Owner-Manager Types Essay Example for Free

Owner-Manager Types Essay Cranfield School of Management has been studying the behaviour of entrepreneurs and their relationship with key staff in some thousands of growing UK companies. Cranfield study has concluded that it is the entrepreneurs themselves who are the most likely to be the biggest stumbling block to the growth and development of their own company. Cranfield grouped entrepreneurs into four dominant types of relationship with their staff, mainly: Heroes, Artisans, Meddlers and Strategists. Past Cranfield studies shows that most small firms do not think very much about their future strategy. In fact, less than a third of small and medium enterprises across Europe set their objectives in terms of profit and margins. This is somewhat surprising as profit and profitability are the key measures of business success. However, as over two-thirds of owner-managed companies with a turnover of i 10 million do not have a plan at all, it should come as no surprise that few entrepreneurs are strategists. Other research has uncovered the shocking fact that 60 per cent of senior staff in small firms leave within two years of their appointment. Some of these early departures can be put down to poor recruitment. The researchers studied two important elements of this relationship. The first element studied was how much time the owner-manager spent on routine management tasks such as marketing, selling, analysing figures, reviewing budgets or arbitrating between managers. The second one examines what level of business skills has been attained by the key staff. Heroes Probably the Heroes undertake one management function such as sales or production. The Heroes time is now spent on managing the business. As the level of business skill throughout their employees is still relatively low, the Heroes will take the lead in starting routine management procedures. They will introduce ideas from the courses they attend to the firm and be the only persons who really understand them. That is the reason why they will be considered as Heroes from the rest of the employees. Unfortunately, this leads to the Heroes taking the Herculean role on their hands. In this case, allocating operations to the employees is relatively simple as the working skills in most businesses are either readily available in the local community or the people can be trained up without too much difficulty. On the other hand, passing out routine management tasks will almost always require that the owner or manager trains up his own management teams. There are few well trained managers available to the small company because of two main reasons. Firstly, the overall pool of such people is small as training in the small business sector until recently has been almost exclusively concentrated on the Entrepreneur. Secondly, well trained managers usually seek jobs in larger firms with more opportunities for advancement and more resources to practice the art of management on. The Heroes have a high capacity for improving the firm performance but still have low growth prospects when compared to their market. They have no time for strategic thinking and no depth of management to handle growth effectively. Artisans In the Cranfield model, the Artisans are characterized by low occupation with routine management tasks. The reason is that most of their time is spent producing a product or delivering a service. The level of business skills in the company is also low as most of the Artisans staff is employed helping in production or performing primary duties, such as book-keeping or selling. Artisans can include professional firms, such as architects and surveyors, manufacturers, sub-contractors or small building firms, owners of small retail chains such as chemists, video stores and proprietors of hotels and restaurants. Little time is available either for routine management tasks such as examining performance or reassessing methods. Every hour that can be sold is sold and little time is left over to either improve the quality or profitability of todays business or to consider strategy for tomorrow. The Artisans have low growth prospects in relation to their market. Their training and development needs are to raise their awareness of the management significance as a business task of equal importance with daily revenue earning. Meddlers The Meddler increases the level of management skills either by training or recruitment but then fails to delegate routine management tasks. At this stage, according to the Cranfield model, the owner-managers probably have no operative responsibilities and have assumed the role of managing directors. Typically, they spend much time anticipating subordinates, introducing more refined, but largely unnecessary management systems. They also go on courses or read books that make them even more well-informed and sometimes better at routine management tasks than their own employees, who anyway are by now doing a perfectly satisfactory job of managing todays business. They get in early and leave late and practice management by walking about. The Meddlers problem is that they cannot delegate routine management tasks because they feel useless. They have been used to a 70-90 hour week with only 10 days holiday each year. Once their management team is in place and trained, they are out of a job. Until they reduce their involvement with routine management tasks, they will limit the growth capacity of this firm for two reasons. Firstly, their management team will not take on more duties if the reward for taking on the last lot of responsibility was being irritated and criticised. Secondly, they are too busy checking on people to develop sound strategies for growth. Strategists The Strategists are the most desirable type of entrepreneurs to develop a growing business. They develop the management skills of their team to the highest appropriate level and in depth. They may introduce a staff duty to help their line managers in such areas as personnel and market research. This will free-up their key managers to think strategically too. They will dedicate roughly a third of their time to management tasks such as monitoring performance, co-ordinating activities, resolving conflict and helping to manage todays business. A third of their time will be spent motivating, counselling, developing management teams and helping them to manage change. This activity is aimed at improving the existing business. The final third of their time will be devoted on developing strategic thinking to form the shape of the future business. Their training needs will be to continuously update their core leadership and motivation skills and to increase their depth of knowledge on strategic issues, acquisition or divestment activity and financing sources. Relationship between the Owner-Manager and His Key Staff in a Growing Firm The natural path of development for the relationship between the owner-manager and his team is to pass from Artisan to Hero to Meddler and for the lucky few to become Strategists. Why Family Businesses Die The family business is deeply rooted in the sense of pride of the owner like most of other forms. Schein (1998) said that this is reinforced by a desire for autonomy which forms part of the five career anchors. This becomes possible with the combination of vision, energy and dedication. Moorman and Halloran (1993) stated that there are more businesses that fail than they succeed in this competitive market place. Twenty-four from one hundred start-ups fail in the U. S. , within the first two years and more than sixty within the first six years. This happens due to lack of planning and preparation which is the most common reason. The second is the lack of creativity which is important to survive. Some businesses offering the same product may succeed because they are doing something better and more innovative than competition. The Copy Cat approach lacks creative skills to turn its product into a unique selling proposition. This can be harmful for family businesses.

Inclusion Essay -- essays research papers

Inclusion in Class   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inclusion â€Å"mainstreams† physically, mentally, and multiply disabled children into regular classrooms. Back in the sixties and the seventies, disabled children were excluded all together from regular classrooms. Currently, the federal inclusion law, I.D.E.A. (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), addresses children whose handicaps range from autistic and very severe to mild (I.D.E.A. Law Page). From state to state the laws of inclusion vary. The laws may permit the special needs children to be in regular classrooms all day and for all subjects or for just one or two subjects (Vann 31). Other times the state laws allow those with special needs to have aids with them to help them in the regular classrooms (Sornson). There are many more variations. The creators of inclusion had the right idea in mind, but it is misused by many administrators and teachers because they aren’t focused enough on what the children really need. I believe that incl usion is not beneficial to normal children or special need students because of the difficult learning environment it creates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My oppositions leads a strong argument; every child should be able to experience a regular classroom in order to mature and socialize with other children in normal situations (Stussman 18). This is true; children need to be around other children in order to learn how to interact. In stating that, inclusion is one way to let children â€Å"mingle† and socially grow into adults who can communicate with the rest of the world. In March of 1997, â€Å"The Educational Digest† composed an article on Barak Stussman. She has mild cerebral palsy. She shared with the readers her story of how inclusion worked in her life. Barak retold how she felt deep sadness when she realized she was not â€Å"regular†. This made her hate going to school (Stussman 19). Two important statements were made by Barak: â€Å"If children do not perceive barriers, they will amaze you with what they are capable of doing,† and â€Å"I believe public school systems should be a microcosm of the ‘real world’† (Stussman 20). My oppositions feels inclusion is beneficial to children because they believe in the concept, â€Å"what you really need to make it in this world is good people skills and common sense; not academic achievement.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, the truth is... ...motional and distraught. It could also cause them to dislike school more and more as time goes on (Stussman 19). This bad learning environment is harmful the children who dislike the classroom. This negativity can spread and influence other children to dislike school as well; therefore they may not try or function to their potential. The focus of school should be to educate children in a manner and environment which supports and values them as people (Vann 33). The best program is the one which provides a combination of approaches that best suits each individual child (Vann 33).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inclusion is detrimental to both regular and special needs students because of the complicated and strenuous learning environment it creates. Though there are many variations in the inclusion technique, children are still being helped inadequately and they are not accomplishing the academic achievements that they could. Every child deserves to be in an environment where they will succeed academically and emotionally. Our responsibility is to ultimately create a system that places and supports students and their families in ways that will promote the greatest amount of success.

Key Sectors of Economic Growth in Kenya Essay

Economic growth is the increase in the amount of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product i.e. real GDP. In Kenya the key main sectors to achieve economic growth are agriculture which is the mainstay economic growth drivers, energy sector, manufacturing and industry, service sector which is mainly tourism, financial services and banking and also the private sector. All of these sectors are in line with the Kenya Vision 2030, the economic pillar. The key sectors are as discussed below: 1. AGRICULTURE: Agriculture has been the key factor of economic growth of Kenyan economy. It continues to be the key factor that will drive the economic growth of Kenya as it contributes to about 24% of Growth Domestic Product. And for this reason the government should increase budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector up from the Kshs 53.5 billion allocated in National Budget 2012/201 so as to be in line with the Maputo Declaration which requires the budget allocation to agriculture to be atleast 10% of total Government budgets and The government should also subsidize the farm inputs such as fertilizers for the farmers, this will maximize production. Livestock farming also has to be considered. If the government increases funding to the agricultural sector, such occurrences as food shortages, seasonal inflation and unemployment would be curbed if not avoided. Agricultural sector which includes; †¢Livestock sector and dairy farming: The livestock sector provides employment opportunities while also increases income. Kenya exports from hides and skins for leather industry earned Kshs 4 billion. Also reforms need to be made on the Kenya Meat Commission. †¢Fisheries: Kenya earns around Kshs 4 billion from this sector. The sector also employs about 60000 people and also over half a million people depend on this sector for livelihood through trading and fish processing thus thee number of fish processing plants should be increased. 2. TOURISM SECTOR: The service sector of Kenya contributes 63% of Growth Domestic Product and it’s mainly tourism industry which is the country’s principal source of foreign exchange thus the government. The tourism industry along with the government has to take steps to address the security problem and to reverse negative publicity especially after the post-Election Violence of 2007 following disputed General Elections. Such steps among others should include establishing a tourist police and launching marketing campaigns in key tourist origin markets. Former minister of Tourism Najib Balala ran such campaigns in CNN. 3. ENERGY SECTOR: The energy sector an important sector to drive the smooth growth of the economy hence there is need for the Government to put up measures that would help the sector to grow thereby, contributing to the growth of the economy as the sector is depended on by manufacturing and industrial sector and also the agricultural sector. There exists limited power generation and transmission capacity in the country. This is caused by lack of adequate investment in power systems and infrastructure development. This combined with rapid economic growth, new customer connections and unreliable rainfall patterns have caused the current electricity shortage in Kenya. Though Kenya is not natural resource endowed, the natural resources the country can boast of for energy generation are small hydro, geothermal, coal, biogas, tidal waves, solar, wind and recently the oil exploration in Turkana. The government needs to invest heavily in the energy sector so that there is no over reliance on Hydro power. The government should implement a policy to attract private sector investments in the energy sector i.e. the Kenya Private Sector Power Generation Support Project. In doing so it will boost economic growth and in job creation. 4. INDUSTRY AND MANUFACTURING SECTOR: Kenya boast of being the industrialized country in East Africa, the manufacturing sector contributes to about 15% of Growth domestic Product, this percentage doesn’t as the manufacturing sector is hampered by high energy costs, shortages of hydro telemetric power, poor infrastructure and counterfeits products i.e. cheap imports. Industrial and manufacturing sector has become increasingly significant to Kenya economy due to increased urbanization. Most industrial plants are located in urbanized towns which has led to the reason Kenya has three cities i.e. Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu; they include food-processing industries such as grain milling, beer production, and sugarcane crushing. These plants contribute significantly to national income as well as generate employment. Also the oil refinery which processes imported crude petroleum into petroleum products, mainly for the domestic market. In addition, a substantial and expanding informal sector engages in small-scale manufacturing of household goods, motor-vehicle parts, and farm implements. 5. FINANCIAL SECTOR AND BANKING: Kenya is East and Central Africa’s hub for financial services. Most of the banking institution and other financial services firms are located in the urban centres as it is considered that urban people have higher income which is not the case, thus innovation and opening of banking sectors should be put in place in rural areas. Such innovations includes mobile banking which where now rural populations have daily access to financial services as most people now own mobile handsets. MPESA is the widely used mobile banking, it is estimated that MPESA has given access financial services to about 75% of the people. Government thus needs to encourage other mobile money transfers such as Tangaza, Yu cash, and Airtel money. In doing so it will create a competitive environment and thus many people will get access to the financial services. The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) ranks fourth in Africa in terms of Market capitalization. Stock markets provide market liquidity that enables implementation of long term projects with long term payoffs thereby promoting a country’s economic growth. Moreover, efficient capital markets not only avail resources to investors, they also facilitate inflow of foreign financial resources into the domestic economy. Government needs to institute reforms in the financial sector as capital market development is an important component of financial sector development and supplements the role of the banking system in economic development. Capital markets assists in price discovery, liquidity provision, reduction in transactions costs, and risk transfer.

How to Address Your Grandmother in French

The familiar noun  mà ©mà ¨re, derived from the concept de mà ¨re (of mother) and pronounced may mehr,  has a bit of a split personality: It can be used in a very positive sense, and it can be used in quite a negative sense.   Positive Usage This seems to be the most common usage of the term mà ©mà ¨re in French.  To families with an aging or aged grandmother, it is a term of endearment for a loved one who deserves this long-awaited honorific. It is the name children give to their grandmother.  It is, in short, a term of love and respect. When used in direct address, there is no article, as in Je taime  mà ©mà ¨re! (I love you, grandma!)  And thats the way it is, for the most part, in French, French Canadian, and Cajun. In that positive context, it can mean, in English: granny, grandmother, grandma, old dear. Because the concept of a respected grandmother is so ingrained in French culture, it has many French synonyms:  mà ©mà © (the often used short form of  mà ©mà ¨re), grand-mà ¨re, grand-maman,  mamie (often used as mamie et papi (grandma and grandpa), bonne-maman, aà ¯eule (grandmother, forebear, ancestor).   Negative Usage Less frequently,  mà ©mà ¨re is derogatory when it  refers to someone who is not related to you.  It becomes quite offensive when you are not referring to someone specific. Mà ©mà ¨re can  refer negatively to an old stay-at-home woman or to a corpulent, lazy woman (insulting). It is very often associated with  vieille  in the pejorative  sense, as in vieille mà ©mà ¨re or  vieille mamie.   The negative meaning of  mà ©mà ¨re  can also be an old woman who is a gossip; the verb is mà ©mà ¨rer, which means to gossip or to be chatty. A French synonym  for the very pejorative sense of  mà ©mà ¨re could be une vieille dondon (an old fat person).  In Canada, a very negative synonym would be une personne bavarde et indiscrà ¨te; une commà ¨re (a nasty gossip who attacks the reputation of others);  commà ©rer is the verb to gossip). Examples and Expressions (Familiar) Faut pas pousser mà ©mà ¨re / mà ©mà © / grand-mà ¨re dans les orties. You shouldnt go too far. / You shouldnt be mean to people.On taime  mà ©mà ¨re. We love you, grandma.  Tu ne viens pas tasseoir avec ta  mà ©mà ¨re ?   Wont you sit a while with your granny?Au pire des cas, toi, mà ©mà ¨re et Pierre pouvez venir rester avec nous.   If worst comes to worst, you, grandma and Pierre can come stay with us.  Lautre jour, jai vu Anne avec des boucles doreilles de  mà ©mà ¨re. The other day, I saw Anne wearing grandmas earrings.(Pejorative) Viens, mà ©mà ¨re  ! Come on, (old) lady!(Pejorative) Je suis en retard à   cause que jai eu à   suivre un vieux mà ©mà ¨re sur lautoroute !   Im late because I had to follow an old woman on the highway!(Pejorative)  Cette  mà ©mà ¨re lui a tout racontà © ! This old lady told him everything!(Pejorative)  Chaque jour, ces vielles  dames vont au restaurant pour  mà ©mà ¨rer. Every day these old women go to the restaurant to gossip.