Case B Profile

Case B is a privately owned organization founded in 1993 by the entrepreneur to assist clients with their responsibilities under the Electricity Work Act 1989.

They are specialists in Health and Safety Compliance Services, which include testing on portable appliances, electrical goods, emergency lighting, fire alarm and maintenance and detection services. The organization had a network of over 100 field-based engineers working in over 35,000 locations throughout the UK.

The engineering team was supported by a further 40 staff in management, planning, administration, and sales. Contracts with clients of all sizes, ranged from small one-off contracts to individual national contracts. It was still managed by the entrepreneur, who was the predominant decision-maker, working alongside the internal stakeholders.

7.4.1 Entrepreneurial Interaction with the Internal Stakeholders (Q1 and Q3)

The entrepreneur in Case B interacted with the internal stakeholders in a selection of ways depending on the strategic or operational decision that was required. Depending on how the business operated, sales conducted, standard of

operations set, and relationships with clients undertaken, he would be actively involved and claimed to be aware of what was going on.

Entrepreneur

They can see the line between how the business operates, how (I) operate, and the standards I expect to follow and everybody else to follow.

The entrepreneur expected a reciprocal type of interaction in the way he wanted to be treated. He believed that people needed to be managed and pulled “into line from time to time”, because they forgot to “do the basics” and didn’t work as fast as he did.

Entrepreneur

I expect people to treat me how I treat them and visa versa. I think it’s…I don’t think I’m, I don’t think I’m as demanding as people think I am. But people would say I’m quite demanding of them. But I think I also give a lot, I expect a lot, but I also give a lot in all aspects of life, without demanding something in return, but I’m probably in some ways I expect something in return. If I’m putting a lot of effort into something I expect someone to also put the same effort into the other side so that it balances.

The entrepreneur believed that the business was fundamentally about people and relationships, but argued that he still needed to “clamp down” from time to time even though he was more passionate about these relationships, than he was about the business.

He felt that the external relationships with customers formed a key part of their business and he therefore interacted constantly internally and externally looking for new opportunities to grow the organization. This made the organization suitable for Phase II investigation.

7.4.2 Entrepreneurial Participation in Strategic Decision-Making (Q1, Q2 and Q3)

The entrepreneur was the key decision-maker in this organization and was actively involved at all levels of the decision-making process. Although he had a management team he could share the decision-making process with, the entrepreneur saw himself as the one who enforced decisions in order to instigate change and make progress.

Entrepreneur

I think business generally, especially if they have been set up by the principle, they go through a very rapid learning curve and that there is a constant change as the company grows. And it’s how you manage that change and manage the people within that dynamic and actually getting people to understand we need to make… we need to go forward, and that we constantly ask them to do new things which they maybe not used to.

So they are constantly not comfortable, they are constantly at the edge of their comfort zone.

He saw himself as a mentor or coach who needed to set high expectations for internal stakeholders to deliver, by pushing them to meet their potential. Even though he didn’t enjoy the process of pushing people, he was very active in decision-making and challenged internal stakeholders when they had made a decision. The interaction with internal stakeholders in decision-making made the organization suitable for Phase II study.

7.4.3 Entrepreneurial Participation in Opportunity Recognition (Q1 and Q4)

The entrepreneur was very focused and involved in ensuring an efficient sales process in order to increase sales and maintain good customer satisfaction. He regarded the sales process as having a positive “knock-on” effect which affected all other departments in the organization.

Entrepreneur

If you do actually get on the telephone and see if they receive it and overcome objections and follow up, funny enough, you get the sales. And then that has another effect, because things are buoyant suddenly the engineering department is busy, the sales department is busy.

He believed that the relationships with customers, as well as strong business principles would grow the organization, and the higher salaries enjoyed by internal stakeholders was evidence of this. The growth activity confirmed the organization’s suitability for Phase II case study analysis.

7.4.4 Availability of the Entrepreneur and the Internal Stakeholders (Q2)

The entrepreneur was very aware of time, and its value and made reference to it throughout the interview. He appeared to encourage staff to use their time effectively.

Entrepreneur

Once you get a process in place and you get systems, policies procedures that people can follow, it speeds up the effectiveness of the business, it means that we produce more within a limited time, within a shorter time frame.

He agreed to take part in Phase II of the research, as he was interested in the outcome, and enjoyed using his time to do different things outside of the business.