IA3: Company Me
Individual
Assignment Three: Company Me
My mission statement deems that Company
Ava is dedicated to sustainably providing excellent assistance to customers by
being skilled at perseverance, excel in cooperation with others, and with a
strict attentiveness to employers.
Since I am a Policy Studies major and I hope to go to law
school, my company, “Company Ava”, will be competing in the field of
Environmental Law, a highly competitive branch of law that focuses on standing
alongside and interpreting government environmental regulations. According to
O’net, the demand for lawyers is expected to grow between five and nine percent
from 2016 to 2026, with a number of projected job openings totaling in at forty-thousand
seven-hundred (O’Net, 2018). Though there is no data readily available
detailing the global job climate for environmental lawyers, based on the
information above, the market for this career path is projected to grow
steadily over the next eight years; this is hopeful for Company Ava, because
this growth would give the company more opportunities to practice throughout
the United States. There are many factors that affect the supply, or “the quantity of a product that sellers are willing to sell
at various prices” and the demand,
or “the quantity of a product that buyers are willing to purchase at various
prices” (Collins, 2017). According to Jeff Gracer, an environmental lawyer
at Paget and Riesel P.C. in New York claims that “a lot of the
solutions to climate change are going to be driven by market forces and private
sector decisions in the business community” (Kowarski, 2018); Therefore,
the main economic force influencing the supply and demand for environmental lawyers
has a lot to do with how the business and private sectors respond to
environmental regulation at a given point in time (Kowarski, 2018). For
example, Company Ava would be competing in a highly competitive market if there
was an administration that showed a lack of regulation on wind energy that
caused harm to the American people, and my company would have to protect either
the government from being sued, or American citizens from having their rights
imposed upon. Therefore, as based on the rule of quantity demanded, “the quantity (of environmental lawyers)
of a product that people will buy
depends on its price: they’ll buy (hire)
more when the (metaphorical) price
is low and less when it’s high” (Collins, 2017).
Company Ava would include the four
characteristics custom to start-ups. The first, of these characteristics
outline that my “start-up is characterized
by innovative products and/or practices” (Collins, 2017); I believe that my
“employees’” versatility, perseverance, and attentiveness to detail will be
evident even within the first few moments of a job interview. My company will
set itself aside from other corporations that allow their employees to simply
suffer through the day, dreading to go back to work in the morning. Instead, my
Company will pride itself in its ability to work hard every day, even when the
going gets hard. Karen Collins next states that another characteristic of a
start-up is that its goals include
profitability and growth (Collins, 2017). Both of these things are very important to Company Ava, as my
business is one that focuses largely on growing to achieve bigger and better
things and obtaining a greater profit while doing so. Next, a start-up is also
one that “focuses on new opportunities” (Collins, 2017).
Similar to the last qualification, Company Ava is devoted
through growing and learning how to capitalize off of new opportunities; if the
company is always ready and willing to grow, it is impossible to miss these
valuable opportunities. Lastly, Collin states that a start-up’s “owners are willing to take risks” (Collins,
2017). As an entrepreneur, or “a person
who identifies a business opportunity and assumes the risk of creating and
running a business to take advantage of it” (Collins, 2017) I would have to
accept the risk of entering the job market in the highly competitive field of
Environmental law, and I would need to seriously consider how I would keep my
business afloat. First, I should consider
what goods or services Company Ava could sell to satisfy its customers, focus
on securing my company’s location, and develop a customer base by building a
solid reputation (Collins, 2017). Even with the risks of entering the
highly market for lawyers, start-up “Company Ava” will persevere until it
accomplishes great things.
As the General
Manager of Company Me, I would be the person in charge of effectively managing,
which is “the process of planning, organizing, directing, and
controlling resources to achieve specific goals” (Collins, 2017). A large part of business planning pertains
to a manager’s awareness of what her strengths and weaknesses are so she can
make efficient and effective decisions for the company while minimizing risk of
failure. Peter Drucker suggests that one should use a system called “feedback
analysis” to determine what ones strengths and weaknesses are over a long
period of time by recording what my expectations of the result of an action
will be like, and then compare the actual results to my expectations (Drucker,
2016); This analysis of expectations and results will tell a manager what they
are good and doing, and also what they are not so skilled at completing (Drucker,
2016). I would then use this information in order to make a more informed and
rational plan to execute in my career field. As the manager of Company Me, I
would also need to be someone whom “allocates resources (people,
equipment, and money) to achieve a company’s plans” (Collins, 2017). In order to do this, I would need to develop
organizational structure within my
company and also dictate a specific amount of revenue that I would use to build
a more solid corporate foundation and to increase specialization; for example, I would set aside $3,500 a month to
better my company once revenue started coming in at a steady rate. Next, for
the directing aspect of my job, I would adopt a democratic leadership style to direct my subordinates because I believe
in open communication and avoiding fear tactics in order to achieve the highest
productivity from my workers. Lastly, I would perform the action of controlling, or “the process of comparing
actual to planned performance and taking necessary corrective action” (Collins,
2017) by using the same “feedback analysis” as listed above for my planning
method. For example, if I expected to meet with a specific number of clients in
a week, but I came up a few short, after some analyzing I would realize that
the reason why I didn’t meet my quota was because some didn’t return my email because
I had the wrong contact information for them. By analyzing and acting upon the
difference between my expectations and reality, I could create different
outcomes. As a continuation of the Management aspect of my business plan for
Company Me, I would manage Employee Me by changing small things in my every-day
life to improve my productivity. Many studies, such as one reported on by Joseph
Folkman and Jack Zenger, yield that the most productive workers are ones who
have acquired a very specific set of skills (Folkman, Zenger, n.d.). These
skills include setting stretch goals, taking initiative, anticipating and
solving problems, showing consistency, having knowledge and technical expertise
in one’s field, driving for results, and being collaborative (Folkman, Zenger,
n.d.) For example, instead of doing many meaningless or insignificant tasks
around the workplace, I could focus instead upon completing the most pressing tasks
first. In regard to how I would make certain that I am in the right profession
or industry, I would spend a great deal of time networking by interacting with both
people in and out of my workplace. Networking “provides a strong medium for a vibrant
career and a cushion for when the unplanned happens” (Granville, n.d), so if
for some reason I felt that I wasn’t in the right industry, I would find this
out by interacting with people in the wrong one. Networking would also help me
work better in group settings, as knowing more about my coworkers would help me
be more conversational within office hours, and it would also eliminate the awkwardness
of sharing the same cubicle but not knowing one another. Being collaborative is
the most beneficial in an office space because, as Folkman and Zenger say, “very little gets done by someone acting
alone” (Folkman, Zenger, n.d.). Even if I’m someone, for example, who doesn’t
work well with others, it is important for me to remind myself that less gets
done when I refuse to collaborate with others; a refusal to collaborate slows
everyone, including myself, down. As Employee Me, I would keep this fact in
mind whenever I am tempted to create a conflict with a manager or employer, as
this issue will not only slow me down in terms of productivity, but also every
other person in the workplace. As
an employee, I would motivate myself to keep following these steps by remembering
my ultimate end-goal: to live a meaningful work life by making a positive
change for the world. I can only accomplish this goal if I remain true to
myself, and therefore true to my workplace.
As the CMO of Company Me, I would
promote my products by using a promotion
or marketing mix, including but not limited to advertising, personal selling,
sales promotion, and publicity (Collins, 2017). I would take part in these
promotional tactics by making personal connections with both employers and
employees in the law market and attending interpersonal events to connect with
others. The only way to sell products is to make meaningful connections with
the people “buying” your product, so in this case, I would need to mingle with employers
who would view my attributes as a great contribution to their business. During
these mixers, I would need to design and promote Product Me as something that
is well-rounded and well-versed in my field, and this needs to be reflected in
a diversified portfolio. I would use the “marketing
mix, or the four P’s: price, product, promotion, and placement” (Collins, 2017).
For price, or “setting a price for a
product,” (Collins, 2017) this would be what I would expect as a salary for
my “product”. My product would be my
attributes that make me a passionate worker. My promotion tactics would include
the ways in which I promote my products, such as going to mixers and meeting
employers. Lastly, my placement would pertain to being at social events that
relate to my market, creating social media profiles like LinkedIn in order to
sell my products, and physically living in an environment where Environmental
Law is likely to be demanded at a higher rate. I would also make my social
media profiles aesthetically appealing to potential “buyers”, or employers, and
I would also make them easy to find via search engines by using keywords in
order to increase the amount of traffic on my profiles.
As the Chief Financial Officer, or “who’s responsible for all of its
accounting and other financial activities” (Collins, 2017) of Company Me, I would plan on managing my
investments by investing money in things such as stocks early in order to yield
a higher return and diversifying my portfolio. In order to determine Company
Me’s cash needs, I must create a financial
plan, or a document that calculates the amount of funds that a company needs
for a certain period and details a strategy for obtaining these funds (Collins,
2017). As the finance professional for
my company, I would also need to take care of “analyzing industry needs, conducting financial planning, and evaluating
corporate investment” (Collins, 2017). According to Investing Answers,
there are eight steps to creating a smart financial plan. I would follow these
guidelines since they are posted by a professional in investments and financial
data. The first of these tips states that I should investigate where my
company’s money goes for the first few months of business in order to understand
where it should be going in the future (Hovey, 2010). Next, the article
recommends that I should set future goals for Company Me, and also invest in
insurance for my business (Hovey, 2010). In accordance with these guidelines,
Hovey also suggests that as the CFO I should keep a close eye on my company’s
credit, as this will open or close doors for me as a business owner (Hovey,
2010). Following this, I would start saving money by focusing on what I need to spend money on and what I want
to spend money on, and soon after this I would begin to build a portfolio
(Hovey, 2010). I would keep track of this plan as time goes on, and lastly, I
would need to plan my exit strategies for future expenditures (Hovey, 2010). If
I planned ahead and stuck to this plan, it would be unlikely that I could fail,
as business owners are bound to run into problems in the future if they don’t
ever plan for the ups and downs.
I would
also be the Chief Information Manager
of Company Me, or the “Senior executive
who oversees information and telecommunications systems” (Collins, 2017). Finally,
as the CIO of Company Me, I would use management information systems and
decision support systems in order to make the best possible decisions that
benefit my company. Management information systems would help me make routine
decisions by analyzing data from compiled reports, such as “sales
analyses, inventory-level reports, and financial statements”
(Collins, 2017). Decision support systems “collects, displays, and integrates data
from multiple sources to help managers make nonroutine decisions” (Collins, 2017). I would gather this information and draw
conclusions based upon how well my company is doing financially and economically
and use this to decide what my next action as a manager should be.
In conclusion,
I believe that with all of this information in mind, Company Ava would be a
highly successful company, because I have the motivation, the willingness to make
sacrifices, and the ability to persevere in my workplace even when other people
do not.
References
Collins, K.
(2017). Exploring Business. Boston, MA: FlatWorld
Drucker, P. F.
(2016, October 17). Managing Oneself. Retrieved November 18, 2018, from
Folkman, J. Zenger,
J. (2018, July 08). 7 Traits of Super-Productive People. Retrieved November 18,
people?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_weekly&utm_campaign=weeklyho
tlist&referral=00202&deliveryName=DM4392
Granville, K.
(n.d.). How to Manage Your Career. Retrieved November 18, 2018, from
nytimes&smtyp=pay&smvar=guides
Hovey, J.
(2010, February 01). 8 Steps to Creating a Smart Financial Plan. Retrieved
November
steps-creating-smart-financial-plan-1022
Kowarski, I.
(2018, January 9). 7 Considerations for Pursuing an Environmental Law Career.
schools/top-law-schools/articles/2018-01-09/7-considerations-for-pursuing-an-environmental-law-career
O'Net. (2018,
November 13). 23-1011.00 - Lawyers. Retrieved November 13, 2018, from
https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/23-1011.00
Balance
Sheet
Assets
Cash……………..$2,000
Accounts Receivable……………..$6,400
Total assets……………..$8,400
Liabilities
Accounts Payable……………..$400
Other Liabilities……………..$500
Total Liabilities……………..$9000
Stockholders’
Equity
Common Stock……………..$2,500
Retained Earnings……………..$5,900
Total Stockholders’ equity……………..$8,400
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