About two-thirds of the companies had annual sales between $15 million and $50 million, the others ranged from $3 million to $225 million of revenues. Businesses were a cross-section serving industrial, consumer and service sectors. All were privately-held and owner-managed. Half the firms were still run by the original entrepreneur.
2.
A fuller discussion of ownership power in the private company, its uses and abuses, is contained in the author's article, ‘The Dark Side of the Entrepreneur’,Long Range Planning, Vol. 24, No. 3, 1991, pp. 26–31.
3.
These five categories represent areas where entrepreneurs identified their version of innovative approaches for organizational success, or organizational effectiveness. The Information Power Programme contains the administrative tools which provide the essential information to allow for this entrepreneurial innovation. The distinction between these two facets is illustrated in the following quotation: “‘Man is limited not so much by his tools as by his vision”… In order to succeed, we need visions and tools, we need effectiveness and efficiency, and we need innovation and administration.’ EricssonDag, ‘Management by Holistics - A Business Resource Management Approach’,International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Vol. 20, issue 3, 1990, pp. 25–34(p. 26).
4.
For an introduction on some characteristics of marketplace scanning, including time horizons and strategic issues directly linked with scanning, see MurphyJ.J., ‘Identifying Strategic Issues’,Long Range Planning, Vol. 22, issue 2, April 1989.
5.
The points here present a format for the development and evaluation of the individual key employees. Together, these individuals comprise the organization's strategic vanguard. This article does not discuss the issues involved in the dynamics of building this group into an effective unit. It should be understood that the dynamics of the vanguard unit will also require time and direction from the owner-managers. This is suggested by Burack's statement: ‘View the process as evolutionary and dependent on logical and analytical approaches within an atmosphere of mutal confidence, trust and commitment. For personnel who have not worked together regularly, it is prudent to think in terms of years and not months to establish these working relationships’. Burack,Elmer H., ‘Linking Corporate Business and Human Resource Planning: Strategic Issues and Concerns’,Human Resource Planning, Vol. 8, issue 3, 1985, pp. 135–45 (p. 144).
6.
The benefits of the Information Power Programme are two-fold: it promotes continual ‘entrepreneurial innovation' and establishes the foundations for ‘managed innovation’. See SchumpeterJ. A., Business Cycles, New York: McGraw Hill, 1939 for an introduction on both types of innovation, and Freeman, C., Clark J. and Soete, L., Unemployment and Technical Innovation, London: Pinter, 1982, for further discussions.
7.
The information system utilized for analysis and strategic planning should be tailor-made and firm-specific. This does not mean that software should be custom-designed; rather that the variables used in the information programme should be arranged to capture the required information for the specific firm. For example, either lowering costs or enhancing product differentiation may be stated strategic objectives of the firm. The infomation required for each strategy would most likely be different. For a comprehensive introduction to information system planning, see Gupta,Yash P., ‘Management Information Systems Planning: Analysis and Techniques’,Technovation (Netherlands), Vol. 9, issue 1, May 1989, pp. 63–80.
