the issue.
Finally, on long term strategy and implementing
competitive advantage, Melodie and Kim should stay on top of the industry. I
believe taking help from a mentor could help too. Hiring someone else could get
them some extra bandwidth to work on long term planning.
Making
Decisions and Implementations
I will say Melodie did fairly well in this section.
She had an idea or plan for what she wanted to do. But she did not have much
idea about how to start. But whenever she got stuck, we saw, she came out of
those situations even stronger. Like when the bank asked for a plan and other details.
She divided the responsibilities with Kim to be more effective. Even they
prioritized the work they wanted to do. So, we can see they were pretty good at
making decisions and implementing changes.
I would like them to take a decision on if they want
to remain a 2 player team. As they wish to travel, I do not think they will be
able to take on new projects or expand the business if they want to pursue their
other interests. Or they can hire others who can help them. That way they will
be able to expand their business too. And they need to think long term
strategy, so they can remain relevant in the industry. The company needs to
develop mixed strategies that combined both
Proactive (investment) and retrenchment (streamlining)
strategies. In most cases,
such an approach
is preferred since it
combines cautious reduction
of operational
Costs along with investments in innovation and
market development (He and Wong, 2004; Raisch and Birkinshaw, 2008).
Importance and Relevance
Melodies drive and motivation can be explained by
Maslow’s needs model (Laegaard, & Bindslev, 2006)..
Self -actualization needs – Melodie had a plan and after
getting fired for the second time she had this need to realize her productive
potential
Esteem needs –I think after a second job loss,
Melodie had a need to restore self-esteem, self –respect, and appreciation
Social Needs – Melodie always leaned on Kim
and we can say she had a need for friendship.
Safety needs – Melodie was left without a job and
debt and she needed financial safety.
Physiological needs – Melodie was getting into work-life
balance and trying to live a healthy life. Although, she did not consider it
while starting this business. But we notice a lot of decisions in business were
driven or determined by what kind of life they wanted to live.
References
-
He, Z. L. and Wong, P. K. (2004).
Exploration Vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity
Hypothesis. Organization Science, 15(4), 481-494
Laegaard, J. & Bindslev,
M. (2006).Organizational Theory. Bookboon.com
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