Discussion Assignment-Unit 1

Introduction

Melodie Stewart played a crucial character in the case study of this week, she made a
major turn in her career after learning that Atlantic Women, the magazine she works
for, was going bankrupt (Hurst, n.d.). In the bankruptcy Melodie loses her job with the
company and is forced to make ends meet. As a resourceful and active person,
Melodie is self-motivated in starting a new business in a unique way. Melodie's
entrepreneurial trajectory was centered on offering matching services to corporations,
governments, and non-profit groups. The objective was to cultivate connections while
providing value, and to be the first firm that people would contact for information. As
a result, Pro-Net was created with the assistance of her friend, Kim Doherty, and it
was thus registered as an incorporation with its trademark and copyright.
Key Issues and Relevant Facts
 Melodie discovered Atlantic Women was going bankrupt just as she had sold
all her advertising to clients. This means she was out of magazine work and
had no employment to rely on to survive.
 To start a new unique business based on matchmaking for information,
Melodie required resources which she could not attain on her own.
 Starting the new business presented with roadblocks and challenges such as
gender and cultural barriers.
 Once the business took off and was gaining rapid success, Melodie and Kim
found it difficult to maintain their workloads as they were experiencing
interpersonal issues and burnout. They needed to find a way to work together
effectively and efficiently.
 Both Melodie and Kim were worried that their health and wellbeing was being
negatively impacted by the business and there was a need to find a work-life
balance.
Root Problem:
Melodie's excitement for her new firm was focused on creating a complex network of
clients. As a result, she collaborated with Kim to exceed the limit of possible clients
ranging from small groups to high-end clientele with varying networking requirements
(Hurst, n.d.). This was Pro-Net's dilemma since the two entrepreneurs were frequently
overwhelmed with varied tasks and gaps in capabilities. There was a challenge or
problem in being equal partners and having to decide on every aspect mutually. The
other challenge or problem was in the services they offered which stretched their
capacity to the limit resulting in lowered performance (Pan, 2017).
Fundamental Cause:
Melodie and Kim were faced with the dilemma of trying to provide too much for their
clients by offering multiple services and taking on too much work. In an effort to
please everyone, they burdened themselves by overreaching their responsibilities and
services to their clients.
Possible Alternatives:
Melodie and Kim might choose to defer their choices in order to overcome the hurdles
and continue with business as usual. This do-nothing approach can be seen as
utilitarianism which aims to determine the most ethical option that would benefit the
majority (Tardi, 2023). By doing nothing, the hope is that everything will work out.
However, as a result of this strategy both Melodie and Kim may jeopardize their
health and well-being while Pro-Net may lose clients and further opportunities for
growth and expansion.
As the owners of Pro-Net, Melodie and Kim both have equal rights to defend their
own thoughts regarding any business decision making. Since this is a rights-based
perspective, it implies that everyone's rights must be respected (Velasquez et al.,
2015).
As a result, Kim and Melodie both have the right to know about each other's personal
health and professional ambitions in order to maintain their current partnership.
Although this technique allows them to operate in harmony, the trade-off is that it
allows for diverse opinions, which may still lead to future disputes.
The third option looks for a win-win situation for Melodie, Kim, and Pro-Net. As
equal partners in the firm, Melodie's preference is to supervise marketing, sales, and
promotional decisions while Kim leads in logistics and finance. However, this
division in responsibilities contradicts their core expertise in training as neither of two
prioritized this activity with the current division of responsibilities. To properly
monitor training without being distracted by other duties, they must hire expert staff
(project management, accountants, sales agents, etc.) to fill in the gaps. Both will be
able to manage their workloads, retain existing clients' loyalty, and develop the client's
database while still growing their business.
Of the three possible alternatives, it would be best for Melodie and Kim to implement
the third alternative as they should divide and conquer while hiring additional staff to
focus on other parts of the business. They should prioritize on their key strengths and
focus their energy on training while allow other staff members to work on other
aspects of the business.

Plan of Action Evaluation problem

Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, we can see that Melodie needed to start a new
business in order to fulfill her physiological needs as well as safety needs (Coffman et
al., 2021). Once she started to receive a steady income from her increase in
employment stability, her self-esteem also grew with the business as well as her sense
of belonging when she began her partnership with Kim. The same can be said for
Kim, as she felt the desire to help Melodie with her business which eventually became
hers as well. The need for self-actualization and growth was not apparent for either, as
both were overworked, and their health was starting to decline. After having a
conversation and discussing what is important for them as individuals and as partners,
they choose to keep the business small and focus most of their attention to training.
From an Expectancy Theory point of view, Melodie knew that if she put in the effort
and worked hard, that she could start a successful business that was unique at the time
(Barba-Sanchez et al., 2017). Her motivation was controlled by her faith in positive
growth and connection between her efforts and the rewards she would attain.
However, she quickly discovered that she could not do it alone and was able to gain
help from her friend and business partner Kim. With both working on growing and
developing the business, it was easier to divide the work and collaborate.
Applying the theories of both Maslow and Expectancy, we can conclude that Melodie
and Kim were ultimately looking for a work-life balance in which they could operate a
successful business while still living enjoyable lives. They both needed time to figure
out their needs and wants and to evaluate what is important for them.

Relevance of the Case Study and Conclusion

Motivation is essential when starting a new venture, but other elements may influence
the process of success. As a result, a grasp of many motivating elements and
components, both personal and economic, is one of the key driving forces to success.
Overall, this case is important to the study of business as we must learn to prioritize
what is important and how it motivates people. Finding that balance between work
and personal life is the key to true success. Professionally, Melodie and Kim wanted
to have a successful business but found themselves overworked and on the verge of
burnout.
They have learned that they can still have a successful business by keeping it small
and focusing on one key priority which was training. By narrowing down their focus
professionally, it freed up time and resource personally allowing both of them to
regain their health and well-being (physically and mentally).

References:
Barba-Sánchez, V., & Atienza-Sahuquillo, C. (2017). Entrepreneurial motivation and
self-employment: evidence from expectancy theory. International Entrepreneurship
and Management Journal, 13, 1097-1115.
Coffman, C, D., & Sunny, S, A (2021) Reconceptualizing necessity and opportunity
entrepreneurship : A needs -based view of entrepreneurial motivation.
Management Review, 46(4), 823-825.
Hurst, D. (n.d.). Young entrepreneurs -- Seizing opportunities and new directions.
Acadia Institute for Case Studies. Acadia University.
Pan, G. (2017). The effects of burnout on task performance and turnover intention of
new generation of skilled workers. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability
Studies, 5(03), 156.
Tardi, C. (2023, January 10). Utilitarianism: What it is, founders, and main principles.
Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/utilitarianism.asp
Velasquez, M. Andre, C., Shants, T, S.J. (2015, August 1). Thinking ethically. Santa
Clara University. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-
making/thinking-ethically/ 6