Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
CHAPTER 9
BUILDING A NEW-VENTURE TEAM
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1.
Explain the concept called liability of newness.
2.
Describe a new-venture team and discuss the primary elements that form such a
team.
3.
Identify professional advisers and explain their role with a new-venture team.
4.
Explain why a new-venture team might use consultants to obtain advice.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter focuses on the important task of building a new-venture team. The point that
is emphasized is that a firm’s new-venture team doesn’t consist merely of its founders
and its initial employees, but consists of its board of directors (if it is incorporated), its
board of advisors, its lenders and investors (if applicable), and other professionals that the
firm does business with.
The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part of the chapter begins by discussing
the role of the founder or the founders of a firm, and emphasizes the weighty impact that
founders have on the future potential of their firms. The section then talks about how the
founders build a new-venture team, including the recruitment and selection of key
employees, the construction of a skills profile to identify the most important skills that
are needed and where skills gaps exist, and the selection of a board of directors. The
second section of the chapter discusses the important role that advisors play in shaping
and rounding out a new-venture team, specifically, the role of a board of advisors, lenders
and investors, and others.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Liability of Newness as a Challenge
II. Creating a New-Venture Team
A. The Founder or Founders of a Venture
1. Size of the Founding Team
2. Qualities of the Founders
B. The Management Team and Key Employees
C. The Roles of the Board of Directors
1. Provide Expert Guidance
2. Lend Legitimacy
III. Rounding Out the Team: The Role of Professional Advisers
A. Board of Advisors
B. Lenders and Investors
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
IV. Other Professionals
A. Consultants
CHAPTER NOTES
I. Liability of Newness as a Challenge
A. As we note throughout the text, new ventures have a high propensity to fail. The
high failure rate is due in part to what is known as the liability of newness.
B. The liability of newness refers to the fact that companies often falter because the
people who start them aren’t able to adjust quickly enough to their new roles and
because the firm lacks a “track record” with outside buyers and sellers.
C. Assembling a talented and experienced new-venture team is one path firms can
take to overcome these limitations.
II. Creating a New-Venture Team
A. The Founder or Founders of a Venture
1. Size of the founding team—The first decision that most founders face is
whether to start a firm on their own or whether to build an initial founding
team.
a. Studies show that 50 to 70 percent of all new firms are started by more
than one individual. Experts disagree about whether new ventures started
by a team have an advantage over those started by sole entrepreneurs.
b. Teams bring more talent, resources, ideas, and professional contacts to a
c. Several factors affect the value of a team that is starting a new firm.
i. First, teams that have worked together before, as opposed to teams that
are working together for the first time, have an edge.
ii. Second, if the members of the team are heterogeneous, meaning that
they are diverse in terms of their abilities and experiences, rather than
homogeneous, meaning that their areas of expertise are very similar to
one another, they are likely to have different points of view about
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
important issues. These different points of view are likely to generate
debate and constructive conflict.
iii. There are two potential pitfalls associated with starting a firm as a
2. Qualities of the Founders
a. One reason the founders are so important is that in the early days of the
firm, their knowledge, skills, and experience are the most valuable
resource the firm has.
b. Several features are thought to be significant to a founder’s success. These
factors include:
i. The level of the founder’s education
1. Once the decision to launch a new venture has been made, building a
management team and hiring key employees begins.
2. One technique available to entrepreneurs to help prioritize their hiring is to
maintain a skills profile.
a. A skills profile is a chart that depicts the most important skills that are
3. New Venture uses four different types of labor to get their work done: these
include full- or part-time employees, interns, freelancers, and virtual
assistants.
a. An employee is someone who works for a business, at the business’s
location or virtually, utilizing the business’s tools and equipment and
according to the business’s policies and procedures.
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
b. An intern is a person who works for a business as an apprentice or trainee
for the purpose of obtaining practical experience.
c. A freelancer (or contractor) is a person who is in business for themselves,
C. The Role of the Board of Directors
1. If a new venture organizes as a corporation, it is legally required to have a
board of directors—a panel of individuals who are elected by a corporation’s
shareholders to oversee the management of the firm.
2. A board is typically made up of both inside and outside directors. An inside
director is a person who is also an officer of the firm. An outside director is
someone who is not employed by the firm.
3. A board of directors has three formal responsibilities: appoint the officers of
the firm, declare dividends, and oversee the affairs of the corporation.
4. If handled properly, a company’s board of directors can be an important part
of its new-venture team. Two ways a board of directors can help a new firm
get off to a good start and develop what, it is hoped, will become a sustainable
competitive advantage are by providing guidance and lending legitimacy.
a. Provide expert guidance—Although a board of directors has formal
respected board members bring instant credibility to the firm.
III. Rounding Out the Team—The Role of Professional Advisers
A. Board of Advisors
1. A growing number of start-ups are forming advisory boards to provide them
direction and advice.
2. An advisory board is a panel of experts who are asked by a firm’s managers to
provide counsel and advice on an ongoing basis.
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
3. Unlike a board of directors, an advisory board possesses no legal
responsibility for the firm and gives nonbinding advice.
4. An advisory board can be established for general purposes or can be set up to
5. Most boards of advisors have between 5 and 15 members. Companies
1. As emphasized throughout this book, lenders and investors have a vested
2. As with the other nonemployee members of a firm’s new-venture team,
3. In some instances, lenders and investors also work hard to help new firms fill
out their management teams.
IV. Other Professionals
A. Consultants
2. Consultants fall into two categories: paid consultants and consultants who are
3. SCORE, for example, is a nonprofit organization that provides free consulting
services to small businesses.
BOXED FEATURES: QUESTIONS FOR CRITICAL THINKING
Partnering for Success
Collaborative Software: Helping New Venture Team Members Achieve Their Goals
1.
How large do you think a start-up needs to be to effectively take advantage of
collaborative management programs? Along with full- and part-time employees,
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
should companies include interns, freelancers, and virtual assistants on projects
that use collaborative management programs? Why or why not?
Answer: Regardless of the size of the company, the need for collaborative
management programs depends on the nature of the tasks performed. If employees
need to collaborate to get the work done, such programs are helpful.
The unit of analysis should be a project and so everyone involved in a project –
including freelancers, interns, and virtual assistants – should be given access to
such programs.
2.
If you set out to select a collaborative management program for a business you
were building, how would you go about selecting the program that would work the
best for your business?
Answer: This is a good question for an individual or group assignment. Urge your
students to make their answers as comprehensive and thoughtful as possible. They
can research the various software programs available and rank them on various
criteria.
3.
Imagine you’ve started a home remodeling business. Discuss the advantages to
using a collaborative management program such as Buildertrend from the outset
for your business.
Answer: In a home remodeling project, various people are involved. Some of the
work is independent while others may be sequential. In addition, there is the
budget to keep track of. Using a program such as Buildertrend would help
immensely in ensuring the project is proceeding according to schedule, is on time,
and is on budget.
4.
The “Opening Profile” focused on Wild Friends Foods, a start-up that is making
products based on nut and seed butter. Discuss how Wild Friends Foods could
benefit from using a collaborative software program like Smartsheet.
Answer: This is an interesting question because Wild Friends Foods makes and
sells products and so is not an organization that lends itself to project management.
However, Erika Welsh and Keely Tillotson have grown the company so much so
that it has a number of employees. This means the company may benefit from
collaborative software programs to keep track of various opportunities and ensure
that everyone is on the same page.
What Went Wrong?
Devver: How Miscues in Regard to the Composition and Management of a New-Venture
Team Can Kill a Start-Up
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
1.
In retrospect, Brinckerhoff believes that it would have been to Devver’s advantage
to have had a business-oriented cofounder as part of Devver’s new-venture team.
Do you think the reverse is true? If two businesspeople are set to launch a
technology-oriented firm, do you think it’s to their advantage to have a
technology-oriented cofounder, or is it sufficient to hire technology-oriented
personnel?
Answer: Yes, the reverse is true. In almost all instances, if a company starts as a
“team,” it’s better to have a heterogeneous team rather than a homogeneous team,
in regard to team competencies and skills.
2.
Make a list of the pluses and minuses of adopting a philosophy of allowing
workers to work remotely. Is this philosophy better for some types of start-ups
than others? What is your opinion of this philosophy?
Answer: The pluses and minuses are pretty much spelled out in the article. The
major positive of allowing employees to work remotely is that a company can hire
the best talent available, and avoid the deterrent of requiring people to relocate.
The major negative is that everyone isn’t in the same place. This factor can
complicate communication and administrative tasks, as illustrated by Devver’s
experience.
3.
The “You Be the VC 9.1” feature focuses on Toptal, a platform, which enables
companies to find top-notch software engineers, developers, and designers who are
rigorously screened and are willing to work on a contract basis. What do you think
a minimal viable product would have looked like for Toptal? How could Toptal
have used the minimal viable product methodology to get user feedback about its
site before committing substantial time and resources to building it out?
Answer: The minimal viable product for Toptal would be a Web site that had a
select group of companies asking for freelancers on the one hand and a group of
freelancers looking for work on the other hand. The site would not have to be 100
percent finished, but would have to work and have the majority of features in
place. Toptal could have used the feedback from its minimal viable product to
tweak the site and add functionality before it built the site out and expanded to
additional companies.
4.
Do some Internet research to try to determine what Dan Mayer and Ben
Brinckerhoff are doing today. What do you think they will be doing say ten years
from now and why?
Answer: This is a good question for an individual or group assignment.
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
Savvy Entrepreneurial Firm
Seek out “Lifehacks” to Increase Personal Productivity and Efficiency
1.
Consider the following statement: “Lifehacking skills are particularly important
for entrepreneurs because entrepreneurs are typically time and resource-strapped.”
Do you agree with the statement? If so, why? If not, why not?
Answer: While student opinions will vary, it is likely that all students agree that
entrepreneurs are hard pressed for time and so they would welcome any efficiency
measure. A good way to approach this question is to identify 2-3 lifehacking tips
and see if they apply to a typical entrepreneur.
2.
To what degree are you interested in increasing your lifehacking skills? How do
you plan to go about achieving your objective?
Answer: This is a personal question and so answers will vary.
3.
Spend some time looking at the lifehacker blog (www.lifehacker.com) and pick
one suggestion that you think you can incorporate into your daily life. Describe the
suggestion and why you selected it.
Answer: Students will vary in terms of their answers to this question. Some people
find online forums and Q&A sites very helpful, whereas others don’t. It depends
on the disposition of the person. We have found many of the tips in this site to be
extremely helpful.
4.
Go to Product Hunt’s website at www.producthunt.com. Locate the Lifehackers
category. How many Lifehacker-related products were listed the day you looked?
Identify three of the more interesting Lifehacker products listed, and briefly
explain each one.
Answer: This is a good activity for a student presentation.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
9-1.
What is a new-venture team?
Answer: A new-venture team is the group of founders, key employees, and
advisors that move a new venture from an idea to a fully functioning firm.
9-2.
Who are the primary participants in a start-up’s new-venture team?
Answer: The components of a new-venture team are shown in Figure 9.1 in the
textbook. They include: management team, key employees, board of directors (if
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
the firm is incorporated), board of advisors, lenders and investors (if applicable),
and other professionals.
9-3.
What is liability of newness?
Answer: Liability of newness is a concept that refers to the fact that start-ups
often falter because the people who start the firms can’t adjust quickly enough to
their new roles and because the firm lacks a “track record” with outside buyers
and suppliers.
9-4.
What can a new venture do to overcome the liability of newness?
MyLab Question.
9-5.
Do new ventures started by a team have an advantage over new ventures started
by a sole entrepreneur, or is the opposite the case?
Answer: It is generally believed that new ventures started by a team have an
advantage over those started by an individual because a team brings more talent,
resources, ideas, and professional contacts to a new venture than does a sole
entrepreneur. In addition, the psychological support that co-founders of a new
business can offer one another is an important element in the firm’s success.
9-6.
What are the differences between a heterogeneous and a homogeneous founding
team?
Answer: The members of a heterogeneous founding team are diverse in terms of
their abilities and experiences. In contrast, the members of a homogeneous
founding team are similar to one another in terms of their abilities and
experiences.
9-7.
What are the two potential pitfalls of using a team to start a firm?
Answer: First, the team members may not get along. Second, if two or more
people start a firm as “equals,” conflicts can arise when the firm needs to
establish a formal structure and designate one person as the CEO.
9-8.
What are the personal attributes that affect a founder’s chances of launching a
successful new firm?
Answer: The following are personal attributes that affect a founder’s chances of
launching a successful firm:
Educational level attained
Prior entrepreneurial experience
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
Relevant industry experience
Networking abilities
9-9.
Why does having relevant industry experience help the founder or founders of a
firm?
Answer: Entrepreneurs with experience in the same industry as their current
venture will have a more mature network of industry contacts and will have a
better understanding of the subtleties of their respective industries.
9-10.
What is networking and why is it important for an entrepreneur to have a vibrant
social and professional network?
MyLab Question.
9-11.
What are the reasons for completing a skills profile for a new firm?
Answer: Along with depicting where a firm’s most important skills gaps exist, a
skills profile should explain how current skills gaps are being dealt with.
9-12.
What is a board of directors?
Answer: A board of directors is a panel of individuals who are elected by a
corporation’s shareholders to oversee the management of the firm. A board is
typically made up of both inside and outside directors.
9-13.
What is the difference between inside and outside directors?
Answer: An inside director is a person who is also an officer of the firm. An
outside director is someone who is not employed by the firm.
9-14.
What are the three formal responsibilities of a board of directors?
Answer: The three formal responsibilities of a board of directors are as follows:
appoint the key officers of the firm, declare dividends, and oversee the affairs of
the corporation.
9-15.
How does recruiting a well-known and highly respected board of directors lend
legitimacy to a firm?
Answer: An important function of the board of directors is to lend legitimacy to
a firm. For example, just imagine the positive buzz a firm could generate if it
could say that Larry Page, one of the co-founders of Google, had agreed to serve
on its board of directors.
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
would be created about a firm if it announced that a prominent venture capital
firm had decided to offer it funding.
9-21.
Why do new ventures often turn to consultants for advice?
Answer: If a new firm needs help in a specialized area, it may be more cost
effective to hire a consultant to do the work, rather than to hire one or more
additional employees.
9-22.
What is the purpose of SCORE?
Answer: SCORE is a nonprofit organization that provides free consulting
services to small business.
9-23.
What types of advice and counsel do SCORE volunteers provide?
Answer: SCORE volunteers provide advice on a wide range of issues, from
marketing to accounting to operations.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9-24.
Currently, Ann Schafer is a sales representative for The Pampered Chef, a direct
sales organization which sells kitchen utensils and related products. Ann, who
lives near Houston, Texas, is thinking about leaving her current job so she can
open her own firm which she envisions as a combination cookware store and
cooking school near where she lives. Ann’s background is in cooking and sales.
She is thinking about finding a partner to join her in launching her firm. What
qualities should she seek in a partner who might also be the cofounder of her
firm? Also, what type of board of advisors should she establish?
Answer: Ann should strive to build a heterogeneous management team, so
should look for a partner with complementary skills to her own. The ideal
partner would be someone with business experience, but also a passion for
cooking. It’s also important for Ann to select a partner who has the same vision
for the business that she has.
9-25.
According to material in this chapter, prior entrepreneurial experience, relevant
industry experience, and networking are attributes that strengthen a person’s
chances of launching a successful venture. Think about the type of company that
you might choose to launch someday. Which of these three attributes do you
possess? What steps can you take today to build strengths in the areas where you
lack them?
Answer: This is a good question for an individual assignment.
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
9-26.
Kim Simpson owns a successful fitness center in an affluent suburb of St. Louis,
Missouri. She just received funding and plans to open six new fitness centers in
the St. Louis area over the next two years. She will need to hire a general
manager and staff for each center and is concerned about making the most
effective hiring choices. Kim has turned to you for advice. Up to this point she
has operated only the one center. Her questions to you are: “What recruiting
techniques would you suggest I use? How do I make smart hiring decisions?”
What answers would you provide to Kim?
Answer: This is a good question for an individual or group assignment, and will
require students to go beyond the material in the chapter.
9-27.
Cindy Combs, a professional investor, was having lunch with a colleague
recently and said, “Do you remember Peter Kennedy, the entrepreneur we met
the other day who created an iPhone app that helps busy families keep track of
their activities? I checked up on him and concluded that he has all the right
personal attributes not only to be an app developer but to be a successful
entrepreneur. He’s thinking about creating some additional family-focused apps
and I’m inclined to invest in his business.” Cindy’s meal companion said,
“Really, tell me about Peter’s characteristics that are so impressive to you.”
What do you think Cindy said in response to her lunch companion’s question
about Peter’s characteristics?
Answer: If Peter has all the right attributes to be a successful entrepreneur, he
probably possesses the following characteristics:
Is part of a firm that was started by a team rather than an individual,
assuming the team is diverse and the founders are compatible with one
another.
Has a college education.
Has prior entrepreneurial experience.
Has experience in the same industry as his current venture.
Has a broad social and professional network.
Has a passion for what he’s doing.
9-28.
Jose Peacher is an executive with a large manufacturing company. A former
coworker of his recently started a company and raised $1 million from a well-
known angel investor even though he did not need the money to launch the
business. Jose thinks his friend is foolish and cannot think of a single reason to
take money from an investor if you do not require the funds to launch. If you
were talking to Jose about his view, what would you tell him about this matter?
Answer: Jose’s former coworker may have taken the money from the investor to
help enhance the legitimacy of his firm. When a high-profile person agrees to
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
would be reluctant to serve on the board of a low-quality firm because that
would put his or her reputation at risk. Jose’s former coworker may also have
taken the money from the investor to gain access to his or her advice, and his or
her network of professional contacts.
9-29.
Lauren Mitchell is achieving some success with the real estate firm she launched
two years ago. A rebounding local economy has helped as has the fact that she is
well connected with those heading the chamber of commerce in the city in which
her firm is located. She feels, however, that she is having to cover too many of
the tasks required for her firm to keep running herself. She has asked you for
your advice given that she knows you are taking an entrepreneurship course. Use
your knowledge about a skills profile to help Lauren understand how to proceed
with her labor-related challenges.
Answer: Linda could use the skills profile to determine where her firm’s most
important skills gaps exist, and then develop a plan for filling the gaps. The plan
could include filling the gaps via full– or part-time employees, interns,
freelancers, virtual assistants, consultants, and/or members of her board of
advisors.
9-30.
Charlie Berry, Shelly Toombs, Nancy Harder, James Ndofor, Jennifer Atwood,
and Cliff Bell are all experienced software engineers. For some time, they’ve
been talking about starting a company—the six of them—around a software
solution in which all of them have an interest. Based on materials in this chapter,
what challenges do you anticipate these six people will likely encounter
cofounding a firm?
Answer: They are likely to encounter all the challenges of starting a company as
a team described in the chapter. The challenges increase in intensity as the
number of co-founders increases. Six co-founders is a lot. There are three
potential pitfalls associated with starting a firm as a team rather than as a sole
entrepreneur. First, the team members may not get along. Second, if two or more
people start a firm as “equals,” conflicts can arise when the firm needs to
establish a formal structure and designate one person as the CEO. Finally, if the
founders of the firm have similar expertise (as is the case here), it can be
problematic.
YOU BE THE VC 9.1
Company: Toptal (www.toptal.com)
Business Idea: Launch a platform that enables companies to find top-notch software
engineers, developers, and designers who are rigorously screened and are willing to work
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
You Be the VC Scorecard
Toptal
(www.toptal.com)
Item
Strength of New-Venture
Team
Strength of the Opportunity
Strength of the Industry
Strength of Business Model
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
Decision: We like what Toptal is doing, and we would invest in it. They appear to have
isolated a great opportunity and their customer value proposition is also compelling.
YOU BE THE VC 9.2
Company: KaZAM Balance Bike (www.kazambikes.com)
Business Idea: Create a bike that teaches kids how to ride without training wheels in a
safe, enjoyable, and confidence-building manner.
You Be the VC Scorecard
KaZAM Balance Bike
(www.kazambikes.com)
Item
Strength of New-Venture
Team
Strength of the Opportunity
Strength of the Industry
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
Strength of Business Model
Average Score
Decision: Even though we only scored KaZAM a 3.50/5.00, we would invest in the
company. It has excellent traction in a market that may be expanding as a result of its
presence. Its product has won several awards, including being named one of the 20 Best
CASES
Case 9.1
Basecamp: Implementing Novel Work Design and Human Resource Management
Practices
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
9-35.
Share your general reaction to this case study. Do you think Basecamp’s
approaches to work design and HRM are transferable to other organizations, or
do you think they’re unique to Basecamp? Explain your answer.
Answer: While student opinions may differ, they should agree that Basecamp is
one interesting company! They have a number of quirky policies but they all
revolve around making the company a great place to work.
There is nothing that suggests that Basecamp’s ideas won’t transfer to other
organizations. Take one example: the idea of synchronous meetings as a
significant waste of time. Any organization can do what Basecamp is doing and
have more asynchronous information sharing sessions rather than face-to-face
meetings.
9-36
Of the nine novel work design and HRM practices employed by Basecamp
Chapter 9: Building a New-Venture Team
most, and that you believe would be most important to use in an entrepreneurial
start-up firm.
Answer: Each student may pick his or her favorite, but here are two that seem
quite promising. One is the 40-hour workweek and the other is the quiet
Thursdays. Most firms expect their employees to work long hours, but this
creates employee burnout. Similarly, designating Thursday afternoons as quiet
days is interesting because a lot can be accomplished when employees are not
interrupted.
9-37.
In the case, the observation was made that in many companies, long hours,
excessive busyness, and a lack of sleep have become badges of honor. Why do
you think this has happened? Do you agree with the leaders of Basecamp that
that way of working is counterproductive? If you launched a start-up, how
would you avoid allowing a culture to develop that championed long hours,
excessive busyness, and a lack of sleep?
Answer: Note: Basecamp’s 40-hour workweeks and being “off the grid” after
office hours are great examples of how a company can actually increase
productivity. This is a good question to start a class conversation about
students’ experience in various workplaces and use the discussion to talk about
how Basecamp’s leaders approached work at their company.
9-38.
According to the case, Basecamp has been profitable 68 straight quarters, 17
straight years. To what degree do you think Basecamp’s work design and HRM
practices have contributed to its success?
Answer: This is a good question for an individual or group assignment.
Case 9.2
Zappos: Making Human Resources the Key to Customer Service
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
9-39.
What steps did Zappos take early in its life as a company to overcome the
liability of newness?
Answer: By having excellent customer service and a generous return policy,
Zappos overcame the liability of newness from the point-of-view of buyers.
Buyers felt confident buying from the new company because customer service
agents helped them make a decision and there was no cost to a wrong decision
because the goods could be returned for full credit. By sticking to its culture, the
company overcame the liability of newness for its employees.
9-40.
What can entrepreneurs learn from Zappos’ experience about motivating
employees and building a healthy organizational culture?
Answer: The reason that employees are so critical to Zappos’ success is that
although exemplary customer service may be what keeps customers coming
back, the root of the company’s competitive advantage is its employees.
Ultimately, its Zappos’ employees who deliver the high level of customer service
and do everything that makes Zappos what it is.
Zappos has switched its approach to hiring new employees. It is ditching
conventional job postings to recruit new hires, instead relying on Zappos
Insiders, an internal social network designed to improve the recruiting process.
The mechanics of how Zappos Insider works is described in the chapter.
9-41.
Do some additional Internet research about Zappos’ decision to shift to a
“holacracy” approach to organization and management and whether Zappos is
sticking with this approach. Use the information you found to provide an update
on the health of Zappos’ organizational culture.
Answer: Zappos is adopting a “holacracy” approach to organizing its company.
It is in the process of eliminating traditional managers, doing away with typical
corporate hierarchy, and getting rid of job titles, at least internally. The idea is to
replace the traditional corporate chain of command with a series of overlapping,
self-governing teams. The idea is to give employees more of a voice in the way
the company is run, and to keep Zappos lean and nimble as it continuous to
grow.
Additional research on Zappos’ “holacracy” approach is a good topic for a
student team project.
9-42.
In 2000, Tony Hsieh wrote a book titled Delivering Happiness in which he
asserts that employee satisfaction is the key to business success. Do you think
Hsieh is right? On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 is high), how important do you think
employee satisfaction is to business success? Explain your answer.
Answer: This is a question where there could be a diversity of opinion among
students. The instructor can get them to talk about their own work experience
and see where they would place employee satisfaction on the 10-point scale.