ASSESSMENT OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES INVOLVING A RADICAL CHANGE IN ESTABLISHED FIRMS

My Master Thesis on 'Framework for Assessment of Identified Opportunities Involving a Radical Change in Established Firm' can be accessed at the link given below:-

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwOOneTw-vSdR3d5U1dGN2Job3c

The abstract and a brief background to the thesis are given below. If you like my thesis, I would be pleased if you share it on your website or blog. Please do not put my thesis on your own server or provide a direct PDF download.

ABSTRACT

Established firms evaluate the available opportunities while planning for expansion involving radical change. To facilitate management practitioners in carrying out competency based analysis for assessment of opportunity for such corporate entrepreneurial initiative, the paper develops a workable framework.

To accomplish the assessment, the paper suggests listing the competencies of current business with their respective characteristic features by following a process involving a series of analysis. Thereafter, in a similar way, it is suggested to list the competencies required for the proposed business by going through another similar process involving analysis from different perspectives. With the details of characteristics features of existing competencies and required competencies available in hand, an assessment of efforts required to develop required competencies is done. For each of the required competency, the possible efforts are expressed in two dimensional attributes of Criticality and Risk. It is advised to select an opportunity having most of Critical competencies falling in low Risk domain.

In the end, the paper tests the framework for following two opportunities identified by Icon Computer Solutions (a web site development company located in Raipur, India) for business expansion:-

(a) Software Product Development

(b) Computer Networking Services

The assessment indicates that with existing competencies, the firm is in a position to make the transformation for second (Computer Network Services) expansion opportunity with lesser risk.

BACKGROUND

In the ever evolving world of business, every firm needs consistent transformation to keep in pace with the on-going changes in environment. Most often such transformations are incremental in nature and are engineered with the intent to fine tune the business to re-align with minor changes in the industrial environment.

However, at times firms take strategic initiative to transform the business by bringing a radical change to the existing business. Reason for such an initiative could be a response to phenomenal changes making in-roads into the environment (of the existing business), an ambitious move for expansion of the existing business or a motive to grab a lucrative opportunity looming within the reach.

Selection of a suitable opportunity for such a corporate entrepreneurial initiative has been a matter of debate in the area of management studies. One of the popular views (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994) on this topic insists that a firm should try to build a new business around its core competencies. But, there have been many examples of firms successfully extending in a business un-related to their main line of business.

In any case, selecting an appropriate opportunity where the existing strength of a firm (derived from its core competencies) can be utilized holds the key for success of any major transformation. The selection involves a decision making. This paper attempts to find a way to assist decision making for selection of a suitable opportunity (from identified opportunities) to yield intended benefits.

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