Tomorrow’s employers

Most people tend to look down on small and medium enterprises. While holding big business in high esteem, they overlook the fact that such biggies who hire MBA graduates were, once upon a time, small entrepreneurial ventures themselves.

It is good to keep in mind the story of the three "E"s. Today’s big firms started with one "E"–the entrepreneur. As the enterprise grew, the entrepreneur needed people who could provide him/her with the brawn work. This brought in the second "E"–the employee. As the enterprise grew further, the entrepreneur needed people who could think with or for him/her. This brought in the third "E"–the executives, usually MBA graduates.

But let me point out that the requirements for the transformation of an enterprise to a level that will necessitate the hiring of MBAs is different from the requirement for the development of an MBA personality. The masteries required by a master entrepreneur are different from the requirements of a master in business administration.

Development Of Entrepreneurs

Many have initiated programs whose objective is the development of entrepreneurs. However, they have ended up developing enterprises instead. The programs focused on developing the business/management skills of the person. And while these skills are important to the development of the enterprise, the most important factor that must be addressed is the development of the person.

In the Master of Entrepreneurship program of AIM’s Asian Center for Entrepreneurship, there are two transformations being monitored by the ACE guru–the transformation of the person (the entrepreneur) and the transformation of the enterprise into the next higher level of its existence. In both cases, the ACE guru looks for the momentum of transformation leading the person and the enterprise to become the best he/she/it can be. The personal transformation is embedded in self mastery. Enterprise transformation is greatly influenced by situation mastery and enterprise mastery.

As described by Dr. Eduardo Morato, Jr., the three masteries are:

• Self mastery–The entrepreneur must take his/her fate into his/her hands in pursuit of his/her ambition. Self mastery is key to taking control of any situation or opportunity that appears in the course of business. It is essential because, with no self-control, the entrepreneur has difficulty controlling his/her environment.

• Situation mastery–The entrepreneur must be a master at assessing his/her environment, spotting and evaluating opportunities, then making sound decisions and embarking on a clear course of action. He/she must be all at once a pragmatist, an optimist, and an opportunist, such that he/she sees success and seeks it where others may only see failure.

• Enterprise mastery–The life of an enterprise must be governed by the quality of factors that include operations, organization, enterprise product or services, and the business environment. Enterprise mastery tackles all the processes, skills, and techniques crucial to developing enterprises from start-up to maturity.

The learning environment is heavily driven by a mentoring process managed by an assigned ACE guru and drill master. The guru is likened to a wise martial arts master who has assimilated, practices, and lives the three masteries. He/she is a battle-scarred practitioner who is a caring mentor, can teach anything under the sun, and can cull from his/her experience to illustrate the principles to the student entrepreneur. The guru teaches from the depth of his/her experience rather than from a reading of theories or books and integrates his/her experience to discover new frameworks and adopts/adapts these to fit local conditions. The guru individually mentors his/her wards to become the best they can be.

The transformation process is structured by classroom sessions that form the backbone of an integrated set of applications of learning to the enterprise of the student-entrepreneur. The applications of learning culminates in a five-year development plan for the enterprise.

Development Of MBAs

The development of MBAs has been enshrined in the time-tested designs found in the Ivy League schools of the First World. They are designed to meet what the MBA students want to study and what the recruiters want from the degree. Part of the recruiters are entrepreneurs who have mature enterprises. Because of the expected global character of mature enterprises, there is a demand for leadership, interpersonal and multi-cultural skills. These skills are over and above the traditional functional skills like finance, operations, and marketing. There is a different set of qualifications for faculty needed to deliver an MBA program.

Synergy

The ME program transforms individuals to make their enterprises mature enough to hire MBAs. MBA programs produce individuals who can help mature enterprises owned by entrepreneurs to be better organized and grow some more. However, the competent MBAs must share the vision, passion, and values of the entrepreneurs. The synergy will allow the entrepreneur to originate more ventures or enterprises that will hire more MBAs in the future. For sure, when MEs and MBAs link up, the prospects for economic growth turn bright.

(Alejandrino J. Ferreria is the dean of the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship of the Asian Institute of Management. For further comments and inquiries, you may contact him at: ace@aim.edu.ph. Published "Entrepreneur’s Helpline" columns can be viewed on the AIM website at http//: www.aim.edu.ph).