Bhide's Entrepreneurial Theories: Origin and Evolution of New Businesses Assessment Answer

After reading the SearchPro case, read the Bhide article and consider to what extent it explains the history and predicts the future of Search Pro?

SearchPro has been a case of significant growth in little time. The company saw growth in its business after implementing search engine marketing (SEM) as its primary service. In the article, Bhide (1994) stated that the majority of successful entrepreneurs do not carry out extensive planning and research before starting a business. Moreover, their growth and success have been dependent on their capability to take action and make informed adjustments as per the external situation and needs. This was the case with SearchPro, which was a multiple-service provider in the internet business. The owners, after buying the business, dropped all the services except SEM, which they perceived offered growth opportunities in the market. Thus, their plan was dependent on a little know-how of the business and the instinct of one of the owners and CEO, Duncan, on the basis of his experience in sales. This shows that their emphasis on action enabled them to achieve success in the market. Moreover, the article also stated that growth is also dependent on creativity and the capacity for execution. Thus, a creative workforce and their proven capacity for execution show that SearchPro can achieve further growth by achieving a competitive advantage in the market.

Does it make you more or less optimistic about the chances of success?

Bhide (1994) stated that entrepreneurs could achieve growth and success in the market without an extensive plan or a breakthrough product. Moreover, this should be dependent on the capacity to leverage the opportunities provided by external change. In the case of SearchPro, Duncan displayed significant creativity and the ability to take action at the earliest to leverage the market opportunities for growth in the internet services sector. Moreover, their growth had also been dependent on strategically adopted choices which provided them not only a niche market in the form of fraud detection services but also penetration into different customer segments. Based on this discussion, it can be stated that the chances of success of SearchPro in future are positive, provided they can leverage the opportunities provided by the changing market conditions.

You may want to assess the business’ development in phases (by utilising the theory of growth models) and critique Duncan’s approach at each stage; what has created the success the company was enjoying by 2007? Should Duncan write a business plan or not?

The Churchill and Lewis Growth Stage Model can be used to evaluate the growth of SearcPro. As per this model, the five stages of business growth are:-

1. Existence: Validation of ideas and gaining customers.
2. Survival: Improvement in services.
3. Success: Growth of the company, the owner can either disengage for stability or secure funding for growth.
4. Take-Off: This includes scaling operations to achieve growth.
5. Maturity: This includes resource maturity to sustain superior service and mitigate inefficiencies (Muda and Rahman 2016).

SearchPro is at the success stage of growth and faces a dilemma regarding the next stage. During the existence stage, Duncan carried out direct supervision to ensure focus on SEM. Moreover, during the survival stage, Duncan supervised the development and improvement of services. Furthermore, during the success stage, Duncan operated as per the functional requirements of his role as the CEO. Lastly, Duncan needs to ensure the development of human resource capabilities in order to ensure growth in the market.

Thus, it can be assessed that the growth of SearchPro in future can be dependent on its capacity to utilise capital and human resources in addition to the technological tools available to them to drive growth (Sharipov 2015). However, Duncan’s approach at each stage of growth has been dependent on the existing market opportunities to achieve growth. Based on this, it could be stated that Duncan should not write a business plan but should be dependent on the skills of the available human resources to achieve further growth.

Evaluate future options for Duncan and the business and how they will affect the strategy and management approach.

The future options for Duncan include the option to enhance its presence among small and medium enterprises, which offers an opportunity to grow in the market. Moreover, it could also enhance its presence in the provision of fraud detection services by developing niche market opportunities for growth. Furthermore, it can develop further expertise in the SEM sector and achieve further growth in the market (Bhide 1994).

Decide how you think Duncan should proceed now, justifying your decisions.

Duncan should aim to develop an effective human resource program to enable the firm to manage the employees and decrease turnover. This would enable the firm to not only decrease the cost of hiring new employees but would help in the development of a strong workforce that is focused towards the growth of the company. Moreover, this will also enhance the capability of the firm to carry out creative decision-making (Anwar and Abdullah 2021). Furthermore, this will enable the capacity of the firm to execute to further grow in the market (Bhide 1994). 

References

Anwar, G. and Abdullah, N.N., 2021. The impact of Human resource management practice on Organizational performance. International Journal of Engineering, Business and Management (IJEBM), 5.

Bhide, A. 1994. How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies That Work. Harvard Business Review.

Muda, S. and Rahman, M.R.C.A., 2016. Human capital in SMEs life cycle perspective. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, pp.683-689. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(16)00084-8

Sharipov, I., 2015. Contemporary economic growth models and theories: A literature review. CES Working Papers, 7(3), p.759. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/198426/1/ceswp-v07-i3-p759-773.pdf

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