School of Business

Department of Management and International Management

Spring 2019/2020

Course Code: IMGT497

Course Name: Managing Entrepreneurship

Assessment: Assignment 1 (Case Study)

Submission Deadline: 4/26/2020

Instructions:

Read the case study below, and then answer the questions that follow.

Alfred, a 30-year-old man, has been an employee for 7 years at the ABC Company,
dealing in import/export of textile. Alfred is a member in the human resource
department. Because of the economic crisis in Lebanon, ABC Company laid off
many of its employees in order to cut costs. Alfred was one of the survivors in the
first layoff run that was done by the company which informed its employees that it
may run other layoffs if needed, according to the situation in the country.

One of Alfred’s dreams, since he was child, is to be the owner of an online shop.
Nevertheless, the financial situation of his family and his need for a stable income to
finance his studies didn’t help him to make his dream real. That pushed him to look
for a job with a secure fixed salary.

Today, after saving some money, Alfred is thinking seriously of making his first
steps to realize his dream and to move from being an employee (and maybe a
former employee in a company) to become the owner of his small business.

After making the needed environmental analyses and asking for some advice, the
biggest risk Alfred can face is losing his entire investment especially that he has a
lack of experience in the field of online business. In addition, because of the small
amount of money he has and the risks he is facing, Alfred is looking forward to
launching his business with the least possible expenses.
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 Questions

1. What are the questions Alfred should ask himself to determine if he can cope
physiologically with the consequence of failure?

2. Despite the several risks, Alfred has decided to launch his business. He has
asked you to advise him if it is better to leave his work at ABC Company and
concentrate on the new business, or to launch a part-time business. What
would you advise Alfred and why?

3. Taking into consideration the financial concerns Alfred has, give Alfred some
advice allowing him to launch the business with the least costs.

4. What do we call Alfred’s situation in case he decides to leave the company

instead of waiting for its next layoff decision? What is he suffering from in his
relation with ABC Company in this case? Comment on it.

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