Entrepreneurial Health Assessment of Telstra

This report conducts an assessment on the entrepreneurial health of Telstra, a telecommunication company, to gain a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial intensity and the climate needed for corporate entrepreneurship. The report includes theoretical concepts, research approach, data analysis, and discussion on the assessment of entrepreneurial intensity and climate for corporate entrepreneurship.

Title: Entrepreneurial Health Assessment of Telstra
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Word Count: 2133
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Executive Summary
The entrepreneurial health assessment is a process through which the strengths and the weakness
of an organization is known. These practices help in improving the performance of a company by
carefully examining the different flaws of the company and bringing alteration in them. Also, the
identified strengths should be implemented in different areas to increase the efficiency of the
organization. The other important reason of such assessment is to know about the level of
innovation, which is incorporated in an organization and the improvements which is needed in
this department too. In this assignment the entrepreneurial health assessment will be conducted
on Telstra, which is a telecommunication company.
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Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Telstra Vision & Strategy......................................................................................................4
1.2 Telstra Purpose......................................................................................................................4
2. Theoretical Concepts...................................................................................................................4
3. Research Approach......................................................................................................................7
4. Data Analysis & Discussion........................................................................................................8
4.1 Part A: Assessment of the Entrepreneurial Intensity........................................................8
a) Frequency of Entrepreneurship.........................................................................................8
b) Degree of Innovations & the Company's Attitude Towards it..........................................8
c) Risk Taking.......................................................................................................................9
d) Pro-activeness...................................................................................................................9
4.2 Part B: Assessment of Climate for Corporate Entrepreneurship....................................10
a) Management Support......................................................................................................10
b) Work Discretion..............................................................................................................10
c) Reward &Reinforcement System....................................................................................10
d) Time Availability............................................................................................................11
e) Organizational Boundaries..............................................................................................11
5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13
Appendices....................................................................................................................................15
Appendix A............................................................................................................................15
Appendix B.............................................................................................................................15
Appendix C.............................................................................................................................16
Appendix D.............................................................................................................................18
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1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to conduct an assessment on the entrepreneurial health of
Telstra. This is being conducted to gain a deeper and wider understanding about the
entrepreneurial intensity and also to understand the climate which is needed for corporate
entrepreneurship. The involvement and the level of innovation utilized by an organization in
building new strategies and plans. Telstra is a telecommunication company and have a very
strong base in Australia. It is the company which is involved in building and operating
telecommunication networks, mobiles, pay television, internet connections and several other
products and services that makes this company the biggest telecommunication organization in
Australia.
1.1 Telstra Vision & Strategy
Telstra has a very clear vision that is to be a world class company of technology which
enables people to connect. Being a telecommunication company Telstra works to provide the
best connectivity services of internet and telecommunication, which helps the people to easily
connect. To fulfill their vision the company has a basic strategy which involves three key
aspects, which are driving value from the core, improve customer advocacy and create new
growth businesses.
1.2 Telstra Purpose
The main purpose of Telstra is to build an excellent connected future for each and every
person. Telstra believes that to create an excellent future, it has to create the essential parts for
each and every person, no matter in whichever market they are operating. Telstra also has an aim
of providing maximum people with accessibility of technology, which brings economic, social
and cultural changes (Albertí et al., 2017).
2. Theoretical Concepts
The different innovation concepts that can be utilized are-
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Image source: (image2.slideserve.com)
 Discontinuous Innovations
The discontinuous innovations as the name suggests are discontinuous in nature to
each customer segment and they only include the products which are new to this world.
The new products which have been introduced in the market are very distinctive from the
products which are already available in the market. This innovation concept also involves
the reshaping of the market and the competition. For instance, Telstra introduces a lot of
new products which have empowered people by changing the way people communicate
(Chompunth, 2017).
 Continuous Innovations
The concept of continuous innovations is used to bring marginal changes in a
product which already exists in the market and is also conducted without bringing any
changes in the customer's habits. Many a time a customer would not see the alteration and
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approach in it with similar knowledge that he had before. For instance, Telstra creates
minute changes in a mobile phone and re-launches it in the market.
 Dynamically Continuous
This concept of innovation fall between the continuous and the discontinuous
innovation. This concept brings changes in the habits of the customer, but they are not as
big as changes, which are conducted through discontinuous innovation and they are also
not that minute which is conducted in the continuous concept. For instance, Telstra also
offers pay television, which was created to replace satellite television (García, Deserti
and Teixeira, 2017).
Image source: (slideplayer.com)
This is a known fact that there is a huge connection between entrepreneurship and
innovation, which is also considered as a driving force to achieve wealth and value creations.
The different levels of entrepreneurship are known as entrepreneurial intensity. Thus, there is an
evident connection between the innovation and entrepreneurial intensity. Also, the climate for
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corporate entrepreneurship requires innovations. This shows the direct connection between the
corporate intensity and the climate for corporate entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial intensity is a
part of the complete business while the climate is a part of the entrepreneurial intensity. This is
also a difference as entrepreneurial intensity has a number of sections in which the climate for
the corporate entrepreneurship is just a part.
3. Research Approach
The research approach has been conducted in three ways, that is-
 Internal Audit
The internal audit in Telstra is conducted through a Group Internal Audit. The
information which is gained through this audit is about the company's governance,
internal control processes and risk management. All these information tells about the
climate of the corporate entrepreneurship and also suggests some changes which should
be taken for the betterment of the company's performance. This audit report informs
about the functional responsibility and its current level. The audit also informs about the
various information which is required for understanding a company in a much better way
(Hirschi, 2013).
 External Audit
In Telstra, the external audit is conducted through Ernest & Young. The Ernest &
Young organization regularly conducts audits in Telstra and publish reports. These
reports contain assessment reports about the objectivity of the company and its working.
Also about the performance of the company under the changing circumstances and
assessment about the management policies and the climate of the entrepreneurship all is
assessed and then the evaluation is presented for bringing an improvement. The
information which is acquired through this audit is very beneficial for making the
stakeholders understand the different positives and negatives associated with the audit
report.
 Risk Management
The risk management of a company provides with various information which help
in assessing that organization in a much better way. Every organization has a way of
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conducting their risk management process, which provides withe various threats which
the company is facing and also the hidden opportunities which should be taken into
consideration to innovatively solve a problem. Telstra approach to managing risk
management is through continuous innovation process which help in reducing the risks
and also ensure smooth working of the company. The risk management process is very
important for the assessment of an organization (Jeraj, 2014).
4. Data Analysis & Discussion
The data analysis will be conducted in two parts-
4.1 Part A: Assessment of the Entrepreneurial Intensity
The different layers of entrepreneurship are known as entrepreneurial intensity. For
effectively conducting the assessment of entrepreneurial intensity there are a number of aspects
which have to be taken into consideration for better analysis.
a) Frequency of Entrepreneurship
The frequency of entrepreneurship is dependent on the pro-activeness of the
company into different events and this says a lot about the approaches of the
organization. Telstra produces a number of products which are available in the market.
The company has an agenda of bringing people closer and providing the best technology.
In this initiative the company keeps building new plans and launching new products. The
company is a part of a number of events which shows a high level of frequency of
entrepreneurship, which is also known as the entrepreneurial orientation (Kaminski,
Hopp and Tykvova, 2016).
b) Degree of Innovations & the Company's Attitude Towards it
Innovation and entrepreneurial intensity are two aspects of a company which help
in garnering value and wealth. These two are the main driving force of a company,
especially a telecommunication company that is always in the emergency of building new
products and staying up to date. In Telstra, innovations are given a lot of importance, as
they have identified their main driving forces. The company has a special tool kit for
innovation, that includes-
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 M&A- Telstra has adopted this tool as this will help the company in adding more
and new revenue streams, new geographic presence and also new capabilities.
 R&D (internal) - Telstra has added this into their innovation tool kit because it is
very helpful in elaborating the core features of the product in a much wider way
to get the attention of the customers (Neneh, 2014).
 CVC- This tool helps Telstra to identify new growth opportunities which are
available in the new market or a new geographical location. This tool also helps
in providing longer visibilities of business models and new technology (Zheng,
2012).
 Business Incubation- Telstra has this tool because to promote the new ideas and
plans. This will help in launching new products and startups which will later help
the organization as the relationship will get long term (Kovac and Kotnik, 2013).
c) Risk Taking
Being the biggest telecommunication company in Australia, adds many pressures
on Telstra, which forces the company to take risks. Telstra risk taking strategy is very
straight that is they believe in taking small risks which are calculative and if any threats
arise then the company can utilize their continuous innovation model for getting
immediate and effective solution which will not hamper the company in a larger way
(Leitão, 2017).
d) Pro-activeness
Telstra is involved in the production of a number of products which keeps the
company's involvement in a number of events. The company has a high level of pro-
activeness due to the different products it produces and the updated versions of them.
This helps the company to maintain their strong hold in the market too. The company's
attempt to practice more innovative ideas to expand their market and support new ideas,
all these activities says a lot about the pro-activeness of the Telstra. The proper utilization
of the innovation tool kit also helps the company in getting into new and more ventures
(Menke, 2018).
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4.2 Part B: Assessment of Climate for Corporate Entrepreneurship
The need for an effective climate for the corporate entrepreneurship is very important. It
is the main key which will help in the functioning of the different aspects of the entrepreneurship
effectively. The assessment of the climate of corporate entrepreneurship in Telstra requires some
factors which have to be addressed here. They are-
a) Management Support
The support of the management is a significant aspect which is required in every
organization for maintaining an entrepreneurial climate. Be it the formal or the informal
interactions between the staff and the managers, this enables the employees to work
innovatively for the organization. At Telstra, the support of the management is with their
team as they want to perfectly implement their innovations tool kit. But there are many
conflicts which arise due to some misunderstandings and confusion. Management support
also includes that there should be clarity of thoughts and opinions in which Telstra lacks
a bit behind (Mesén Figueroa, 2012).
b) Work Discretion
For a company to work effectively in team work there is a very crucial need of
independence. This independence should be provided to members of the team. The
members of a team in a company should be given the opportunity to choose their work on
their own while working in a team. When a team member chooses his own work, then he
is able to provide more discretion to his work as compared to when he is allotted with the
work. In Telstra, team work is conducted, but there is a team head who allots the other
members with their respective work (Nicoara, 2010).
c) Reward & Reinforcement System
For maintaining the entrepreneurial climate, it is very important for rewarding the
deserving employees with substantial rewards. This will encourage the employees to even
perform better and achieve higher heights. In Telstra, the employees are regularly
awarded with rewards which provides them with a feeling of appreciation and also being
acknowledged. This pushes the employees to do even better work and help in fulfilling
the company's objectives more quickly (Pasek, 2018).
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d) Time Availability
The entrepreneurial climate does not only relate to the employees, but it also depends on
the way the managers and the employees build their strategies and plans. In Telstra, each
new idea, plan, strategy, and any initiative are given a good amount of time, which is
utilized for research and analysis, so as to be completely sure before executing
them(Shepherd and Patzelt, 2015).
e) Organizational Boundaries
Organizational boundaries can be referred as the key standards which are used for
operating, key practices and rules and regulations for conducting a big task. The other
aspects which comes under organizational boundaries are the level of clarity which the
organization have about the expectations which a company has for its employees. In
Telstra, each and every employee is hired with a basic objective and in addition to it the
company has a set of rules and guideline related to abilities which every employee should
possess. This is also one of the core reasons why Telstra is so successful in Australia
(Teixeira, Deserti and García, 2017).
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Image source: (media.springernature.com)
5. Conclusion
The entrepreneurial health of the Telstra fulfills a number of aspects which are the core
rules for entrepreneurial intensity, the climate for the corporate entrepreneurship and also for
innovations. But there are certain concerns which are related to the conflict between the
management and also the less independence which is given to the employees. The company
should work on these threats as they will result in bigger problems if they are not solved time
being. Also, the organization has high innovation standards and pro-activeness which will act as
the main driving forces in the future and helping the company to continue its strong hold in
Australia.
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Appendices
Appendix A.Telstra risk management process.
Appendix B.Telstra financial priority.
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Appendix C.Telstra business and enterprise
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Appendix D. Impact on Innovation.
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