Enterprise Festival

During the enterprise week, there were a number of different events that were held in the university. In this assignment I shall be discussing two of the events that I attended.

The first event that I attended was called “The Intrapreneur in Our Midst”. This event lasted for two hours and was held in one of the lecture rooms at the university. The whole event was about the key attributes one must have in order to become an “Intrapreneur”. The speaker explained the typical attributes an intrapeuner usually has. In my opinion the event was aimed at students who have ambitions to do become an intrapreneur in the near future.
The second event that I attend was called “Women in Business”. This event was held in the Plaza Hotel in Marlow. This event consists of five inspirational women speakers in business that shared their experiences and identified what they had to go through to get to the position they are at now.

From the event “The Intrapreneur in Our Midst” I learnt what type of character I have to become a successful intrapreneur. He also explained the type of personality of a typical an entrepreneur would have which was beneficial for the reason that I understood how some of the world’s famous entrepreneurs make some of their decisions which is usually made at random times. He made it clear that some entrepreneurs are selfish and sometimes only think about what is right for them. They tend not to think about the future but only the present.

The event “Women in Business” was very inspirational. Five different ladies from five different business backgrounds came in to talk to the students. Out of the five ladies, one of them in my opinion was the most interesting one for the reason that what they were saying I could relate to it. Her name was Jane Russell and their business was “One You”. They were image consultants who helped people look good for different occasions. They have spent most of their life in the beauty industry. Their presentation was called “Dressing for Success and Looking the Business”. In this presentation they showed us a few clips of what they exactly and who they have worked for in the past. I found this useful for the reason that they shared some tips that I am able to use for my every day life, for example what to and not wear when attending an interview. It was also useful for the reason that I could gather that it was successful business.

Out of the two events that I attended I personally believe that “Women in Business” was the most successful event. I believe this because they were women and I could really relate with what they were saying. All of the women were talking about the sex discrimination that they went through. It made me think that I will need to be determined and focused in what exactly I want to do in the future. It was also beneficial for me because I was able to take their contact details, so I am able to contact them with any questions that I may have.
I also thought it was successful for the reason that they were able to interact with the students and required their full attention with the things they were saying.

I personally think that if they were to do the whole Enterprise Week again. I will recommend that they change the timing of the events. The reason why I say this is because the first event that I attended was held in the evening at six o’clock. I personally believe that this was too late because many students had their own commitments they had to attend to but had to drop it just to go to the event. I also think that they should have spoken for less time for the reason that some of the students lost concentration over a certain amount of time.

The “Women in Business” event went well and I don’t personally believe they couldn’t have done anything to make the event more successful. They allowed us enough time to have a break when we were getting restless and also provided us with refreshments.

Organisation Culture

Organizational culture refers to the general culture within a company or organization and is often also referred to as corporate culture. A man called Gareth Morgan has described organizational culture as a set of beliefs and values together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it.

Ref [http://www.organizationalculture101.com/definition-of-organizational-culture.html]
 

 The Body Shop believes in 'Delivering Value' which looks at conventional accounting areas such as profitability, relationships with customers and staff, and relationships with suppliers (all of which have an ethical dimension); 'Social Responsibility' which looks at areas such as ethical policies (particularly in regard to investment), charitable support and community involvement; 'Ecological Sustainability' which looks at areas such as ecologically sound purchasing of supplies, recycling waste, energy consumption and provision of ecological financial products and services and 'environmentally friendly' making sure that their products are 'green' , not animal tested and 'kind to the environment'.

Body Shop is a global business and they battle against climate change. They are constantly seeking new ways to improve their business practices and reduce their carbon footprint. The Body Shop has a variety of shops that has refits rolling which will improve their energy efficiency, for example in some their stores they have new lighting and store signs which helps them to reduce their energy use. 

Ref [http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/protect-planet.aspx]

In 2008 they replaced all their carrier bags with 100% recycles and recyclable paper bags and have also reduced the content in their gift packaging.

The Body Shop has always believed passionately that animals should not be used for cosmetic testing. They have never tested their products on animals and always encourage their suppliers not to test any of their ingredients on animals for cosmetic purposes. The Body Shop complies with the strict requirements of the Humane Cosmetics Standard created by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

Charles Handy classified organisation into a broad range of four cultures. The formation of culture depends upon on a variety of factors including company history, ownership, organisation structure, technology, critical business incidents and environment.

The four types of culture that Charles Handy discusses are ‘Power’, ‘Task’ and ‘People’. The use of this analysis is to measure the degree to which the main culture reflects the real needs and constraints of the organisation.

Power culture centres on the idea of one individual. Usually group and team work take place within this type f culture which sometimes gives a few problems in some cases. In some cases the lack of consultation may de-motivate some staff for the reason that decisions are made rapidly without questions. Then again, the power culture tends to look up and trust their leader. 

Ref [ http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm]

This strength of the culture lies in specialisation within its pillars. Interaction takes place between the functional specialism by job descriptions, procedures, rules and systems. Organisations under this culture are run by a paper system.  Handy states that the job description is more essential than the skills and abilities of those who are in the people culture. Handy believes that this type of culture is appropriate in businesses are not subject to constant change. The culture performs better in a steady-state environment but can be insecure in times of change. This sort of culture finds it extremely difficult to change rapidly. The role culture is typified by rationality and size.

Ref [ http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm]

This is characteristic of organisations which are involved in extensive research and development activities they are much more dynamic. They are constantly subject to change and have to create temporary task teams to meet their future needs. The culture is represented best by web work. There is close liaison between departments, functions and specialities, liaison, communication and integration are the means whereby the organisation can anticipate and adapt to change quickly.

Ref [ http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm]

This is characteristic of the agreement model of management, where the individuals within the structure determine collectively the path which the organisation pursues. If there is a formalised structure, it tends to service the needs of the individuals within the structure. Organisations which portray this culture reject formal hierarchies for ‘getting things done’ and exist solely to meet the needs of their members. The rejection of formal ‘management control’ and ‘reporting relationships’ suggests that this may be a suitable culture for a self-help group or a commune, etc., but it is not appropriate for business organisations.

Ref [ http://www.lindsaysherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm]

The problem of trying to classify culture is that Handy believes that all businesses should follow the four types of cultures. With some businesses the different departments within the business may use different ways of culture to be used.  Different cultures are likely to change over a certain period of time which means that may have different methods of operating. For example the employees at a workplace may have different suggestions on how they will like their working conditions to be and then may adapt to these changes. Some managers may take these suggestions into considerations if it is evident that it is bringing the business good results.

In some cases culture can be a problem in a business for the reason that some employees may not agree on the way their workplace operate. 

References

In conclusion some different businesses will have their own personal type of culture that they will work under. Handy suggested four main types of business culture, which was the power culture, the role culture, person culture and task culture. These give a business an outline on how certain businesses should operate. In some cases most businesses don't only stick with one business culture, they sometimes use more than one. This suggests that businesses may change the different cultures they use.

 http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm

   

http://www.organizationalculture101.com/definition-of-organizational-culture.html

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/protect-planet.aspx