Management Assignment: Corporate Entrepreneurship Approach Utilized ByBalfour Beatty Plc

Question

Task: Write a report on management assignment critically discussing about the business case and the corporate entrepreneurship approach utilized by the company.

Answer

Introduction
The research on management assignmentsignifies that the inclusion of creativity and innovation holds an important perspective for a definitive market share for an organisation. According to Groza et al. (2016), the use of better and prominent ideas to garner better and quality results often turns out to be successful in attracting the interests of the customers. The discussion presented below would focus on an organisation named Balfour Beatty Plc, that is popular in the UK's construction industry. This organisation has been chosen based on the list of industries available in the live project website. Furthermore, the purpose of this report is to highlight the corporate entrepreneurship approach that is being utilised by the organisation to stay relevant in the industry and garner a subsequent range of success as well.

Overview of the Chosen Organisation: Balfour Beatty Plc
The organisation that has been chosen for this study is a prominent organisation operating in London, since the year of 1909 and is known primarily for their construction services for a substantial amount of time (Lee et al., 2020). In terms of their turnover and profit, this company is considered to be one of the most profitable construction companies to exist in the UK as of recent times. The company has continued to sustain their business operation for more than 100 years now, which indicates that the inclusion of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship is essential for the company to deal with the ever-changing market dynamics and the advanced technology.

Individual Blocks to Creative Thinking
According to Ritter and Mostert (2017), there is a good possibility of an entrepreneur going through creative block while working on a project and removing the blocks is an essential consideration because it ensures that the problem-solving process has been improvised, there is an increase in productivity, and at the same time, the motivation level of the employees is successful in attesting to the designated organisational performance. However, it has also been found that the individual blocks to the creative thinking of an individual can be emotional, cultural, intellectual, perceptual and at times, environmental as well. These barriers relentlessly ensure that the individual is unable to cope with the organisational challenges that are forthcoming and might end up feeling overwhelmed. In the case of Balfour Beatty, it can be said that the company has had to go through enormous changes in its business operations over time. The company has not only witnessed the industrial revolution but also had to cope with the consequences of two world wars, evolution in technology and even the introduction of digital technology as well. Without a proper perspective on the importance of entrepreneurship in the market, the company would have failed to sustain in the industry. However, Beaty et al. (2020), mentions that despite Balfour being involved in some of the notable construction projects across the UK and yet have been involved in their fair share of controversies that ranged from violations of privacy concerns to even violating health and safety laws of the UK. This challenging scenario caused a substantial amount of damage to the reputation of the organisation, and it was only because of their quick reaction to every challenge and a creative outlook to handle the times of crisis that has been responsible in generating success for them.

Meanwhile, Barbot et al. (2016) has identified in detail the impact of individual blocks towards an individual's creative thinking process, and they are as follows:

• Emotional: The emotional barriers are responsible for perpetuating fear of failure among the employees. It gets challenging for any entrepreneur to make a necessary business decision with risks involved if they have a fear of failure.

• Cultural: The cultural barriers are mainly witnessed because of the influence of society, which can often be demotivating for the employee.

• Intellectual: In terms of intellectual barriers, it is caused by the inability of an individual to strategize solutions for the problems that the organisation has been acquainted.
• Perceptual: The perceptual barriers can be seriously caused by an overload of information by the company executives or from the market and can also be caused by stereotyping of the problem that leads to the formation of the barriers. It does not enable the individual to understand the proper picture of the challenges that might be incurred by them.

• Environmental: The environmental barriers are caused by the surroundings and the impact that the organisation has had on them. For instance, there is a chance that Balfour would face challenging circumstances in terms of environmental consideration from several activists if they do not use any sustainable measures.

Alternative Approaches to Developing Individual Creative Thinking Skills
Despite the challenges or barriers that are witnessed in terms of the creative thinking attributes of the company, it can be said that the proper application of various theories and models would enable an organisation to ensure that the employees do not face with any form of the creative block while working within challenging circumstances. The consideration of Vygotsky's theory of creativity would be beneficial for the executives of Balfour to motivate and encourage the employees during the time of work. According to Skorc (2019), the use of Vygotsky's theory of creativity indicates that creative ideas in human beings can arise when the individuals are exposed to any human activity that results in the production of something new. The creative acts and the presentation of it among the individuals have the potential of turning the primary intellectual barrier into a mental construct. One of the vital examples can be considered that of using music while working in an enclosed environment. It would not only promote relaxation in their workspace but at the same time would permit them to come up with new ideas. Glveanu et al. (2017), highlights that, in terms of making major scientific, technical and artistic discoveries, creativity, and its presence in any form always adds the major benefits.

Meanwhile, there is some fair share of criticisms that cannot be denied while ensuring the application of Vygotsky's theory. Piske et al. (2017), mentions that some of the major challenges of using this theory are related to being overly optimistic, not having sufficient consideration for the formal research methods and is more than often addressed as impractical in terms of adding major beneficiaries. Thus, there still exists a possibility that the employees or the executives at Balfour might end being confused and have their creativity compromised while handling a major project.

Meanwhile, it has also been considered that the use of structured techniques is more beneficial for an organisation for enhancing the creative thinking techniques for a better performance from the side of the employees. One of such structured technique that is heavily used is 'Lotus Blossom Technique' and has been considered as a highly recognised tool for stimulating creative thinking. According to Suh (2019), the use of the lotus blossom technique helps in analysing the problem that the organisation is facing and then frame an idea of the sub-problems that might arise and then work accordingly. This technique is responsible for the proper disintegration of the problem and then expand the thinking of the individuals in identifying the solutions to the sub-problems, which would ultimately lead to the identification of the problem's solution.

Figure 1: The Lotus Blossom Technique
(Source: Hassan, 2018)

One of the examples can be taken in the context of the challenges that can be faced by Balfour. The company may be subjected to numerous criticisms for not being sustainable, and the consideration of a sustainable outlook in business operation requires creativity and indulgence from stakeholders. Thus, the use of this technique would be keeping sustainability as the core problem, or idea of the technique and the petals would represent the potential problems that may arise if the organisation is not considering the methods and normal working conditions are restored.

Developing a Training Plan
Before the establishment of a proper training plan, it is essential to understand the importance of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship in an organisation. In the words of Shafique and Kalyar (2018), the concept of corporate entrepreneurship mainly refers to the use of a process that is inclined towards the development of new businesses, products, services and processes for the organisation to increase their market value or enhance revenue for their business. In the meantime, the inclusion of innovative tactics plays an integral role because it is responsible for the development and coordination of the market and is applicable in almost every department and activity of an organisation. Suppose the scenario of Balfour Beatty is to be considered. In that case, it can be said that the use of better sustainable outlook is necessary for the organisation and they need to permit the use of innovative notion for garnering sufficient success in the UK's construction industry. The use of the following training plan would be effective in motivating the employees and working to remove any form of creative block that they might witness.

Table 1: Proposed Training Plan for Balfour Beatty
(Source: Created by the Learner)

The training plan provided above promotes a range of techniques that can be used by Balfour Beatty to tackle the challenges that the employees are facing in terms of embracing a creative notion and assuring the implementation of sustainable strategies for the beneficiaries of the organisation. The inclusion of the techniques as a part of the training process for the employees would be extensively beneficial in addressing the key concerns of creative barriers and would permit thinkers to establish solutions to certain ideas.

Findings and Analysis of the Training Plan
From the training plan administered and the techniques that have been included, it can be coherently said that the use of creative thinking and creative problem-solving capability is equally essential for the employees working in a specific organisation. However, it is also important to ensure that the employees are constantly motivated and the techniques utilised does not do anything to create motivation or assure recognition for the employees. According to Jones et al. (2018), for an organisation like Balfour Beatty that has managed to sustain its business operation for more than 100 years, the motivation of the employees plays a key role in ensuring organisational success and legitimate outcomes. Thus, using the motivational theories and their proper application would be successful in maintaining the loyalty of the employees towards the company. A motivated employee can also manage to generate creative solutions in the time of need.

Figure 2: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
(Source: Soni and Soni, 2016)

According to Jonas (2016), the use of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs focuses on the essential needs of an individual that is to be fulfilled by their employer or external environment. Humans have five essential needs, and when these needs are fulfilled, they are highly motivated to work for their employer in a way that generates a subsequent amount of success for the organisation. However, from an organisation like Balfour Beatty, it is often expected to fulfil the self-esteem and self-actualisation needs of the employees, which eventually leads to a detailed understanding of their professional and personal capacity and it works to generate subsequent success for an organisation.

In the training plan provided, apart from the creative thinking techniques appointed, the use of certain project management tools has also been considered because it is a part of the professional growth of the employees that would be deliberately working on causing an improvising in their existing skills and attributes. In the words of Long and Sun (2018), communication skills would always be an integral part of the creativity nurturing process because a full-fledged interaction between the executives and the stakeholders would permit in the identification of the root cause of the problems arising and would lead to the advancement of a certain usage of techniques as well. While brainstorming and motivation have been considered as an integral way of dealing with the barriers that might be faced by the employees of Balfour, it is essential to incorporate the use of another theory that associates the inclusion of logical development for more measurable and profound outcomes. The use of this particular theory would also be extensively beneficial in assuring logical consideration into every decision-making process included by the company.

In the words of de Champlain et al. (2018), Piaget's theory of creativity suggests that the cognitive development of an individual entirely relies on the development of logic at a much young age. The inclusion of logical operations, along with the variety of classifications available would be more assuring for the company to promote the idea of convergent thinking among their employees. They would eventually consider realistic interpretations of the problems encountered and would identify realistic solutions to them as well.

Figure 3: Piaget's Theory of Creativity
(Source: RibeiroPiske et al., 2017)

Suppose the condition of Balfour is aligned with this theory. In that case, it can be prescribed that the organisation would garner heavy success in hiring young individuals or fresher candidates, who would have a more rational outlook towards the problems that have been faced. It can be further propagated using a modified training plan that is reserved for the recruits of the organisation. According to the figure provided, it can be said that the company's inclusion of training programs or internship sessions for young children would also pave the way for logical entrapment in the organisation for the future. Meanwhile, this theory is perfectly applicable when fresher candidates with no prior experience in the construction industry are being hired.

Conclusion
This report led to a significant understanding of the challenges that an employee might face while working in an organisation if the organisational obstacles are too overwhelming. The discussion led to a proper critical analysis of several techniques that could be employed and yet had the chance to be ineffective for the employees of Balfour. However, the use of an appropriate training plan and making certain modifications from time to time depending on the changes demanded should be able to present with the desired amount of suitability.

Recommendations
The following recommendations must be considered by Balfour while implementing the training plan and for future operations as well:

• The company must focus on hiring fresher candidates and provide them with the required training since the beginning of being able to handle any necessary obstacles.
• The use of structured techniques and their usage should not be limited to the ones provided in the training plan but rather should extend towards the inclusion of the CPS method, SCAMPER method, Divergent thinking and more.
• Meanwhile, even the use of motivation theories and models should not be limited to the use of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and rather be extended towards the use of Goal Setting Theory and more. It would assist the employees in determining their professional and personal sphere.
• Besides, the inclusion of workshops, seminars, conferences held by some of the tech giants, industry giants or the idols of the employees would motivate them further to overcome a creative barrier.

Reference List
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