Mind your own business

RU T H F L E NS T E D

MIND 짜OUR OWN

BUSINE$$

L I N D H A R D T O G R I NG H O F

RU T H F L E NS T E D

MIND 짜OUR OWN

BUSINE$$

L I N D H A R D T O G R I NG H O F

MIND ¥OUR OWN

BUSINE$$ Ruth Flensted Copyright©2015 Ruth Flensted og Lindhardt og Ringhof Uddannelse, København – et forlag under Lindhardt og Ringhof Forlag A/S, et selskab i Egmont.

Grafisk tilrettelægning og omslag: Ulla Korgaard, Designeriet Forlagsredaktion: Ulla Benzon Malmmose Billedredaktion: Nina Jensen Forlaget har gjort alt for at finde og honorere 3. mandsrettigheder.

Trykkeri: Livonia Print Mekanisk, fotografisk, elektronisk eller anden gengivelse af denne bog eller dele heraf er kun tilladt efter Copy-Dans regler.

1. udgave, 1. oplag 2015 ISBN 978 87 70 665 728

Content 1.

2.

3.

Forord

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Entrepreneuring

9

Introduction

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Profile of an entrepreneur Y

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Generation Y is born to start-up Y

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7 Ways to hire Generation Y YY

20

What is a social entrepreneur? YY

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The challenge for Gen Y entrepreneurs: Save the world YY

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5 Social-media rules every entrepreneur should know YY

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Generation Y, employment and Facebook Y

31

COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION

33

Minding your own business in the West

43

Introduction

44

What is franchising? Y

48

8 Traits of successful franchisees Y

52

Franchises get social Y

54

Social small talk Y

57

McDonald’s social-media lesson: Critics tweet back Y

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Creative Franchise YY

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Paradis’s Danish-style ice cream in California YY

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Building your dream company from home YY

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Business start-up at 13 – millionaire by 17 Y

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From grad student to social-media millionaire Y

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HOW TO DO BUSINE$$ ABROAD Y

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COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION

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Burberry

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Introduction

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Burberry – Company profile Y

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CoMAD hosts Burberry CEO Y

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Burberry stops handbag production in Chinese factory in ethics row YY 105 Burberry wins counterfeit war; awarded £63 million in damages YY

106

How luxury brands are using social media Y

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CO N T E N T

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4.

Burberry flagship store in Regent Street mirrors online world Y

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Burberry stores in China get digital makeover YY

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HOW TO DO BUSINE$$ IN BRITAIN Y

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COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION

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Tommy Hilfiger

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Introduction

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Tommy Hilfiger corporation history YY

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‘Keep the heritage of the brand intact’: Tommy Hilfiger on weathering the ups and downs of retail fashion Y

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The power of the logo Y

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Tommy Hilfiger focuses on Europe Y

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Global fall 2011 featuring The Hilfigers Y

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Global fall 2013: a multimedia campaign YY

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HOW TO DO BUSINE$$ IN THE UNITED STATES Y

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COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION

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Minding your own business in the Far East

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Introduction

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Why India is winning the entrepreneurial battle with China YY

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Look out Microsoft; Here comes Zhang Yichi and a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs YY

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11 Tips for success for start-ups looking to sell on China’s Taobao Y

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Building young entrepreneurs in India YY

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Young Indian entrepreneurs ‘try to make a difference’ Y

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The young entrepreneurs heading back to Indian homeland YY

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HOW TO DO BUSINE$$ IN CHINA Y

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HOW TO DO BUSINE$$ IN INDIA Y

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Patterns in cross-cultural business behaviour YY

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COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION

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Index of subthemes and keywords

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Glossary – in alphabetical order

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Forord MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ består af: 1. en samling af sagprosatekster, der belyser kernen i hvert kapitel med – Arbejdsopgaver i form af ‘Focus on COMPREHENSION & Focus on DISCUSSION’ – Index of subthemes and keywords – Alfabetisk glossar bagerst i bogen.

2. et website, der belyser kerneteksterne i hvert kapitel og består af – Focus on VOCABULARY – Focus on READING, sharing, cooperative learning and PRESENTATION – Focus on LISTENING, summarising and commentary or collecting and applying information – Focus on WRITING with assignments in Chapter 4.

MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ – tekstantologi Hovedtemaerne i MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ er business, innovation og brug af sociale medier – i små såvel som store virksomheder – samt tværkulturel forretningskultur. Der er lagt vægt på tekster, som ligger inden for de unges interessesfære, og virksomhedseksempler, som de kan identificere sig med.

Teksterne og opgaverne om brug af sociale medier inviterer til overvejelser og stillingtagen fra brugernes side.

Det gælder også teksterne om Generation Y, der er den hidtil mest vidende og kritiske generation, hvad angår markedsføring og reklamer. De har et værdisæt, der adskiller sig fra tidligere generationer. En vigtig definition af Generation Y er, at de er vokset op med internettet som en naturlig del af deres liv og vil bruge medierne på en anderledes måde. De kaldes således også for iGenerationen, NetGenerationen, Generation Y Not, og ifølge en global undersøgelse foretaget af Millennial Branding lægger de også navn til Gen Innovation, som er af den overbevisning, at innovation er en integrerende del af økonomisk vækst. Det er denne teknologiske virkelighed virksomheder, små såvel som store, må navigere i, og det fremgår af antologiens tekster, hvordan virksomhederne griber dette an, tilpasser sig den digitale virkelighed og udnytter de nye digitale muligheder.

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Overalt i antologiens materiale og de digitale opgaver inviteres brugerne til at forholde sig til etiske dilemmaer såsom virksomheders sociale ansvar, piratkopiering og forfalskning, sweatshops og børnearbejde, bæredygtighed i værdikæden og på det digitale område, forbrugeransvar, brug og misbrug af sociale medier, overvågning af og på de sociale medier.

Index of subthemes and keywords er med til at skabe overblik over de mange delemner, der krydser hovedtemaerne: business, innovation, brug af sociale medier og tværkulturel forretningskultur. Indekset gør det muligt at læse og arbejde ’på tværs’ af hovedtemaerne, og dette gør MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ meget fleksibel og velegnet til såvel klasseundervisning som tværfagligt projekt- og samarbejde.

Hovedtemaerne belyses i CHAPTER 1: Entrepreneuring med kernetekster om entreprenørskab generelt, socialt og velfærdsentreprenørskab, brug af sociale medier og Generation Y – den til dato mest digitalt kompetente og globalt orienterede generation med stort socialt engagement.

CHAPTER 2: Minding your own business in the West indeholder kernetekster om franchisesystemet og de krav, det stiller til en franchisetager, samt brugen af sociale medier relateret til franchising.

CHAPTER 3 omhandler Burberry, der er et eksempel på et eksklusivt, gammelt firma, som klarer sig i en benhård konkurrence inden for modebranchen, især via innovativ og banebrydende brug af sociale medier.

CHAPTER 4 om Tommy Hilfiger er et eksempel på et enkeltmandsværk med global succes, som har klaret sig inden for modebranchen trods en omskiftelig tilværelse, bl.a. ved hjælp af et unikt og effektivt flerstrenget mediemiks.

CHAPTER 5: Minding your own business in the Far East giver et lille indblik i entreprenørskab i Kina og Indien. Teksterne er valgt, fordi de med deres anderledes baggrund har en ny indfaldsvinkel til hovedtemaet. De giver gode muligheder for at perspektivere og globalisere emnet i forhold til de to lande, der er og ser ud til i øget omfang at forblive vigtige samhandelspartnere for Danmark uden for Europa og USA.

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Hvert kapitel indledes med en Introduction, der sætter kerneteksterne ind i en logisk, indholdsmæssig og virkelighedsnær sammenhæng. Introduktionerne kan bruges som en pre-reading activity før arbejdet med de enkelte tekster og/eller som udgangspunkt for brugernes valg af emne.

How to do busine$$ (abroad, in Britain, in the United States, in China, in India) giver en indføring i, hvordan danske entreprenører må lære at begå sig både på nettet og rent fysisk, når de gør forretning på tværs af landegrænserne i de fire lande, der er repræsenteret i bogens kapitel 2 til 5. Kulturprofilerne er udarbejdet af den amerikanske kulturanalytiker og globaliseringskonsulent Richard Gesteland og giver en eminent indføring i og basisviden om forretningskulturer i Danmark, Storbritannien, Nordamerika, Kina og Indien med udgangspunkt i anekdoter, der illustrerer en række kulturmønstre. Disse kulturmønstre er anvendelige til sammenligning af kulturer og giver et praktisk indblik i, hvad en dansk entreprenør og forretningsmand skal være opmærksom på i tværkulturelle forretningssituationer.

Sværhedsgraden af kerneteksterne i tekstantologien og artiklerne til træning af læsekompetencen på websitet er gradueret, dels ved hjælp af Y for de sprogligt nemmeste tekster og YY for de sprogligt sværere tekster, dels ved angivelse af længden af de enkelte tekster i antal ord. For videoernes vedkommende på websitet angives varigheden i minutter af de enkelte videoklip. Det alfabetiske glossar glosserer alle kerneteksterne tæt, arbejdsspørgsmålene samt FOCUS ON VOCABULARY på websitet, og vil desuden være en stor hjælp i alle øvrige opgaver. Glossaret er udarbejdet, således at brugeren selv i nogle tilfælde skal vælge den mest hensigtsmæssige glose.

lru.dk/mindyourownbusiness På dette website bliver kerneteksterne belyst fra andre vinkler og sat i perspektiv, dels gennem links til en række artikler, hvor læsekompetencen, sociale kompetencer og præsentationsteknik sættes i spil, dels gennem en række videoer, hvor lyttekompetencen, evnen til at resumere hovedpunkter, til at anvende nye informationer og personlig stillingtagen, trænes. Mange af videoerne har en længde, der gør dem egnede til (eksamens)træning.

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Gennem videoerne får brugerne desuden en oplevelse af variationerne i engelsk – de forskellige Englishes. Den skriftelige del til Chapter 4 på websitet inkluderer kreative skriveopgaver.

I relation til kerneteksterne har websitet et særskilt afsnit med Focus on VOCABULARY. Her indøves det erhvervsfaglige ordforråd. Det sker gennem forskelligartede øvelser, som matching exercises, completing sentences, filling in exercises, word building og word expansion. Eftersom de fire hovedtemaer ’business’, innovation’, ’brug af sociale medier’ og ’tværkulturel forretningskultur’ er gennemgående i alt materiale, vil alle ordforrådsøvelser være nyttige for brugerne – uafhængigt af hvilket kapitel de læser eller har læst.

Feedback på øvelserne sker ved hjælp af en Answer Key, der kan printes ud.

Tilegnelsen af det erhvervsfaglige ordforråd via øvelserne er til stor støtte for brugerne, når de arbejder med de supplerende tekster og videoklip på websitet.

Jeg ønsker brugerne god fornøjelse med MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$.

Ruth Flensted Forår 2015

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1

Entrepreneuring

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Introduction Experts have been warning employers for years about the threatening brain drain as baby boom workers – the foundation of many organisations over the last three decades – leave the labour market for retirement or alternative careers. With the exit of baby boomers, doors are open for the hopes of a new generation of workers. Generation Y is approximately the same size in

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the U.S. as the boomers and is the foundation for the next three decades of employment and leadership.

Members of Generation Y are roughly those born between the late 1970s and the late 1990s. They are referred to as ‘echo boomers’ because they are the children of parents born during the baby boom. A baby boomer is a

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person who was born during the Post–World War II between the years 1946 and 1964. Generation Y is also called millennial or net generation as well as Gen Innovation and Generation Y Not. So, what’s the problem?

It lies with the attitudes that Generation Y has to employment and work.

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Generation Y is a very spoilt generation. Growing up with the Internet and various technological gadgets, this generation is also the most tech-savvy and wired (or perhaps rather wirelessly connected) one. Their views of life and work are different from any others. Study after study show that Gen Ys have an extremely strong entrepreneurial focus – with many planning to start

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their own businesses. This chapter begins with Profile of an entrepreneur Y (1,022 words) which includes the common characteristics of an entrepreneur and different types of entrepreneurial ideas. The two articles Generation Y is born to start-up Y (972 words) and 7 Ways to hire Generation Y YY (587 words) deal with the issue of Generation Y. Industry has turned to young start-ups and their equally young founders for new ways of thinking and doing business. Do not forget that some of the most dominant digital companies on the planet — Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, Groupon etc. — were all started by young entrepreneurs.

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Just as business entrepreneurs create and change whole industries, social entrepreneurs often seize opportunities others miss and identify and solve social problems on a large scale. In many cases they find new approaches and 5

sustainable solutions that create social value. This is the subject of What is a social entrepreneur? YY (430 words). Two female entrepreneurs try to challenge Generation Y in The challenge for Gen Y entrepreneurs: Save the world YY (922 words).

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For entrepreneurs marketing through social-media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs etc., can be quick and powerful. Social media presents unique marketing opportunities and methods of success. This is the subject of 5 Social-media rules every entrepreneur should know YY (1,062 words). Generation Y, employment and Facebook Y (503 words) deals with the

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findings in a new worldwide study of over 50 million Facebook data points.

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This applies to the U.S. In Denmark Generation Y is the smallest generation since the baby boomers.

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COR Profi

Gene

7 Way

What

The c

5 Soc

Gene

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Entrepreneuring

CORE TEXTS Profile of an entrepreneur Y (1,022 words) Generation Y is born to start-up Y (972 words) 7 Ways to hire Generation Y YY (587 words) What is a social entrepreneur? YY (430 words) The challenge for Gen Y entrepreneurs: Save the world YY (922 words) 5 Social-media rules every entrepreneur should know YY (1,062 words) Generation Y, employment and Facebook Y (503 words)

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Profile of an entrepreneurY An entrepreneur is an individual who accepts some sort of risk — usually financial — in the pursuit of new ventures. The word can apply to any person organizing a new project or opportunity, though it is most often used in a business context. A person in this role is often characterized as innovative, independent, optimistic, creative and hard-working.

Creative destruction

their own money as well as that of other parties

In some circles, entrepreneurs are described as

to a particular project. Failure may cost not only

‘creative destructionists’ of products and services.

their own livelihood and savings, but that of other

Although they may reinvigorate an existing industry

investors too. If the venture is successful, however,

by using new methods, whether of production,

the financial rewards may be great.

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organization or structure, they also work to tear down the existing companies and ways of doing

Other types of risk exist as well. Entrepreneurs

business by developing entirely new products

may face social risk if their innovations challenge

or services that make older versions obsolete or

societal norms, or they may face psychological

irrelevant.

risk as their hard work affects their own or their

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families’ peace of mind. However, many find that

Risk

the independence, recognition, and pleasure of

Risk is perhaps the primary characteristic of

contributing something valuable to society that

entrepreneurship. This does not necessarily mean

often come with being an entrepreneur outweigh

that the entrepreneur has an infinite tolerance

these dangers — even though these rewards are

for risk; instead, it means that the successful

seldom immediately apparent.

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entrepreneur is able to determine how much risk is appropriate for a particular project. He or she

Other characteristics

must accept enough risk to innovate and create,

The additional characteristics of many

but not so much that the business or activity is not

entrepreneurs include spontaneous creativity and

profitable.

a willingness to make decisions in the absence of solid data. He or she may be driven by a need to

Financial risk is the most common sort of risk that

create something new or build something tangible.

entrepreneurs face. They often have to contribute

As new enterprises have low success rates, a

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person in this role must also have considerable

product yet do so using a unique brand name that

persistence. He or she may have the greatest

differentiates the product from similar ones on

chance of success by focusing on a market

the market. Whether they are new business ideas

niche either too small or too new to have been

or simply adding a twist to an existing business,

dominated by established businesses.

entrepreneurial ideas are virtually limitless.

Start-up business ideas often include new

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Societal value

inventions. This may include new technology,

Many societies value entrepreneurs and the

alternative variations or any number of new

entrepreneurial spirit. To encourage their activity,

creations. Unique entrepreneurial ideas such as

governments and other entities may arrange

these have a tendency to change the ways in which

access to inexpensive capital, tax exemptions,

society functions. Evidence for how these ideas

and management advice. For example, many

impact society can be seen in inventions such as

universities establish ‘business incubators’

refrigeration, vaccines, television and computer

for entrepreneurs hoping to turn leading-edge

technology.

research into marketable products. The invention of these new technologies can lead to the

Entrepreneurial ideas may also include investing

development of industries that provide jobs

in a familiar brand, such as a fast-food franchise

and revenue.

or a convenience store. With these ideas, an entrepreneur is not creating a new concept,

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Entrepreneurial ideas

nor is she or he creating a new brand. Instead,

Entrepreneurial ideas are small business ideas

these entrepreneurial ideas involve purchasing

and inventions. Young entrepreneurs’ ideas

a franchise that is part of an existing brand while

may be included in either of these categories.

agreeing to do business as the parent company

Entrepreneurial ideas may be geared toward

dictates. This means that an entrepreneur must

a start-up business or may include expanding

learn the franchisor’s business practices, but

an existing business. They may even include

also may individually own and operate one or

purchasing a share of a larger business by

more franchises, which already have strong brand

becoming a franchisee.

recognition, advertising and a sound reputation in the marketplace.

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New business ideas are among the most common entrepreneurial ideas. An individual or a group

Skills

of individuals may come up with a brand-new

The demand for the product or service also has

concept for a business or may decide to enter a

to be calculated carefully by the prospective

business that is already popular. For instance,

entrepreneur. What is the expected demand for the

an entrepreneur may be the first to introduce a

product or service? Will the business be able to

particular product or service to the market or may

meet the expected demand? These are just some

choose to enter the marketplace with a familiar

of the questions that need to be answered before

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deciding if an entrepreneurship is a good idea.

Marketing knowledge is also essential for the entrepreneur. He or she must understand how to promote the product or service, what price it should be sold for, how and when the product

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will be produced and how and where the product will be sold. There are many marketing details to be figured out if the entrepreneurship is to be a success.

Business management skills such as planning,

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budgeting, record-keeping and negotiating are also important to an entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur must be able to work well alone on many different aspects of the business, at least until employees are hired. Entrepreneurships are

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considered beneficial to the economy as they usually create new jobs as they grow.

Non-profit entrepreneurships can provide needed community services, and they require the same skills as for-profit businesses. These

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entrepreneurships must meet regulations about how donations are used and often must have their finances publicly displayed. Most non-profit entrepreneurships rely on volunteers to meet their objectives.

Adapted from: What is an entrepreneur, What are the common characteristics of an entrepreneur, What is an entrepreneurship.

Conjecture and Corporation, May 29, 2013

TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 33-41.

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Generation Y is born to start-upY

There’s a fundamental difference between the rebels of the past and today: Generation Y are born entrepreneurs.

Every generation rebels against their parents. When parents approve, their offspring disapproves. Parents say black, adolescent teens say white.

Psychologists who are experts in these matters explain that rebellion is a factor in establishing identity. It’s part of the journey of growing up – 5

personalities are taking shape and a sense of self is being nurtured. Even if you haven’t quite worked out what you want, it helps to know what you don’t want.

But the times seem to be a-changing, yet again. Today’s teens are surprisingly in harmony with their parents. They wear the same branded jeans, have

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similar music in their iTunes library, are happy to accompany one another to a U2 concert, and if you ask them, many will talk about their friendly, supportive relationship.

Our conventional views of rebellion have been summed up in iconic images: think Marlon Brando wearing a leather jacket astride a Triumph Thunderbird

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motorcycle in The Wild Ones. Or the young couple wrapped in a blanket, standing in the rain and mud at the famous music festival held at Woodstock

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in 1969. So, what’s going on? Has the rebellious stage bypassed Generation Y and their parents? How will this affect their budding identity? It’s too soon to tell, but there’s one fundamental difference between then and now: Generation Y are born entrepreneurs.

A quick visit to Facebook will show you just how many teens have begun

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selling products on their pages. A great video goes viral on YouTube, and suddenly kids are inspired to monetize their page and become content developers. Witness how the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations inspired the sale of hundreds of partisan T-shirts on the web – all managed from the comfort of their bedroom clutter.

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Every day I’m1 contacted by at least 100 kids asking for advice on starting their own businesses. This is what I tell them:

You have nothing to lose You have no mortgage, you have no husband or wife to support. So go for it! Be provocative, share

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your opinions. In other words, if you produce T-shirts, make them opinionated. No one stands out by being ordinary. The older you get, the more conservative you’ll probably become, so this is the time to test your limits, to see how far you can go.

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After all, if not now, then when?

Let your courage drive your business When I was 15 years old, my local television station had serious problems selling television commercial space. So, I contacted them and we did

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a deal. I proposed producing a range of TV spots with advice to small businesses on how to, well, use TV commercials to boost their businesses.

The station had nothing to lose. If nothing else they had a sweet story of a young kid who seemed crazy enough to do something different. We A great video goes viral on You Tube and a piece of content is spread.

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struck a deal and I began working with them and learning about television production and effective

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communication. Sadly, the station backed out

box there’s a saki cup. The saki gets poured into

a few months into the deal. By then, however,

the cup, as you would imagine, but it doesn’t stop

I’d learned so much that the whole exercise was

there. The pouring continues until the cup floats

worth it. You see, as naïve as I was, I had begun

in the overflow. It makes for a challenging drink to

to build my own brand.

sip, but it contains the essence of the over-deliverunder-promise principle.

Here’s my advice: use your innocence, passion,

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energy, and fearless self. Knock on doors that

Have you ever experienced this? If you have, I’m

you might find too uncomfortable to approach

sure you still clearly remember it. Make this your

when you’re older.

mantra. If someone orders a t-shirt, include a free hat and a nice card. You can be sure that your

Let others pay for your business

customer won’t forget it; chances are neither will

Let us go back to the t-shirt business and the

their friends.

biggest mistake most entrepreneurs make. They 15

imagine an avalanche of sales and, in their

Team up

youthful optimism, invest heavily in stock. This

Nothing’s worth anything unless you have a

results in a pile of stuff no one wants – and a

good distribution system. A friend of mine sells

credit card debt that will take months to clear.

roses delivered to the door. Another friend sells luxury hams from Italy and exotic mushrooms

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Don’t purchase products in advance. Wait until

from Japan. Those that buy the roses might

you get the orders, even if it may cause a slight

very well be interested in a basket of exotic

delay. Spend time working on a sorry-I’m-late

foodstuffs, whereas those buying the food might

letter. It’s far more important that you don’t end

be interested in the flowers. One night the penny

up with a product that no one wants. Let your

dropped. Today they share a distribution network

customers finance your production.

cross promoting one another as they go.

Over-deliver and under-promise The future is viral, and your business is 100 percent dependent upon it. If people like your 30

product, they’ll tell their friends. But don’t make the mistake of thinking your great product is

A true entrepreneurial spirit is about passion, courage and creative thinking. Believe me, the time for conservative thinking, careful considerations and long-winded planning sessions will arrive eventually. But, before it does, help yourself to the smorgasbord of goodies before it’s too late.

good enough. More effort is always required.

In Japan, it’s an old tradition to over-deliver and 35

under-promise. You see it everywhere. Take, for example, when you order saki. First, the waiter will place a wooden box on your table. Inside the

1 Martin Lindstrom. Author of Buyology: Truth and lies about why we buy, Doubleday, New York.

More at martinlindstrom.com.

Fast Company, November 16, 2011

TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 33-41.

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Generation Y is looking for other things in their careers than the baby boomers.

7 Ways to hire Generation YYY Monroe Personnel Service, LLC & Temptime strives to recruit the best employees in the market, regardless of their age. However, as baby boomers approach retirement, members of Generation Y, now in their 20s to early 30s, are becoming an increasingly important part of the recruiting pool. Generation Y is looking for different things in their careers than the baby boomers, or Generation X. In order to recruit and retain the most qualified employees from this younger generation, it is important to address these differences. Here’s a look at 7 secrets for recruiting Gen Y-ers.

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#1: Gen Y wants more flexibility

task, offer them a chance to prove themselves with

Work-life balance is more important to this

added responsibility and challenging assignments.

generation than any other generation before them.

Also, study after study show that Gen Y-ers have an

These professionals want to work hard – but they

extremely strong entrepreneurial focus. Employers

also want to enjoy life and spend time with their

should develop intrapreneurship programs and

young families. So offering a flexible schedule or

opportunities so as to retain workers longer.

the option to telecommute part-time will go a long way in recruiting this demographic group.

#5: Gen Y wants a more casual work culture Jeans and t-shirts are not necessary, but young

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#2: Gen Y wants to work in a high-tech environment

professionals prefer a work environment in which

It doesn’t seem so long ago that computers

their individuality, instead of being buttoned-up.

and the Internet made their way into work

Besides being more relaxed, Gen Y-ers find work-

environments. And today’s young professionals

places that are family friendly incredibly important.

they can wear comfortable clothing that expresses

expect nothing less than the best when it comes to technology. They’ve grown up with it and place a

#6: Gen Y wants a nurturing corporate culture

high value on it in the workplace.

In Gen Y’s view having strong friendships with co-workers and bosses is extremely important to

20

#3: Gen Y wants help advancing their careers

them. There is much anecdotal support of workers

Gen Y-ers want support and guidance on how to

staying longer in jobs simply because they liked

advance their careers, especially in those important

the people they worked with — and did not want

first few years. They were raised in a bubble of

to leave them. Management styles must be Theory

constant praise and recognition from their families

Y for Gen Y. Consider, too, a formal or informal

and constant positive reinforcement and recognition organization-wide mentoring program.

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30

is something they expect. So offering a coaching or mentoring program will certainly appeal to

#7: Gen Y wants competitive salaries

them. They do seek out employers that have a

Gen Y-ers — especially younger ones — have more

plan for their success. Employers should examine

debts than any previous generation, and they

and create new ladders to guide younger workers

demand a salary that not only recognizes their

through a steady progression in the organization.

contributions, but also helps them pay down the debt. Some employers even have programs in

#4: Gen Y wants to be challenged

place to help these workers pay off student loans.

Many times, when young professionals quit and move onto greener pastures it is because they don’t 35

feel challenged in their positions. They also tend to get bored easily and seek out new things. So if you

This list was compiled from “5 Secrets for Recruiting Gen Y Workers” by Adams & Garth, and “How to Recruit, Hire, and Retain Best of Gen Y: 10 Workplace Issues Most Important to Gen Y” by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D. The Temp Times, May 3, 2013

think one of your younger employees is up to the TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 33-41.

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Social entrepreneuring: What is a social entrepreneur?YY Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale changes.

Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by

5

changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.

Social entrepreneurs often seem to be obsessed by their ideas, committing their lives to changing the direction of their field. They are both visionaries and ultimate realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else.

Each social entrepreneur presents ideas that are user-friendly, understandable, ethical, and engage widespread support in order to maximize the number of

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local people that will stand up, seize their idea, and implement it. In other words, every leading social entrepreneur is a mass recruiter for local change makers – a role model proving that citizens who channel their passion into action can do almost anything.

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Over the past two decades, the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have discovered what the business sector learned long ago: There is nothing as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur.

Why ‘social’ entrepreneur?

Just as business entrepreneurs change the face of business, social 10

entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. While a business entrepreneur might create entirely new industries, a social entrepreneur comes up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale.

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Ashoka.org 2015

Historical examples of leading social entrepreneurs: • Susan B. Anthony (U.S.): Fought for Women’s Rights in the United States, including the right

school for nurses and fought to improve hospital conditions.

to control property and helped spearhead 20

adoption of the 19th amendment.

• John Muir (U.S.): Naturalist and conservationist, he established the

• Vinoba Bhave (India): Founder and leader of the Land Gift Movement, he caused the

National Park System and helped found The Sierra Club.

redistribution of more than 7,000,000 acres of land to aid India’s untouchables and landless. • Jean Monnet (France): Responsible for the reconstruction of the French economy

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• Dr. Maria Montessori (Italy): Developed the

following World War II, including the

Montessori approach to early childhood

establishment of the European Coal and

education.

Steel Community (ECSC). The ECSC and the European Common Market were direct

30

• Florence Nightingale (U.K.): Founder of

precursors of the European Union.

modern nursing, she established the first TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 33-41.

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The challenge for Gen Y entrepreneurs: Save the worldYY Growing up, we1 Gen Y’ers ate tie-dyed bread and purple ketchup. We shopped exclusively at

part of the movement towards more responsible

Wal-Mart. Gas was cheap, and the economy was

business. The extreme end of the spectrum is

good. We never bought organic food; much less,

asking businesses to produce ‘cradle to cradle’

organic clothing. As kids, ‘things’ came in and

products – products that are created without

out of our lives quickly – purchased, used up,

harmful toxins and can be recycled into infinity

and thrown out.

or composted safely. We are, albeit very, very,

Put simply, our parents’ generation did not collectively ask questions. Like where products came from, how they were made, and what the human and environmental repercussions were.

And so, entrepreneurs in the 90s had it easy.

No one flinched at cheap production in China.

zero-waste.

This generation of entrepreneurs will not of consumers is not turning a blind eye. The evidence is in the products: organic clothing, recycled notebooks, eco-friendly cars and preservative-free foods. Even the most

kids, like us, purple ketchup – and making

irresponsible companies are trying to clean up

billions from the consumption of poorly-made,

their ‘green’ image.

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have it so easy – because this generation

rarely discussed. America at large was feeding

Gen Y is a big part of the movement towards more responsible business.

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slowly, moving from simply ‘green’ to a future of

Free trade was a hot topic, but fair trade was

unhealthy and even toxic products.

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Fast forward a generation and Gen Y is a big

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What does this mean for Gen Y entrepreneurs?

It means that business will be more difficult

5

any individual can do alone.

Together, we need to be holding our suppliers

than ever before. Because not only are we

to a higher standard and not resorting to the

tasked with creating successful businesses that

cheap shortcuts of our parents’ companies.

provide value to customers, we are also tasked

Demand quality. Use American labor. Reduce

with saving the world.

environmental footprints. Create price-points

Critics say that we will fail. Whether they’re right or wrong is irrelevant – if we want to live 10

Collective initiative is more powerful than what

that respect the product.

With a group effort, ethical business will

on a healthy planet, then we have no other

become the norm and not the exception. It’s

choice than to succeed.

not easy to source responsibly, and profit margins aren’t as high. But with American

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So that begs the question: how do we do this?

industries failing daily, and an environmental

In a time when people aren’t buying, trends

crisis on our hands, we can’t afford to take the

change by the week, and everything can be

cheap, easy route.

done cheaper overseas – how do we begin to save the world and still make a profit?

Put pressure on the ‘big guns’ Even the most environmentally-unfriendly

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Start a movement

companies are starting to get it. They know that

Power is in the numbers. Time and time again,

if they don’t start to clean up their act, or at least

the influence of an inspired group of people

appear to be trying, then they’re going to lose

is proven through movements of change.

This generation of entrepreneurs will not have it so easy.

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business from a growing population of concerned citizens.

It’s the responsibility of the new business

Know that the overall mission is bigger than your profit If Gen Y is going to do this – really, truly save

owners to help consumers pressurizing the big

the world – then we need to recognize that the

companies. A ‘zero-waste’ business model leaves

big picture is more important than price-points

a ‘low-waste’ company in the dust. Compostable

and profit.

packaging makes conventional packaging look

Sure, we all need to make enough to

utterly reckless. Employing American citizens at

sustain and grow our businesses, pay ourselves,

fair wages makes outsourcing cheap labor from

pay our employees and so on, but we also need

India appear irresponsible.

to realize that if we can survive with a percentage

Do what’s right for your company and set an example to others.

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10

drop in profit, then it’s worth the monetary sacrifice.

Our own business mission states, “Our

Rethink ‘growth’

goals don’t revolve around making sales or

We’ve been told, over and over, that bigger is

making millions; instead, making people think.

better. A growing economy is considered a good

“We believe that being a socially-conscious

thing, as is a growing business. But Gen Y is

company will indirectly convert to sales because

going to have to rethink the relationship between

there are consumers out there who care how a

economic growth and environmental survival.

business is run. There are many other up-and-

Growth depends on consumption, and our

coming companies who feel the same as we do.

consumption is going to change greatly in

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20

As a generation, it’s time we encourage

the coming decades as resource availability

people to think about where their products come

changes. Gen Y has the chance to change this

from, how they’re made, and who is directly

‘bigger is always better’ model before it’s too late.

affected. It’s not until we do this, that real, positive change will take place – when we can

Help each other

take pride in our ability to positively impact both

Communicate. Bounce ideas off each other.

the environment and the economy, and save the

Offer assistance, referrals and networking

world through entrepreneurship.

25

opportunities. Instead of worrying about competitors and sabotage, focus on what you can do to help someone else’s business succeed, especially if it’s for the betterment of the world as a whole.

1 Kristin Glenn and Shannon Whitehead are the designers and cofounders of {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable, travel clothing line for women. They are currently kick-starting their signature piece, the Versalette. You can check them out at www.revolutionapparel.me, follow them on Twitter at @AllofUsRev and hang out with them on Facebook.

Under30CEO, December 23, 2011 TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 33-41.

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5 Social-media rules every entrepreneur should knowYY

M E D S O C I A L A

Social media can level the playing field between industry leaders and startsups, between multinational corporation executives and small-business owners, making peers of all participants. Yet appearances can be deceiving.

To borrow from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, all social-media users are equal, 5

but some are more equal than others.

So what makes the difference between a following of 500 and a following of 500,000? While A-list celebrities can have an advantage over most ‘everyone else’, other social-media darlings have grown their base of fans more organically, and you can learn from their strategies.

10

What follows are five keys culled from darlings of the current social-media landscape for increasing your influence in a way that can make a difference to your business strategies.

Big-name entrepreneurs, media elites and other thought leaders engage the masses on social media.

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Producing quality content is the ultimate goal.

Be open and engaging.

#1. Produce quality content

#2. Be open and engaging

If you want to make your mark on social media, first

On social media, it’s important to be available

and foremost you should provide quality content.

to your audience, and few people exemplify that

“Content is twofold,” says Mari Smith, a social-

principle better, says Smith, than entrepreneur

media marketing expert. “It’s generating your own

Gary Vaynerchuk. “On Twitter, he does a lot of

[content], [being] a thought leader1. The other

responding to followers, she says. “He treats

element is what I call OPC – other people’s content

everybody as an equal, and he responds at an

– and not being afraid to share that.”

amazing velocity.”

One man who successfully balances both elements

What’s the upside of all this time-consuming

is the entrepreneur, investor and author Guy

engagement for Vaynerchuk? A loyal and devoted

Kawasaki. “He’s a self-professed ‘fire hose of

following for his business books and priceless

content’,” says Smith. “He has a way of creating a

visibility for his consulting business, VaynerMedia.

nice blend of other people’s content as well as his

“People love it,” Smith says. “If they get a response

own thoughts and opinions.” Not only that, but

from Gary, even if it’s a smiley face, they’re like,

according to his Twitter bio, Kawasaki repeats every

“Oh my God, Gary tweeted back at me!”

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10

15

tweet four times in order to reach all time zones.

Quantity is not the same as quality, of course, but what is remarkable about Kawasaki, says Smith, is “his masterful ability to curate such volume. I could skim through his tweets and probably find a few things every day that I could pass on to my followers.”

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Your business stands a greater chance at success if you offer something different to a small group.

#3. Focus on a specific niche

5

10

Crack the code to the perfect social-media messaging mix.

On social media, you can either be a generalist

#4. Use social media to build your business, and vice versa

– producing and curating a hodge-podge of

For an entrepreneur, time spent on social media

content across many different disciplines – or

might seem like a distraction from the more

you can choose to specialize in one or a few

important tasks central to running a business.

areas. Specialists tend to bend more ears than

Because it’s so time-intensive, you should back

generalists, says Smith. “Social media is extremely

up your thought leadership1 on social media with

noisy. You’ve got to be able to stand out,” she

a real profit-making enterprise. Chris Brogan,

says, and the best way to do this is to own a

founder and chief executive of Human Business

particular subject.

Works, a business-training company in Portland, Maine, is one example, says Smith. “He walks his

Jessica Northey, founder of Tucson, Arizona-based

talk. He speaks all over the world, and he consults

social-media marketing boutique Finger Candy

with a lot of companies on social media.”

Media, ‘owns’ country music, says Smith. Northey 15

20

hosts a live weekly Twitter chat and Google+

In other words, Brogan demonstrates his expertise

‘twangout’ for country-music fans. This year, Forbes

in blog posts, uses social platforms to broadcast

ranked Northey at No. 3 on its list of the Top 50

those posts and then uses the resulting visibility

Social-Media Power Influencers. She has more

to market himself for speaking gigs, coaching

than half a million followers on Twitter and more

sessions and more. These, in turn, increase his

than 700,000 on Google+. “In my travels, if I came

social-media following. And it doesn’t hurt that he

across anyone in the country-music arena, Jessica

was able to carve out a place for himself by being

would be my choice” of someone to connect them

an early adopter of social platforms, Smith says.

with, Smith says.

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The great thing about social media is you can experiment to find out what works best for your business.

#5. Embrace each social network’s unique culture Each social network has a ‘unique culture’, says

on Facebook,” says Smith. He finds more

Smith, and the best users embrace it rather than

elaborate ways to involve his community in his

sharing identical content across platforms. Take

activities. For instance, he uploads albums of

Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He

photos from various events where he has spoken.

relies mainly on Twitter, where he has more than

5

1.2 million followers, and Facebook, and uses each

Some power users maintain a presence on

platform in a way that takes advantage of its native

multiple networks, Smith says, but for most

capabilities.

people two are enough. “Really you want to have Facebook and one other [platform] that you’re

“On Twitter, I see him retweeting people, I see

active on,” she says.

him thanking people and engaging with them,”

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Smith says. She also notes that Booker makes use of hashtags, a popular way of marking your tweets for a specific purpose or larger conversation.

On Facebook, by contrast, Booker posts less frequently. “You don’t want to bombard people

Entrepreneur, June 14, 2013 1 Thought Leader/ship is about having the answers to the biggest questions on the minds of your audience/buyers. It can also include your unique perspective on hot topics relevant for your audience/ customers. The key here is that the agenda is set by your audience.

They determine what is important. It can be difficult to give up this control to your audience/buyers. But the fact is that they already have the control. And we can all benefit when we allow our audience to set the agenda and then just go with it.

Source: B2B Marketing Insider Michael Brenner.

TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 33-41.

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Generation Y, employment and FacebookY Young people are using Facebook for personal over professional reasons, yet they are befriending their co-workers.

A new study by Millennial Branding, of over 50 million Facebook data points from Identified.com, uncovers that people aged 18 to 29 are inadvertently using 5

their profiles as an extension of their professional personality, even though they are socializing with family and friends.

And 64 percent of so-called Generation Y fails to list their employer on their profiles, yet they add an average of 16 co-workers each to their friend group.

“Gen Y needs to be aware that what they publish online can come back to haunt

10

them in the workplace. Gen Y managers and co-workers have insight into their social lives, which could create an awkward workplace setting or even result in a termination,” says Dan Schawbel, Founder of Millennial Branding.

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ң

Gen-Y at a glance

18-29 Years Old

M E D S O C I A L A

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Generation Y & Facebook A new study by Millennial Branding

recruit Gen Y workers. Gen Y will form 75 percent

Identified.com is the largest professional database

shaping corporate culture and expectations.

on Facebook. Identified’s database includes over

Big corporations can’t afford to be left behind.

of the workforce by 2025 and are actively

50 million Facebook users and 1.2 billion data points on professionals’ work history, education

• ‘Owner’ is the fifth most popular job title for

and demographic data. They assembled a world

Gen Y because they are an entrepreneurial

class team of 15 engineers and data scientists to

generation. Even though most of their

analyze this vast database and identify interesting

companies won’t succeed, they are demon-

trends, patterns and correlations. The Generation

strating an unprecedented entrepreneurial

Y study pulled on November 15, 2011 identified

spirit. Companies need to allow Gen Y’ers to

four million Generation Y users (ages 18 to 29) and

operate entrepreneurially within the corporation

approximately one million users listing a job entry.

by giving them control over their time, activities

9 percent of these users were in the U.S.

and budgets as much as possible.

Other major findings in this study were:

• The travel and hospitality industry hires the

5

10

15

most Gen Y candidates now because young • 80 percent of Gen Y list at least one school

people are having trouble getting internships

entry on their Facebook profiles, while only 36

and jobs so they turn to bartending and

percent list a job entry. They define themselves

waitressing jobs.

by their colleges instead of their workplaces.

20

• The U.S.military is the largest Gen Y employer • They spend an average of just over two years

overall, and Deloitte is the largest corporate

at their first job. They are job hopping multiple

employer. Companies such as Walmart and

times in their careers.

Starbucks ranked high and should focus on training their in-store workers to become

• Only seven percent of Gen Y work for a Fortune

25

corporate employees when they graduate.

500 company because start-ups are dominating the workforce for this demographic group in

Brian Carter, AllFacebook, January 16, 2012

today’s economy. If large corporations want to remain competitive, they need to aggressively

30

Brian Carter is the author of The Like Economy: How Businesses Make Money on Facebook and Facebook Marketing: Leveraging Facebook’s Features for Your Marketing Campaigns.

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TASKS FOR DISCUSSION ON PP. 40-41.

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1

PROFILE OF AN ENTREPRENEUR FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. Explain what is meant by describing

A. In your opinion, what are the advantages of

entrepreneurs as ‘creative destructionists’.

2. Describe the 3 kinds of risks that

being an entrepreneur?

B. What are the disadvantages?

entrepreneurs may face.

C. “He or she may have the greatest chance of 3. What is meant by ‘societal value’?

success by focusing on a market niche either too small or too new to have been dominated

4. Sum up the 3 types of entrepreneurial ideas

by established businesses.”

mentioned here and what they include.

Discuss the pros and cons of focusing on a 5. What different skills must a prospective

market niche.

entrepreneur possess?

D. “Many societies value entrepreneurs and the 6. How do non-profit entrepreneurships differ

entrepreneurial spirit.”

from for-profit ones?

Does that apply to Denmark as well?

Why/why not?

Before answering this question you may want to work with one of the tasks on Innovation policy in Denmark: Denmark – Land of solutions on the website.

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GENERATION Y IS BORN TO START-UP FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. According to this article, how is the

A. “So, what’s going on? Has the rebellious

relationship very often between parents

stage bypassed Generation Y and their

and their teenage children?

parents? How will this affect their budding identity?”

2. Explain why this is so.

3. Which iconic images reflect the conventional views of rebellion?

What is your answer to these questions?

B. “Generation Y are born entrepreneurs.”

Do you agree with the writer? Give reasons for your answer plus examples.

4. In what ways does that differ when talking about Generation Y and their parents?

C. “No one stands out by being ordinary.”

Comment on this quotation by expressing

5. What is the fundamental difference between then and now?

6. How does that become apparent? Give examples.

your agreement or disagreement and use examples to illustrate your point of view.

D. Why might teaming up be a good idea?

Elaborate your answer from above and find more examples.

7. Sum up the pieces of advice that the writer of this article gives Generation Y and the reasons for them.

8. What does the example given by the writer

E. “Help yourself to the smorgasbord of goodies before it’s too late”.

Comment on this piece of advice.

of himself as a fifteen-year-old tell us?

F. This article is written by an American author.

9. Explain the example from Japan of serving saki.

What are the similarities to the Danish Generation Y? Are there any differences between the two?

10. Why might teaming up be a good idea? Give an example.

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1

7 WAYS TO HIRE GENERATION Y FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

“Generation Y is looking for other things in

A. This article is written by an American author.

their careers than the Baby Boomers, or

What are the similarities to the Danish

Generation X.”

Generation Y? Are there any differences between the two?

#1. Gen Y wants more flexibility.

B. “They were raised in a bubble of constant #2. Gen Y wants to work in a high-tech environment.

praise and recognition from their families and constant positive reinforcement and recognition is something they expect.”

#3. Gen Y wants help advancing their careers.

– What are the positive aspects of this way of #4. Gen Y wants to be challenged. #5. Gen Y wants a more casual work culture.

raising children?

– What may be the negative ones? Illustrate with examples.

#6. Gen Y wants a nurturing corporate culture. #7. Gen Y wants competitive salaries.

1. Explain in detail the 7 demands made by Generation Y on their workplace.

2. Mention some ways in which employers may meet these demands.

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SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURING: WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR? FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. Make a list of the words used to characterise a

A. “There is nothing as powerful as a new idea

social entrepreneur.

2. Make a list of the words used to describe a social entrepreneur’s ideas and solutions.

in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur.”

Explain why and how this statement may apply to business entrepreneurs as well as social entrepreneurs.

3. How may the social entrepreneur ensure that his/her ideas and solutions are spread and taken up by local change makers?

B. “Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and

4. Explain the difference between a business entrepreneur and a social entrepreneur.

solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.”

This is a description of a social entrepreneur and it fits the historical examples of leading social entrepreneurs mentioned in the article. Find other similar examples.

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1

THE CHALLENGE FOR GEN Y ENTREPRENEURS: SAVE THE WORLD FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. How do the writers of this article describe the

A. Free trade was a hot topic, but fair trade was

time in which they grew up? Give examples.

2. List the changes that took place in the 2000s.

rarely discussed in the 90s.

Account for the terms free trade and fair trade.

Illustrate with examples.

B. Businesses should be asked to produce ‘cradle 3. What do these changes mean for Generation Y

to cradle’. Explain what is meant by this idea.

entrepreneurs? Explain why.

C. “We believe that being a socially-conscious 4. How may it be possible to try to save the world

company will indirectly convert to sales

and still make a profit? State your answers and

because there are consumers out there who

reasons.

care how a business is run.”

5. Why might it help to put pressure on ‘the big guns’?

6. In what ways should Gen Y rethink growth?

Comment on this quotation by expressing your agreement and/or disagreement.

D. “As a generation, it’s time we encourage people to think about where their products

7. Sum up the pieces of advice given by the writers.

8. Account for the business mission of the

come from, how they’re made, and who is directly affected.”

In your opinion, are people ready for this?

writers’ own company:“(R)evolution apparel.”

E. This article is written by 2 American entrepreneurs. What are the similarities to Danish entrepreneurs? Are there any differences between the two nationalities, in this respect?

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USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA: 5 SOCIAL-MEDIA RULES EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD KNOW FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. “To borrow from George Orwell’s Animal Farm,

A. “Content is twofold,” says Mari Smith....

all social-media users are equal, but some are

It’s generating your own [content], [being] a

more equal than others.” What is meant by

thought leader. The other element is what I call

using the famous George Orwell quotation in

OPC – other people’s content – and not being

this context?

afraid to share that.” Explain what Mari Smith means here.

2. Account for the way in which Guv Kawasaki uses social media.

B. The title of key one is: Produce quality content.

What does that imply?

3. Describe the behaviour of Gary Vaynerchuk on social media.

C. “I could skim through his tweets and probably find a few things every day that I could pass on

4. In what way does such strategy pay off?

to my followers.” What does this tell us about the use of social media?

5. Why is it an advantage to be a specialist on social media and own a particular subject?

Give an example.

6. What is the strategy of Chris Bogan and how does that pay off?

7. Describe how Cary Booker, the mayor of Newark, uses social media.

D. “Social media is extremely noisy. You’ve got to be able to stand out.”

Suggest ways in which one can stand out on social media.

E. “When we do everything, we do nothing.”

Explain the meaning of this saying in relation to the subject of the article.

F. Explain in your own words the meaning of ‘thought leadership’. See also note1.

G. In your opinion, what is the unique culture of your preferred social network/s?

H. What are your keys to social-media success?

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1

I. This article about social-media rules is written by the American editor at Entrepreneur.com.

– Do you agree with him when he says that every entrepreneur should know these five keys, – and do these rules also apply to Danish entrepreneurs? Explain why/why not.

J. At present1 the royal family in Denmark are not on social media but have a homepage and an app. Do you agree with this deliberate choice of media? Why/Why not?

K. At present2 half the leading politicians in Denmark are on social media. In what ways may they turn this to their own advantage?

Are there any disadvantages for them?

1

Politiken, March 30, 2013

2

Politiken, March 23, 2013

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ENTREPRENEURING

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1

E N T R E P R E N E U R I N G – CO M P R E H E N S I O N A N D D I S C U SS I O N

GENERATION Y, EMPLOYMENT AND FACEBOOK FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

are dominating the workforce for this

A. “A new study by Millennial Branding, of

demographic group in today’s economy. If

over 50 million Facebook data points from

large corporations want to remain competitive,

Identified.com, uncovers that people aged 18

they need to aggressively recruit Gen Y

to 29 are inadvertently using their profiles as

workers. Gen Y will form 75 percent of the

an extension of their professional personality,

workforce by 2025 and are actively shaping

even though they are socializing with family

corporate culture and expectations. Big

and friends.”

corporations can’t afford to be left behind.”

Mention ways in which large companies may

What is meant by this quotation and what

succeed in recruiting Gen Y workers.

may be the consequences of this fairly new phenomenon?

E. Acas, a U.K. network which helps organisations improve relationships with their

B. “Gen Y needs to be aware that what they

employees, recently issued guidelines for

publish online can come back to haunt them

employers on how to handle their staff’s use

in the workplace. Gen Y managers and co-

of social media and on how to use information

workers have insight into their social lives,

from social networks when employing staff.

which could create an awkward workplace

Work out your own list of guidelines covering

setting or even result in a termination,”

these aspects. The headline is: Employers

says Dan Schawbel, Founder of Millennial

must come clear about social-media snooping.

Branding.

F. Three out of ten Danish executive managers In your opinion, how serious is this threat? Give

are involved in social-media snooping or

examples to back up your answer.

monitoring, according to Politiken, March 21, 2014. They are worried about their employees’

C. “80 percent of Gen Y list at least one school entry on their Facebook profiles, while only 36

time consumption on social media at work and see it as a managerial challenge.

percent list a job entry. They define themselves by their colleges instead of their workplaces.”

Explain why this is a growing problem and how it should be handled, in your opinion.

How true is this finding in your opinion?

G. Today Facebook pictures and likes as well as D. “Only seven percent of Gen Y work for a Fortune 500 company because start-ups

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smart phones, iPads, Fitbits, tweets, cookies etcetera are used by the big computer systems

U S E O F S O C I A L M E D I A – CO M P R E H E N SI O N A N D D I S C U SS I O N

(Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon,

1

To what extent is this true at present?

among others) to find out what we are interested in, what our emotions are, even to analyse our behaviour and personality.

K. According to a recent study by worldwide Cisco1, more than half of Gen Y workers “will not accept a job that bans social media.” This

What are the underlying reasons for this

report demonstrates that Gen Y “considers the

trend? Discuss the advantages as well as the

Internet to be as important as air, water, food,

disadvantages of the phenomenon. Back up your

and shelter” and will choose a lower paying

viewpoint with examples.

job in order to be able to use it.

H. Is it possible to defend yourself against

How true is this finding in your opinion?

network surveillance and traffic analysis by using for example software like the TOR

1

The 2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report.

Browser? Discuss the pros and cons of using software designed to increase the anonymity of your activities on the Internet.

I. “’Owner’ is the fifth most popular job title for Gen Y because they are an entrepreneurial generation. Even though most of their companies won’t succeed, they are demonstrating an unprecedented entrepreneurial spirit. Companies need to allow Gen Y’ers to operate entrepreneurially within the corporation by giving them control over their time, activities and budgets as much as possible.”

How true is this finding in your opinion?

J. “The travel and hospitality industry hires the most Gen Y candidates now because young people are having trouble getting internships and jobs so they turn to bartending and

M E D S O C I A L A

waitressing jobs.”

ENTREPRENEURING

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2

Minding your own business in the West

43

Introduction Franchising a business has long provided a low-cost and relatively low-risk way of expanding a business. Some of the restaurant and fast food sector’s best-known brands are successful franchises, including McDonald’s, Subway, Disney and 7-Eleven – all US companies. Also in the UK and Denmark, the franchise model is alive and well across many parts of the business-to-

5

business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) worlds. Examples from the UK are The Body Shop, Clarks (shoes), Wimpy (fast food), Prontaprint (B2B), and from DK Søstrene Grene, BoConcept, b-young and Bianca footwear.

Franchising has grown steadily over the past two decades in all countries.

Franchise outlets are six times more likely to survive than non-franchise

10

start-ups. If the right systems and approaches to recruiting franchisees are in place, the business can expand at an impressive rate – faster than organic growth. What is franchising? Y (931 words) explains the business model and pinpoints its advantages as well as disadvantages, while 8 Traits of successful franchisees Y (596 words) may help you to find out whether

15

franchising is right for you.

Social media is a cheap and easy way for companies on a tight budget to market their business, and it is rapidly becoming a huge player in the promotional industry. The demand for companies to manage their online reputation across networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others is

20

growing rapidly. Although the UK lags behind the US – only half of British businesses use social media compared with 90% in the US1 – a boom in social-media skills is predicted. Social media has given a boost to businesses, and it is not just a means of marketing goods and services: it is the ideal way to stay in touch with customers.

25

Franchises get social Y (859 words) illustrates how franchise companies are finding ways to turn ‘likes’ and ‘tweets’ into dollars and pounds. SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) may benefit from the use of social media as much as big business, as it appears from Social small talk Y (754 words).

Customers also use social media as a way of communicating with businesses, as is seen in McDonald’s social-media lesson: Critics tweet back Y (442 words).

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M I N D YO U R OW N B U S I N ESS

30

One of the defining traits of entrepreneurship is the ability to spot an opportunity and see possibilities where others do not. Entrepreneurs have a curiosity that identifies overlooked niches and put them at the forefront of innovation and emerging fields. They imagine another world and have the 5

ability to communicate that vision effectively to investors, customers and staff.

Both large and small brands may use the franchise model to expand their businesses. British Creative Franchise YY (682 words) and Danish Paradis YY (1,234 words) have been chosen as illustrative examples of smallscale franchises.

10

Working from home is also an extremely popular option among small business owners, and it is gaining in popularity all the time. A particular strength of small businesses is their ability to respond quickly to changing economic conditions. They often know their customers personally and are particularly well especially suited to meet local needs. Starting a business from home is not just about the money you save; it is about the lifestyle it creates. This is the

15

subject of Building your dream company from home YY (997 words), which also pinpoints the advantages and disadvantages of this business model.

Starting a business is an ultra-marathon. You have to be able to live with uncertainty and to overcome a number of obstacles. Self-confidence is a key

20

entrepreneurial character trait. You have to be 110 % convinced that your product is something the world needs! Business start-up at 13 – millionaire by 17 Y (878 words) and From grad student to social-media millionaire Y (612 words) describe the struggles of two young female entrepreneurs to launch small successful businesses in very different ways.

25

How to do busine$$ abroad Y (1,003 words) is a contribution made by Globalisation Consultant Richard Gesteland on the importance of effective communication with business partners in other countries. The communicator must do his homework and seek to understand the business culture, value system and communication pattern of the country where business is being

30

conducted. Without this understanding, miscommunication and missed opportunities could be the end result.

1

The 2012 edition of the NatWest/British Franchise Association Survey.

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Minding your own business in the West 5

CORE TEXTS What is franchising? Y (931 words) 10

8 Traits of successful franchisees Y Franchises get social Y

(596 words)

(859 words)

Social small talk Y (754 words) 15

McDonald’s social-media lesson: Critics tweet back Y (442 words) Creative Franchise YY (682 words) 20

Paradis’s Danish-style ice cream in California YY (1,234 words) Building your dream company from home YY (997 words) Business start-up at 13 – millionaire by 17 Y(878 words)

25

From grad student to social-media millionaire Y (612 words) How to do busine$$ abroad Y (1,003 words) 30

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47

F R A N C H I SI N G

What is franchising?Y Type of business model Franchising is a type of business model in which a business uses the same business model as an existing business. Franchising involves a franchisor and a franchisee. This type of business is commonly used in retail stores, restaurants, and many other types of businesses.

When a business decides to start franchising, it will offer its business

5

model for sale to prospective business owners. Entrepreneurs who wish to start a business can pay a certain amount of money and purchase the rights to open a franchise in the same business model. The franchises will all share the same name and will typically be distributed in different geographical areas.

In most cases, franchisees have to pay an initial purchase price to

10

purchase the franchise. In addition to that, the franchisee has to pay the franchisor an ongoing sum in franchise dues or fees. Many times, the franchisee will also have to buy products for the business from the franchisor.

In return for the franchise fees, the franchisor is going to provide valuable business information to the franchisee. The franchisor has already

15

created a successful business model and he or she is going to convey all of the necessary information for the franchisee to become successful as well. One of the big advantages of investing in a franchise is that the business owner is not going to have to create a new, successful business from scratch. He or she can simply follow the detailed plan that has been laid out by the original company.

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Franchises can be a good investment because the franchisor wants all of the new franchises to succeed. In franchising, the original business owner is only going to be successful if the rest of the franchises are also successful.

This means the franchisor is going to do everything in his or her power to make sure that new franchises do well.

25

When getting involved with franchising, it is important to do thorough research about the business in question. While certain franchises have been wildly successful over the years, others have not done as well. Investing in the wrong franchise could potentially cost an investor a large sum of money and waste a great deal of time. In most cases, investing in a franchise that has a solid track record and a good business history is going to be one of the best investments an entrepreneur could make.

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FRANCHISING

Get a piece of the cake. Entrepreneurs can choose from among a variety of franchise opportunities.

Advantages and disadvantages For somebody considering franchises as a business investment, there are many advantages and disadvantages that should be kept in mind.

The main advantage of franchises is that the businesses being operated already have a proven track record of success. Opening a McDonald’s, for 5

example, requires no market research, as the owner of the trademark will provide all necessary training and support to the franchisee. This includes site selection, help with leasing, and even business mentoring. Franchises are great choices for people who know little about business ownership and want to get started as soon as possible. They also carry a powerful image that helps

10

push the business off the ground faster than the same business without a famous trademark would.

On the other hand, franchises do present some disadvantages. For starters, they are expensive. Set-up fees can run over $50,000 US dollars, and the franchisor will also take a good monthly percentage of the earnings. Because

15

franchises must preserve the company image, new business owners often need to spend large sums of money to comply with the look of the place, the

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F R A N C H I SI N G

uniform design, and even the interior fitting of the place. Some franchises require periodical updates or reforms that must be paid for by the franchisee.

Another disadvantage of franchises is the loss of control. A franchisee has little freedom of choices about how to run his or her business, as changes must be approved by the owner of the trademark. Many franchise owners complain about feeling more like employees than as entrepreneurs.

Franchises may be great options for people considering their own business and looking for support to get started, but as with everything, it is a good idea to research all available options before making a decision.

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FRANCHISING

Expansion In most instances, however, it is a win-win for both parties. If the franchisee successfully operates his branch of the company, then both he and the franchisor benefit from increased brand recognition and greater customer 5

loyalty. For the franchisor, this can also lead to company expansion as more people seek to become franchisees and launch their own branch of the business.

A franchisor can use the franchise business model as a way to expand his company without the significant cost and liability of building chain stores.

10

It provides him access to venture capital without having to relinquish control of his business through acquisition by another company. Using the dollars he gains from franchisee fees, a franchisor is able to sell more franchises – domestically and internationally – fairly quickly. Building on an already tested brand and replication formula drastically reduces his risk.

15

The franchise model works best for businesses that have a solid history of profitability and are easily copied. The U.S. has led the world in the number of franchises since the launch of the fast food franchise in the 1930s. By the start of the 21st century, the franchise model was used in almost 100 industries and generated more than $1 trillion USD in sales each year through

20

more than 700,000 establishments. While fast food restaurants continue to lead among major franchises in the U.S., other types of franchises that rank near the top include convenience stores, hotels and cleaning companies.

Adapted from: What is franchising? What are franchises? What is a franchiser? wiseGeek.

TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 80-90.

Grow a business through franchising.

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F R A N C H I SI N G

8 Traits of successful franchiseesYY Many people believe franchise ownership is for the classic entrepreneur – the type A personality with the desire to blaze new trails in the business world. The truth is actually quite different.

Franchising is all about following a proven system in order to replicate the success of the original business. That’s why ‘Steady Eddy’ types who are willing to trust the system make better (and happier) owners than ‘disrupter’ types with independent streaks.

Besides the ability to follow a system, there are eight personality traits common to most successful franchisees. You can determine whether franchising is right for you based on whether you see yourself in these descriptions:

While franchising may not be for everyone, it can be an ideal situation for the right person.

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FRANCHISING

1. Motivated by results

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5. People person

You’re known to: Focus on production / Create

You’re known to: Relate to clients / Keep good morale /

benchmarks / Meet goals / Evaluate results

Succeed at networking / Be a voice in the community

You understand that action is not achievement. You revere

You are quick to understand that regardless of what business

the value of benchmarks and are always evaluating the

you’re in, customers and employees are always the most

process in order to achieve results. If a certain course isn’t

important thing for achieving success. Building relationships

working to meet goals – you immediately change the plan

and keeping in good graces comes naturally for you.

to find an approach that will work better for you.

6. Seatbelt enthusiast 2. Big thinker 10

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You’re known to: Like direction/ Want a safety net

You’re known to: Imagine the future/

You take grand precautions in your everyday life. You

Recognize necessary tasks

always look to mitigate the risks involved in activity and

You know that even though working long hours or doing a

want a proven track record in what you participate in.

dirty job may not be the ideal situation at the moment, it

You’re not blazing trails while running with scissors

will pay off in the long run. You imagine the possibilities for

– you want security.

the future as a long-term result that motivates the day-today activities. You keep your eye on the prize.

7. Resilient You’re known to: Trust in the future / Keep setbacks in

3. Chief cheerleader 20

perspective

You’re known to: Make business happen / Care about

You can’t be held down in pessimism. Challenges excite

success / Recognize efforts

you and you know that things will always get better. You

Sitting back and expecting business to just come to you

keep bouncing back strong from adversity.

is not your game plan. You’re always out there stumping, and you recognize others who exhibit a similar work ethic.

8. Cool and collected You’re known to: Stay consistent / Keep composure /

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4. Optimist

Address issues

You’re known to: Look forward / Create solutions /

You know what is happening around you, but don’t panic

Stay positive

or cause a scene. Focusing on the essential and important

You always call the glass half-full. Solutions and

tasks keeps you unruffled and gives your customers and

opportunities are more obvious to you than problems or

employees peace.

hindrances. You take care of problems by solving them instead of wasting time on how they happened.

While franchising may not be for everyone, it can be an ideal situation for the right person. These personality traits – in addition to sufficient financial backing and proper business experience – are essential to succeeding in the franchising world. If you see yourself in the above descriptions, chances are that you have the confidence, drive and motivation to be a successful franchise business owner.

35 Entrepreneur, April 24, 2012

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Franchises get socialY Franchise companies, initially reluctant to embrace social media, are finding ways to turn ‘likes’ and ‘tweets’ into dollars and cents.

Houlihan’s, an 83-unit restaurant chain based in

closely manage the brand, but that takes away

Leawood, Kansas, says its stores will see an extra

the point of social media, which is the personal

20 to 40 tables because of one last-minute mobile

interaction,” says Rich Stark, CEO of Stark Logic, an

deal shared via Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter.

online marketing agency in Oceanside, California.

5

“You can easily see how quickly it can pay off,” says Jennifer Guvlik, vice president of marketing.

That attitude is changing, however. Franchise companies are “starting to pay attention because

Toppers Pizza, a 40-unit franchise in Whitewater,

they now realize that social media does impact

Wisconsin, has begun special Facebook offers on

sales,” Powills says.

Tuesdays – traditionally its worst day – and seen

10

more than 70 redemptions in a single day at some

Here are tips on how a franchise company – and its

locations. And in Marlboro, New Jersey, Let’s YO

franchisees – can become more social.

Yogurt built its Facebook page before opening its first location six months ago – and managed to get

1. Start with a plan. Yes, posts and tweets should

1,000 likes – in an effort to appeal to tweens and

seem fun and spontaneous, but they should be

teens. “We wanted to reach out to them in a way

part of a comprehensive social-media strategy.

they understand,” says founder Eric Casaburi, who

“It’s a very free environment, but you also want

also credits the company’s sale of 30 units in part

to make sure the brand is well-represented

to the aggressive social-media campaign.

when you flip the switch,” says Let’s YO

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Yogurt’s Casaburi.

All of this is a distinct shift from the past. While

20

independent businesses have long tried social

As with traditional media, you’ll want to

media, “franchise companies are light years

think about your target demographic and the

behind everyone else,” says Nick Powills, chief

best channels for reaching them, says Jason

brand strategist with No Limit Media Consulting, a

Hennessey, CEO of Everspark Interactive, an

Chicago firm focused on franchising.

Atlanta digital marketing agency. Although Facebook is a no brainer for consumer

The nature of franchising – systems, consistency

interaction, also consider Twitter, Pinterest,

and control – can run counter to the spontaneous

Foursquare, Tumblr, YouTube and, for business

spirit of social media. “A franchisor wants to

to business, LinkedIn.

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There’s a debate in the franchise world about the best way to manage social-media outreach.

For a smaller franchise with limited staff, it can be difficult to maintain a presence on all of these. Many companies will test the various avenues before launching a full-scale 5

campaign. Ultimately, “spend the most amount of time on the platforms that give you the most return on investment,� Hennessey says.

2. Decide who has control. Should the franchise company control every aspect of social media,

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relinquish control to the franchisees or craft a policy that allows for both? Do you have a single Facebook page, or allow for individual franchisee pages?

The jury is still out.

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Some, such as Lawn Doctor, a 360-unit

a franchisee cannot use the trademark without

franchisor in Holmdel, New Jersey, manage

written consent, Powills says. But rather than

social media at the corporate level but with

threaten rogue franchisees, tell them “you are

regular feedback from franchisees. “We have a

going to take care of their digital footprint while

system for franchisees to provide us with local

they focus on local marketing,” he suggests.

information but on a national platform,” says Scott Frith, its chief executive.

5

3. Keep it real. Of course, if you want to get the full benefits, keep your profiles “fresh and

Others, like Houlihan’s, encourage individual

interactive,” says Powills. “This is media plus

franchisees to create their own social-media

social.”

campaigns – but within the guidelines of the

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franchise. “You can’t be a multi-unit company

One way to make sure your pages stay fresh is

and have one presence on Facebook,” says

to create a schedule of franchise contests and

Houlihan’s Guvlik. “You have to crack the local

specials. But that doesn’t mean you can turn

nut.” As such, Houlihan’s provides resources and

your page on auto pilot. “If you are spitting

lets franchisees add their own flare to their pages.

out generic content that isn’t interactive, your

At the same time, the corporate office shares

social-media campaign will not be successful,”

marketing ideas, syndicates content and keeps

adds Stark.

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tabs on what’s happening on franchisee pages.

Likewise, if followers use your Facebook page The right move may depend on the particulars

or Twitter handle to pose a question or lodge

of your brand – for example, the extent to which

a complaint, they expect a quick response.

franchisees already have marketing autonomy

Even worse than ignoring a negative content is

or whether promotions are national or regional.

removing it. “You’ll only enrage people when

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often times they just want an apology,” says What do you do about franchisees who engage

Powills. By addressing the issue, “you can turn

in unsanctioned tweets and posts? Technically

a negative experience into a glowingly positive one,” adds Guvlik.

Entrepreneur, April 12, 2012

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Social small talkY How social media can give SMEs the marketing muscle of a big business

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M E D S O C I A L A

As recent events have demonstrated, social

on Facebook for your business name then you don’t

media and the right audience can combine to

have to pay a penny for them to access your pages.

create a substantial uprising. Indeed, the key

Nor do you pay anything if someone ‘likes’ your

business lesson to be learned from events like

pages and links to them on their own Facebook

the Arab Spring and the UK riots is that social-

pages. It’s win-win.

media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have the undeniable potential to create a

Twitter is the second most important social-

revolutionary impact.

media tool. Twitter has around 200 million users worldwide, of which 100 million are regular users.

10

15

One of the most powerful social-media delivery

While it doesn’t have the same wide-ranging

platforms is Facebook. Its enormous size (over

demographic as Facebook, what it does have is

750 million users) means that its users comprise

an immediacy that makes a TV news ticker seem

almost every age group, gender and interest in all

virtually frozen in time. Like Facebook, Twitter

parts of the world. It’s also free and fast. A busi-

allows you to have a presence in minutes and

ness can start a Facebook group in a matter of

again it’s completely free. All you need to do to

minutes. There are no running costs, infrastructure

be successful is attract an audience and then keep

costs or bandwidth costs. Whether your business’s

broadcasting something interesting at frequent

viral video is downloaded by 10,000 or 10 million

intervals.

people it will cost you nothing. If anyone searches

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Filtering feedback

Small business, big voice

Social media can be used in practically any way

One of the other things in favour of social

you want. It works as a way of getting fast customer

media is that it’s a great leveller. Because of the

feedback, although it is very unstructured.

limitations of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (the business world’s answer to Facebook), it’s

Therefore genuine feedback needs to be filtered

hard to distinguish a Facebook page created

out from general comments. It can be used to

by a big company from that created by a much

promote your services and products. For example,

smaller business. If you’re able to produce good

you can send a new tweet or put the information

quality images accompanied by well thought out,

on your Facebook pages if you’re launching a

interesting text, then you stand as much chance

product. It can also be used for customer service,

of being read, liked and followed as a business

although you need to be careful that your business

a thousand times bigger.

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is prepared to deal with any problems in a socialmedia response time (minutes and hours), rather

A final, important thing to consider is just how

than the normal web and email response time

much work you want to put into social media. You

(hours and days). Here’s a tip: if you can’t respond

can spend as long as you want on social media,

with appropriate swiftness then make sure this is

which means it will consume as much or as little

clearly explained, and, wherever possible, take all

time as you want it to. However, you do need to

problems offline by suggesting a phone call or a

keep it going. If you don’t then it’ll die and your

move to email.

audience will drift off to the next big thing.

To create your own social-media revolution you

Bear in mind too that while the distribution and

need to keep things active. At the heart of any

the natural searches are free in social media (you

successful social-media strategy is a dialogue.

can advertise on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,

If you want to be successful then you have to be

just as you can on Google) there is a time expense

prepared to listen as well as speak. Think of social

in maintaining your Facebook, Twitter and other

media as a great, never-ending party. You need

social-media tools. To keep people coming back

to be able to think of good things to get the party

you need to have someone watching your Facebook

going, and you need to be able to keep it going

and Twitter pages and responding to people,

if it starts to flag.

otherwise all the work you put into creating the

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pages and the profile will be wasted.

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McDonald’s social-media lesson: Critics tweet backY

M E D S O C I A L A

Critics tweet back McDonald’s is tapping social media to help introduce the human faces behind its vendors, notably farmers who supply the beef, lettuce and potatoes for those Big Macs and fries.

But social media being a two-way street, consumers have been talking 5

back loudly – and in some cases obscenely – via the Twitterverse.

As part of its ‘Supplier Stories’ campaign this month, the fast-food icon promoted the #meetthefarmers hashtag on Twitter, linking to YouTube videos that feature folks like cattle rancher Steve Foglesong of Black Gold Cattle Co. in Astoria, Illinois.

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In ‘Raising Cattle and a Family’, a guitar plays softly as picturesque images of Steve Foglesong are shown, such as the rancher on horseback, in cowboy hat, rounding up cows and later enjoying a McDonald’s takeout lunch on the tailgate of a truck.

Similar videos feature fourth-generation farmer Dirk Giannini, who grows

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lettuce in California’s Salinas Valley, and potato supplier Frank Martinez, owner of Saddle View Farms in Washington, who grew up the child of migrant farm workers. “If you make something with pride, people will taste it,” he says.

Folks minced no words in response to the campaign.

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“I AM SO ANGRY. Here’s another [expletive] YOU to McDonald's for #greenwashing with the #MeetTheFarmers tag. Arg!” tweeted @eatLocalGrown, a website that promotes locally grown food.

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“CHUTZPAH ALERT: McDonald’s farmwashing campaign. Their food is hyperprocessed and full of chemicals,” said a tweet from Nancy Huehnergarth (@nyshepa), executive director of New York State Healthy

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Eating and Physical Activity Alliance.

“I’m a farmer, but don’t and won’t grow anything for @McDonald’s,” Greg Massa,

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U SE O F S O C I A L M E D I A

an organic farmer in Hamilton City, Calif., tweeted under the handle @ massaorganics.

Despite the testy tweets, McDonald’s says the campaign has yielded mostly positive feedback. Although the franchise acknowledges some missteps.

For instance, the chain last week also promoted a #McDStories tag but

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withdrew it after a firestorm of ticked-off, embarrassing tweets, such as this one from Skip Sullivan, a contestant from NBC’s ‘Love in the Wild’ dating show: “One time I walked into McDonald’s and I could smell Type 2 diabetes floating in the air and I threw up.”

In a statement, Rick Wion, McDonald’s USA social-media director, said:

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“While #meetthefarmers was used for the majority of the day and successful in raising awareness of the Supplier Stories campaign, #mcdstories did not go as planned. We quickly pulled #mcdstories and it was promoted for less than two hours.”

Wion added that the franchise always includes contingency plans in its social-media campaigns.

“The ability to change midstream helped this small blip from becoming something larger,” he said. “As Twitter continues to evolve its platform and engagement opportunities, we’re learning from our experiences.”

Entrepreneur, January 25, 2012

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FRANCHISING

FRANCHISES – U.K. & DK

Creative FranchiseYY

C R E AT I V E F R A N C H I S E DESIGN WEB MARKETING PRINT YOUR OWN DESIGN AND MARKETING AGENCY! About us The Creative Franchise opportunity offers you your own Design & Marketing agency without the overheads and hassle of employing people! All the conceptual ideas, design, artwork, marketing plans, web development, copywriting, proposals, quotes and billing are handled in-house by Head 5

Office. You will become the ‘go to’ person in your town delivering marketing

WE'RE GROWING FAST

solutions for the cream of local businesses.

Everyone loves what we offer: a jargon-free friendly approach, amazing design & marketing with market leading technical support

At Creative Franchise our mission is simple. If there’s a way of getting local SME businesses noticed either online or off (through design, marketing, websites or print), we make sure it gets done – effectively.

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The market The great news is there are more than 4 million small and medium size businesses in the U.K. that are looking for cost-effective ways to promote themselves and get the competitive edge they need. You will be perfectly positioned to take advantage of this upsurge in demand for professional 15

branding, digital and marketing services.

HUGE DEMAND The demand for this market is huge

About you We’re looking for driven, passionate people who want to succeed. You don’t need to have design, marketing or technical experience, but if you do that’s great too.

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F R A N C H I SI N G

Business sense, common sense and the ability to get on with people is key to being a great Creative Franchisee.

Financial information Financial expectations and initial investment With focus and effort you can expect to earn in excess of £5,000 per month

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within a short timescale and if you’re a real superstar this could raise to £10,000 within the first year.

Initial investment starts from £9,995.00 + VAT to get you up and running, but with the earning potential being so high, it’s easy to see how quickly you will make your investment back!

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Training and support Creative Franchise offers a comprehensive training programme that enables you to expertly explain to clients the different facets of branding, digital and marketing services available in a clear, confident and compelling way.

WE'LL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING The Creative Franchise training ensures your bespoke needs are met

The promotional material and Creative Franchise portfolio you receive will help

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you to easily showcase what’s on offer! We’ve found just showing our portfolio to clients gets buy in on the spot. You also get in-depth, hands-on training on the business management system and resource centre.

The ongoing support programme has been structured to ensure all development needs are met, and include:

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• regular franchisee meetings • training seminars • support team • your own client services person • on the job guidance • ‘how-to’ guides.

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CASE STUDY I1 have a strong design background although not as a graphic designer or a marketer, but as a fashion designer. A creative flair is a bonus; however, it is not essential as we are not actually doing any of the design work ourselves; 5

this is all handled by the Group Creative team.

I was the Apparel Product Director at Umbro International for seven years, so I’m quite organised and understand what it is that makes a business tick. I wasn’t looking to get back into the creative world but I was so impressed with the quality of work that I saw – this was absolutely what made me buy into the

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franchise; the design work and the professional way it is all put together is exceptional.

I really like that it’s all completely taken care of for you as well; everything can be handled by Head Office, even the digital support that a lot of small businesses need. It’s the total package really and, like I said, it’s all put

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together so professionally. I have always been a confident person and enjoy meeting people, I’m outgoing and that helps.

When I approach businesses with Creative Franchise it is received very well and so far I’m finding it pretty easy to sell because there is such a need for it.

I estimate that 50% of my time is now spent on this and so far it’s going well…

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One month in and we are already working on a few website proposals, have done a few print orders, confirmed a complete rebrand for a kitchen company and have just quoted a client a retainer for £36,000 to look after all their marketing for the year.

Debi Fellone1, Creative Franchisee, FranchiseZone, U.K.

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F R A N C H I SI N G

A great number of great things have come from Denmark.

Hamlet. The Killing. Legos. To this we add: ice cream.

A cup filled with scoops of ice cream is the essence of summer.

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FRANCHISING

Paradis’s Danish-style ice cream in CaliforniaYY

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Paradis actually is a chain of about 52 ice-cream

Paradis’s dairy ice creams are milk-based and

shops in Denmark. Mia Pedersen and her brother,

incorporate as little air as possible during the

all from Denmark, came to Los Angeles, noted

churning process, resulting in scoops that are

that there weren’t too many ice-cream shops with

surprisingly creamy, soft, and light. Even the

a philosophy similar to Paradis’s emphasis on

vegan-friendly sorbets, made of water and fresh

all-natural, high-quality ingredients, and decided

fruit, have a rich mouthfeel.

to import the Danish shop to their new home city.

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After talking with Paradis’s owners, they were

“When you use quality ingredients, you don’t need

given permission to start the only U.S. locations of

those [artificial flavors] to make the ice cream taste

the franchise.

good,” says Mia Pedersen. “If it’s a coffee ice cream, we grind our own coffee. If it’s a champagne flavor,

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20

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The original store, in Montrose, California, opened

we pop a bottle of champagne. We use real berries

a year and a half ago and proved to be quite popular

– raspberries, blueberries, strawberries – from the

in the neighborhood. “We got so busy [in Montrose]

farmers’ market.” Ingredients are carefully sourced

that we felt like we needed another location to sell

worldwide: the cocoa powder for their chocolate-

our ice cream,” Mia Pedersen says. And so, they

based flavors is from Holland, the pistachios

seized the opportunity left vacant by Pinkberry and

are from Sicily, and the vanilla beans are from

opened up shop [in Long Beach].

Madagascar.

In bringing the Danish ice-cream shop stateside,

The hand lettered sign outside on the storefront

little was lost in translation. The family even

announces ‘Homemade Ice Cream – Everyday’,

retained the Danish pun: the ‘is’ in ‘Paradis’

a promise that Paradis fulfills every morning.

translates to ‘ice cream’ (in English, the name

Drawing from its collection of some 200 recipes, a

would be ‘Parad-Ice Cream’). They decided to stick

batch of 16 to 18 flavors are made fresh before the

with the Danish name, as it is more distinct – and,

store opens at noon and posted on their Facebook

let’s face it, somehow less corny – than the English

page. On the day we popped in, stracciatella,

version.

Ferrero Rocher, and lime were a few of the day’s offerings. “We can do all sorts of flavors, depending

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As for Danish-style ice cream, Mia Pedersen

on what’s available and depending on demand. We

explains, “This is similar to the gelato you would

can be creative,” Mia Pedersen says.

get in Italy, but lighter and less fattening.” That is, not quite like most of the gelato you would find here, which tend to be more like ice cream than,

LA Weekly, April 22, 2011.

Up-dated by www.paradis-is.dk 2014.

say, the denser gelato at Giolitti or other Italian 35

gelateria.

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F R A N C H I SI N G

Who we are The first Paradis café opened in Nørregade, Aarhus, Denmark in 2000 Our vision was to create a Danish version of the ice cream found in Rome.

Amongst other things, minimizing fat content and using only natural ingredients became top values. More importantly, freshness was our top priority, which ultimately meant making ice cream locally every single day.

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In 2003, our first Copenhagen, Denmark café was opened on Sankt Hans Torv in Nørrebro. It proved so successful that within a year we opened another café, this time in Frederiksberg, Denmark. With three successful cafés thriving in such a short period of time, it became clear that Denmark loved Paradis. So, in 2005, the first Paradis franchised café was opened in Amager, Denmark with

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subsequent expansion continuing throughout the country, which now in 2014 boasts a total of 52 cafés in Denmark.

Franchise in Paradis Become a Paradis owner/partner!

You can own and operate your very own ‘Paradis Café’, the dine-in/carryout

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retail operation within the Paradis franchise system. Locally made, high quality Paradis ice cream is the primary product sold at Paradis cafés. It is made using our proprietary recipes and can be served in a cup or cone, in a milkshake or a sundae, and sold along with other top-notch products. With stylish, modern decor, our cafés are pleasing to the eye and draw people in.

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The Paradis franchise system provides the following: • proprietary Paradis ice cream recipes • uniform standards • efficient and proven business operation procedures • marketing

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• advertising and promotion strategies and procedures • customer service and development techniques • distinctive interior and exterior design and decor • confidential trade secrets • and much more...

Depending on site size, location and pre-existing conditions, a Paradis Café’s build-up cost is approximately $144,800 to 246,500, which includes a $25,000 franchise fee.

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FRANCHISING

Paradis Ice Cream is very stylized in its tropical decor.

Paradis BUSINESS: FRANCHISE, SPECIALISING IN HIGH-QUALITY ICE CREAM WEBSITE: www.Paradis-icecream.com.

Keeping track of the ice-cream cones 5

A cone filled with scoops of ice cream is the essence of summer. And with ice cream made within the last 24 hours, the summer tastes even better.

Freshly made Italian ice cream has led the Danish franchise chain Paradis to success. However, with rapid expansion came enormous problems due to inconsistent and irregular internal financial management practices amongst

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the shops.

“We decided to look for a system that was easy to use – even for people with no accounting experience,” says Jørgen Bjerre, co-founder of Paradis. Using the online accounting system e-conomic, Paradis has gained an over-view of the profitability of all 52 shops and benchmark them against each other.

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The first Paradis ice-cream shop was inaugurated in Denmark in 2000. Since then, Paradis has grown into a franchise chain of 52 shops covering the entire country. In just two years, Paradis has opened 14 new shops and Paradis’s management is also keen to expand beyond the Danish borders.

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F R A N C H I SI N G

“We have more than 250 employees and an extremely high growth rate. That is why our long-term goal is to go international. One of the advantages of being a franchise chain is that each shop is managed and run locally and independently. We do not interfere in their daily business. However, our existence relies entirely on shop profitability, which is why we need to be

5

able to offer instant support to those shops fighting efficiency issues”, says Jørgen Bjerre.

Increased need for standardisation However, until just a few months ago, Paradis did not have an overview of the profitability of each shop. The production of ice cream requires a long list of

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ingredients, and the purchase of milk alone generates four invoices a week per shop, amounting to 350 invoices a month for all 52 shops just for milk supplies.

“Each shop settles around 50 invoices per month and, as the shops are typically run and administered by one person who is very busy serving

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customers, especially in the summer, administration often takes second priority”, Bjerre explains.

“The rapid growth in the number of shops resulted in unstructured financial management. It required increasingly more resources to keep track of the financial situation of each shop as they each used different ERP systems and methods. We decided that we wanted monthly reports and that everyone should use the same accounting software. Otherwise we won’t be able to benchmark the shops against each other,” he says. e-conomic international a/s 2014

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Small business: Building your dream company from homeYY

For many, running a business from home has very little to do with the money it saves them. It’s all about, as one entrepreneur put it, the ‘10-step commute.’

Starting a business from home isn’t just about the money you save; it’s about the lifestyle it creates.

The age of the virtual company is upon us. Future historians may look back and declare that offices began their slow but inevitable extinction sometime 5

around 2011 A.D. Our grandchildren will watch movies like Office Space with a touch of bewilderment – did people really have to sit in front of a desktop computer for eight hours every day?

Yes, this is all an exaggeration. After all, some offices will need to provide a space for face-to-face meetings. But it’s tempting to argue that the growing

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popularity of the home-based business model is becoming a characteristic of the entrepreneurial mindset. Now, more than half of all small businesses in the United States are based out of the entrepreneur’s home, according to the Small Business Administration. That’s around 15 million home-based businesses, and represents about $500 billion in revenue every year.

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Obviously, running a business from home is advantageous because it’s cheap. It’s simple, says Danny Wong, co-founder of Blank Label, a start-up that offers custom men’s shirts. Wong and his co-founders have a completely bootstrapped approach to their business model – and opening an office just didn’t make sense for them. “We just didn’t want to pay,” Wong says. Blank

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Label is also a paradigm for the 2011 version of a virtual company. They use video chat and Google Wave when the team isn’t together, and they’ve never even met one of their developers, who lives in Orange County, California.

“We video chat with him, but he’s always kind of in the dark,” Wong says.

Cutting costs early on can be attractive to investors, too. “Bootstrapping

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in this fashion creates a lean, efficient business model that will appeal to investors and buyers later on,” says Sam McRoberts, founder of Vudu Marketing, which is based out of McRoberts’ home in Provo, Utah.

But for many, running a business from home has very little to do with the money it saves them. It’s all about, as one entrepreneur put it, the ‘10-step

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commute’.

Hakan Nizam, who runs a web development company out of his home in Brooklyn, enjoys a more fluid approach to his business model. When Nizam needs to meet with clients, he rents a conference room at a co-working facility in a location that’s convenient for them. If one of his temporary

25

employees wants to work at a desk, he rents them one. Nizam doesn’t have any permanent employees – he mostly just hires freelancers and independent contractors, when needed. “It’s like a team,” he says. “I am happy, they’re happy. It’s all virtual.”

For Emily Newman, founder of Once Wed, an online resource for brides-to-be, working from home was pretty much a necessity. “My father lives with us,” Newman says. “He got sick a while ago and working from home allows me to be there for him. It’s been a huge benefit of my business.”

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Raising a family is no longer a reason – or excuse – to prevent the launch of a company, either. Stacy Blackman, for example, chose to keep her consulting company based from home in Los Angeles, California to be closer to her three young children. “I transition between the ‘professional me’ and the ‘personal 5

me,’” she says. Jenny Ford, who runs Monkey Toes, a home-based shoe and clothing retailer in Denver, Colorado, says she works during her daughter’s naptime...

Still, there is a darkside to running a home-based business. For many entrepreneurs, starting and running a business out of a home office has felt

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like a carefully guarded secret.

“It almost has a negative connotation, like you’re doing this cute little thing,” says Chris McCann, co-founder of Start-up Digest, which is based out of McCann’s home in Palo Alto, California. But Start-up Digest is anything but ‘cute’. In less than a year, its subscriber base has grown to reach over 100,000

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subscribers in 50 cities.

Perhaps another Inc. writer put it best. “Outsiders are apt to view even the most successful virtual companies with a measure of scepticism, if not outright derision,” wrote senior writer Max Chafkin in an April 2010 Inc. feature story. “Convincing them otherwise means carefully managing perceptions

20

about yourself and your company.”

But managing these perceptions has become a relatively easy task. Services like Google Voice offers specialized phone settings to make your company appear larger than it may actually be, and project management tools like Acunote let you work in the cloud with clients.

25

Another concern for the home-based business model revolves around the fear of distractions. But these fears tend to be largely unfounded. A 2009 survey conducted by CISCO, for example, found that 67 percent of its workers found working from home – versus working out of an office – improved the quality of their work.

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This is because work does not get done at work, said Jason Fried, founder of 37Signals and Inc. columnist, at a recent TED conference. “I’ve been asking

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this question for 10 years – where do you go when you really need to get things done?” he said to an audience. “I’ll hear things like the porch, the deck, the kitchen, an extra room in the house, coffee shop, basement, train, plane, car…you almost never hear anybody say the office.” Why? Because the office is filled with interruptions that you can’t control.

5

But beyond the improved productivity, the low barriers of entry, the convenience of removing a commute, and the ability to be close to a family, there’s a more intangible advantage of working from home. It’s liberating.

“To me, the best part about it was that I just feel much more alive doing this,” says Alex Martin, a tax consultant who launched his company, Productive Pricing, from his home in Plymouth, Michigan after over a decade working a corporate job. “I do things my own way.”

INC., Jan 10, 2011

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Business start-up at 13 – millionaire by 17Y

INTRODUCING YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR: JASMINE LAWRENCE COMPANY: EDEN BODYWORKS PRODUCTS: ALL NATURAL HAIR & SKIN CARE PRODUCTS AGE STARTED: 13 WORTH: ESTIMATED £2 MILLION

“Many people could never picture a teenager running such a successful business. I don’t think they should be so surprised anymore.”

The REALLY bad hair day 5

Every teen has had a bad hair day, but for Jasmine Lawrence, her trauma turned good when she ended up developing a line of hair and skincare products out of her home, today worth an estimated £2 million.

Jasmine was only 11 years old when a hair relaxer left her almost bald from all the chemicals it contained. She went from a fun, outgoing girl, to feeling shy

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and embarrassed. She was withdrawn, and tells of staying at home and crying all the time. In an effort to get her hair to grow back, Lawrence tried everything on the market. In the process, she started noticing all the chemicals contained in virtually every product she came across. Unable to even pronounce most of the ingredients on the bottles, Jasmine vowed never to put another chemical

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in her hair again. This started her search for all natural products she could use instead, only to find that there weren’t any out there.

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The big idea Jasmine continued on her mission of researching and recipe making in her mum’s kitchen until she came up with her first product, an all natural hair oil that is still a bestselling item today. From that early age, Jasmine’s ‘big idea’ was really a vision: to create a line of hair products completely free from

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harmful chemicals so that no girl or woman would ever have to go through what she went through. She knew there was a huge gap in the market for girls and women of colour, like her, who needed special products to care for their hair.

The business launch When she was 13, Jasmine attended a summer business camp where she

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learned what it meant to be an entrepreneur. At the camp, she received free legal and financial support, along with advice on packaging and distribution.

Starting with just $2,000 loan from her parents, Jasmine was officially in business! She started with a rolling cart full of oils that she would take from one salon to another asking staff and customers if they wanted to try her

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products. It was just a matter of time before Lawrence was running a full-scale operation in her family’s basement.

Jasmine’s sister was her first employee and eventually her mother left a six-figure job to work for her daughter. The business mostly spread through word-of-mouth and after only 5 short years, has grown from Jasmine producing

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one bottle in her kitchen, to a large manufacturing plant producing 55-gallon drums each month.

Barriers and breakthroughs Though it sounds like a dream-come-true story, it hasn’t been an easy road, and she didn’t win everything she went for, but Jasmine is proof that hard

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work and perseverance are the recipe for success in business and life. In fact, prior to the success of Eden Body Works, Jasmine entered a business competition to win seed capital – and didn’t even make it into the top ranking contestants. This loss was upsetting, but ultimately it spurred Jasmine on and focused her attention to what she already had going with her organic hair products. With Eden, Jasmine was often not taken seriously due to her age. When she was first promoting her oils, she tells of being laughed at, “A lot of people said no; they laughed in my face and stared at me like I was

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a joke or something. It was really disheartening and discouraged me from wanting to do this business.”

Jasmine was one of many young entrepreneurs nominated for Black Enterprise’s Teenpreneur award, which led to a conversation with a Wal5

Mart representative. Talks continued and Jasmine suddenly found herself distributing to one of the largest chains in the country. Eden Body Works products are now sold in over 1,000 Wal-Mart stores across America, leading Jasmine to sign a similar deal with Wholefoods. Around this time, her story was picked up by CNN, NBC and Oprah Winfrey, which helped to spread the

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word. The rest, as they say, is history!

Jasmine also works long hours and juggles a busy life of school, family, and building her business – all while still making time for friends, basketball and volunteering on the side.

Jasmine now, at the age of 19 is a successful CEO of a business with products

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distributed all over America, worth over £2 million. She’s taken a break from the business to go to university and study engineering, but Eden Body Works continues to grow and expand under a great management team until Jasmine can return to devote more time to it again in the future.

“There are plenty of teen-run businesses today. Teens are venturing past the

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conventional money-making jobs like babysitting, or working at fast food restaurants and lemonade stands. We teens today have bigger dreams and higher expectations for ourselves than anyone could imagine. Sometimes all we need is a little encouragement or some inspiration on what we can really do.”

Wise words from a wise young businesswoman.

Fresh young millionaire, U.K., September 2, 2011

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From grad student to social-media millionaireY Skeptics say social media hasn’t existed long enough to produce experts.

Clearly, those folks haven’t met Shama Hyder.

The 26-year-old wrote her master’s thesis for the University of Texas at Austin about Twitter – when it had only 2,000 users, not the 175 million it has today.

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She hosts a web TV show about technology. Her 2010 book, The Zen of Social-Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz and Increase Revenue, is the No. 4 seller about web marketing on Amazon.com.

And those are just the side projects. In 2009,

For Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Boston, the

at 24, Shama Hyder founded The Marketing Zen

company optimized a website to generate more

Group, a social-media marketing firm in Dallas.

targeted sales leads.

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The company, which she launched with $1,500 of her own money, specializes in all aspects of web

Marketing Zen wasn’t always about social media.

marketing for clients – from Facebook and Twitter

Shama Hyder says her original plan was to start a

to blogs and video.

general consulting agency. But she quickly realized

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her passions – and all the best gigs, for that matter “We are in an age where people are tired of the

– were in the social-media space, so she tweaked

faceless corporate culture,” the Texas native says.

her strategy.

“Every day, I ask myself the same question: What

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can I do today to increase value for our trusted

This modified approach was about consulting

audience (blog readers, TV watchers, Twitter

with clients, telling them how to better market

followers, etc.), for our team and for our clients?”

their businesses online and letting them run with it. Meanwhile, Hyder learned two things: Clients

That value means different things for different

wanted not just a consultant, but also a firm that

clients. For k9cuisine.com, a Paris, Illinois-

could implement ideas; and social media is only

based online retailer of dog food, Marketing

part of a larger marketing puzzle that includes

Zen established blog and Twitter presences and

building solid websites and developing smart

cultivated relationships with pet-related bloggers.

search engine optimization.

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Shama Hyder of the Marketing Zen Group.

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“That is how we went from being a consulting

competitor Likeable Media, this is a distinguishing

company to a company that takes over web

characteristic. “She understands the true meaning

marketing for our clients,” she says. “Our value

of community engagement,” Kerpen says. “She

proposition is simpler now: We drive inbound

gets that the conversation must go both ways in

leads for our clients and increase their online

order to satisfy customers.”

brand visibility.”

Hyder is also giving back: Earlier this year, she

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That thinking appears to be working. Hyder

was part of a delegation of business people from

declines to share specifics, but she notes revenues

the U.S. and Denmark that traveled to Egypt to

grew more than 400 percent last year alone, and

educate young entrepreneurs. It’s all part of her far-

she expects Marketing Zen to be a ‘multimillion-

reaching quest for enterprising youth to tackle the

dollar company’ by the end of 2014.

new global business market.

One of the secrets to Hyder’s profit model is low

“The world we live in today is not the world of our

overhead. She hired almost all her 30 employees

grandparents, or even that of our parents,” Shama

virtually, and many key people work remotely. At

Hyder says. “A college degree does not guarantee

least a dozen Marketing Zen employees are in the

success. Young entrepreneurs have to create their

Philippines.

own opportunities. The economy needs fresh blood and bold new ideas.”

Another key differentiator: legitimate engagement.

Entrepreneur, September 5, 2011

Hyder prides herself on having her clients engage with followers, rather than simply talking at 20

them. For Dave Kerpen, CEO and co-founder of

TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 80-90.

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How to do busine$$ abroad Y

from Central Jutland spoke up: “Now I see what went wrong last year when I was looking for a business partner in China.”

Paul explained he had surfed the web and located a company in Guangzhou that was a perfect partner. He sent them a detailed email introducing his company and outlining the project he had in mind.

RICHARD R. GESTELAND

5

There were obvious shared interests and this Chinese Over the years international surveys have consistently

company was very active in the global marketplace, so

ranked Denmark and its Nordic neighbors among

the Dane expected a quick reply. But when days went

the world’s happiest societies. In 2013 a study by a

by with no answer, Paul hit the resend button. The

U.S. university placed Danes at the very top in global

next week he resent the email again…and again …and

happiness, just ahead of Norway.

again. He finally did get a positive reply and Paul is

Now finally according to a report in the Copenhagen Post, the Danish Institute for Happiness

10

now doing business in China.

“But had I known China is a low-trust,

Research has found a clue to why Danes are so happy:

relationship-focused culture where people don’t like

a very high level of trust. Their 2013 conclusion is

to do business with strangers, I’d have contacted the

partly based on data from a survey generated by

Danish consulate general in Shanghai first to arrange

Danica Pension in which three out of four of the

a proper introduction. That’s what Chinese expect.

10,000 Danes surveyed replied that they trust people

It would have saved us so much time, and time is

they don’t know, i.e. strangers. Since the worldwide

money!”

average is that only one out of four people feel that

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Low-Context Communication1

they can trust strangers.

Why is this finding important for Danes doing

A Danish company was experiencing a severe

international business? Well, we find that high-trust

shortage of high-tech batteries, a key component in its

cultures all tend to be deal-focused1, while low-trust

finished consumer product assembled in Denmark.

1

cultures tend to be relationship-focused . And deal-

The Copenhagen firm managed to locate a promising

focus is one of the three characteristics of business

new supplier in China. This Shenzen manufacturer

behavior that make Denmark an outlier among the

was new to the global market: they had formerly

world’s ca. 6,900 cultures. Let’s look at an illustration

supplied these special batteries only to Chinese

from a recent Cross-Cultural Business Behavior

domestic customers.

workshop for SMEs in Horsens.

Once the Chinese batteries passed the quality

25

30

tests the Danes placed large orders calling for weekly

Deal-Focus

deliveries. But Morten, the purchasing manager,

During the workshop participants shared examples

quickly became frustrated when the urgently-needed

of how the difference between deal-focused and

batteries continually arrived late, disrupting the

relationship-focused approaches had affected their

Copenhagen firm’s production schedules. Every

business outcomes. One sharp young entrepreneur

week Morten would email or phone his Shenzen

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H O W TO D O B U S I N E $ $ A B R OA D

counterpart and ask, “Are you going to ship on time this week? Your deliveries have fallen way behind schedule!” The reply was always something like, “Yes, we will deliver on time – no problem” but

“Now I see what went wrong last year when I was looking for a business partner in China.”

again the shipment would be a week to ten days late.

This cultural divide causes problems for

In desperation Morten contacted an international 5

management consultant they had worked with before

Scandinavians in the global marketplace. Let’s use

and asked him to bridge the communication gap.

an example from a summer course on Cross-Cultural

Arriving in Shenzen, the consultant discussed

10

Management Richard taught for master’s degree

the start-up problems that were hindering production

students at the Burgundy School of Business in

and then explained to local management the

France. The 35 students were from a dozen different

importance of providing reliable delivery forecasts.

countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

“If we know exactly when your batteries will arrive

Most of them were from hierarchical cultures. One

at our assembly plant we can adjust our production

of the exceptions was Merete, a young Dane who had

schedule accordingly. But when you consistently

just graduated from Roskilde University.

To demonstrate how people from egalitarian

reply, “Yes, we will ship on time” and then deliver 15

late, your inaccurate information causes us lost

cultures tend to behave differently in the workplace

production time and major financial loss.”

compared to counterparts from hierarchical

At first the Shenzen manager could not

20

backgrounds, Richard presented the class with a

understand why their Danish customer was

scenario: “It is Friday afternoon of your first week on

confused. When the penny finally dropped he

a new job in your home country. As you are leaving

blurted out, “But when we say ‘yes’ to our domestic

the office your boss stops by your desk to ask, “I want

customers they always understand when we actually

you to come to my house tomorrow morning at 7 am

mean ‘no’. Why don’t you people understand that?”

and paint my garage.”

Moral: there are two sides to every communication gap.

and said loudly, “First I would tell my boss to go to

25

1

30

35

“Now class, how will you reply to your boss?”

Visibly angry, Merete stood up without hesitation

Egalitarian Behavior

hell. Then Monday morning I would go to the HR

Danes and their fellow Scandinavians have evolved to

department and get him fired!”

be the world’s most egalitarian people. Oblivious of

Next a 35 year-old Brazilian student raised his

status differences, they generally treat each other as

hand. Carlos, an engineer who had lived and worked

equals. Managers for example tend to think of

in several countries, gave a somewhat different

themselves as no different from their staff.

response: “Sure boss, no problem,” he said with a

Subordinates do not hesitate to say ‘no’ to their bosses

smile. “When I finish the garage can I paint your

if they disagree with something. In contrast, the great

house too?”

majority of the world’s cultures are hierarchical:

Richard R. Gesteland – Global Management LLC, June 2014

societies in which people treat each other very

1

differently depending on age, gender and rank or status.

See Chapter 5, pp.204-209.

TASKS FOR COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION ON PP. 80-90.

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F R A N C H I S I N G – CO M P R E H E N S I O N A N D D I S C U SS I O N

WHAT IS FRANCHISING?

8 TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISEES

FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

1. Describe briefly the idea of franchising:

1. Account for the eight personality traits that

What are the duties of the franchisor and

are common to most successful franchisees.

the franchisee respectively?

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION 2. Sum up the advantages and disadvantages of a franchise for the franchisor.

A. “That’s why ‘Steady Eddy’ types who are willing to trust the system make better (and happier) owners than ‘disrupter’ types with

3. Sum up the advantages and disadvantages

independent streaks.”

of a franchise for the franchisee.

Explain and comment on this quotation.

4. Explain why in most cases it is a win-win for both parties.

B. “If you see yourself in the above descriptions, chances are that you have the confidence,

5. How does the franchise business model give the franchisor a way to expand his company?

6. What kinds of businesses may benefit from

drive and motivation to be a successful franchise business owner.”

Do you? Why/Why not?

using the franchise model?

C. “If someone has already achieved success in FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

your area or field, then don’t go reinvent the

A. Does the franchise business model appeal

wheel. The dirty work has been done and the

to you? Why/Why not?

Action Plan has been created – all you need to do is supply the guts and determination.”

Explain and comment on this quotation.

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USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA: FRANCHISES GET SOCIAL FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. Account for three ways in which franchise

A. “Should the franchise company control every

companies embrace social media.

aspect of social media, relinquish control to the franchisees or craft a policy that allows

2. “The nature of franchising – systems,

for both?”

consistency and control – can run counter to the spontaneous spirit of social media.”

Although the jury is still out on this question,

Explain the meaning of this quotation.

make your contribution to the running discussion.

3. Sum up the main points in Start with a plan.

B. “You can’t be a multi-unit company and 4. Sum up the different ways in which franchise

have one presence on Facebook,” says

companies react to the question of who has

Houlihan’s Jennifer Guvlik. “You have to

control.

crack the local nut.”

5. How may you deal with unsanctioned tweets

Explain and comment on this quotation.

and posts?

C. “Even worse than ignoring a negative content 6. How can you keep your profiles ‘fresh’ and

is removing it.” Explain why that is the case.

‘interactive’?

7. What should you do in cases of doubts and complaints about your product or service?

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SOCIAL SMALL TALK FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. What have recent global events demonstrated

A. Elaborate on the link between global events

with regard to the power of social media?

and the power of social media, and give examples.

2. In what ways is it a win-win situation for businesses to use social media like Facebook and Twitter?

3. Explain how customer feedback has to be filtered.

4. Describe the problem a business meets when using social media for customer service, and how it may be solved.

5. Account for the way in which social media is a great leveller.

6. What is meant by time expense?

M E D S O C I A L A

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B. Elaborate on the advantages of using social media for small businesses.

C. “At the heart of any successful social-media strategy is a dialogue.”

Explain and comment on this quotation.

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MCDONALD’S SOCIAL-MEDIA LESSON: CRITICS TWEET BACK FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. What is the idea behind McDonald’s

A. “(But) social media [is] a two-way street...”

‘Supplier Stories’ campaign?

Explain and comment on this aspect of social media.

2. How did they convey this idea? Give examples.

B. “Advertising on Twitter is a real dice roll for 3. Describe people’s reactions. Give examples.

companies...you don’t know whether you’ll end up a laughingstock or get some positive

4. Describe how McDonald’s countered the

play out of it.”

negative tweets.

Discuss this statement and give examples to back up your point of view.

C. Damage control has always been an important part of a company’s PR policy because as the saying goes: “if a customer had a positive experience, they’ll tell 3 people and if they had a negative experience, they’ll tell 10.”

Discuss to what extent this holds true in the new media world.

M E D S O C I A L A

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FRANCHISES – UK & DK: CREATIVE FRANCHISE

PARADIS’S DANISH-STYLE ICE CREAM IN CALIFORNIA

FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

Sum up the facts about Creative Franchise as to:

Sum up the facts about Paradis as to:

– type of merchandise

– number of cafés

– characteristics of merchandise

– type of merchandise

– costs of a franchise

– characteristics of merchandise

– main points included in the franchise

– costs of a franchise

package – main points included in the franchise package – demands made on a prospective franchisee – problems caused by its rapid expansion – future prospects for franchisees.

– how these problems are solved.

– future prospects for franchisees.

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SMALL BUSINESSES BUILDING YOUR DREAM COMPANY FROM HOME FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. Sum up the eight reasons for/advantages of

A. “Starting a business from home isn’t just about

doing business from home.

the money you save; it’s about the lifestyle it creates.” Explain and comment on this

2. Sum up the disadvantages.

3. What do the home-based business owners use instead of conventional office space?

quotation.

B. “A 2009 survey conducted by CISCO1, for example, found that 67 percent of its workers found working from home – versus working out of an office – improved the quality of their work.” What might be the reasons for this improved quality?

C. “There’s a more intangible advantage of working from home. It’s liberating.”

Explain and comment on this statement.

D. There is a tendency worldwide towards an increasing number of creative jobs in the sectors producing films, computer games, mobile phones, fashion, design and art. These jobs are concentrated in small businesses and are part of a growing experience economy.

In your opinion, why are this type of job and these small businesses booming at present?

E. Video economy is a new phenomenon where ordinary youngsters become superstars in their own narrow niches. They are the first generation of youtubers to take advantage of the possibilities of video services and to make a profit this way by entering into a partnership

1) The 2009 Cisco Connected World Technology Report

with YouTube and sharing advertising

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income. They threaten traditional TV with

online influence by using data from Twitter,

their sharp video blogs (vlogs) and direct

Facebook, Google+, Instagram and several other

interaction with their millions of fans, most of

social-media platforms. Each user is assigned

them teenagers. Examples are Slikhaar TV,

a Klout score between one and 100. The higher

3TanjaJ3, ninebrassmonkeys (Benjamin Cook),

your score, the more influence you’re believed to

tyrannosauruslexxx (Lex Croucher), PewDiePie.

have within your digital networks.

In your opinion, what are the possible reasons for this changing consumer behaviour and the

– Explain the reasons for the success of Klout .

You may have to do some research to do so.

success of the video economy?

– The Klout company has also been subject to F. The route to purchasing is far more complex

substantial criticism, both for its business

than it used to be. Consumers are increasingly

model and its operating principle. Explain

looking to social media to help them make

why this is so.

purchasing decisions. A survey by eGain found that one in five people made a decision to buy

H. An old phrase which is still true today goes,

goods as a result of a recommendation received

“What is important is what important people

on social media. Companies need to be able to

think is important.” Explain the meaning of

impress their customers, develop a relationship

this saying.

with them and gain their loyalty. If customers like them, they’ll tell someone else. With social

I. Reaching consumers on social media is more

media, that can reach a very wide audience.

difficult and expensive than ever. Klout, the

Social-media marketing works best when you

above-mentioned programme, solves this

have real people connecting with real people.

problem by offering amazing products, special discounts, and VIP access called Klout perks

Explain how true or false you think the above

to its members, the Klout users, because of

statement is. Give examples to back up your

their influence in certain areas. In this way

viewpoint.

Klout brings influencers and brands together.

Klout helps people who want to be great at

G. The old ‘spray and pray’ method of advertising

social media and have influence. The best way

and marketing is now being replaced with

to have influence online is to create and share

personal, targeted connections. People want

great content.

a real human being to connect with them and engage with them. Klout – a San Franciscobased company founded in 2009 – assesses

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2

What are the pros and cons of the philosophy underlying the Klout programme?

J. How often do you use YouTube? This question was asked by Ipsos media DK. At present1, three quarters of the Danes between 13 and 64 visit YouTube which has thus become a big challenge on the advertising market to conventional commercial TV channels, streaming services and websites. In your opinion, what new possibilities does a YouTube video offer companies in their advertising and as a distribution channel?

1

Politiken, March 31, 2014

K. Cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs on the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet. Different services – such as servers, storage and applications – are delivered to an organization’s computers and devices through the Internet. In cloud computing, small businesses can access these resources and expand or shrink services in accordance with the needs of their business. The common payas-you-go subscription model is designed to let SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) easily add or remove services and you typically will only pay for what you do use. One in four Danish companies uses cloud computing according to official figures (2014).

What are the strengths and possible weaknesses of using cloud computing?

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BUSINESS START-UP AT 13 – MILLIONAIRE BY 17 FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. Account for the process Jasmine Lawrence

A. Explain how Jasmine Lawrence found her

went through from idea generation to product

niche market. Suggest other ways to do so.

development to testing and marketing.

B. “There are plenty of teen-run businesses 2. Describe Jasmine’s present situation.

today. Teens are venturing past the conventional money-making jobs like

3. “Though it sounds like a dream-come-true

babysitting, or working at fast food

story, it hasn’t been an easy road.” Explain

restaurants and lemonade stands. We

and give examples.

teens today have bigger dreams and higher expectations for ourselves than anyone

4. Give examples of the different kinds of support and luck Jasmine had experienced.

could imagine. Sometimes all we need is a little encouragement or some inspiration on what we can really do.”

Express your views on the above statement.

C. Make a list of the personal qualities that are needed to become a successful entrepreneur, using the example of Jasmine as your starting point.

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FROM GRAD STUDENT TO SOCIAL-MEDIA MILLIONAIRE FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION

FOCUS ON DISCUSSION

1. Desribe Shama Hyder’s career path.

A. “We are in an age where people are tired of the faceless corporate culture,” the Texas

2. What is her distinguishing characteristic, and what is her business strategy?

3. What made her tweak her earlier strategy for Marketing Zen?

native says. Explain and comment on Shama Hyder’s statement.

B. “One of the secrets to Hyder’s profit model is low overhead. She hired almost all her 30 employees virtually, and many key people

4. Give examples of how she increases values for, and satisfies, her clients.

work remotely. At least a dozen Marketing Zen employees are in the Philippines.”

5. Mention the main secrets to her success.

Comment on Hyder’s recruitment policy.

6. In what way does Shama Hyder give back?

C. “The world we live in today is not the world of our grandparents, or even that of our parents,” Hyder says. “A college degree does not guarantee success. Young entrepreneurs have to create their own opportunities. The economy needs fresh blood and bold new ideas.”

To what extent do you agree/disagree with Shama Hyder here? Give examples to back up your point of view.

M E D S O C I A L A

Find examples similar to the case stories of Jasmine and Shama from Denmark and Britain.

(For example, Rikke Biehl, Delogue, DK; Britney Spears as entrepreneur, U.K.).

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HOW TO DO BUSINE$$ ABROAD FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION 1. Account for the recent research results concerning cross-cultural business behaviour in Denmark.

2. What did Paul learn as a participant in one of Richard Gesteland’s Cross-Cultural Business Behavior workshops?

3. Describe the problems experienced by Morten, the purchasing manager of a Copenhagen firm.

4. How did the international management consultant manage to bridge the communication gap between the Danish and the Chinese companies?

5. Explain the underlying reasons for the communication gap.

6. Account for the cultural divide that causes problems especially for Scandinavians in the global marketplace and explain why this is so.

7. Sum up the example of this important cultural divide experienced by Richard Gesteland during his Cross-Cultural Management Course in France.

For further information, tasks and comparisons of cultural differences between Denmark, Britain, the U.S., China and India, see Chapter 5 pp. 204-209.

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MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ er en samling af sagprosatekster til niveau C og B for læsere med interesse for bogens fire hovedtemaer: business, iværksætteri og innovation, virksomheders brug af sociale medier og tværkulturel forretningskultur.

De fire hovedtemaer belyses i fem kapitler: 1. Entrepreneuring 2. Minding Your Own Business In The West 3. Burberry 4. Tommy Hilfiger 5. Minding Your Own Business In The Far East Hvert kapitel indledes med en introduktion, der sætter kerneteksterne ind i en logisk, indholdsmæssig og virkelighedsnær sammenhæng.

I hvert kapitel er der interessante og aktuelle undertemaer som f.eks. virksomhedens sociale ansvar og dens etiske spilleregler, piratvirksomhed, virksomhedstyper, som læserne kan identificere sig med, samt et lille indblik i entreprenørskab i Kina og Indien. Læserne får et solidt og inspirerende grundlag for temalæsning gennem disse undertemaer, der går på tværs af bogens fire hovedtemaer. Alle kernetekster er forsynet med arbejdsspørgsmål og med gloser i et fyldigt alfabetisk glossar.

Den amerikanske kulturanalytiker og globaliseringskonsulent Richard Gesteland bidrager med indlæg om forretningskultur i DK, U.K., U.S., China & India, der giver rige muligheder for at perspektivere og globalisere.

I tilknytning til MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ findes et website, der belyser kerneteksterne med links til artikler og videoklip. Videoerne har en længde, der gør dem egnede til (eksamens)træning. Websitet indeholder desuden Focus on VOCABULARY med dertilhørende Answer Key. MIND ¥OUR OWN BUSINE$$ er et spændende møde med erhvervsfagligt engelsk.

ISBN 978 87 70 665 728

9 788770 665728 www.logr.dk