Seminar: Considering the role of business

Topic Number:1

Principles of Business

Overview

In this first seminar you are tasked with working in a group to come up with your own business idea and thereafter formulate a plan to get it up and running.

It is important to note that you will be working in the same group and on the same business for a number of weeks and therefore should come up with a business idea that is exciting and viable.

For todays seminar we will be looking for your group to come up with:

• The type of business and structure you would go for• The various roles in the organisation each of you would take on• Consider what the customer need is and how your company is

going to satisfy it?• What have you learnt about working together to come up with

a business and organising yourselves into a structure?

3

• Be able to articulate the type of business you would go for and its implications

• Critically evaluate and discuss the various types of business structures and hone in on the most appropriate one for your business

• Identify and describe the various roles in an organisation

• Demonstrate an understanding of what is a customer need and how you would satisfy them

• Work through group dynamics to come up with a robust business & structure

Learning outcomes of this seminar

Agenda for this seminar

The various roles in the organisation each of you would take on

Consider what the customer need is and how your company is going to satisfy it?

What have you learnt about working together to come up with a business and organising yourselves into a structure?

The type of business and structure you would go for

Structure for the session

You will have 15 minutes to

discuss each question

We will have a de-brief at the end of each 15 minutes to hear your thoughts on each area

Feel free to ask questions but please do not have separate conversations ‘we are all in

this together’!

So if you could start a business what would it be?

Richard Branson

'Above all, you want to create something you're proud of. This has always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off not doing it.'

More importantly ask yourself why?

To develop a product they wanted but couldn't find

To build a better company

They came up with a real

breakthrough!

What would your vision be for your business?

“An ideal that…represents or

reflects the shared values to which the organisation should

aspire”

Kirkpatrick, Wofford and Baum, 2002:139

Our vision is a world where everyone can be connected

We bring good things to life

Be, and be recognised as, the best consumer products and

services company in the world

Which Company?

Nokia

GE

P&GSource: Palmer, Dunford and Akin, 2009

What business would you choose ?

What type would it be?

Start with: What is the problem you are trying to solve

What really inspires me is my students energy and curiosity but they have no framework

If I fly and the experience is not a pleasant

one, then I think, well

maybe I can create the

airline I’d fly on

You must be crazy to think of

selling cell phones to the poor… yet it

has emerged as a source of social and economic change

David KelleyFounder of Stanford D

School

Richard BransonFounder Virgin Group

Mohammad YunusFounder Grameen Bank

They all drive towards a purpose and a vision

What do these have in common?

“If I fly on somebody else’s airline and find the experience is not a pleasant one, which it wasn’t 21 years ago, then I think, well maybe I can create the kind of airline that I’d like to fly on. So I got a second hand 747 from Boeing and gave it a go!”

Change the way something is currently done?

Create something that has never been done before?

“To end global poverty”

Ask yourselves – What are we looking to cause in the world?

Would you start a profit or not for profit?

Making money is a happiness. And that’s a great incentive. Making other people happy is a super-happiness.

Muhammad YunusFounder of the Grameen Bank

As long as your going to be thinking anyway – think big

Donald Trump

What are the implications of your structure?

• Purpose of serving the interests of a specific cause

• Profits re-invested

• Governed by board/trustees

• Favourable taxes

• Government subsidies

• Purpose of maximising shareholder value

• Profits distributed amongst shareholders

• Owned by shareholders

• Corporation tax

Consider the size you want your organisation to be… what are the pros and cons of each?

Consider the functions of

the organisation- what would each of you

do?

What are the functions in an organisation?

Marketing Leader/Legacy Sales

Finance Operations Legal

Consider the type of person you are…

Creative Numbers Logical

Organised Presenter Methodical

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve JobsFounder Apple

What role do you feel passionately about?

Make sure your team has all the skills you need…

As an individual you are a drop… as a team you are the ocean

Consider the customer

need and how your company

is going to satisfy it

Firstly consider the difference between…

A Need A Want An Aspiration

+

Customer InsightUnderstanding your customers and

their needs

Market InsightUnderstanding the gap in the

market

Centred around an insight and ability to deliver a solution

Know what you know first Squeeze the value out of the information we have about how customers behave

Put yourself in your customers shoesInterview and observe customers in their normal surroundings

Give yourself time to thinkInsights come when you least expect them

Keep diggingInsight discovery isn't easy, but keep going

Test the insight in actionWhen you think you’ve found an insight, think about where it could take you. Make sure it is actionable

How do you discover an insight? Direct Line’s View

How is your company going to solve the problem? An education example…

What have you learnt

about teamwork?

Working in teams makes you more successful

Key to make sure everybody has a role and does not pull each other down

Appendix – Sources for illustrations

Slide 6:www.virgin.com

Slide 7:Facebook, Virgin and Dyson websites

Slide 11:www.virginatlantic.com & www.grameenbank.com

Slide 12:www.grameenbank.com & www.wikipedia.org

Slide 13:www.ladieswholaunch.com & www.wikipedia.org

Slide 14:www.heatspring.com

Slide 16:www.appl.com

Slide 17: www.wikipedia.org

Slide 20:www.pingdom.com

Slide 18:www.apple.com

Slide 19:www.asme.org

Slide 21:www.wikipedia.org

Slide 22www.brandpackaging.com

Slide 24www.pearsoncollege.com

Slide 27:www.fabeetle.com

Slide 28: www.atongwalli.com

End of Seminar

Note: This recording is for your personal use only and not for further distribution or wider review.

© Pearson College 2013