Entrepreneurship: “Small Giants” by Bo Burlingham

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Introduction
Core Points
The Book as It Relates to the Class Discussion
Book’s Major Points as They Relate to My Personal and Professional Experiences
Conclusion
Reference

Executive Summary

This report includes an analysis of the major points of the book Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (further referred to as Small Giants) by Burlingham (2016). The subject matter of the book is the ways small companies try to be competitive in a modern business world dominated by large corporations and giant companies. The author emphasizes that small companies that achieve a certain success do not have to expand since they can choose to remain firms that provide products of the greatest value to their customers. The book can serve as a set of case studies to illustrate key points of the class discussions. As for the impact the book had on my personal and professional experiences, it gave me hope and assurance that I will be able to contribute to the development of my country and communities by developing effective environmental projects.

Introduction

Many sources on management illustrate successful strategies by describing the methods used by large and well-known businesses and corporations. People tend to concentrate on success stories involving large or even huge companies that dominate their markets. Bo Burlingham chose another approach. In his book, Small Giants, the author describes fourteen successful but small organizations. These are privately-owned companies that are well known in their industries, although the larger public may be unaware of these businesses (Burlingham, 2016). This report includes a brief summary of the book’s core points and an analysis of the role these ideas can play and have played in my academic and professional life.

Core Points

In his book, Burlingham (2016) states that growth is not the only option for a successful business. The major aim of the book is to show people that bigger does not mean better when it comes to business. The author provides a set of examples that indicate that his belief is justified. The subject matter of the book in question is the way private companies can develop. It is repeatedly mentioned that going public, expanding, or diversifying often seem like necessary steps to take in order to prosper or even survive in the modern business world. However, the firms described in the book developed in a different way. Their owners chose to focus on their core activities and their communities. They decided to do what they loved rather than focusing solely on earning money and becoming leaders in their markets.

One of the primary messages Burlingham (2016) articulates is the importance of the owner’s or entrepreneur’s way of thinking. The author emphasizes that successful people have a passion for what they do and can instill this attitude in their employees. The author claims that all of the firms he visited gave him a very strong feeling he was unable to define on the spot. All the companies could be characterized by a very special atmosphere where each employee had the desire to contribute to the development of the organization. Importantly, he also felt that employees believed they were capable of improving their performance continuously. The author stressed that the success formula includes three dimensions. Entrepreneurs should know what their company is (or who they are), what their core competencies are, and what their business should be in the future. Commitment and inspiration are regarded as key components of proper management.

The author also pays significant attention to the factor of inspiration. In his success stories, Burlingham (2016) describes the ways human resources were managed. Staff training and development turned out to be pivotal to the firms’ development. Successful entrepreneurs encouraged their employees to learn. Formal education, on the job training, and self-study were all common strategies. More importantly, they made organizational goals and major values clear to the staff. The way these strategies were employed is rather remarkable as the companies described spanned a wide range in their number of employees. The author describes different communication patterns that can be utilized in different settings.

Another important point is related to the way decisions and choices are made. First, mistakes are regarded as opportunities rather than obstacles. Burlingham (2016) shows that the leaders he interviewed saw mistakes as something inevitable and favorable because they enabled the company to improve its performance and enhance customer satisfaction. The way the choices and decisions are made is also remarkable. The author presents the views of successful entrepreneurs who believe that employees can and should participate actively in the process of decision making. As mentioned above, people feel empowered and motivated to generate ideas and improve the company they work for. At the same time, people who are insufficiently active or committed tend to leave these firms.

It is also necessary to mention another recurrent theme that is associated with the relationships between companies and their customers. The owners and entrepreneurs referred to in the book concentrate on the development of close connections to their clients and the communities they operate in. These business people are willing to provide the best product for a comparatively limited number of people rather than come up with mass-market goods. The extreme case of such an approach concerns how one of the entrepreneurs chooses clients. Selima, the founder of Selima Inc., a company in the fashion industry, only worked with people she liked (Burlingham, 2016). She stressed that she could not create things for people she did not like. This closeness to the customer makes companies capable of providing the highest value, and people are willing to pay for the extra value.

The Book as It Relates to the Class Discussion

The book under consideration is one of the required readings for this course. This choice is justified, as Burlingham (2016) describes cases that can serve as effective illustrations for the topics discussed during class. For instance, we were encouraged to think of the components that make companies high performing organizations. These elements include results, a history of success, and being focused. In simple terms, high performing organizations are successful in their markets and well known among their peers. Their success is enduring, and companies that are successful for over five years can be seen as successful since short-lived gains do not always translate into success stories. Most importantly, one of the common features of high performing organizations is their focus on and concern with what really matters to the company. The book is about comparatively small high performing companies in the private sector. Burlingham (2016) describes the companies he chose as small giants because they are high performing organizations according to the definition discussed during class.

Furthermore, the companies discussed in the book can be regarded as illustrations of five strands of success that were considered during class. The five factors ensuring organizations’ success include management quality, action orientation and openness, long-term orientation, renewal, and continuous improvement, and employee quality. All these strands can be found in the companies described in the book. Burlingham (2016) mentions that it can be difficult to identify a pattern of success, as each organization has its peculiarities and its own approach. Nevertheless, the frameworks analyzed during class can be applied to Anchor Brewing, Hammerhead Productions, TriNet, and the other businesses examined by Burlingham (2016).

The book is also an illustration of the importance of culture. The class discussion revolved around the idea of the benefits of developing a specific culture rather than merely a set of rules or regulations. Burlingham (2016) provides examples that make the advantages obvious. For instance, Union Square Hospitality Group and other organizations in the book are exemplary in terms of having a strong organizational culture. In these companies, hiring and retention are managed within the context of their existing cultures. As a result, only people who share the values of the companies’ owners are employed. Shared values enable each employee to contribute to the fullest to the overall success of the company.

Book’s Major Points as They Relate to My Personal and Professional Experiences

The book under analysis helped me understand many important aspects of organizational management and success. Even the opening pages revealed many tips I intend to utilize in my academic and professional life. For example, the description of the authors’ methodology was one of the things I paid considerable attention to. Burlingham (2016) sheds light on the selection criteria he developed in order to reduce the effect of personal bias. This introductory information made me think about my own research and possible ways to make my inquiry more effective.

Clearly, one of the most striking takeaways was the notion of small giants. Like many other people, I believed that growth (expansion, merger, acquisition, and so forth) was a natural stage of an organization’s lifecycle. However, I see that this is only one of the possible options. The experiences of the people and small companies Burlingham (2016) discusses in his book indicate that being focused and responsible can have more payoffs than relentlessly pursuing organizational growth. Organizations confined to certain locations (such as a restaurant or a music company) can have a more significant impact than big corporations. It appears to be a matter of focus. I used to dream about working for a big corporation or organization that had the resources to implement environmental projects. At present, I see that much smaller firms can become agents of change and contribute considerably to solving the most urgent issues faced by communities.

I am only at the beginning of my career, and I believe I will be a successful entrepreneur. The book in question will help me in achieving this goal as the core points mentioned by Burlingham (2016) will be my guide. My firm belief that success is possible if there are clear objectives and an overall guiding vision has become strengthened after reading it. I saw that people who knew what they wanted to do in life succeeded. Although I concentrated on more general things when thinking of the importance of this kind of commitment, this core point is valuable in management. For example, I have always believed I was lucky to know what I want to do in my life. I am committed to solving various environmental issues. This belief brought me to a full-time MBA course. Nevertheless, I am still at a loss when it comes to my ideas as to a specific business I would like to or could run. Clearly, it is vital to understand that before starting a company or becoming the head of a firm.

Another point that resonates with my past experiences and present situation is related to social responsibility. In particular, the way companies can contribute to community development is worth mentioning. Righteous Babe is a model for me. The founder of the firm, Ani DiFranco, managed to save one of the cultural landmarks of the city. Since my major was environmental engineering in China, I am committed to contributing to the development of my country by making our cities more sustainable in many respects. I hope that the MBA course will equip me with the necessary skills and knowledge to reach this objective.

Culture is one of the primary points that are worth considering. I have had only brief work experience in the context of two short internships. My work in a real estate company was very different from my work at an environmental evaluation organization. After reading the book, I understood that the real estate company could not become successful, while the environmental evaluation organization has an excellent chance of transforming into a high performing organization in several years. The culture was the key difference between the two firms I worked for. The real estate company was barely competitive. One of the reasons for this was the employees’ indifference to the values promulgated by the company’s owner. In contrast, the environmental evaluation organization had a strong culture, and its employees were committed to it. Of course, there were certainly other issues that need to be addressed, but this firm shows many signs of becoming a potentially high performing organization.

Conclusion

This report contains an analysis of the central points of the book by Burlingham (2016), Small Giants, as well as the ways it relates to this course and my professional and personal experiences. The author emphasizes that a company’s size has nothing to do with its potential success. Growth is only an option rather than the natural course of events. Several private firms prove that small organizations can make a big difference. The book can be regarded as a set of case studies that illustrate the content of class discussions. For instance, the notion of high performing organizations can be applied to each company mentioned in the book. All these small giants have the most common elements of high performing organizations, such as focus, quality, openness, and commitment.

I would also like to add that the book brought more meaning to my professional and academic experiences. I recognized the seeds of success and potential failure in the organizations I worked for. Furthermore, I have a clearer view of my future prospects in the sphere of environmental engineering. I have become more optimistic about my future input in the development of environmental solutions for communities or entire regions. The book should be a part of the organizational management curriculum. Students, entrepreneurs, and top managers should study the experiences of the companies included in the book as it will help them make the right decisions in the business world.

Reference

Burlingham, B. (2016). Small giants: Companies that choose to be great instead of big (10th ed.). New York, NY: Portfolio.

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