MBA 745 – Reflections on Module 4 Concepts.

MBA 745 – Reflections on Module 4 Concepts.

What is your belief concerning one person performing the multiple roles of creator, accelerator, and sustainer?

It is my belief that one person would have great difficulty in performing well in all three roles. It takes different preferences to have superior performance in any one role. The creator role is about the vision and enthusiasm of something new and not overly detailed orientated. During the accelerator role the leader must really pay attention to all the fine details, so the company does spiral out of control and go bankrupt. The sustainer is all about developing your people into leaders and focusing in on the inefficiencies that exist. Negotiating skills become important in this role. It is difficult for a visionary and dreamer to ever feel like diving into the mundane details. The creator and sustainer roles could mesh, because the sustainer role is about an overview or big picture details and ways to recreate the company. The accelerator role is best left to people who are successful in that environment. Does not mean the CEO, etc has to be that type of person, but they do have to let that type of person run with it.

Do you feel you are capable of performing all of these roles?

I feel I could perform the accelerator and sustaining role well. The sustaining role is probably where I have the most experience. I have been involved in the start-up or launch of product lines and geared up production/inspection etc. The creator role is more about creativity and my skills are more into improving and enhancing what is already there and not creating it from nothing.

If not, which do you think fits you best?

I fit best in the sustaining role. Working on improving processes and making them more efficient is the engineering side of me working. Also developing people through teaching and mentoring needs to take place in order to sustain the business, which is another talent I continually develop.

Do you think it is possible to avoid making the decision of whether to rejuvenate the business or close it, indefinitely? If so, how? If not, why?

I do think it is possible to avoid making a decision for a long time - but not indefinitely. Indefinitely is a very long time. My guess is that this happens more than not. If the business has been around for many years, many companies will resist closing it and also resist pouring more money into it. If the business is losing significant amounts of money, then the decision will be forced upon management to do something.