5BUS1080 Enterprise Portfolio: Reflection and UK Company Case

This assignment is divided into two parts. The first part involves a self-assessment of the author's enterprising qualities, highlighting strengths such as extroversion, networking abilities, and a habit of continuous learning, while also acknowledging areas for improvement such as addressing a su...Read More

Enterprising

Part 1
Being an enterprising individual reflects upon the individual’s ability to be resourceful or having a sense
of initiation (Guthman, 2018). A resourceful individual is valued in his or her personal as well as
professional life. Having a sense of initiation enables an individual to grab opportunities as they are
presented. This ability to be enterprising is pivotal to the growth and development of an individual’s
professional as well as personal life.
I have always held a strong opinion regarding my ability of being enterprising. As a person, I am quite
extrovert and tend to make a strong network of friends and peers. Also I strongly believe that a strong
network is a major support system for every individual. This has been possible because I can easily
initiate a conversation even in a group of absolute strangers. This extroversion instils a sense of
confidence and a sense of initiation which in turn reflects positively on my leadership ability.
Since my early childhood years, I have instilled a habit of reading every day for an hour. I have read
various books ranging across different genres. I also make it a point to keep myself up to date with the
current affairs of the world. This makes it more comfortable for me to interact with new people. And at
the same time, this helps me build individualistic and strong opinions about various topical issues.
However, from my observations and feedback I have realized that I tend to possess a small degree of
superiority complex. For the longer run success, it is imperative that I address this issue. This complex
makes me a bad listener and I often become aggressive during discussions.
Being an enterprising person also indicates that he or she can take the right decision at the right time
(Totterdill, Dhondt & Boermans, 2016). From my school days, I have always grabbed every opportunity
that came my way and I participated actively in various competitions that further enhanced my
exposure. I have also tried to take various leadership roles throughout my life by standing for school and
college elections. Taking the right decision also involves dealing with varied situations in the most
effective manner. In my personal as well as professional life I have always demonstrated courage as well
as compassion towards others and worked hard towards taking a practical decision.
Therefore I feel that my confidence, ability to communicate with people, building a strong network of
people by establishing trust as well as my competency to grab opportunity at the right time makes me a
an enterprising person. No individual can be enterprising in every circumstance but the least that we can
do is work towards improving upon our own weaknesses. I need to work upon being more patient as I

tend to become restless often. I will also continue to enhance my skills of communication and people
management. I aim to prove to be a successful and valuable asset in the organization where I would
work and ensure that my efforts in the right direction help me reach the highest rung of victory.
Part 2
This part of the report highlights the ability of a UK based organization to be enterprising. The
organization that has been shortlisted in ‘Cornerstone’. Cornerstone is a start-up that would founded by
CEO Oliver Bridge in the year 2014 and is aimed at providing a one stop shop for all shaving needs of UK
men. Through this initiative, men from across different parts of the country, can register themselves on
the website and get all their shaving needs fulfilled at their doorstep. The package delivered is
customized on the basis of frequency of shave and products required.
I have personally decided to take an interest in Cornerstone is because of its unique product offering.
The organization is a perfect example of ‘disruptive innovation’ (Christensen, Raynor & McDonald,
2015). The CEO Oliver Bridge has been a source of inspiration for many youngsters. Customer reviews of
Cornerstone are evidence of company’s goodwill in the market. Various customers have also been
promoting the brand on social media channels. This is known as user generated content and is one of
the most reliable sources of information available about a brand online (Tuten & Solomon, 2017).
The idea behind the brand ‘Cornerstone’ is unique, appealing and practical. For the success of any
business, it is important to analyze a need or a product/service gap in the market and aim towards
fulfilling the same (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker & Brennan, 2015). Cornerstone has done exactly that and
provided customers with a solution by identifying a need gap in the market.
To add cherry on top of the cake, the brilliance of this idea was executed with effectiveness.
Cornerstone’s CEO Oliver Bridge has always focused on developing an efficient operations mechanism in
the business. Due to this, customers receive their products in an attractive package and at the right time
as per their membership. Even the delivery executives are trained to speak politely and greet customers
in a courteous manner. This leads to competency of customer relationship management (Hill &
Alexander, 2017). This is important for the success of any business as it leads to increased trust and
improved positioning of the brand in the minds of its consumers (Tanner & Raymond, 2015).
One of the most important stakeholder of any organization are its employees. Cornerstone works hard
in ensuring employee satisfaction by building a positive work culture that breeds on open

communication and flat organizational structure. Satisfied employees leads to increased rate of
retention and hence increased employee productivity (Scott & Davis, 2015). This factor further adds to
the enterprising nature of an organization.
Cornerstone is highly enterprising owing to its unique idea, effective execution of the idea, positive
organizational culture, competency of promotions and impeccable customer relationships management
efforts by the brand. The firm has carved a new industry all together and is a perfect example of how a
startup can grow manifold through the right efforts in the right direction. Cornerstone is a truly
enterprising organization and has become a source inspiration for many startups that have followed
suit.

References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson
Education.
Christensen, C.M., Raynor, M.E. and McDonald, R., 2015. What is disruptive innovation? Harvard
Business Review, 93(12), pp.44-53.
Guthman, J., 2018. Enterprising Nature: Economics, Markets, and Finance in Global Biodiversity Politics.
Hill, N. and Alexander, J., 2017. The handbook of customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement.
Routledge.
Scott, W.R. and Davis, G.F., 2015. Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural and open systems
perspectives. Routledge.
Tanner, J. and Raymond, M., 2015. Principles of marketing. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing.
Totterdill, P., Dhondt, S. and Boermans, S., 2016. Your guide to Workplace innovation. European
Workplace Innovation Network.
Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.