Entrepreneurship assignment: Critical Assessment for Bellamy’s Organic
Question
Task:
Write a detailed report on entrepreneurship assignment discussing about the entrepreneurial intensity and the corporate entrepreneurship climate of the company Bellamy’s Organic.
Answer
1. Executive Summary
This report on entrepreneurship assignment is a brief discussion on the entrepreneurial intensity and the corporate entrepreneurship climate of the company Bellamy’s Organic. These are the factors that give the company a sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors. First an introduction has been given about innovation and entrepreneurship and it has been discussed in the context of the company. This entrepreneurship assignment then contains a brief overview of the company, its mission and vision. Mission and vision was discussed as it holds an importance in deciding the corporate entrepreneurship climate of the company. Later, the theoretical concepts about Entrepreneurship and innovation for instance entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial intensity has been discussed. The entrepreneurship assignment then contains the research approach that was used in conducting the research. Then an analysis of the data that was gathered about the corporate entrepreneurship climate of the company and entrepreneurial intensity has been done.
2. Introduction and Company Overview
2.1 Introduction
Innovation and Entrepreneurship are two words that have a close relationship in the corporate world. It can rather be said that innovation holds an important place in entrepreneurship in any organization (Etzkowitz & Zhou, 2017). Innovation is something that gives the company a competitive advantage over its competitors. In the corporate world that has turned to be highly competitive, innovation is something that separates the organization from the other companies in its competition. If the company holds an intention to pursue a sustainable competitive advantage, the managers must be able to assess the level of innovation going on inside. The company should support the climate for innovation and entrepreneurship for it to sustain (Auerswald, 2015). The company that has been selected as a part of this entrepreneurship assignment is Bellamy’s Organic which is a baby food producer company in Australia. This report is going to talk about the innovation and entrepreneurship going on inside the company that is making it stand out amongst its competitors. It will be a brief description of the cultures and structures that the company has created to support innovation and entrepreneurship.
2.2 Company overview
Bellamy’s Organic was a company that was founded back in 2004 by a Tasmanian mother. The company is still sticking to its founding mission which is to make simple and nutritious food that will be free from all the bad stuff. The company is working on the principle of selecting only fresh and organic raw materials for its products. We are living in a time when people are more concerned about their health, and for a company that deals in baby food products, health and purity remain to be of the utmost concern for the customers. Improving the products by making them more organic and freer from undesirable elements is the scope of innovation at Bellamy’s. The company is known for making only organic food that is certified, organic, and nutritious. They serve the customers on the principle of giving the kids a pure start to their lives. The start of the company itself was based on an innovation; it was the first company in Australia to provide organically certified food back in the year 2003. It also has earned its name in producing the first organic baby formula in the year 2005. The company works towards the production of organic infant formula, which is synthetic substitutes for natural breast milk. Baby milk is important as it contains a lot of nutrients that helps in the all-round growth and development of the baby. Breast milk contains all the essential nutrients that are required for the proper growth and development of the baby. Therefore, from the discussion done in this section of entrepreneurship assignment, it can be said that there is an essential need for innovation in the organization so that the products that are produced contain all the essential nutrients that are necessary for the baby (Martin, Ling & Blackburn, 2016).
The need for innovation in the company can be seen through the falling revenue and its attempt to rebranding. The 2019 fiscal revenue that was forecasted by the company was somewhere between $275 million-$300 million. This forecast was lower as compared to the forecast of the previous year which was somewhere between $302 million- $332.2 million. One of the top competitors of the company is a2 milk while bubs Australia is the second leading competitor of the company.
3. What are the theoretical concepts involved in the present case of entrepreneurship assignment?
The Entrepreneurial orientation is perceived as the variable on the level of the organization. And the concept of Entrepreneurial Intensity (EI) has been introduced to determine the level of entrepreneurship going on in an organization. There is a hypothesis that tells the level of Entrepreneurial Intensity of an organization has a close association with the performance of the company (Covin & Wales, 2019). There is a concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) which is the strategic orientation of an organization that it considers at the time of innovation and change. This concept is considered when the executives at the company are hoping to develop something new and exploring those opportunities for the company that will not be easy for other companies to explore. The internal factors within the organization are responsible for flourishing and encouraging corporate entrepreneurship within the organization. The company needs to create an entrepreneurial climate that supports entrepreneurship and innovation (Malecki, 2018). Some of the internal factors of the organization for instance support from the management, the structure of that organization, and the reward systems existing within the company are responsible for encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation within the organization.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are the two important factors that have long been considered in determining the performance of the company. A positive relationship exists between the level of entrepreneurship within the organization and the financial performance of the company. Corporate Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is the umbrella term that includes the processes that are used by the company in the development of newer products, businesses, processes, or the services within the organization. These are the different forms of innovation and entrepreneurship that are adopted by the organization to create value in the market and to direct the company towards the revenue growth (Rajapathirana & Hui, 2018). This growth and development within the company is done through the actions and the thoughts that are entrepreneurial in nature.
4. Research Approach
This research has been conducted in the Secondary Research methodology in which the data and the information that was required for the research was collected from other sources that have already been published. Information was collected from the official website of the company and the peer-reviewed papers that have already published research work related to entrepreneurship and innovation. The data and the valuable information that was collected was collated and summarized to reach towards the conclusion. Reports, official documents of the company, surveys have been taken from the different sources for the data that have been used in this report. This method of research was adopted since it was comparatively easier and cost-effective to perform (Kumar, 2019). Since the data was collected from the third parties, first-hand data collection was not needed. Also, since the data that was collected was already tried and tested, it was more relevant and trustworthy. The secondary research methodology was adopted to gain a broad understanding of the concepts that have been a subject of this study. This research on entrepreneurship assignment has happened in a structured way in which the topic for the research was selected first, then in the next step, the sources of the research were identified. In the third step of the research, the existing data was collected by narrowing that data down. Once the data was collected, it was combined and compared with the other sources to ensure that they are genuine in nature. A qualitative analysis of the data that was collected was done to make a sense of the literature that was collected. Content analysis of the documents collected was done to elicit meaning from those documents.
5. Data Analysis and Discussion
Bellamy's Organic produces wholesome, nutritious, and organic food for babies, toddlers, and children. This is done for the purpose that they develop mindful eating habits for the children using the synthetic substitutes for breast milk. There is a climate for entrepreneurial orientation within the company that supports innovation through the development of new products that are more organic in sense and contain less of the unwanted elements. This company relies on the demands of the customers and their preferences for the manufacture of organic products for the company. The corporate climate in the company favors the growth of new products related to infant formula and serving chewable baby food, snacks, mixable cereals etc. The company provides expertise in infant nutrition and science by the use of premium organic ingredients to support the healthy growth and development of the child. The organic milk that the company produces contains the essential elements that are necessary for the growth and development of the baby. Something that gives the company a competitive edge over other companies is that it does not use synthetic chemicals in the products that it manufactures.
The company focuses on the development of advanced formulations for the development of certified organic milk for children. The research and development of the company remains committed to developing products that are loaded with functional nutrition and with the advantage of organic ingredients. Another process that gives the company a cutting edge over its competitors in the market is that it strives to make the processes entirely organic in nature (Doernberg et al., 2016). The company has an attitude for innovation, risk-taking, and pro-activeness that has given it an advantage over the competitors. The packaged baby food that is given to the infants and children ranging from the age group of 6 months to 2 years is going through a phase of rebranding so that the company can establish a science-based innovation in the market. The company constantly goes through a fundamental change in the traditional food habits of children and the development of healthier food habits for them. Significant investments are made in innovation and change to shape the market. The company keeps working on the brand positioning to communicate to its customers who the product is meant for, what purpose it serves and why the products of the company are relevant.
Since the revenue collected by the company showed a significant fall in the financial year 2019 and showed a decrease in it by 19%, the company has plans for innovation and improvement on the bottom line. The company launched a "transformational rebrand" that is being observed to be successful for the company. Sales for the company showed positive signs of improvement after the new strategy was launched and the customer indicators were observed to be positive. The company has doubled its investment in marketing to improve its image as an organic and safe brand for the children. The upgrade that the company is doing is set to add new and essential elements like DHA, ARA, and GOS in the baby products developed by the company. The company has left the space open in their innovation to make the addition of those products that are deemed as necessary elements in the products. For instance, it was surveyed that 74% of the Chinese mothers believe that DHA is a must-have infant formula. Therefore, considering this, the company made the addition of DHA as an essential element in its baby food products.
5.1 Part A: Entrepreneurial Intensity
The company engages in events of innovation and transformation more frequently than any other company in its segment. For instance, recently after the loss that the company suffered in its revenue, it invested a major part of its investments in transforming the brand to give it a new and fresh brand positioning in the market. For instance, the upgrade that was done in the products of the company in the financial year 2019, the formula upgrade was merely a part of the huge product development pipeline for the company. The company introduced new and enhanced cereals with probiotic and pumpkin baby rice, added a new product that is 'no added sugar custards' which is the one-of-its-kind product in the market to be introduced. The company has also launched new and exotic fruit pouches that have been aligned with the preferences of the Chinese market. Therefore, it can be said in this entrepreneurship assignment that the company goes through huge transformation frequently to position its brand in a better way in the market so that it proves to be more appealing to the customers.
5.2 Part B: Climate for Corporate Entrepreneurship
Bellamy's Organic has a climate for corporate entrepreneurship within the organization. The company believes that they have to keep changing to suit the needs and the preferences of the customers. This is one of the reasons apart from the decreased revenue that the company is going through a phase of transformation so that it could be rebranded in front of the audience as a new and improved brand.
The Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI) does the task of a systemic validation of the effectiveness of the internal organizational factors influencing innovative activities and behaviors (Agapie et al., 2018). One of the major organizational factors supporting innovation and change is its mission of providing the best organic food to the customers. The employees in the organization are committed to realizing this goal.
6. Conclusion
It was observed through the above examples of the company presented in this entrepreneurship assignment that it sustains an environment of innovation and change. The management of the organization has an immense commitment to innovation and the development of new and improved products. It has a common strategic orientation and a vision that is shared among all the stakeholders of the company. The company strongly identifies the search fields that need innovation and change and invests in those particular sections. The company also does an excellent designing of the innovation process which is evident in the rebranding and transformation that it goes through after it suffered losses in the year 2019. Therefore, it can be inferred that the company supports a climate of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation.
7. References:
Agapie, A., Vizitiu, C., Cristache, S. E., N?stase, M., Cr?ciun, L., & Mol?nescu, A. G. (2018). Analysis of Corporate Entrepreneurship in Public R&D Institutions. Sustainability, 10(7), 2297. Available at: file:///C:/Users/ce/Downloads/sustainability-10-02297%20(1).pdf [Accessed on 25th September]
Auerswald, P. E. (2015). Enabling entrepreneurial ecosystems: Insights from ecology to inform effective entrepreneurship policy. Entrepreneurship assignment Kauffman Foundation Research Series on city, metro, and regional entrepreneurship. Available at: file:///C:/Users/ce/Downloads/SSRN-id2673843.pdf [Accessed on 25th September]
Bellamy's Organic, 2020. Bellamy's Organic | Organic Baby Formula & Baby Food. [online] Bellamy's Organic. Available at:
Covin, J. G., & Wales, W. J. (2019). Crafting high-impact entrepreneurial orientation research: Some suggested guidelines. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1042258718773181 [Accessed on 25th September]
Doernberg, A., Zasada, I., Bruszewska, K., Skoczowski, B., & Piorr, A. (2016). Potentials and limitations of regional organic food supply: A qualitative analysis of two food chain types in the Berlin Metropolitan Region. Sustainability, 8(11), 1125. Available at: file:///C:/Users/ce/Downloads/sustainability-08-01125.pdf [Accessed on 25th September]
Malecki, E. J. (2018). Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Geography Compass, 12(3), e12359. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12359 [Accessed on 25th September]
Martin, C. R., Ling, P. R., & Blackburn, G. L. (2016). Review of infant feeding: key features of breast milk and infant formula. Nutrients, 8(5), 279. Available at: file:///C:/Users/ce/Downloads/nutrients-08-00279.pdf [Accessed on 25th September]
Naranjo-Valencia, J. C., Jiménez-Jiménez, D., & Sanz-Valle, R. (2016). Studying the links between organizational culture, innovation, and performance in Spanish companies. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 48(1), 30-41. Entrepreneurship assignment Available at: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0120053415000436?token=94AF4C1A7B809D858C0C4FC1178487F6F6DDEB806EDE057037EEA7C04895FCAD66B34559B 93D397BB4ECB904188BD4B3 [Accessed on 25th September]
Rajapathirana, R. J., & Hui, Y. (2018). Relationship between innovation capability, innovation type, and firm performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(1), 44-55. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2017.06.002 [Accessed on 25th September]
