Research Korner

Multinational Investments: Reasons and Impacts

Multinational Investments: Reasons and Impacts               During the turn of the century, the world experiences more drastic changes than before, and these include changes happening in the environment, in the people, culture, religion, information, education, economy, and technology. In comparison to the events that happened in the past centuries, everything happens today in fast-pace. With what is happening to the world right now, it can be understood that these changes are being brought about by the continuous development of knowledge and technology, which leads to the process of globalization and internationalization. Both the process of globalization and internationalization hastens and emphasizes the interdependence of nations with one another, most especially in terms of economic aspects. One important aspect of economic interdependence among countries is given by the evidence of multinational investments, being endowed by international and multinational companies to smaller companies, which are usually located in Third World or poor countries. In this regard, this paper discusses the different reasons why multinational investments take place and its impacts or effects to its host countries.   Reasons for Multinational Investments One would be able to determine that for multinational investments to take place, international business organizations must first be able to transact and negotiate with different businesses outside their domain. In this sense, it can be emphasized that for multinational investments to take place, the process of globalization and internationalization must also be recognized simultaneously. Globalization in its literal sense is a social change, an increase in connections among societies and their elements due to, among others, the explosive evolution of transport and communication technologies. The term is applied to many social, cultural, commercial and economic activities. Depending on the context, globalization can mean: (a)closer contact between different parts of the world, with increasing possibilities of personal exchange and mutual understanding between "world citizens"; (b) economic globalization or freer trade and increasing relations among members of an industry in different parts of the world; (c) or some negative exploitation aspects of economic globalization, such as evasion of legal and moral standards by moving manufacturing or mining and harvesting practices overseas (1998). The concept of globalization is a powerful real aspect of the new world system, and it represents one of the most influential forces in determining the future course of the planet. It has many dimensions, namely, economic, political, social, cultural, environmental, security, and others ( 2004). In popular discourse, globalization often functions as little more than a synonym for one or more of the following phenomena: the pursuit of classical liberal (or “free market”) policies in the world economy (“economic liberalization”), the growing dominance of Western (or even American) forms of political, economic, and cultural life, the proliferation of new information technologies, as well as the notion that humanity stands at the threshold of realizing one single unified community in which major sources of social conflict have vanished ( 2002). On the other hand and equally interrelated is the concept of internationalization, which is a process of increasing involvement in international operations that requires adapting the company’s strategy, resources, structure, and organization to international environments, thus, involving goods, services, and expertise transactions across national borders ( 2000). In this sense, it can be perceived that in relation to the process of globalization and internationalization, the primary reason for multinational firms and corporations to invest is for the expansion of their business. A lot of international business organizations and companies engage in and focus on international marketing, with the desire for more profits, sales, and recognition from consumers. International marketing also allows business organizations opportunities for further development and improvement, in terms of their products, services, strategies, systems, and operations. This is because international markets offer vast business opportunities for firms with a product or service in high demand, in line with newness, cultural adaptation, attractiveness, and appropriate marketing strategies that can assist them particularly ( 2007). This can be achieved through their ventures and investments in countries and markets, where their products, services, or technologies are not yet present. On the contrary, multinational corporations can also invest in other countries to increase competition. Nevertheless, in this sense, the primary reason for multinational companies to invest in other countries is driven by their personal gains and recognition from the market. This is because when such companies are given the chance to invest in other countries, they are provided with the opportunity to gain more knowledge and information in their industry, thus, having the opportunity to provide more innovative services and products to their consumers. Another identified reason for multinational investments to take place was already mentioned earlier, which involves increasing competition among multinational corporations and companies. Increase in competition among international firms in relation to multinational investments would enable increase and improvement in the variety of products, services and technologies. At present, the distribution of market, resource and efficiency-seeking investment is uneven across transforming or developing countries. The distribution of GDP shares across industries in transforming countries was determined by external forces, rather than endogenous development. There is reason to believe that this trend will continue. Following accession, external forces are bound to reinforce the past distribution pattern of industries with market seeking and resource seeking FDI. At the same time, they will transform the original market or resource-seeking patterns into efficiency-seeking ones (2002). Another important reason for multinational investments to take place is related to the concept and importance to Foreign Direct Investment to both the parent and host countries, where the investment would be provided for. The issue of foreign direct investment becomes an essential basis for the development of a country. It is defined as a long-term investment by a foreign direct investor in an enterprise resident in an economy other than that in which the foreign direct investor is based, and creates a relationship consisting of a parent enterprise and a foreign affiliate forming a Transnational Corporation. In addition, in order to qualify as a foreign direct investor the investment must afford the parent enterprise control over its foreign affiliate (2007), and becomes important to attract other foreign investors to a particular nation. In this regard, it can be assumed that investors are powerful and rich countries, while its host countries are the poor countries that belong to continents, such as Asia, Africa, and South America. In this sense, the third reason that can be identified is the desire of the strong and powerful countries to help poorer ones, which can be concealed, to reveal their true motives, and that is to obtain power over poorer countries, being at their mercy. From this, it can be emphasized that a number of reasons can be determined for multinational investments to take place. Such reasons include expanding their business enterprise to new environments, dominating or competing in new markets, increasing competition among firms in their respective industries, increasing the profits, sales, and market advantage of firms, attract foreign investments, assisting another country and its citizens to achieve success and development, and even controlling poorer economies or countries in order to get one’s advantage. From such reasons stem the different strategies and actions in relation to multinational investments. In this regard, the different impacts of multinational investments taking place would be discussed.   Impacts of Multinational Investments             Determining the impacts of multinational investments leads one to determine some of the impacts of the process of globalization and internationalization of many different businesses. Similar to the impacts of globalization, the impacts of multinational investments create both positive and negative reactions. In terms of economics, multinational investments increase the international flow on capital, including foreign investments. This would lead to the economic stability of the nation and means providing more development such as infrastructures and establishments. Furthermore, it could create international agreements among different nations, and may lead to more job opportunities in the nation. This also affects the political aspect, as more projects will be produced, nationally and locally, and will practically help the nation or country in their stability and leadership. More opportunities may also mean the boosting of confidence of each individual to become more productive and effective. Culturally, there will be an increase in the exchange of information, and multiculturalism will be achieved, having no inferior or superior races. This will lead to a boom in travel and tourism, which would totally help locals to promote their products and profit from their small businesses. In this regard, multinational investments, as being augmented by Foreign Direct Investments, along with all the aspects of globalization would mean the further development and improvement of host countries or Third World countries.             However, along with advantages of multinational investments are its different set backs, which present its negative aspects. It has been reported that there appears to be some conflict between the theory and the evidence regarding the changing nature of multinational investments. This is because some elements of corporate strategy appear to have changed many of the most notable investments in various regions of the world, which are far from the quality investments anticipated in literatures. Another setback is being emphasized by the relationship between overseas and domestic investment decisions by multinationals. Quite apart from any direct diversion of investment from domestic operations, FDI can result in subsequent changes in the level of output and exports of domestic operations, changes in the spatial allocation of product ranges and changes in input sources for company plants ( 1997). In this sense, it can be perceived that the different activities of multinationals, especially in terms in investments complicate and alter the economic condition of their host countries. In addition, it has been emphasized that one of the more significant complaints about multinational enterprises is that, when locating in developing countries, they look for countries with weak labor rights. Such conditions presumably permit firms to exploit local workers by paying them less than some notion of a fair wage. Given the breadth and complexity of the world economy, claims of this kind can be misleading and may support faulty policy prescriptions (2004). Thus, instead of assisting the poorer economies to success and development, multinational investments from multinational enterprises serve to push the economies of Third World countries farther down the drain.             Given such problems, most especially in relation to the exploitation of the economy, politics, technology, environment, and society of host countries, treaties and policies regarding the entry and operations of multinational enterprises have been set and provided for, in order to emphasize equality and justice in the process. Multinational investment policies have been implemented in the United States, in its aim to constrain FDI and multinationals. This is because many Europeans were expressing doubts, anger, and frustrations about the dominance of American multinationals in their home markets (Vaghefi 1991). In this regard, this is one way how host countries would be able to increase their bargaining power over multinationals. They can set treaties and policies regarding investments, thus, somehow limiting the power of multinationals over them. Another way on how to increase the bargaining power of host countries is by not only having a single multinational enterprise in an industry, which would dominate the host country. If only one multinational enterprise dominates a specific industry, then it can set high prices that the host country would not be able to do away with. However, if a host country decides to find another or more multinational enterprise in the same field or industry, then, the host country would be able to implement policies that would enable them to dictate regulations and provisions regarding the industry, thus, increasing their bargaining power. Another way to increase the bargaining power of the host country is to set taxes and limits on the entrance and exit of commodities from the host countries and to the country of the multinational enterprise. Setting taxes would not only limit the extent of the exploitation, but also serve as an income-generating strategy for the host country. This also serves to protect the damage of the host country in economic, political, environmental and societal terms.

Multinational Investments: Reasons and Impacts

Multinational Investments: Reasons and Impacts During the turn of the century, the world experiences more drastic changes than before, and these include changes happening in the en…

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL I   Gender:       M                 Age: 25   Education:   Tertiary   Nationality: Chinese   Tenure in Industry: 6 years   Tenure at current organisation: 5 years   Position: Problem Manager         Previous Position: Environment Management coordinator     1. Turnover Intentions   a.    Think about your previous job.        What led to you thinking about leaving?       Can you give us a detailed run down on what happened from then onward?   l  The reason as to why I left my previous job was due to the fact that I was bored; the work did not excite and challenge me, there was no chance of a promotion within the team, I was not learning anything new, there was no team cohesion, there was no management support or guidance and because of all this, I felt as though if staying in this position any longer that I would fall behind in the skill level of other IT professionals in which would affect my chances of getting a job elsewhere. Please note that my previous job was not by choice but as permanent secondment. l  After I had decided to leave, I was actively looking for other positions that was: 1)                        in the field of IT that I wished to pursue 2)                        it was a promotion l  I applied for several IT positions and was a successful candidate for 3 out of the 4 positions that I applied for. b.    How many jobs have you left for the same reasons?   l  None, I only left the above job on those reasons or those similar to   c.    Have you left any other jobs for reasons that are different from what you just described? l  No   d.   If not in a previous job - Why are you here with this organisation? What made you stay?     e.  Have you been offered jobs in other organisations when already employed? l  Yes, I have been offered several in private industry as well as other public departments.     f.    If yes, what made you stay? (In addition to responses to question d.)  What would it take for you to leave the company?   l  The main reason for why I stayed in my job is because I enjoy it, where as the jobs that were offered to me was different to what I was doing. As most of those jobs were as an application developer or business analyst and that is not the field of work that I want to work in currently.   l  For me to leave the department that I am currently with will mean that the new position is: 1)                        It will in the field that I want to work in which will enable me to further progress my career and knowledge. 2)                        a promotion 3)                        higher pay 4)                        stable work environment                           Factors   1. Please rate each of the following factors in terms of how important it is in deciding to leave a job:   Not at all important     1     2     3     4     5    Extremely important Rank 1 career opportunities 4   workteam cohesion 3 2 challenging work 4   recognition of achievements 3   pay 4   work hours (flexibility, length) 2 3 management support 4   quality of supervision 2   2. Now, please take a moment to pick out the three most important factors, and rank them in their order of importance in the first column of the table.   Optional - Your annual salary:   k) 66,000-70,000  INTERVIEW PROTOCOL I   Gender: M             Age: 35   Education: High School   Nationality: Australian   Tenure in Industry: 6 years        Tenure at current organisation: 1 year   Position: Technician        Previous Position:  Technician       1. Turnover Intentions   a.       Think about your previous job.           What led to you thinking about leaving?         Can you give us a detailed run down on what happened from then onward?   l  The job did not challenge me anymore and I wanted a change so I moved cities. I applied for many jobs but did not get many interviews due to my lack of paper qualifications. It took about 3 weeks to find a job, originally it was for a sales position but once they heard about my technical experience I was shown the technical department, they allowed me to do my current job.     b.                How many jobs have you left for the same reasons?   l  None     c.     Have you left any other jobs for reasons that are different from what you just described?   l  Most jobs I have left due to moving. But I am a family orientated man. If it were best for my relationship I will and have moved for its benefit.   d.    If not in a previous job - Why are you here with this organisation? What made you stay?   l  It is because the salary is better than my previous job. This is the only reason.   g.     Have you been offered jobs in other organisations when already employed? l  No. h.    If yes, what made you stay? (In addition to responses to question d.)  What would it take for you to leave the company? l  Lack of faith in my own abilities, I don’t want to leave my comfort zone and worry of the impact a new job would have on my social life. If I were offered decent money and a training course to induct me to a new job, I would take it.      Factors   1. Please rate each of the following factors in terms of how important it is in deciding to leave a job:   Not at all important     1     2     3     4     5    Extremely important Rank 1 career opportunities 5   workteam cohesion 3   challenging work 3   recognition of achievements 3 2 pay 5 3 work hours (flexibility, length) 4   management support 3   quality of supervision 2   2. Now, please take a moment to pick out the three most important factors, and rank them in their order of importance in the first column of the table.   Optional - Your annual salary:   d) 31,000-35,000

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL I Gender: M Age: 25 Education: Tertiary Nationality: Chinese Tenure in Industry: 6 years Tenure at current organisation: 5 years …

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation and Entrepreneurship         Table of Contents   6. Introduction   7.  Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Definition and its Key Role in Advancement           7.1. Catching Opportunity 7.1.1.          Making and reviewing Vision, Mission & Goals 7.1.2.          Risk Taker 7.1.3.          Encourage Innovation   8. How could the ability of the entrepreneur be captured within an existing company to provide higher growth potential? 8.1.   Inspire 8.2.   Create 8.3.   Compete     9. How do entrepreneurs operate so that their ventures survive and prosper? 9.1. Identification of Attractive Industries           9.1.1. Review of potential growth rate           9.1.1. Review of past revenues and sales rate   10. Recommendations   11. Conclusions         Introduction             Innovation and entrepreneurship are some of the most highly valued skills of today. While some may rely on their talents in other fields, entrepreneurship is slowly making its way as a highly valued ability. Entrepreneurship cannot be learned. One is born with the ability of being an entrepreneur. But just what exactly is an entrepreneur? In a definition taken from , an entrepreneur is someone who has an eye for unheard of, new, risky and possibly profitable undertakings. This person capitalizes on these endeavors and seems to be able to profit from it. In another definition, this person seemingly is able to keep a positive outlook, despite fallbacks on chosen businesses. The following excerpt from a reference essay talks about the person behind IBM, Steve Jobs.             From the minimum wage worker playing a costumed character from Alice in Wonderland at a shopping mall, Steve Jobs parlayed his parents' good humour and a VW microbus into Apple Computer P/L and half a billion dollars in under five years. And less than five years after that he was fired from Apple, by his own Board; In leaving Apple he sold more than six million shares of Apple stock at a ridiculously low price for reasons that made no business sense at all. In between these high and low points were all the grand product intros, the screaming, the huge houses without furniture, the posing, seducing, and general acting-out that is Steve Jobs, according to some that claim to know him. He used the cover of Time magazine to try for a date with Diane Keaton. Joan Baez used Steve's ego to extract Mac after Mac after Mac from his Woodside garage, each of which she gave away to some friend. Those were the days of Armani suits and stiff collars, the days when Apple didn't even have a budget because the company couldn't imagine how it could ever spend all the money coming in. Those were the days. Steve Jobs was then asked to return to Apple as CEO and in a couple of years Apple was profitable once more after nearly $2 billion in losses. Some of the history of the between years included the founding of NeXT Inc. First, Steve seduced and abandoned the education market, then the hardware market, then his own employees, and then his investors, causing so much damage that Canon, which lost $350 million in the NeXT debacle, has sworn it will never again build computers. In a time when families are fashionable again, Steve is a family man, doing the dishes some evenings. When greed is no longer good, he has been generous with some of the loyalists from NeXT. When efficiency has become a way to measure business success, he talks about turning Pixar into a machine for making cartoons, rather than the haven for artists he liked to describe a decade ago.              The above excerpt was taken from a reference article about the business entrepreneur, Steve Jobs. But this paper generally focuses on entrepreneurial opportunities, keeping and seemingly nurturing the chosen business’s growth. But for reference and example purposes, I shall choose to retain Steve Jobs as my main reference and example.       7. Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Definition and its Key Role in Advancement               Entrepreneurial knowledge is important, not only academically speaking, but also economically, since entrepreneurs acts as pivots, pushing our economy forward (2003;1997). Likewise, entrepreneurial knowledge is vital in harboring entrepreneurial opportunities and exploitation. Some researchers even incorporated the definition of entrepreneurial opportunities into research by stating, "... the scholarly examination of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered and evaluated" (2000). But just what are entrepreneurial opportunities? In some definitions, it is described as "... situations in which new goods, services, raw materials, markets and organizing methods can be introduced through the formation of new means, ends, or means-ends relationships" (2003).  But in another article, it is broadly defined as, “…as being a set of environmental conditions that lead to the introduction of one or more new products or services in the marketplace by an entrepreneur or by an entrepreneurial team through either an existing venture or a newly created one.” ( 2005).           7.1. Catching Opportunity             In the following numbers, there would be a number of discussions on how entrepreneurs capture opportunity.  Through the following segments, we can examine the possibilities and the keys on catching attractive businesses and opportunities.             7.1.1. Mission, Vision and Goals. In accordance with previous reports and essays regarding Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I would once again recommend making and reviewing Vision, Mission and Goals. Vision, Mission and Goals can give one a sense of direction. One can be able to keep track of what he is doing, whether he is moving forward or not. Mission, Vision and Goals can help shape a person’s future, depending on how he perceives it. But having mission and vision statements, as well as goals are not only limited to large organizations. One can also have goals and mission and vision statements. As was mentioned, these things help define one’s personal journey into advancement. Also, by doing such, a person can be able to know what his intended undertakings are. In the context of entrepreneurship, these can help point out profitable and possible good business undertakings. The following tips are taken from the article entitled, “Mission and Vision Statements: Envision your Business, Realize your Goals” Convey your company values;   Inspire and motivate your organization toward objectives that are fundamentally key to the culture that you wish to establish;   Use long-lasting ideals, not fashionable statements based on current business or market trends; and   Keep your statements clear and easy to understand for anyone coming on to your organization.               7.1.2. Risk-Taker. According to the article, 10 Mindset Web Entrepreneurs Must Have to Succeed by Sheri McConnell, one must able to take risks. “Web entrepreneurs must understand that one of the keys to accomplishing our goals is to be willing to take risks. This "active" mindset means there will definitely be failures. But failures are just indicators of which direction to go next.” (10 Mindset Web Entrepreneurs Must Have to Succeed). It is definitely a good trait of a good entrepreneur when he is able to take risks. When a potentially profitable endeavor may come into play, it may have with it certain downsides. But a good entrepreneur would be able to identify the shortcomings and if ever, would encounter failure; one can get up easily and would once again take the risk, if opportune moments call for it.             7.1.3. Encourage Innovation.  In an article, “Creating an Environment for Innovation”, , mention was made of nurturing an environment that encouraged innovation. In the following excerpt, specifically the conclusion, mention of the effects of innovation is made. “Setting an atmosphere in which innovation is encouraged is often highly correlated with the long term success of a company. Each of the elements explained above is critical to the effective innovation process. Challenge yourself and your senior management team to develop the skills and the atmosphere in which effective innovation becomes a part of your ongoing strategic planning. It is highly probable that your long term survival and viability depend on it.” (2003).     Time Horizon 1-2 years 3-6 years 7-20 years Type of Innovation Incremental Step function - longer term platform for annual features and options Breakthrough Incentive individual basis this year's profits team basis medium term options with matched vesting period personal security, salary, tenure, fame, secure retirement, sabbaticals, long vesting stock Team Size small (1-3) bigger (10-100) very large Mgt. Style fast, decisive, ego driven team based, consensus bureaucratic, nurturing Pricing/Marketing skim pricing with mark downs tprice for volume to get down experience curve first, target price price for long term profits, defensive- keep others out, monopoly prices if protected (source:)                The table above demonstrates the different aspects in innovation. As was explained in the article, Time Horizons differ, depending on the different aspects that make up the innovation process.             Encouraging innovations in the company can well mean that the company is on the verge of a major shift, positively. In the context of entrepreneurship, innovation can help make the entrepreneur get his wanted business opportunities.       8. Utilizing the Entrepreneurs Abilities: Secret to Increasing a Company’s Growth Potential             An entrepreneur’s ability can be harnessed into making a better company by these three aspects: Inspire, Create, Connect. In the following paragraphs, detailed explanation of these three aspects will be provided. An entrepreneur, with his abilities and skills may be able to up the growth potential of his company despite major obstacles in his way.               8.1. Inspire. An entrepreneur may not only have eyes for business. He may also have the abilities to inspire and encourage his subordinates. The mission, vision and goals of the company should be integrated and imparted to each and every one of the employees so that they would know the scope of the work that they are doing. But, an employee should be given the right to freedom of making mistakes and should also enjoy the liberty of correcting and learning from it. Ridicule is out of the question. Every employee should be given the right to make mistakes and should also be treated with respect. As a good entrepreneur, one must be able to see the difference between putting a person down and correcting him in the right manner. By doing so, one is not only able to gain the respect of his subordinates but is also able to inspire others.               8.2. Create. As being an entrepreneur, one is often tied with being the patron of innovations, thus, is always on the brink of doing something creative. Ideas and inspirations are a must for a company that wants to up its growth potential. Thus, an entrepreneur must be able to find potentially profitable idea and put it into action. The brimming entrepreneur must be able to come up and encourage ideas that may seem to be able to be beneficial to the company.               8.3. Compete. To be able to keep up in a competitive world like today, one must have the ability to compete with other rising entrepreneurs. A rising entrepreneur must be able to recognize the needs and wants of his clients and he must be able to meet those needs. Innovation and invention came about because of man’s needs. As the say, “necessity is the mother of invention.”, so an entrepreneur must recognize these needs and be able to come up with a solution to it, before competition sets in. Also, the consumers are not as they used to be. The consumers of today are better informed, more advanced than the consumers of the bygone years.             “Enterprises are recognizing that stronger and more-enduring customer relationships are critical to long-term profits. Most marketing organizations are at least conceptually well-situated to drive customer centricity, via a more-strategic approach that is focused on delivering value around customers and customer segments. To be effective, however, the marketing function must evolve from focusing on products and transactions into placing more emphasis on customers and relationships that are aligned with enterprise goals and strategies. However, most marketing organizations face several critical challenges: “()              In accordance with the above statement, an entrepreneur must establish good relations with his customers to be able to win and keep their trust. In a competitive world as ours, consumers mean a whole lot than anything else. Their comfort and trust must be first put into mind before anything else. Therefore, a rising entrepreneur, in order to help up his company’s status, must be able to compete with other rising entrepreneurs, in terms of productivity and innovation, and he must also be able to create a strong relationship with his clients, in terms of customer service.             According to most theories on strategic management, the customer is the ultimate judge of competitiveness; that is, by buying the products of a firm, the customer indirectly decides which firms will continue to exist and which firms will go bankrupt. This corresponds to the famous slogan by Alfred Sloan of GM: doing better by doing good; that is, if a firm makes money then that is good for society ( 2002). In order to attain good edge on competition, worldwide and locally, an entrepreneur must always be updated with the newest and most effective marketing strategies available and must be willing to work hard to apply these strategies. Of course, the company must also keep its products to the highest degree possible. They should of course maintain the quality of the goods they are selling in order to keep the demands at a high degree. By doing so, they not only ensure themselves of a high demand for their products but also keep for themselves a respected name.     9. Entrepreneurial Operations: Survival           Entering the world of entrepreneurs is on its own, a hard task to accomplish. What more is the process of maintaining the company and surviving the huge competition in the markets today? An entrepreneur must have an eye for industries with high possible productivity rate. Alongside that, he must also be cautious enough to look into their past revenues and their potential growth rate. One must also have the ability to keep in touch with his employees. He must not, at all costs, be a distant figure to his employees.  Long-Term goals are also very much needed for directional purposes.   9.1. Identification of Attractive Industries. To start a business, one must be able to identify businesses with are really “in”, in the industry as of today. One must know what businesses consumers find attractive and will be able to withstand competition with other entrepreneurs. There are a number of factors to consider when wanting to acquire an attractive industry. One is when one tries to see if this business is a necessity to the public. If it is a necessity, such as food and electricity, then it may be a good investment. The public cannot go on ignoring their needs. Also, I located some tips in starting out a business. The following is an excerpt from an article by Bruce Hodgman, entitled “How Do You Start a Successful Business? Planning, Planning and More Planning”. *What do I like to do with my time? *What technical skills have I learned or developed? *What do others say I am good at? *How much time do I have to run a successful business? *Do I have any hobbies or interests that are marketable?   Then you should identify the niche your business will fill. Conduct the necessary research to answer these questions: *Is my idea practical and will it fill a need? *What is my competition? *What is my business advantage over existing firms? *Can I deliver a better quality service? *Can I create a demand for your business?   The final step before developing your plan is the pre-business checklist. You should answer these questions: *What business am I interested in starting? *What services or products will I sell? Where will I be located? *What skills and experience do I bring to the business? *What will be my legal structure? *What will I name my business? *What equipment or supplies will I need? *What insurance coverage will be needed? *What financing will I need? *What are my resources? *How will I compensate myself? (Source:  2007)               9.1.1. Review of potential growth rate. Business outcomes are difficult to predict by just looking at them. An entrepreneur must be cautious enough to pore into its possible growth rate. He must try to look into other entrepreneurs who entered this type of businesses and if possible, should conduct interviews in order to view the growth rate of his chosen venture.   9.1.2. Review of past revenues and sales rate. Another way in which an entrepreneur can ensure the stability of the industry his company may choose to venture in is to review past sales rate and revenues of the industry. If the industry chosen seems to have a lot of sales in the past decade, it would be a worthwhile investment. Though maybe at times industries tend to fluctuate, it may get back up on its own.  That is a good signal of a good industry to invest in.   9.2. Long-Term Goals. A rising entrepreneur must also come up with long term goals in order to have direction to which the company can veer its attention and energy. The following are some recommended long-term goals that a company must have: Long-term strategies must include: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Implementation of new information systems</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Development of employees who are well rounded and well capable of multi-tasking</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Must have a program that would address key issues ad complaints involving the employee and the company</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Translate desired culture into specific employee behavior</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Have a back-up plan on the undertaking chosen. If in any case the chosen plan fails, there would be an alternative plan</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Knowing several languages (incorporation in curriculum)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Improvement, development and innovation of infrastructure of all centers</li> </ul>   9.3. Connect with Employees. Having a horde of employees would not answer your call of change and modernization. Instead, it may only cause frustration and headache. Even a few well chosen employees will be able to address the needs of the company. The company should, in all possible ways, provide for itself a high standard for accepting employees. They of course must possess certain qualities that would help further the increase on company profits and development. Of course, the company should employ the help of skilled panel of interviewers that could well determine if the applicant is fit for the job or not. At the individual level, the performance management system (PMS) must drive employee engagement, focus, and alignment. People perform best when they: Ø  Understand and agree with what they are expected to achieve at work; Ø  Gain specific feedback and agree with others’ assessment of their progress based on objectives and relevant information; and Ø  Are encouraged to take responsibility for their own performance and plan their own development. The company wants its employees to have control, choice, and self-help; but it also wants to make sure its employees’ contributions are aligned with business objectives. That is possible if employees have good, collaborative conversations with their managers.             A strategy that may help in the continuous good stature of company and employee relations is to continually train and keep transparency between employees and the management. Also, training must be continually done in order  to help facilitate the employee on his exposure to new tools of the trade and other innovations.   10. Recommendations             The company can strategically implement the enumerated short-term and long-term plans through specific goals and objectives. By identifying all the possible problems arising in the company, an entrepreneur can think of some solutions and in turn boost the morale of their employees to regain their trust for the company, and therefore, maintain the company’s good reputation. An employee’s motivation serves as the key when it comes to his or her performance in a certain business firm or company.   For established firms in a product category, focus is initially on current customers because marketing to this target is most cost-effective if saturation has not occurred. At some point, firms discover that targeting current customers limits brand growth. Exiting needs of the customers should be given priority in the design and manufacture of cars. Trusted research tools and methods that are applied for marketing throughout the years such as interviews and market surveys can be used to identify such needs and to test new product concepts.             What is an appropriate strategy when faced with the situation of targeting customers? Should the firm focus on its loyal but declining customer base or should it shift its attention to higher growth segments? The answer depends on both the reason for stagnant or declining growth and the relationship between current customers and higher growth segments of the population (2001). Entering the Global Market. This, to a certain degree, is also very much needed and very effective for helping the company’s revenue go up. Entering the global market may not only help in putting the company up on a pedestal but also increase its revenues and income per annum. Alongside that, the product or products produced would be introduced to a new set of audiences and that they will have more of a variety of consumers who would possibly be good potential buyers and business partners.             To a certain degree, penetrating the global market would be a high achievement for any entrepreneur, considering the fact that there are a lot of competition existing. Though it may seem humanly impossible and really unpredictable, it may greatly help struggling entrepreneurs business undertakings. If the products he chooses to sell are widely accepted by a variety of audiences, it may be a very good move for him. It hardly is something you would call a “day-to-day” marketing plan. But if it all works, then it is a guaranteed solution to the company’s dilemma. .           The entrepreneur should also invest on his employees. They are, after all, the wheels of the company. The employees of the company should also be given the freedom to make for themselves individual and attainable goals. They should be able to envision the things that are attainable for them. Instead of bludgeoning them on the company goals and policies, they should also be encouraged to for their own goals and objectives. This will give them a better sense of themselves and a sense of well-being and freedom.   11. Conclusions             We are on the verge of the 21st century. Entrepreneurs should create and make better the strategies that they have now in order to have the edge in the competitive world. They must be able to recognize and meet the consumer’s needs. Having said so, someone wanting to be an entrepreneur must be able to have the needed skills and abilities.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Table of Contents 6. Introduction 7. Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Definition and its Key Role in Advancement 7…

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