Sawyer Howitt Case Study

Since Howe and Strauss (2007) defined the traits of the Millennials, a number of authors have continued to explore and categorise this generation’s values and traits more than any other; “optimistic spirits, assertive or confident, consummate multitaskers, positive, sociable, cooperative, team oriented with an affinity for innovation and technology”(Pardue 2008, p74). Millennials experience and practice life at an augmented speed, communicating on a multiplicity of electronic devices; “they are an idealistic generation awaiting leadership and motivation; they are primed to do well” and achieve highly (Holt 2012, p81). Despite these characteristics which read as an inventory of an ideal employee, with the merging of multi-generations in a workplace, there comes a disparity in attitudes and approaches; the generational or life-stage divide. Each generation offers rich and valuable outlooks, however to bridge the gap it is important to know what motivates the other.

Currently the Millennial generation comprises between an estimated 10-17% of the Controller’s Office, when defining a millennial as someone between the ages of 18 to 34 (Pynes, 2004, p. 28). In the chart below (Figure 1), you can see the breakdown of the office’s age groups. As the 60-65 year olds leave the workforce it will be important to recruit individuals within the younger generations to develop a visionary workplace

Down, Simon, and James Reveley. (2004). "Generational Encounters and the Social Formation of Entrepreneurial Identity: 'Young Guns' and 'Old Farts'". Organization.

Secondly, this most recent generation has showcased a remarkable sense of entrepreneurialism. For example, people of previous generations would start a lemonade stand when they were younger and make some money after standing in the hot sun for a couple hours, not take a prized recipe and make a multi million dollar business out of it like 11 years old Mikaila Ulmer has. It’s not uncommon to see teenagers use social media as a platform to make money by promoting products or selling their own. Web sites and apps like Instagram and Twitter were once only used to share pictures and connect with friends, however they have flipped it around and used it as a marketing tool allowing them or giving them a chance to earn an abundance of money at a relatively young age.

Starting a business is the latest trend. Just take a look at Instagram. Several profiles have the caption ‘Entrepreneur’. At this very moment, there is someone, somewhere working on an idea, a business plan or launching a startup. Entrepreneurship is on the rise like never before. The flexibility and independence that comes with being one’s own boss is attractive and worth taking the leap in starting a business. However, most people don’t know that being an entrepreneur is a grueling journey that can be very lonely and stressful at times. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), 50% of businesses fail during the first year. Starting a business can be a scary task, but the

The Millennial’s present a unique challenge in today’s businesses by being the largest and most diverse generation along with having the largest purchasing power in history. Solomon saying in this book “With these opportunities to make their customers the star of their promises.” The millennia’s seek out companies and businesses that offer fast services; living with accessibilities at their fingertips. Furthermore, keep the customer service experience fresh, meaningful, with trustworthiness, and value for your customers: Doing this will create customers who are loyalty for a lifetime.

There are four generations in today’s workplace: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers (Gen-X), and Millennials For the first time, these generations are all working hand in hand. Each generation has their own life experiences, different attitudes, desires, goals and motivations. Molding all of these distinctive characteristics into one company goal is an immediate challenge facing managers and business owners, particularly as they must transfer the knowledge from their older employees to the new hires. (Huggins 2008)

• Their job-hopping ways can lead employers to question millennials’ loyalty, and diminish employers’ desire to want to invest in them. Only one fifth of millennials anticipate staying in a job for more than 5 years (Robert Half International, 2008). • They are overconfident, opinionated, and expect to be heard (Alsop, 2007). • They believe that they do not have to “pay dues” when they enter an organization. • They are uncomfortable with criticism and can become aggressive and even caustic when criticized (Tyler, 2008). • They enjoy structure and dislike ambiguity. • They prefer clear rules, well-defined policies, and responsibilities. • They claim to be committed to social responsibility and desire worklife balance. • They see themselves as indispensable beings with high expectations and a desire to be sought after (Alsop, 2006). • They see technology as something that is part of their lives,

According to the Goldman Sachs (2017) website there are about 9.2 millions Millennials in the United States. This generation is beginning to enter the work world or already has and the older generation doesn’t seem to understand them. Millennials can be hard to understand because with each and everyone of them technology has played into their lives and shaped them differently from older generations. The Millennial generation is looked down upon because of the amount of technology they use, but others don’t understand that technology is what makes the generation millennials. Millennial has had technology to help them become their own bosses, more informed and aware, and more educated.

According to the Pew Research Center, “One-in-three American workers today are millennials” (Fry). Generation Y makes up the largest generation in the workplace today. Millennials are those individuals born between 1980 and 1996. They are coming out of college and looking for purposeful work. But, even though this generation makes up the majority of the workforce, they also face concerning problems. Millennials endure the problems of “job hopping”, adapting to modern technology, and student debt.

Entrepreneurial experience involves two main factors, which are one’s entrepreneurial education and a venture’s growth cycle. A growth cycle is the cycle of success and failures that provide entrepreneurs with the necessary knowledge to create businesses that have qualities that prevent failure and promote success. This experience is highly valued to investors and imperative to business success. An entrepreneurial education is categorized as either indirect or hands-on, hands-on education being the most effective of the two as it focuses on “practice” business experience. Indirect entrepreneurial education typically involves learning from books, courses, and other business models. The specific type of entrepreneurial education determines efficacy when dealing with both youth

When it comes to Millennials, there is nothing that screams “business as usual.” Consequently, savvy leaders who want to remain successful in the global business arena, must concede their current method of attracting, engaging, developing and retaining Millennials as future global leaders is ineffective. Therefore, today’s leaders must develop a more compelling strategy to entice Millennials into leadership. Failure to use strategic foresight to recognize trends regarding future organizational trends and take timely actions to change their tried and true, old school philosophy regarding developing and retaining talented employees will result in losing the competitive edge, which is driven by technology-laden Millennial’s who are poised to innovation.

Have you noticed the faces in your workplace getting younger before your eyes? You are not just imagining it! If the statistics being released on US demographics are accurate, millennials are slated to be the largest generation yet. This means that they will also make up the largest chunk of the labor pool for many years to come. Millennials, along with the smaller but significant Generation X, are replacing retiring baby boomers at an increasing pace. With this reality, it is obvious that businesses gain by learning what these younger generations want, and how they can tailor the work environment to address these desires.

It can be argued that entrepreneurship is the backbone of our technological society, and keeps reinventing the way business is done. Each new company provides a different perspective as to how business should be handled. They also provide a very large portion of the new products that change the way we live our day-to-day lives. However, due to the risks involved in starting a new company it takes a certain "entrepreneurial spirit" to successfully launch a new business. This paper will step through the entrepreneurial process by examining two separate entrepreneurs and their reason for becoming entrepreneurs, why they chose their industry, how they obtained funding, their first customers, and the pros and

The entrepreneur is the pioneer, the managers the applier of existing best practices. The entrepreneur engages in strategic activity, the managers need to focus on tactical or operational activity. The entrepreneur formulates a strategy, the manager implements that strategy. Business success will depend on the continuing renewal and application of the entrepreneurial spirits. Business success depends on the application and an efficient management team. The attrition rate of any new business is extremely high. In the US, the supporter of the entrepreneurial spirit, numerous new enterprises will fail each year. However in a long-term historical perspective, business success is short-lived. Only a handful of the largest companies with break