Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Importance of Quality Management in Entrepreneurship

By vast_expanse

Entrepreneurship pertains to businesses which are designed to address particular opportunities. Entrepreneurship is also defined as the process of determining, assessing and utilizing opportunities. Webster defined an entrepreneur as “one who undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise or business, usually assuming full control and risk." Business is the social science of managing people to direct their collective efforts towards accomplishing organization goals and to earn profits. It is derived from the word “busy” which is often perceived as doing something productive commercially. Since a number of new businesses fail, an integral part of entrepreneurship then is taking risks. Entrepreneurs deal with these risks by creating solutions to problems. The vision of an entrepreneur is what drives the entrepreneurship. It also takes a lot of hard work and determination to grow an entrepreneurship. Concept of Quality The concept of quality is defined differently by various people. According to Gitlow et al., 1989 or Ozeki and Asaka, 1990, quality means the expectations that accompany a product or service being delivered which are: 1) is at par with customer standards, 2) meets and satisfy the needs of the customer, 3) meets the customer level of expectations, and 4) will meet unforeseen needs and aims in the future. Management Process in an Entrepreneurship Management refers to the ways of the personnel in charge of directing the organization, which in this instance is an entrepreneurship, through the utilization of resources such as labor, capital and assets whether tangible or intangible. Being in the management connotes power and influence for the person. It is not unusual for an entrepreneur to do all the management functions at the start of the business. It is only later when the business grows that proper designation of functions can be made. Managing an entrepreneurship means overseeing various functions such as: Planning - making decisions with regards to the future and making those plans happen. Organizing - utilizing the fullest potential of resources – people, capital and assets to ensure the success of the plans. Leading/Motivating - inspiring others to do their part effectively in carrying out the organization’s plans. Controlling - step by step monitoring of the implementation process to see if changes are necessary to be made on the plans. Entrepreneurs should establish and maintain an environment within the business to encourage efficiency among employees. The functions of management involve planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of resources. These functions are influenced by objectives set by the entrepreneur. They are closely related to each other and interdependent. Planning pertains to arriving at an efficient process to attain the objectives of the company. It leads the company towards its goals. Organizing coordinates the resources that needed to implement the plan. In organizing, company structure is established, relationships are formed and resources are allotted appropriately to realize the objectives sought for. Directing refers to leading and supervising employees to attain the company objectives. Finally, controlling is confirming if the plan is carried out in actual situation. Quality Management in an Entrepreneurship Fundamentals of business include proper planning, setting up objectives, promoting customer relationship, promoting supplier relationship, dealing with competition and use of accounting. Knowing all these aspects could greatly facilitate the flow of the business. Managing these aspects well or quality management would spell the difference between success and failure in business. It is also important to know the legal aspects affecting the business and the need to adhere to business ethics. An entrepreneur needs to know the business fundamentals so it can manage the business well. Fundamentals of business include proper planning, setting up objectives, promoting customer relationship, promoting supplier relationship, dealing with competition and proper use of accounting. Having a plan and setting up objectives before embarking on a business or during business is essential because it would be hard to provide a direction with which the business will follow without vision. Customer relationship is very essential to the business. How well you relate to the customers could translate to profits in the income statement. Choosing the target market also falls under this. The target market must reflect the style, image and price point of the product you are selling. Supplier relationship is important because without suppliers securing raw materials to create the finish product would be impossible. It is always good to establish good rapport with supplier as this would greatly facilitate the production process.

Competition is one of the threats to business. It is important to size up the competition to be able to make your products competitive in the market. Allocating proper resources and taking the time are important requirements to remain competitive. Accounting is fundamental to business because it enables you to determine how the entrepreneurship fares. Proper accounting methods enable one to have solid basis in making sound management decisions and adopt necessary changes.

Simple financial statements include the following: Balance sheet - this reflects the value of the business. In the balance sheet we find assets, liabilities and the capital invested. The simple equation for balance sheet is Assets = Liabilities + Capital. Income statement - is also known as the statement of profit and loss. It reflects the financial status of the company whether it is incurring profits or losses. In the income statement sales is deducted with cost of sales to get net income before other income. Other income such as bank interests is then added to get the net income before tax. Statement of Retained Earnings - this explains the changes in the company’s retained earnings for the period. It reflects the profits or losses incurred, dividends paid and the amount retained for future use. Getting into business is not only a full-time job it is also long-term. Commitment from entrepreneur is critical to the success of the endeavor. Looking at the situation on a long-term basis would enable the company to overcome initial disappointments and the hassles in business. Operating costs involved early on may seem unjustifiable compared to the sales but it pays dividends in the long run. Commitment is necessary to be able to continue in the face of obvious impediments.

Quality management of an entrepreneurship is a method used to make sure that the activities pertaining to design, improve and apply a product or service performs efficiently. The primary role of quality management is to always aim for the quality improvement of the product, service or enterprise. There are four key methods to do this that could, at the same time, assess the progress of quality improvements. These are: Plan - create or improve an aspect of the business process for better results Do – apply the plan and monitor its results Check – evaluate the measurements used and provide reports on the outcome to the management Act – make decisions required to enhance the method

Content Source: The Importance of Quality Management in Entrepreneurship - Bukisa.com

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