Conference 7.286::digital

2806.0. "How entrepreneurial is DEC?" by CLARID::HOFSTEE (Digital has it now! You'll get it later) Wed Dec 01 1993 05:03

I saw this in VTX yesterday, and did the test. I tried to answer the questions
as honest as possible, by just looking around me, reviewing what has happened
the last two years etc. Even with the best will of the world , I didn't score
more than 23 points for DEC. It would be interesting to see what the scores
of other employees are, to see if there is some consistency....
The test contains 15 questions and shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes...

================================================================================

                 How Entrepreneurial Is your Company?
                   {Business Week/Enterprise 1993}

    The essence of an entrepreneurial company has little to do with size. The
    secret lies more in the company's mind-set than in its balance sheet,
    cash flow, technology, or other factors. How a company prepares for,
    engages in, and pursues its battles for the marketplace is what counts
    most.

    The following quiz was prepared by Professor Jeffry A. Timmons of
    Babson College and Harvard business school, where he is the MBA Class
    of 1954 Professor of New Ventures. The quiz yields clues to the
    complicated entrepreneurial genetic code of management philosophy,
    strategies, practices, and culture. Except for statement #2, note your
    response as follows: 

       strongly agree (SA), 
       inclined to agree (IA),
       strongly disagree (SD). 

    While in some cases the "entrepreneurial" response may seem obvious,
    the only way to get an honest appraisal of your company is to select
    the most accurate response that most closely approximates your
    situation. For scoring, see the next page.

 1. The main things that determine how people get ahead at my company are
    the size of my budget and the number of people who report to me.

 2. Our goal is to generate the following proportion of sales from products
    introduced in the past five years: a) 50% or more  b) 40%-50% c) 20%-30%
    d) 10%-20% e) less than 10% f) no goal.

 3. The best new product or service ideas we have come from within the
    company, mainly from R&D or marketing research people.

 4. Our company is so big now that it isn't worth our while getting into a
    small or poorly defined market. We aren't very interested in new
    projects that require a commitment of less then $5 million in capital.

 5. Two of our top people want to launch a new business that they would own
    and manage. It has a good chance of succeeding. They want our company
    to provide financial and strategic support, even a minority investment. 
    They also want salaries and stock options pegged to the new business' 
    results. Their proposal would stand a good chance of being approved.

 6. A manager wants to leave to start her own business. We would do whatever
    we can to prevent her departure, including strict enforcement of a
    noncompete agreement.

 7. A manager at my company has had to shut down a business for which he
    had been an enthusiastic champion. The losses are not huge by company
    standards. The manager can count on the silent treatment from
    colleagues and an unappealing new assignment.

 8. If I were running my company, I would immediately begin to change many
    of its policies and procedures, including budgeting, hiring, and
    rewarding people.

 9. At my company, people at every level, down to the production line and
    maintenance, have a clear understanding of how their jobs and daily
    decisions affect the company's financial performance.

10. In My company is highly committed to the strategic process. In deciding
    what new businesses to get into, we involve the board and top
    management from the beginning to make sure we have it right before 
    we launch a venture.

11. We don't give up easily. Once we I commit our company to a strategy, we
    allocate a lot of capital and people and pursue it with a vengeance.

12. Our strategic process begins by identifying opportunities. Then we
    figure out which ones offer the most sustainable growth and fit with
    whom we are and what we want to become. We abandon initiatives fairly
    quickly if we aren't getting the results we want.

13. Because of a strategic shift, our company has decided to sell a small
    but successful division for a hefty profit. The top managers who have
    been running the division for years have decided to stay with our
    company. We would reward their effort by paying them a bonus equivalent
    to 10% of the gain, even if that amounted to millions of dollars.

14. Pursuing new business opportunities is a priority around here. But
    we're so busy with day-to-day operations that we usually think about
    new ventures only in our spare time or in occasional idea meetings.

15. My company has what could be called a perpetual learning culture. We
    are so committed that we will go to the extreme of reimbursing people
    for any educational expenses, job-related or not.



               Scoring The Entrepreneurial Company Quiz

    The statements above focus on five facets of an entrepreneurial  mindset
    resources, opportunities, incentives, empowerment and strategy. Add up
    your point score below using the following symbols (except question #2):
    SA=strongly agree, IA=inclined to agree, ID=inclined to disagree,
    SD=strongly disagree.

    Score your response to each item as
    1. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
    2.  A(5)  B(4)  C(3)  D(2) E(1) F(O)
    3. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
    4. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
    5. SA(4) IA(3) ID(2) SD(1)
    6. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
    7. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
    8. SD(4) ID(4) IA(2) SA(1)
    9. SA(4) IA(4) ID(2) SD(1)
   10. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
   11. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
   12. SA(4) IA(3) ID(2) SD(1)
   13. SA(4) IA(3) ID(2) SD(1)
   14. SD(4) ID(3) IA(2) SA(1)
   15. SA(4) ID(3) ID(2) ID(1)

(my note: I think 15 should read SA(4) IA(3) ID(2) SD (1) )

    How Your Company Rates On Key Aspects Of An Entrepreneurial Mind-set

    High scores on the following groups of statements mean you're excelling
    in those areas:

    Resources (#1, #4, #5) Your company knows how to gain access to
    resources. It doesn't worry about owning or maximizing resources. It
    concentrates on getting the resources it needs and putting them to
    their best use.

    Opportunities (#2, #3, #14) Your company fosters an opportunity-driven
    process. Regardless of the resources it owns or controls, it appreciates 
    that the best ideas and opportunities come from customers, rather than 
    from within the company.

    Incentives (#6, #7, #13) Your company rewards action and calculated
    risk-taking by basing incentives on long-term value creation and
    marketplace success or failure, not some internal corporate system.

    Empowerment (#8, #9, #15) Your company empowers its people, particularly 
    by fostering teamwork. It treats employees with respect and values
    their talents. If you strongly agreed with #8, it means you are
    thinking entrepreneurially, even if your company isn't.

    Strategic Process (#10, #11, #11) Your company's strategy is a function
    of opportunity, not ingrained predispositions. It is also flexible: The
    company can commit quickly to new ideas and just as quickly abandon
    unsuccessful ones.

    SCORING: 45-61, your company either thinks or acts entrepreneurially;
    30-44, your company is doing OK, but it's probably missing some good
    opportunities; 29 or less, watch out! Bureaucrats are probably running
    the show.
    {Business Week/Enterprise 1993}

    Did the quiz yesterday. Got 34.
    Christian

    I did it yesterday and came up with a 26.
    
    Highest score was in the Strategic Process area, a big 8.
    
    Lowest score was in the Empowerment area, a huge 3.
    
    Your mileage may (will) vary.
    
    
    Marv
    

To my opinion our strategic processes are too heavy to earn that good scores.

Most of our formal processes seem to include plenty of good ideas but buried
under so much "decoration", that they are expensive if not impossible to follow.

If you want proof, just look at the planning results. They may be formally good
but often are outdated when ready. You all know that in this fast moving business
time is even more scarce resource then money.

I do believe that SLT has realised this.I just wonder, where the friction against
improvement is. Sometimes I wonder,whether we know what is improvement.

--Ritva

    
    Scored highest in the area of resource utilization.  Lowest in
    empowered/opportunity driven areas of focus.
    
    Thanks for posting a worthwhile base-note!
    
    Rgds,
    

    Mine was 29.
    Ken Fukuda, Sales in NY

    
    25.
    
    Central Engineering.
    

29 - CSC

Dave

    29 - European network operations center.

    Just for fun, I tried entering answers for the company I would like to
    work for, just to check if I understood the "e" word, got over 50 !

Scored a 29 ...seemingly a fairly consistent number 

Good test. I appreciated the empowerment comment , SA on #8 "it means you are
thinking entreprenurially, even if your company isn't". 

Just for the heck of it: Resources: 6
                         Opportunities: 5
                         Incentives: 8
                         Empowerment: 3
                         Strategic process: 7

From my scores (perception) I would say that we are saying but not doing the right
things. Now, doesn't that sound POLITICAL ???

Dave Quinn
formerly MCS and very happy there 
Later !