An Entrepreneurial or family business

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Table of Contents
Introduction:................................................................................................................................................3

BMW Group:...............................................................................................................................................3

Value chain analysis:...................................................................................................................................4

BMW inbound logistics:..........................................................................................................................4

BMW operations:....................................................................................................................................4

Outbound Logistics:................................................................................................................................5

BMW sales and Marketing:.....................................................................................................................5

Technology:.............................................................................................................................................6

Human resource management:.................................................................................................................6

Threat of new Entrants:...........................................................................................................................6

Bargaining power of suppliers:................................................................................................................6

Recommendations:......................................................................................................................................7

Self-reflection:.............................................................................................................................................9

Conclusion:...............................................................................................................................................10

References:................................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction:
Family business, which actually is a wider term that encompasses company, family wealth, or
even entrepreneurship, seeks to comprehend the human components involved when business and
family intersect, irrespective of whether the organization is a one-person starter or a
multinational behemoth (Goel and Jones III, 2016). Entrepreneurs may learn from family-owned
enterprises, and families must be persuaded to stay entrepreneurial at all times. Family business
and Entrepreneurship are not necessarily exclusive.  Family entrepreneurship refers to a family
practice or a portfolio of initiatives and businesses in which a family may well be engaged
(Hnátek, 2015). It actually is a more comprehensive approach to comprehending the numerous
ways wherein a business and family influence entrepreneurial activities and behaviors (Wang et
al., 2018). This study aims to conduct a critical analysis of the entrepreneurial business and its
attributes. In this assignment, the fundamental traits and distinct dimensions of entrepreneurial
behavior will be illustrated by considering the case of an entrepreneurial firm, which will be
BMW. A complete study will be carried out in order to evaluate BMW's business structure by
utilizing various models. Similarly, other management and operational issues will be identified
and highlighted. By considering the main identified issues and challenges, recommendations will
be presented.

BMW Group:
Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), one of the world's largest auto makers, has a rich and
storied history of excellence. BMW was founded in 1916 and is located in Munich, Germany.
BMW had started operating in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1980. BMW Group has established
itself as a producer of one of the most prestigious vehicles in the contemporary arena because
of strong corporate customs, meticulous engineering, as well as pioneering technologies (Lewin,
2021). BMW makes revenue through the sales of the products and remanufactured and spare
parts. Other underlying services, such as servicing and reinsurance, also significantly contribute
to company's earnings (Abdelkafi and Täuscher, 2016). Due to the Versailles Armistice Treaty,
Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), which started as an aviation manufacturing business in
1916, Following World War I, in 1923, the company was ordered to halt its operations. BMW
then transitioned to motorcycle manufacture in 1923. However, BMW began car manufacturing

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in 1928 and is now one of the world's largest vehicle manufacturers (Zemanová, 2018). The
BMW Group's distinguishing charm emerges not only from its goods in the worldwide market,
but also from the company's history, which was written by inventors, explorers, and creative
architects (Bykovskiy and Goya 2017). Presently, the BMW Group is the world's leading
manufacturer of luxurious automobiles and motorbikes, and also a supplier of superior monetary
and mobility services, with 31 manufacturing assembly plants in 15 countries and a global retail
distribution network. As an innovative brand, the BMW Group sets patterns and trends in
manufacturing techniques and sustainable processes through an effective and adaptive material
mix, a technical push toward digitization, and resource-efficient production. Simultaneously,
flexibility and ongoing value chain optimization assure competitiveness (Bmwgroup.com, 2021).

Value chain analysis:

The value chain concept was presented by Michael E Porter. This model incorporates all
operations, from procurement to manufacturing, promotion, sales, as well as customer support
(Simatupang et al., 2017). All of these processes contribute to the finished product's worth.
Improving the value chain enables businesses to achieve greater results. It may assist businesses
in increasing operating efficiency, lowering operational expenses, and developing new sources of
competitive edge (Zamora, 2016). The value chain analysis for BMW group is;

BMW inbound logistics:

Rosenthal, (2018) stated that BMW sources from around 12,000 vendors worldwide. The
corporation operates 31 manufacturing and assembly units. The majority of its supplier networks
are based in Germany. In 2018, BMW acquired around 38% of its raw materials
exclusively from Germany. BMW sourced 22.4 percent of its supplies from Eastern Europe, 17
percent from the Western Europe, and 14.9 percent from North America (Annual Report, 2018).
BMW's primary trading or logistic partner is DHL. BMW operations are supported by the
logistics provider all through the distribution network, from procurement to manufacturing and,
eventually, outbound logistics. Aside from the Europe, BMW and DHL's collaboration has
expanded to the Asia Pacific area (DHL, 2019).

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BMW operations:
AG, (2018) highlighted that BMW's headquarters are in Munich, Germany. Its worldwide
activities extend to over 140 countries. BMW has evolved to become one of the world's most
prominent manufacturers of vehicles and motorbikes. It is also one of Germany's major industrial
enterprises. According to a report published by Bmwgroup.com, (2021) BMW does have 31
production plants in 15 countries, 20 of which are held by the BMW group. The BMW Dazzling
Automotive joint venture in China owns three of them. The remaining eight are handled by
affiliates, contract manufacturers or partners. In addition, the BMW Group has 43 selling
financial services sites and subsidiaries across the world, and also sixteen (16) research and
development sites. Six Research and Development sites are situated only in Germany.

Outbound Logistics:
Bašić and Skender, (2017) determined that outbound logistics pertains to the flow or
movement of products and services from a corporation to its clients. BMW has developed a
massive network of retailers and distributors. BMW's selling and services processes are mostly
handled by its subsidiary entities outside of Germany. Harrison et al. (2019) clarified that the key
logistic partner for BMW is DHL, managing outbound logistics in the majority of markets. When
outbound operations are administered in a punctual and cost-effective manner, and order
fulfillment procedures have a minimal negative influence on the quality, that maximize customer
satisfaction and expands the firm's growth potential. BMW must prioritize its outbound activities
when the products it offers are fragile and seek immediate delivery to the final customer.

BMW sales and Marketing:

BMW has made a powerful brand presence on the global market. Favouring innovation and
reliability on a consistent basis has also benefited in the creation of strong brand awareness and
improved client commitment (Kukkamalla et al. 2020). BMW primarily markets through digital
means. Aside from its websites, the company promotes and engages customers through social
media platforms. BMW's tagline "Sheer Driving Pleasure" expresses the one-of-a-kind
experience that BMW provides. BMW has 3,500 dealerships, 1600 Small dealerships, and 140
Rolls-Royce dealerships within its sales network (Annual Report, 2018). BMW has indeed
created a large network of dealers and retailers in the United States to provide services customers
in that part of the world. BMW have Passenger vehicle and sports activity vehicles facilities in

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the United States. Aside from that, the US marketplace has a bunch of BMW motorcycle shops,
Mini dealers, with Rolls-Royce retailers (Thumiger, 2021).

Technology:
Pratap, (2021) specified that the automotive sector has seen a tremendous and intense
competition in the contemporary arena. Automobile manufacturers rely heavily on technology to
gain a competitive edge. The BMW group, as a premier automaker, spends much in
digitalization. BMW spends a huge amount of money on research and development. The firm
spent €6,890 million on R&D in 2018, a 12.8 % increase compared to the previous years.. BMW
is investing in both automated driving and electric transportation. Slowik et al. (2016) indicated
that BMW's hybrid and electric vehicle lineup has expanded significantly in recent years. The
firm intends to increase the variety in order to meet the expanding global demand.

Human resource management:

The automotive industry has become extremely competitive. To compete effectively and expand,
every automotive company needs talented personnel. As a result, there is fierce rivalry among
automakers to attract the most competent staff. BMW's automotive division employs 121,994
workers (Rus, 2019). . BMW is trying to establish a diverse workforce with individuals from all
origins and with varied skills and experience in several disciplines.

Threat of new Entrants:

Hoppenburg, (2021) assessed that BMW is a well-known and globally recognized luxury
automotive company across the world. As entrance and exit barriers are significant in the
automotive market, the threat of new entrants is comparatively minimal. Huge financial
investments are required, coupled by highly competent human capital and R&D experience. At
the same time, due to the high inherent risks, it is difficult to exit the market at any time..
Musonera and Cagle, (2019) identified that many existing businesses are creating alliances in
order to continue operating. As a consequence, when it pertains to the automobile sector and a
company like BMW, which has always been reasonably solid in terms of research and sales, the
concerns regarding new competitors is minimum.

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Bargaining power of suppliers:
Burnap et al. (2016) examined that keeping in mind its brand recognition, BMW should uphold
a level of quality across all raw resources it utilizes, thus company carefully select its suppliers.
They have an influence on the suppliers and their methods as a result of their dominance.
Suppliers and vendors must acknowledge the company's contractual conditions and adhere to its
standards of conduct for preserving their cooperation with the organization. According to Kim et
al. (2017), BMW operates with over 12000 suppliers globally, the bulk of whom are
automotive manufacturers themselves, and so BMW seeks to interact with them and build up
effective and efficient operating processes.

Recommendations:

The management of BMW was not doing well. The company has been experiencing a declining
sale as the demand in car parts is decreasing, and the products are not being liked by cars. This
has prompted to increase in the business costs which have caused its inability to generate more
revenue. There is little information that can be used by the executives to ensure success in the
company, and to make decisions on how best to manage the firm (Trippner et al., 2015). The
executive’s concern is on the need to have an overall strategy that will lead to growth in sales.
The main way forward is putting up measures to solve these problems with speed. To begin with,
there is the need for managers to have all the information necessary to carry out their duties
effectively (Liu et al., 2015). It would be good for the leadership team to have such information
to act upon in taking necessary steps. In addition; the management should communicate with
stakeholders in managing the production process, the market, and with other departments
(Clarenbach, 2020).

Reuter, (2018) determined that the marketing department should also communicate with different
departments so as to give more support in maintaining high quality. Managers should look at
every aspect of the company by looking through each department’s records to gain more
information concerning any situation they might encounter and be aware of how to handle it. All
this information would enable the management to give directions on how to proceed with the
operations. Atwal and Williams, (2017) examined that the management should come up with
ways of ensuring they manage the risks as well as those affecting the supply chains. The

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company should come up with measures to counter the risk of labor shortages hence minimizing
cases where they could strike. Elijayar et al. (2017) clarified that the organization should put in
place measures of mitigating weather conditions which are potential causes of poor performance
of the equipment. Lastly, there should be proper communication between the employees and the
top management so as to deal with cases where there are conflicts over decisions. For instance,
when the engineers do not agree with the decision given by the manager, the conflict should be
dealt with fast before other people realize the truth.

For the case of BMW, the management should try to develop methods of improving the working
conditions and improve their communication channels within the department so as to create a
good rapport between the two parties. The managers should be able to control the time spent at
work, and allow the workers to take part in decisions making (Garcia, 2015). Lastly, managers
should be able to focus on the needs of their subordinates so that they could perform their tasks
efficiently. These recommendations will help to resolve the problems in a timely manner while
still retaining the benefits of a large staff (Shiu et al., 2017). The management should increase
the productivity of employees. They should also be willing to spend less money in training or
retraining new employees. Instead, they should improve the skills of their current workforce.
With all these ideas in mind, the managers should decide what strategies to use to achieve these
goals, and create a plan that focuses on the future and how the organization can grow over time
(Kukkamalla et al., 2020).

The company is recommended to hire experienced personnel. Moreover, the company would
need to adopt a flexible work pattern which means they may change the type of work
environment or even shift employees from one sector to another. Moreover, they should embrace
continuous improvement of systems so as to retain the competitive advantage over competitors.
As according to Chang, (2016), the most important thing to remember is that to reap the rewards
of continuous improvement, managers must be ready for failure, be able to adapt quickly to
changes, and be able to anticipate challenges and respond to them promptly. King, (2016)
assessed that one of the most critical areas which employees must consider is how to manage
stress that comes along with performing their roles. Stressors such as frustrations, fear, and lack
of motivation can affect the ability to function optimally. Apart from that, Jekiel, (2020), the
management should give attention to ways of dealing with some of these issues in order to

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optimize employee efficiency. More so, employees should take time out whenever needed in
order to relax. By doing so, most likely the entire workforce would be better behaved, thereby
leading to increased profitability.

Self-reflection:
Throughout this reflection, I will share and discuss what I learnt and observed during
this module. We primarily learnt how to create a business strategy during the module, and it also
explored many others topics including entrepreneurship and invention, entrepreneurialism and
sources of funding, how to do effective pricing and I analyzed repeated examples of successful
and effective entrepreneurs. Mukherjee, (2016) specified that being a successful entrepreneur
entails much more than just creating novel enterprises on a constant basis. As an alternative, it
entails having the right frame of mind when running an organization, as well as the will and
bravery to succeed. Additionally, I had got the opportunity to engage with various
international learners or students, who were mostly part-time students, during this course.
Studying or working alongside international students may be a huge benefit since it exposes you
to other perspectives and ways of working and perceiving things in an organization. However, at
the very same point, several issues develop, including the communication barriers, lack of
correspondence in speech pattern, and disparities in viewpoint.

When a group of students from various backgrounds is not handled appropriately, conflict will
occur (Wu et al., 2015). Furthermore, I opted to be in such a group of people with whom I would
able to have shared interests. I had some concerns about my decision, but after much
deliberation, I realized that it had benefited me in a variety of ways. We learn from our errors,
just like that. Moreover, I have learnt that within entrepreneurial environment, creativity is a
valuable asset. As Chen et al., (2015) declared that creativity is viewed as an investment rather
than revenue by business people.  Creativity is synonymous with innovation. Chang and Chen,
(2020) clarified that without creativity, there is no invention, and without innovation, there seems
to be stagnation. Indeed, innovation enables businesses to achieve a competitive edge by offering
new solutions for their customers As a consequence, creativity and innovation helps the company
grow its business, expand market share and generate more revenue.

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This module significantly assisted me in gaining a better understanding of what I want to achieve
in my professional life. I have learned that certain features must be considered while
establishing, operating, and expanding a business. A leader must be thoughtful, selfless, and
empathetic in order to be a successful. Based on my experience in this module, I will indeed be
extra cautious in selecting my companions in the future. This module taught me that
entrepreneurship includes finding ingenious responses to customer requests while working with
very limited finances in order to consistently stand out in the industry.

Conclusion:
A family practice or a portfolio of activities and enterprises in which a family may be involved is
referred to as family entrepreneurship. BMW group is owned by quandt family who actually are
the long-term shareholders of the company. BMW has established a strong brand presence on the
worldwide market. Favoring innovation and dependability on a constant basis has also aided in
the development of strong brand recognition and increased customer commitment. BMW largely
promotes through digital channels. In addition to its websites, the firm advertises and interacts
clients via social media channels. In the modern arena, the automobile sector has undergone
significant and strong rivalry. Automobile manufacturers place a high value on technology in
order to achieve a competitive advantage. As a leading carmaker, the BMW Group invests
heavily in digitization.

BMW invests a significant amount of money on research and development. In the instance of
BMW, management should strive to enhance working conditions and communication channels
inside the department in order to foster a positive relationship between the two sides. Managers
must be able to control how much time employees spend at work and allow them to participate in
decision-making. This module significantly aided me in developing a better knowledge of what I
want to accomplish in my professional career. I have realized that certain aspects must be
addressed while starting, running, and developing a business. It is suggested that the organization
recruit experienced people. Furthermore, the organization would need to implement a flexible
work pattern, which implies that they might vary the sort of work environment or even relocate
personnel from one area to another. Furthermore, they should embrace continual system
improvement in order to maintain its competitive edge over rivals.

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