entreprenurship strategy

MGT C38F: Entrepreneurship

Case Analysis

Each case that we study is intended to sharpen your opportunity analysis skills and to inspire you with stories of entrepreneurial success. Your preparation should include the following sections:

1. Background

Describe the key player(s), product(s) or service(s), market and if really important, other elements of the situational context. For a briefing memo, this should be no more than one paragraph. For a full case analysis, this may be 2-3 paragraphs.

2. Business Problem/Opportunity

What business opportunities and thus major decision(s) are available to the Entrepreneur as well as to the reader of the memo or case analysis? This can usually be summed up in a few sentences.

3. Key Resources

Identify those resources available to the entrepreneur in terms of Dollinger's resource-based model. If a resource is not relevant to the opportunity being examined, ignore it. Explain why each resource is important. This should comprise 30 -- 40% of either your memo or case analysis.

4. Options

Develop a series of options (at least two) for the decision-maker to consider. Make arguments in favour of each, and list any risks of each as well. This should comprise about 30% of your memo or case analysis. Given the limited space in a briefing memo, point form may be used. The options could relate to specific decisions outlined in the case, or it could be related to the decision for you to invest or not to invest in the firm.

5. Recommendations

Based on the objectives of the decision-maker and the relative strength of each option (above), make a recommendation as to which option should be chosen. Compare the favoured option to the ones that were not chosen. This should comprise 20-25% of your case or memo.

Additionally, for the Group case, include an appendix called ‘Biographies’ that lists the key functions that each person performed while tackling the case. Other appendixes may be included to support claims made in the body of the report.

Tellme Networks

Sample Analysis

Background

Tellme Networks is a solutions company in the emerging voice portal space. It has a marketable product, significant financing and is considering a multi-threaded strategic plan that assumes dramatic adoption of voice portals over the next few years. At this time, the company is the leader in this fledgling industry.

Business Opportunity / Problem

With the broad adoption of computers and the rapid development of consumer-centric, software based services, consumers are increasing their demands for new and useful tools that increase their efficiency and access to both new and existing services.

At the same time, while many households are computer equipped, virtually ALL homes have telephones and each inhabitant is fundamentally capable and confident in their use.

Additionally, various technologies, such as voice recognition, are becoming dependable and accessible, and are permitting new ways to apply voice-based access to a wide range of services. As well, many services (such as banking, weather and information sources) are becoming IP (internet protocol) connectible, making them quite accessible via standard software interfaces.

Key Resources

A number of resources and capabilities controlled by Tellme Networks provide for the company’s viability. Those that are believed to support its sustainable competitive advantage are described below:

· Strategic Alliance with AT&T (Organizational)

This alliance provides several critical assets to the company, including human and technological infrastructure, the possibility of future financing, and credibility with other sources of capital.

· Level of Financing (Financial)

Clearly there is significant demand risk in this opportunity. The significant funds already raised by the company can allow it to remain solvent while it and other industry players create broader demand for voice portals.

· Top Management Team (Intellectual/Human)

This team is likely to make effective assessments of critical variables such as demand timing, required product features, and product development strategy. During shakeout of this industry, the company may survive both due to the wisdom of this management team and its deep financial resources.

Options

1. Focus on developing its current consumer-based services model

First of all, the market potential of this opportunity appears huge, so it would seem appropriate on focusing all resources toward it. Ensuring the product meets market requirements for quality, flexibility and basket of services will take a great deal of time, money and capability.

2. Continue to develop its parallel strategy of consumer services and Application Service Provider to businesses

In parallel to the strategy outlined in 1. above, the company should devote resources to the development of a business to business strategy, creating an ASP environment that businesses would use to effectively develop their own voice portal applications. This would leverage many of the investments from the first strategy and as well, reduce some of the market adoption risk of the single thread approach.

Recommendations

While there may be some risks related to reduced focus, it is recommended that the company embark upon strategy 2, for the following reasons:

· Demand risk seems quite large; the business market will be required both to support the operation and in order to establish a broader brand equity that will spill over into the consumer market.

· It is possible that in fact, the consumer market may not adopt voice portals to any meaningful level, moving instead to some other form of service ‘access’. Until such time, the company should stay in this consumer market, developing the concept and at the same time developing its business products and distribution system.

· The business market should serve as a launching point for the next product/service for the company; combining the building blocks it has developed with concepts developed in collaboration with business customers will offer the company a framework for continued innovation and survival.