Entrepreneurial audit

4.8. Traits and characteristics associated with the entrepreneurial personality

to senior executives of the organisation

Ø Improvers: since OWHC's managers operate their business predominately in the improver mode, they are focused on using their company as a means to improve their relationship with the clients. Their overarching axiom is: morally correct and ethically run companies will be rewarded working on a noble cause. As improvers, they have resolute conviction to run their business with high integrity and ethics.

Ø Advisors: As in their business personality type they provide an extremely high level of assistance and advice to customers. The company's managers reckon that by helping clients achieving their goals in providing them with sound advices, a strong relationship based on trust and satisfaction will be built. The only risk that they may face by being advisors is simply that they can become totally focused on the needs of their business and customers that they may ignore their own needs and ultimately perform poorly as na organisation.

Ø Analysts: as they run the business as Analysts, the venture is focused on fixing problems in a systematic way. Often the basis of HR related knowledge the investigated company excel at solving clients' problems.

Ø Heroes: leaders/owners of the company namely Lindiwe Dube and Malcolm Campbell have an incredible will and ability to lead the business through any challenge. They are the essence of entrepreneurship and can assemble greatly the business. This latter fact can be substantiated as they managed to remain the company comfortably surviving after the global recession struck the country in 2008. Even tough the company lost several clients, the above mentioned leaders managed to maintain the organisation afloat.

Ø Healers: the above cited leaders/owners of the organisation can also be considered as healers. Since they provided nurturing and harmony to their business. They have shown characteristics of having an uncanny ability to survive and persist with an inner calm (Zahorsky, 2010).

4.9. Critique of the dominant management style in the business

OWHC's managers have proven to exercise a flexible type of management as their core business style gives a great importance to the understanding of each and every employee's situations, strengths, and skills on an individual basis. Keep an open line of communication. To do so, they explained to the employees of their management style and of their expectations from them. This was also an opportunity to ask the employees where they stand and what their expectations were.

To take this step further, to create an even more open line of communication, the companies' managers went as far as to understand an employee's family responsibilities and create a familiar environment. For example, if an employee has circumstances at home (i.e. worries about unsupervised children or an ill family member requiring extra care) that are a distraction from their responsibilities at work, managers can work with the employee to create a more flexible work schedule, different work/project responsibilities, etc. In doing so, not only does the employee benefit from reduced stress, but the employee also becomes more productive. By being flexible, managers created a cost-effective solution that benefits both the worker and the supervisor.

Once the relationship was established, managers worked with the employee by giving them goals, but then letting the employee offer suggestions and methods to achieving those goals. By allowing some freedom to the employees to take the objectives in their own direction, the employees felt a sense of ownership in their work, which was translated into enthusiasm, which consequently meant more productivity.

While a flexible management style allows a little leeway in letting the employees direct themselves, managers kept a commission-based type of remuneration to motivate employees outperform. Managers realized that the employees had to be skilled and professional, that is why in their hiring practices the made sure prospective subordinates were qualified for the positions available. By doing the progress reports, managers can anticipate some troubles or questions employees may have, perhaps providing answers and tools before they are requested.

In addition to goal-setting, action plans, and progress reports, managers encouraged teamwork and intangibility within their staff. To adapt to the needs of the employees and allow for more flexibility, considered cross-training employees. This allowed others to fill in where needed, should a member of the staff need additional support or not being available for his/her conventional task. Another way to create a feeling of teamwork was to post goals, progress, and problems for the entire staff to see. It was elaborated as a motivational tool that implies that the manager is involving the staff in his decisions and is open to their input and suggestions.

While flexibility in management can be asset to the core business, it is important to be wary of situations where employees may take advantage of such adaptability. While a manager wants to keep an open line of communication, that line should not be crossed into being too friendly. An effective manager can be aware of the needs and problems facing an employee, but he/she should not be involved in them. Any abuse of a manager's flexibility must be addressed immediately. Managers should never be adaptable at the company's expense.

Employees are one of, if not the, most important assets a company has. By implementing more flexible management techniques, the business took ownership of the most out of their employees while keeping them productive and fulfilled.

The type of management involving delegation is inexistent within the organisation as it was observed that key managers do not hand out responsibilities to individuals in the organisation to make decisions rather than everyone having to be told what to do by top managers in a hierarchical way. This is coupled with the decentralisation process whereby instead of all decisions being made at the centre (e.g. Head Office) of an organisation, they are made throughout the organisation. As the leaders of the organisation perform a modern-day type of management, which implies that in today's competitive business world; any company desiring to enlarge has to accept the paradox that to grow big they have to act small.

In this new way of viewing the organisation, self-contained teams are responsible for a specific and major part of the business or for a particular project. Individuals work to targets set by key management. They take advice and assistance as necessary from the specialist departments such as Research and Development. They also take goods and services from outside suppliers when these are judged to be more cost-effective. Occasionally, key management, or one of its teams, may decide to subcontract an entire project to an outside supplier.

The main disadvantage resulting form the lack of delegation within the company is purely the reality being that it may impede the organisation for increasing productivities (when well implemented). It is also a managerial tool for subordinate accomplishment and enrichment. It also requires highly developed leadership skills such as sensitivity to subordinate capabilities and needs, and the ability to communicate clearly and directly, the willingness to support and encourage subordinates in carrying out delegated tasks and the vision to see how delegation might result in increased personal growth for subordinates.