Ahri Tallon

BX3173 Strategic Entrepreneurship:

Journal Assignment

Part 1

By Ahri TallonStudent Number: 12985997

Journal Part 1 1

Ahri Tallon

Part One – The Personal Journey [Total: 50%]

First Personal Journal Entry Set (Compulsory)= Finished (10%)

Tasks:1. You a. Discuss how do you stack up against the five dimensions (e.g.

achievement drive, creativity, desire for autonomy and internal locus of control)

place your GET 2 survey questionnaire results as an Appendix to the journal.

The Personal Journey- Entry One

My total GETS score was 47. This put me in the middle of the high range for being an enterprising individual. The lowest score I received was in the need for autonomy section where I received a score of 4. However I also received a score of 4 for row 5 of the creative tendency section. Compared to the rest of my team I received relatively high results which I am proud of. I have always felt myself to be a very enterprising person. From a young age I was busking to make money, catching ticks and coming up with other ideas and plans. Generally I have always had a lot of energy for life and creating new activities. I love to innovate and plan out new ideas and opportunities.

b. Discuss what the survey findings suggest you need to develop or improve? What factors (education, peers, family, experience ) in your past or character may have led to these results. These should include negative and positive influences.

I feel very comfortable about my scores that indicate that I have strong potential as an entrepreneur. My background in campaign management and political advocacy has given me the passion and independence to initiate and see through projects to success. These experiences have helped to develop my entrepreneurial attributes to their present status. I am also very comfortable with my low score for the need for autonomy. This is because the low scores for need for autonomy I actually associate with my interest in being a very communicative and collaborative team player. This personal interest has developed through my work experiences in not for profit organisations. In these work roles I found that I was often not communicative, consulting, effective at listening and empathising with others as much as I would have like to have been. Growing up I believe I developed certain behavioural patterns that made working as well in groups difficult. Part of my challenges have been caused by my ego, other parts by my experiences and other parts by my self-consuming passion and tendency towards being a workaholic. The situations and consequences that flowed from these experiences have shaped my personality and personal growth endeavours to try and improve on these characteristics in me. I feel as though these attributes are essential to entrepreneurship and leading a successful career in most industries anyway. However I would have liked to have achieved the highest possible score in both rows of the creative tendency section.

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Ahri TallonFurther Character Reflections:

I am enthusiastic, exuberant and well spoken. I like to be doing new things nearly all the time. Prestige is important to me and I tend to seek status symbols. I am good at cultivating contacts and have a network of people I can call on for virtually anything.

I like being the spokesperson for new ideas, grand initiatives and noteworthy projects that spur people emotionally, appealing to their hopes, dreams and fascinations.

Things become obvious to me quickly and I have to be mindful that other some other people do not grasp some points at the same speed as I do. I can often talk to fast, be to impulsive or try to move things forward to quickly. I can understand points quicker if people can draw me a picture or analogy.

My tendencies include:

I seek and enjoy upwardly mobile status I admire people who express themselves well and know more than me I have a "big picture" outlook I am comfortable delegating as well as taking charge I tend to have an enthusiastic outlook on life and generally trust people

My Potential Limiters:

With tasks: Because I focus on the big picture and keep moving from one opportunity to the next, I may not fully understand what's involved in accomplishing difficult or complex tasks.

I should show more commitment and ensure follow-through on key tasks I should try to be a more analytical thinker and listener I should understand others needs for more detail to complete tasks

With people: I need to be less impulsive and take a more low key approach. Not everyone wants to be the best. Spending time with people who are detail and analytically oriented would help me.

I must not assume that people see things as clearly as I do I should only promise things that I can accomplish and deliver

2. Your Skills & ExperienceWhat do you bring to a team; what skills, experience, knowledge, networks that you believe could be of use and value to your entrepreneurial venture. Discuss.

My background gives me a diversity of skills, networks and knowledge of which some will be useful to my team’s entrepreneurial venture. A full list of my skills, experience, knowledge and networks is below this paragraph. Most of my knowledge and experience will not be directly relevant because it is of a political and theoretical nature. However my experience through these types of work with communicating and social marketing will be directly relevant to this project. In addition my experience with working in groups of people in areas such as facilitation, volunteer management and conflict resolution have given me a high level of confidence in

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Ahri Tallonhelping groups to work together effectively and resolve issues. The skills I have gained in my formal qualifications have also given me tools to use that would be relevant to my venture. These include the ability to formally train and assess staff when registered with an appropriate training organisation. Other than this area my informal knowledge areas have limited application to this venture and the hospitality industry more broadly.

Skills Volunteer recruitment and management Public speaking and hosting events Meeting and group facilitation Strategic planning and problem solving Group work and mentoring Conflict management Web & database management Public relations and graphic design skills Policy research and development Coalition and alliance building Developing content and communications Online communication and campaigning Political campaign and project management Marketing and strategic communications strategy and implementation Human resources management Assessing implications for business and contract law Financial accounting data report writing and analysis Training event and program coordination Managing financial and non-financial partnerships and contracts

ExperiencePaid Work

Australian Climate Action Summit: Media and Communications Coordinator; May-November 2014.

Australian Marine Conservation Foundation: Community Survey Contract; November- December 2013.

Mackay Conservation Group: Monthly Donor Campaign Contract; November 2013 – February 2014.

National Tertiary Education Union: Phone banker for EBA campaign at Monash University- late 2013

Life Without Barriers: Out of Home Care & Youth Worker; October 2013- December 2013

Mackay Conservation Group: Coal Ports Campaigner; August 2012 – May 2013

Australian Education for Sustainability Alliance: Founder and Secretariat; January 2011- August 2012

Green Cross Australia: Education Programs Coordinator; March-July 2012 Unions NSW: internship with the National Tertiary Education Union through

the Union Summer program. 2012 Australian Youth Climate Coalition: Queensland State Coordinator; August-

December 2011 Australian Youth Climate Coalition: Power Shift Regional Recruitment

Coordinator; July-August 2011 Bush Regenerator & Landscaper: Contract and casual, 2009-present

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Ahri Tallon Sandwich artist: Subway Restaurants, Lismore, 2005-2007

Volunteer Community Involvement· Co-captain of the Northern Rivers Storm U16s AFL Premiership Winners· Lismore Police Community Youth Club: volunteer internship; 2006-2007.· NSW Police Community Youth Clubs: State Youth Representative; 2006-2007· St Vincent De Paul Society: High School Club Committee Member &

Volunteer 2007-2008· Northern Rivers ‘YES’ Youth Environment Society: founder & secretary; 2009.· Australian Youth Climate Coalition: National Partner Liaison; 2010· Australian Youth Led Convention: AYCC Delegate; 2010· Australian Youth Climate Coalition: NSW State Co-coordinator; November

2010-July 2011· No New Coal Bacchus Marsh: Campaigner, March-July 2012· Australian Conservation Foundation: National Councillor, November 2012-

present· Coal Train Action Group: Sarina. May-October 2013. · Earthworker Cooperative: Online and Communications Coordinator. July-

November 2013· Mackay Recreational Fishing Alliance: webmaster. August 2012- present· Mackay Filipino Australian Association Inc: Typhoon Haiyan Helping Hand

Event Coordinator. Dec 2013· Front Line Action: Leard Forest. January- February 2014· 350.org: Galilee Campaign Convenor. Nov 2013- April 2014· Beyond Zero Emissions. Australia Beyond report contributor. April-July 2014· Beyond Summit Steering Committee 2014· Initiated Flotilla for the Reefs- Townsville Flotilla event coordinator. July-

October 2014· Queensland Greens Economics Working Group Convenor- 2015- present· Brisbane event coordinator for the Bob Massie Just Transitions Tour, 350.org.

February 2015· Qld Just Transitions Action Group Convenor: Feb 2015- present· Queensland Conservation Council, Research Internship: Feb- December

2015

Knowledge Formal Education

o Certificate II in Community Recreation 2005o Certificate I in Literacy Tutoring 2006o Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management, 2009o Southern Cross University Public Interest Advocacy Unit 2011o Centre for Non Violence and Civil Disobedience Four Day Workshop

2012o Tin Can Learning Centre Organisational Transformation Workshop

2012o Greenpeace Basic Actions Training 2012o Toast Masters Speech Craft Course Graduate 2013o Sierra Club Community Organising Workshop 2013o Certificate IV in Training and Assessment 2014o Certificate IV in Volunteer Program Coordination 2014o Permaculture Design Certificate IV 2014

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Ahri Tallono Centre for Sustainability Leadership: Queensland Fellow and

Scholarship recipient- present Informal Education

o Sustainability education industry o Climate changeo The youth sectoro Sustainable farming practiceso Coal mining impactso Renewable energyo Training and facilitation

Networks within Australiao Sustainability education industry o Climate changeo The youth sectoro Sustainable farming practiceso Coal mining impactso Renewable energyo Training and facilitation

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Second Personal Journal Entry Set (10%)Tasks:1. Your Poster Entrepreneur

Profile an entrepreneur that interests or inspires you. It may be an individual or team from history or current era. Use published sources and print media.

Profile Entrepreneur: Elon Musk, 1971-Present

Personal Characteristics

Elon Musk is a South African born, Canadian-American business magnate and entrepreneur involved in multiple high technology ventures and businesses. Musk is described as dedicated, ambitious, determined, comical, confident and impulsive.

Background Mr Musk grew up in South Africa with his father who was an electromechanical engineer. He was severely bullied as a child and was once beat until he passed out. When he was 12 years old he used his computer programming skills to develop a simple game that he sold for $500 US to a software magazine. Musk’s innate characteristics of having a electromechanical engineer father and a privileged education at prestigious Universities have contributed to his success.

Education, Experience and Skills

Mr Musk moved back to Canada with his mothers citizenship and went to college at Queen’s University Kingston. He later moved to the University of Pennsylvania where he completed Bachelor degrees in both physics and economics.

Type of Ventures Mr Musk is the co-founder of Zip2, PayPal and Tesla Motors. All of his ventures reflect a core human or environmental orientation shaped by concern about the direction of the world and the types of business solutions that will be required (David, 2005).

Zip2 is a city guide system that was marketed to newspaper publishing companies. Mr Musk set this company up with his brother and when it was sold received a 7% share of $22 million.

PayPal was a online financial transaction services company that helped internet users make secure payments with credit cards and bank accounts online. In 2002 when Ebay acquired PayPal Mr Musk was given $165 million from the sale for his 11.7% ownership.

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Mr Musk is also the founder of SpaceX a space exploration and development business with ambitions to launch missions and operations into outer space, specifically Mars. The establishment process Musk went through to set up such a ambitious and risky company shows the very low level of risk aversion Musk possesses (David, 2005). The company has launched multiple missions into space and is now a carrier of astronauts to the international space station. His ambitions include hopes to establish a station on Mars by 2020 and a colony on Mars by 2040.

Tesla Motors is the worlds largest electric car company that is aiming to transform the automotive industry away from oil based energy as well as providing battery storage technology to support energy consumers to disconnect from electricity grids by producing and storing their own electricity. To do this it has introduced multiple electric car products and started growing the amount of charging stations around the US and in Europe. Mr Musk is the CEO of Tesla and has allowed all patents of the company to be used by other automobile manufactures in good faith in a bid to speed up the growth in production and usage of electric cars.

SolarCity is the largest photovoltaic production and distribution company in the US and was founded by Mr Musk’s cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive. Musk remains the largest shareholder and recently announced that he would expand the company by building one of the single largest solar panel production facilities in the world.

Economic Climate at Launch

For each of his projects Mr Musk has been fortunate to be part of one of the longest periods of global economic stability and integration that has ever taken place. From the early 1990s to 2008 unprecedented global economic growth and technology change took place that propelled Mr Musk’s business ventures forward. Although there was a slight weakening of the global economy around the late 90s this foundation of growth has been important for attracting the investment that has supported Mr Musk’s projects.

The other key factor in Mr Musk’s success has been the expansion in the use and size of the global internet. The internet has been essential in helping to create the initial financial foundation for Mr Musk’s business aspirations through the share sale profits he received from the first two companies he was involved in. Once he had this financial base he was then able to focus his time and investments on the big projects around sustainable energy and space exploration that he is really passionate about.

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Management Style Because Elon is the CEO of two different companies he has very limited time constraints. In a recent interview he said that he works between 80 and 90 hours per week and has to split his time between his two companies. This reflects a deep achievement orientation in Musk who does not work at all to create an income (if he did he would not need to work anymore) but to solve the problems that he sees are facing the world (David, 2005). This means that he has to be very focused with his leadership and management. He places a lot of trust in his staff by delegating responsibility and management to his teams. This allows him to play a very strategic and design focused role helping to develop the core concepts and value proposition for the companies (Junod, 2014). This design focus attribute reflects Musk’s emphasis and work focus on quality and that he prefers a high level of independence in his work. He is not a managerial leader that likes to organise the company but an independent design leaders that likes to lead by doing (David, 2005).

Vision and Future Outlook

Musk is very passionate about technology and the potential it has to change the future of humanity. When in college he was standing in the shower and decided what would be the key areas of interest to him that would help him make a positive contribution to the world. This moment of insight reflected Musk’s willingness to develop innovations that are aimed at solving the problems humanity as a whole is facing (David, 2005). These were space exploration for continued human existence beyond in a time and special sense, earth. Sustainable energy sources which are expressed through his work with SolarCity and Tesla. Artificial intelligence which he does not work with but is critical of along with gene engineering that he also has strong view about.

Business Philosophy Musk is very nationalist about the United states but describes himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative(Urban, 2014). He is described as being passionately American because of his belief in the countries approach to business, technology, freedom and the market as being core to his own success as a business man. He works with the system in the way that he makes political donations to both the democrats and the republicans to support his projects, especially the SpaceX program.

Innovation Source With a degree in both physics and economics Mr Musk has a deep understanding of the natural laws of the Universe in physics and the laws we have created for our self in the human reality through economics. Musk in described by many as a genesis and someone has a unique capability to learn very quickly about new topics. His first forays into space rockets were initiated with very little knowledge of the industry or experience. He borrowed some books from an advisor who was assisting him and soon abandoned the idea of buying rockets from Russia to propose making the rockets for himself (Forbes, 2015).

Competitive Advantage The competitive advantage of Mr Musk can be seen as his diverse dealings in a range of related but

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very different industries. His work is combining to shape an impression of him as a modern real life iron man character with the wealth, networks, intellect and resources to seriously take on some of the biggest challenges for humanity and make a difference. His design insight and engineering capabilities have meant that he has been heavily involved in even small details of the design of his companies products. This element of his work is another aspect of his competitive advantage in that he is managing and controlling quality and consistent design styles at both a strategic and design level.

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Ahri Tallon2. Discuss you personal reflections on the reason you chose this

entrepreneur and what inspires you about this person. (The entrepreneur maybe well-known, public or local hero. This person (or team) maybe living or dead, maybe current or historical. They may be successful or not but something about them is a source of inspiration for your journey).

I am a young social and environmentally minded business student with a hope to make a contribution to a global transition towards a more just, sustainable and equitable economy. Although Elon Musk has some values that I do not share about politics and the economy I have a lot of respect for his intellect and deeply appreciate the contribution he is making. I think it is important to recognise and acknowledge the contribution someone is making even if you do not necessarily agree with them on every issue.

Growing up I remember hearing stories and watching the documentary about how there was going to be an electric car but large fossil fuel companies bought out and sabotaged the development of the technology before it had gained sufficient momentum to be accessible to the mainstream market. As a young person concerned about the impacts of climate change learning about Elon Musk and the work of Tesla was really inspiring. Someone only twenty years older than myself who had made money from the growth of the internet and invested that money in building the technology solutions that we need to expand the use of renewable energy and decrease our fossil fuel consumption.

One of the important parts of Mr Musk’s work that catches my attention is his multiple but intersecting interests. At one stage of my life I thought I had nailed down a clear long-term strategy for social change that I thought I could follow. I thought that this would be the best technique to have the greatest impact, that is to focus and grow my skills and knowledge in a key area that I thought was not getting enough attention from other change makers. However after having some real world experiences and thinking in-depth about how to create change and the kind of change the world needed I believe that I shifted my thinking to follow the model that Mr Musk has set out. That is the model of being connected to a diversity of different fields, spreading my energy between different projects, doing new things to learn more from amazing people and always checking my assumptions about what I am best at and what is most important. Musk has been an important role model for me to embrace this type of thinking. It is on one level unsettling in the way that I could be forever jumping from career to another. But overall it is exciting knowing that I can feel confident in the knowledge that it is ok to always be doing something new and experiencing new things.

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Ahri TallonThird Personal Journal Entry Set

(5%)Tasks:1. Your Poster Entrepreneurial Company

Discuss a business this entrepreneur has developed (it maybe a current business, a past, historical business or business they have sold). In your discussion, tell what the business does, what is it offering, what is its mission and vision. Discuss its origins and beginnings up to current. Give its history and performance. Its employee relations and its company culture.

2. Discuss why you chose this company. What appeals to you about what this company is doing, acting and trying to achieve. State & discuss what you would take away from this company to emulate and why?

Tesla

Core Function Producing electric powered automobile, charger stations for these automobiles and batteries that operate both in the automobiles but that are also able to be installed in the home for home energy storage.

Product Offerings

Each vehicle comes in a range of different models that provide different features around speed, battery life, distance it can cover and extra features.

Tesla Roadster- This car was the first car produced by Tesla and was a high performance sports car.

Model S- the Model S was the first Tesla mass produced automobile. It is a sedan with a sleek sports car look. It was the 2013 Green Car of the year and was the first electric car to top sales rankings in any country.

Model X- the Model X is a larger vehicle with the capacity to seat seven passengers. It has the largest panoramic window in production and has all wheel drive as on optional feature.

Super Chargers- Super chargers are permanently installed charging stations that are located at high frequency travel routes for Tesla automobile owners to use.

Powerwalls- Powerwall’s are the lithium batteries used in the Tesla automobile models designed and sold for use in the home or business to provide electricity stability to the home. The main purpose of the product is for it to be used in conjunction with solar panels to give a home 24hr electricity and the ability to disconnect from the grid.

Mission To accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible.

Vision To see emissions zero sustainable transport and home energy solutions be brought to the entire world.

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Ahri TallonOrigins Tesla started in 2003 when a group of Silicon Valley electrical

engineers came together to bring back the electric car from its defeat in the 1990s. The company is named after electrical engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla who invented the electrical arc furnace along with the original AC Moter that Tesla invented in 1882 which the Tesla motor descends from.

History The group did not have a lot of finance and they knew that what ever they developed that it would be very expensive. They knew that it would take time to develop the economies of scale and efficiency to be able to mass produce affordable electric vehicles. Although Mark Tappening and Martin Eberhard were the original company founders in 2003 Elon Musk became the primary investor and the chair of the board in 2004. Elon took an active role in the company in terms of product design but was not involved at an operational level. Since then there has been series of rounds of investment in the car company and moments when such consistent losses were made it was possible the company would become bankrupt. However thanks to the Tesla Roadster in 2009 the company filed its first profit of $1 million from a revenue of $20 million in sales. Soon after the company received more finance from investors like the Google founder Larry Page and from the US Governments Department of Energy and Transports low interest loans program (Tesla, 2015). The company is now increasing production scale of the Model S and Model X whilst also building the Gigafactory which is designed to produce 35mwh of lithium battery cells per annum by 2020.

Performance In recent years Tesla has been growing very quickly. It has opened showroom and sales stores across Europe, Asia, Asia Pacific and America. The production of the Model X and Model S cars has seen an increasing uptake of the vehicles all around the world. In early 2010 the company was made public on the share market with an initial share price offering $20. Since then the share price has grow consistently reaching heights of $287 and at the time of this report sitting at $227. The company has partnered with a diversity of different electrical companies and automobile companies including Toyota, Panasonic, Daimler and Mercedes Benz. Many commentators attribute the sleek design, performance and quality of the Tesla vehicles for its success from separating itself from the many other, often failing electrical car companies (Muller, 2014).

Employment Relations

The Tesla manufacturing plants in Silicon Valley are not currently Unionised. However it is known that a high level of the operations of the factory are highly automized with some state of the art robotic auto manufacturing equipment. As a result can manufacturing workers that work at the factory often have a high level of technical qualifications and are often involved predominantly with machine maintenance, programming, quality assurance and overall factory management. It is reported that the United Auto Workers union in America are planning on organising the factory and have set up an organising committee who has met with CEO Elon Musk

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Ahri Tallon(Baker, 2014).

Company Culture The Tesla Car company describes itself as a technological company that just happens to make cars. Many of the leaders within the company have online and technology backgrounds because the software and processes being used by the company are changing so quickly, roughly every 3 months to maintain the competitive edge and efficiency of the company (Nicholson, 2014).

2. Discuss why you chose this company. What appeals to you about what this company is doing, acting and trying to achieve. State & discuss what you would take away from this company to emulate and why?

Tesla appealed to me because it is a modern company trying to solve big resource and pollution problems with a sophisticated multi sector approach. The company is not only creating the potential for sustainable transport solutions but is also building the potential for high quality battery technology that has the potential to transform the global energy industry. The philosophy of the company is game changing in the way it has opened the doors for other companies to use, replicate and copy its designs and systems with the intention that this will assist the energy revolution to take place as fast as possible. They recognise that the climate crisis calls for a new type of business that is not just drawn towards profits but sees its role in society as being an important part of human response to the problem. In this way they do not just seek to create profitable products but products that will be sustainable, they then figure out how to make them profitable without jeopardising the initial objective.

The appeal of this deep drive towards such an egalitarian and progressive vision is that they are doing the work that so many governments have attempted to do with little success. In addition they are attempting to do what other companies have attempted to do but failed at. They reflect the greatest in human innovation, spirit, compassion, perseverance and determination to create the answers in this dangerous time for humanity.

In my business career I have no moral alternative than to be part of businesses with a similar philosophy towards human need as Tesla has. My ambitions will draw me towards new and innovative business models that are using the power of networks, human interest, desire for quality and resource efficiency to the highest level. They will take me on a journey to explore the existing models of creating value whilst also solving environmental resource constraints in every way possible. Although my endeavours make not be as audacious and bold as that as Tesla’s I will not limit my dreams. Like Elon Musk did I will work to identify the biggest problems facing the world and what kind of solutions are going to be important to solve these problems. But as long as I find a meaningful way to make a significant difference I will be happy. To be specific though there are a number of significant elements of Tesla that I would like to incorporate into the projects I work on throughout my life:

Clean cut and futuristic style and design making tomorrow today. Sharing design and patented information to fast track the commercialisation of

solutions to the world market. Establishing partnerships with existing industry businesses to share ideas,

technology and establish credibility.

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Ahri Tallon Having a phased strategy to bring a product from a niche top of the market

item to an affordable mass market product. Involvement and engagement in the political debate about the future of its

industry. Use and development of modern internet and renewable energy technology.

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Ahri TallonForth Personal Journal Entry Set (15%)Tasks:1. Poster Company’s BMC

Using the company in Set 3; and the Business Model Canvas from Text, develop & draw this company’s Business Model Canvas. Discuss the 9 building blocks of the canvas with respect to the company. Provide evidence where possible to justify your understanding of this company’s business model. In your discussion, determine the Business Model Pattern used (see text). (Example: see Nespresso Model pp236-7 text)

The BMC is attached in the appendix.

2. Using the SWOT Assessment in Text (pp216-223) Assess this company’s BMC. Discuss your assessment. Attach your copy of the Assessment survey in Appendix.

Full SWOT analysis table attached in appendix.

StrengthsThe Tesla car company is continuing to grow its profits since its first recorded profit in 2013. Anticipation is building for the arrival and growth of the Tesla powerwall. This has been built by a combination of fan fare surrounding Elon Musk’s past business success, the novelty of a electric car and the multi-sector influencing ramifications of the innovations the companies are developing. The identification of the company as a technology leader is placing it very closely to the values and aspirations of many young people seeking to be seen at the leading edge of technology consumption with the bonus of a ethical standard in their product choices.

Weaknesses The greatest strength in brining forward a new technology is Tesla’s greatest weakness. The risk that if the technology shows weakness people will label it a red herring and revert back to focused usage of the old technology. The high start up costs, unreliable development of battery technology and risk that the company is trying to cove too much too quickly all add to the weaknesses of the company. A key weakness from the author’s perspective is choosing high levels of quality assurance through in hours manufacturing of most components. This puts the prices up and creates supply risk compared to companies with more diverse supply sources. It is an attempt to preference product quality over product security and a more pragmatic financial approach to the industry.

OpportunitiesThe potential growth of renewable energy usage makes the electric vehicle potentially a much more affordable car to run in the long term. As solar panels become cheaper the incentive to use electric vehicles will increase because people will be able to have full energy and transport fuel independence. A major game changing element of the global economy is the level of action on climate change. If governments around the world agree on a new set of binding emissions reduction targets at the upcoming climate talks in Paris then this will see an increase in the usage of emissions reductions targets and mechanisms. This will in turn increase the relative price of fossil fuel usage which will then make renewable energy and electric vehicles more price competitive.

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ThreatsBecause electric vehicles are a relatively new sector major car companies have not yet fully embraced them as part of their planned strategies. Although greener cars are being produced they have not been emphasised by marketing strategies and are not yet the leading models in terms of car sales. This makes the threat of increased competition with other electric vehicles from large car companies significant. In addition a major threat is the cost and time taken to recharge vehicles. For many parts of the world there will not be the option to have an electric car before there is a big enough market potential to validate Tesla putting in the chargers. This type of product and brand expansion is slow and could lead to interception by a faster charging model.

3. Using Blue Ocean Strategy (pp228-231 text) can you re-invent or improve your assumed company’s business model. Discuss your steps and give your final adapted canvas.

Adapted canvas attached in the appendix.

Because Tesla Motors already uses Blue Ocean Strategy it is difficult to re-invent the companies business model but it is possible to suggest additions within the Blue Ocean Strategy scope that may or may not add value to the business.

Elements of Blue Ocean Strategy already in Tesla Motors: First electric zero emissions vehicle that is also a sports car with the fastest

acceleration recorded. First completely electric vehicle with charger stations established for it. First electric vehicle with a range of over 200 miles. Elimination of the traditional fossil fuel gasoline engine. Ambition in strategy to produce electric cars affordable to working people. Growing economy of scale with spreading charging stations that offer free

charging incentivising more car purchases. Tesla is working to build common industry standards for plugs so all charging

stations can use the same charging plugs to increase industry customer accessibility.

Investment to build the $5 billion Gigafactory aims to build batteries at a rate that creates a cheaper economy of scale.

Although they did not build the first electric vehicle they were the first to add superior design and high performance.

An intention to increase the variety of electric vehicles available to customers.

Additional possible Blue Ocean Strategy Elements for Tesla Motors:

Tesla could appeal to a growing market of green consumers who live more independent lives and want even more efficient transport with a personal vehicle option/ motorbike.

The establishment of Tesla owners clubs to connect like minded users. The creation of added benefits and services for being a Tesla customer

through interactions at Supercharging stations. Alternatively Supercharging stations could be a lucrative site for

advertisements sales.

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Ahri Tallon Offering the choice to customers to customize their vehicle with chosen

designs, paint, style features, etc would help to promote the mainstream vehicles to higher end customers.

The ability to connect you battery in your car easily to your house when you are not driving

Fifth Personal Journal Entry Set (Reflective Overview) (Compulsory) (10%)Tasks:Journal Part 1 18

Ahri Tallon1. What have you learnt or gained during the reading of the text and delivery

of the subject, both about yourself and the nature of entrepreneurship and innovation?

a. What did you personally gain from the subject, discuss? b. What did you find beneficial? c. What areas do you believe were of little or no benefit? Discuss.

(Both 1 & 2 Must include cites and references from text and subject material to provide evidence of subject understanding and knowledge by linking with subject materials).

Section 5.1

What have I learnt about myself?

Since the beginning of this subject I have become more aware of what are my strong entrepreneurial tendencies that I have as strengths and that I have to work on to improve. I have also learnt more about something I already knew a little bit in how interested I am in design models and thinking. Using the ‘Business Model Generation’ book taught me a lot about different business models that I found very useful and informative in understanding the potential structures and relationships that can make a business successful in different circumstances.

Growing up my father always considered himself a self-styled entrepreneur. He was always developing new invention or product ideas and trying to get them started. Most of them were not very successful and I worry how much money he has spent on these ideas. I am like my father in that I have always had a lot of ideas. My ideas have been very different from my fathers practical, mechanical and physical ideas. My ideas reflect my interests and my generational experience, they are relevant to communication, politics, design, the internet and business models or service value creation. Ever since I started having ideas I have pursued very few of them (although some I have pursued with relative great success) because I was always fearful of wasting too much energy and not finding success. It is not that I do not appreciate the importance of learning through making mistakes. It is just I prefer my mistakes to be incremental and technical rather than conceptual. What I am getting to is that I have realised that I may have been a little too cautious about my will to develop some of my ideas. However what I have learnt from this subject has given me renewed confidence to start testing and developing some of my ideas. Not only that it has given me the skills and tools to properly develop my ideas following the tried and tested processes and concepts that I have learnt about.

What have I learnt about the nature of entrepreneurship and innovation? What did you personally gain from the subject, discuss? What did you find beneficial?

The 5 Stage Entrepreneurial process and explanation of Lean Start-Up advantages help me to understand the approach that needs to be taken when developing a business idea. This was very significant to me because I have observed my father attempt to get so many business ideas going with very little success. I do not think he had ever tried to follow a clear methodology of how to plan his business development strategy. This may be why he has had such little success. One area I found interesting during the first week was learning about the entrepreneurial culture in Singapare. The country has the second highest amount of entrepreneurs in the

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Ahri Tallonworld after the US and the highest amount of entrepreneurs who are working with an orientation to doing business with partners outside of the country a(Olexander S. Chernyshenko, 2013 . Singapore: Nanyang Technological University.). The report explained other cultural and psychological traits of the countries entrepreneurial culture which I found highly beneficial. I have heard many times about the remarkable and rapid economic development of Singapore over the last thirty years and this report has made me even more eager to learn about how it has happened and the current business culture and environment even more.

As someone with a keen interest in policy, politics and the questions surrounding how we transition to a slower, more localised and sustainable economy I found the Australian Entrepreneurship Assessment report very helpful in understanding what has supported the high levels of Australian entrepreneurship. Specifically what the current programs and initiatives are that support this element of Australian culture and how it can be further progressed (Research, 2011).

Figure 1 The Institutional Context and its Relationship to Entrepreneurs (Research, 2011)

Following this I found the discussion and information about models of intrapreneur characteristics and qualities very useful. My perspective of the world deeply appreciates the rate and scale of global change we are experiencing. I see out dated models of business, government, leadership, culture, technology being used everywhere. Because of the institutional structure our society has chosen to use in organising itself the reality is that there are a lot of skills and resources caught in institutions that are struggling to adapt fast enough or come to terms with their sudden irrelevance. In one way my interest in starting new models and organisations is founded upon frustration with this slow adaptation to change and my dis-interest in dealing with reluctant leaders who do not want to change. However after learning about topic two and the four models of intrapreneurship in sustained regeneration, organisation rejuvenation, strategic renewal and domain redefinition I have come to a better appreciation of the need to work with some existing institutions to facilitate change. If this is not done to some level we will lose a lot of resources through wasted energy. Some people really do not want to change and it is no use forcing them but others just need a bit more encouragement to be open to learning and change can take place very quickly.

Journal Part 1 20

Ahri TallonSholl’s (1998) list of the top ten qualities for intrapreneur’s was insightful because I had never thought about the concepts being used from the perspective of someone already inside a business or department. Because I am a very independent person I always imagined myself using them in the context of setting out by myself to start a new business. However after looking through this information I found it very useful. It made me think of times in my life in which I have tried to facilitate change inside an organisation but had difficulty. I made me think about what were the things I could have done differently but also about how encouraging or not were the organisations that I had worked for. Going forward, although I do want to start my own initiatives I now further appreciate the value of experiencing and having capacity to trigger change within an organisation successfully and the skill that this process takes.

Another important learning experience for me was learning about the concepts behind social entrepreneurship. Although I am by no means anti-business or anti-private ownership I am quite critical of the impacts that out of control free market capitalism and increasing inequality are having on the world. As a result I am very interested in the social models of business and ‘Corporation B’ law that prioritise not just profits but also social and environmental outcomes in a legally enforceable way. I am also very interested in cooperative models of ownership that I believe have the potential to bring more stability to our economies and reinvigorate the culture of democracy through our society by making it core to every day life. This perspective made the Social Return on Investment model very interesting as a way to quantify the social good being created. Of course the social cost savings element is always going to be subjective and thus requires debateable rules to then enforce a standard method of accounting.

Learning about the types of innovations models and the organisational contexts they have come from was very insightful. For me some of this information reinforced my earlier mentioned scepticism of large organisations because I see the type that creates new low resource intensive markets as the most important type of innovation. That is unless there are ways to compete at the low end of existing markets with greatly reduced resource and energy usage. But then at the same time some large organisations are learning to embrace innovation and creativity such as at Apple and Google where staff get time each week to work on their own innovative projects that can work within google. Joseph Schumpeter’s five categories of innovation I think were very broad as they seem to include the process of adapting an existing product for it to suit a new market etc which I do not see as innovation which to me is creating something quite new. It was shocking but not unexpected to learn that over 95% of all radical innovations came from firms with less than 20 people employed (Hall, 2004). This just affirms how important it is to be flexible and adaptive.

Learning about the process of customer development as part of lean product design and development was enlightening as it started to really explain to me how the internet has really accelerated innovation. The internet has essentially made the market of the whole world easily available to product and service developers to

Journal Part 1 21

Ahri Talloncommunicate with in testing and developing a business. It has changed the cost of market research and exploration dramatically making it easier for niche businesses to launch and be successful through network markets and other new business models (Osterwalder, 2010). The emphasis given in the lectures, the textbook, readings all directed me to think that the new approach to business is not alone but together. Only together with the customers can lasting and adaptable value be developed to support sustainable business operations. The customer identification and validation process shown in the supplementary readings and lecture slides further reoriented my understanding of the strategic focus needed when developing business ideas. Frustratingly we did not follow this process as well as we could in developing our business model. If we had of we may have came up with a much more concise and clearly communicated business plan.

Developing business ideas is something I do for fun quite often. However now I have a clear set of criteria and set of processes to analyse my ideas with. I specifically like the Kaplan and Warren set of factors that create an opportunity because of the orientation it has towards analysing the potential longevity of the idea. The questions entrepreneurs must ask themselves under the technology, economic and demographic factors really analyse what it will take to make the business model sustainable.

Journal Part 1 22

Ahri Tallon

One of the most beneficial parts of the subject I found to be the available model designs and ideas in the Business Model Generation hand book (Osterwalder, 2010). Specifically because of my sustainability and social entrepreneurship interests the models I found most appealing were the long tail model which creates customer democratisation along with the ‘freemium’ model. By using these models and applying them to different existing industrys, relationships between current technology innovations and accessibility for different markets I hope to further develop some of my business ideas.

In conclusion this has been one of the most interesting and informative subjects that I have taken. It has taught me about the necessary processes to develop sound and effective business models with the potential of initiating them in the real world. Knowing the customer and market financial and statistical information necessary to understand the viability of the business model has also been very useful. The Business Model Generation (2010) and the subject material will be referenced by me in the coming years as I attempt to develop my own business.

What areas do you believe were of little or no benefit? Discuss.

All of the subject was valuable to me and taught me things that I believe I will probably use during my career. But I will comment that some of the methods of delivery could be better designed for distance students. Specifically the Dragons Den group assignment could be designed to support distance students to work together to produce quality business proposals and pitches. I found some of the members of my group without enough time to properly contribute to the subject and so the rest of the group suffered in terms of being able to produce the best work we could have. The assignment could have had phased delivery in which there were progressive due dates for different sections of the report. This way the group may not have left too much of the work until very close to the due date. In addition a mid-project peer contribution review sheet could have assisted if its results had overall marking consequences. This also would have encouraged students to take more participation and not leave everything until the last minute.

Journal Part 1 23

Ahri Tallon

Section 5.2

2. Have any changes occurred since Session 1 day 1, in terms of your own perceptions of whether you might seek to be more entrepreneurial or innovative?

In the GETS survey I received a score of 47 that classed me as highly entrepreneurial. This was some good positive reinforcement for me because I have actively tried to be entrepreneurial for a very long time. However I do believe that this subject has made me even more entrepreneurial. I am thinking differently about what I see and hear around me. I think about value, I think about business models and structures and I ask more questions to people I know who are working in or running businesses. I have begun to develop ideas for different businesses and have spent time mapping out the value proposition and other elements of the canvas model to test the viability of the idea. These were all things that I never did before the subject. Yes I had ideas about how to make money and what people would value but I did not have the strategic and process understanding of what it takes to set up a business to think to deeply about it further. I am really looking forward to finishing University now because I want to have the time to develop some different ideas and see whether they can work. Of course I want to try and get a job to learn some skills and save a bit of money to use as personal financial capital but I want to be developing my own business ideas at the same time.

Appendix

1) GETS Answering and Scoring Sheet: Ahri Tallon

Row 1 46

A

D

37

A

D

28

A

D

19

A

D

10

A

D

1

A

D

6

Row 2 47

A

D

38

A

D

29

A

D

20

A

D

11

A

D

2

A

D

6

Row 3 48

A

D

39

A

D

30

A

D

21

A

D

12

A

D

3

A

D

4

Journal Part 1 24

Ahri TallonRow 4 49

A

D

40

A

D

31

A

D

22

A

D

13

A

D

4

A

D

6

Row 5 50

A

D

41

A

D

32

A

D

23

A

D

14

A

D

5

A

D

4

Row 6 51

A

D

42

A

D

33

A

D

24

A

D

15

A

D

6

A

D

5

Row 7 52

A

D

43

A

D

34

A

D

25

A

D

16

A

D

7

A

D

5

Row 8 53

A

D

44

A

D

35

A

D

26

A

D

17

A

D

8

A

D

6

Row 9 54

A

D

45

A

D

36

A

D

27

A

D

18

A

D

9

A

D

5

CALCULATING YOUR SCORE

How to score your response:Starting with box 1 in the top right hand corner of your Answer and scoring sheet and working across to the left, give yourself one point for every D that you have circulated in the SHADED boxes, for example:

Also, give yourself one point for every A that you have circled in the unshaded boxes, for example:

Journal Part 1

1

AD

1

AD

1

AD

1

AD

1

AD

1

AD

10

AD

10

AD

10

AD

10

AD

10

AD

10

AD

25

Ahri TallonWhen you have added up your total score for each row, write it down in the Row Tally. When you have calculated all rows transfer your scores for each row into the boxes below.

Note: Even numbers on the scoring sheet represent positive entrepreneurial statementsShaded odd numbers on the scoring sheet represent negative entrepreneurial statements.

Row 1 6+ Add together = 11 =Need for

achievementRow 6 5

Row 3 4 Only 4 =Need for autonomy

Row 5 4+ Add together = 10 =Creative tendency

Row 8 6

Row 2 6+ Add together = 11 =Calculated risk

takingRow 9 5

Row 7 5+ Add together = 11 =Locus of Control

Row 4 647 =Total Score

(right column)WHAT the SCORES MEASURE:The GET test measures enterprising tendency by measuring five entrepreneurial attributes as follows:

1. Need for Achievement:-This is measured in row 1 & row 6 of the scoring

sheet. i.e.: statements 1,10,19,28,37,46 &

6,15,24,33,42,51.2. Need for Autonomy:-

This is measured in row 3. i.e.: statements 3,12,21,30,39,48

3. Creative Tendency:-This is measured in rows 5 & 8. i.e.: statements

5,14,23,32,41,50 &8,17,26,35,44,53

4. Calculated Risk Taking:- This is measured in rows 2 & 9. i.e.: statements

2,11,20,29,38,47 &9,18,27,36,45,54

5. Locus of Control:-This is measured in rows 4 & 7. i.e.: statements

Journal Part 1 26

Ahri Tallon4,13,22,31,40,49 &7,16,25,34,43,52

General Enterprising Tendency (GET)The maximum score (representing General Enterprising Tendency) is 54.44 – 54 This score means that you are very enterprising (HIGH)26 – 43 This score means that you have some enterprising qualities (MEDIUM)0 – 26 This score means that you are probably happiest working with guidance from superiors (LOW)

Journal Part 1 27

Ahri Tallon2) Tesla BMC

Key PartnersPartners Over 150

suppliers of over 2000 parts

Investors eg Angel Investros, Google,

Key Suppliers: Chei Mei Opto GARMIN

navigation systems,

Google Earth map overlays,

NVIDIA TEGRA 3,

3G modems from Sierra

Panasonic Toyota Mercedes

Key Activities Designing and building assemblies

inside their cars Tesla Sports Car manufacturing Tesla Model S manufacturing Tesla Model X manufacturing Car dealerships Powerwall manufacturing at the

gigafactory Manufacturing and installing charging

stations (112 so for in the US, 4 in Australia)

Establishing service centres

Value Proposition Batteries

available to create home energy independence and security

Environmental friendly cars

High acceleration vehicles

Longest driving range of any electric car

Unique power train design

FREE charging at supercharger stations

3 different battery options

Customer Relationships Update and newsletter

services via website Software updates for

vehicles via wifi Expanding charger

station network Tesla owners clubs

being established

Customer Segments Wealthy

ethically conscious consumers

Wealthy panel owners to purchase batteries

In the future Tesla aims to sell cars to people for under $30,000

Key Resources Reputation for open sourcing its

innovations Location in the San Jose Technology strip Largest battery factory in the world almost

complete Strong leadership Story system Financial investments Media interest Government support

ChannelsSales are made directly to customers via Tesla dealerships all around the world and through the website for car shipments to remote places.

Journal Part 1 28

Ahri TallonCost Structure

Start up capital: Venture capital, Start up sunk costs: set up, marketing, staff training,

manufacturing plant costs Variable costs: Payroll, related, materials, partnerships,

batteries are the largest single cost, Fixed costs: Rent, Loan repayments, Utilities, Licensing

costs, Insurance, Depreciation and other administrative overheads

Federal loans to support environmentally friendly carsBroke into profit in 2013 Q1

Revenue Streams Licensing agreements with Toyota and Mercedes for Electric

Power Train Designs. Direct sales of cars Direct sales of powerwall batteries

3) Tesla SWOT AssessmentStrengths High level of brand awareness Growing environmental awareness and preference

towards green consumption Reputation has been built on style and building the first

fully electric car In-house assembly Strong technology areas of speciality Very high quality staff with experience in biggest car

makers Strong leadership in Elon Musk who has experiencing

starting multiple companies Multiple awards for their car designs with the Model S

winning the 2013 Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award They are located in the technology centre of Silicon Valley

California They have celebrity customers including George

Clooney, Matt Damon, David Letterman, the founders of Google etc.

Weaknesses High start up costs Low current availability of Lithium and other rare earths

required for batteries High costs due to low economies of scale due to in-

house assembly High cost of batteries makes them more expensive than

most competitors The CEO is the CEO of two different companies possibly

compromising leadership capacity The cost of building charging stations is high and does

not guarantee them the sales to pay for them Batteries still have a relatively low capacity to fuel

storage

Journal Part 1 29

Ahri TallonOpportunities Expansion of supply relationships with other car

manufacturers Increasing support from governments for environmentally

friendly vehicles Increasing global action on climate change increasing

demand for vehicles and batteries They have open sourced their designs which means their

name will be spread where ever their designs are being used.

Wars and oil price spikes will increase fuel cost adding incentives to buy electric cars.

The possibility of all electric cars using starndardised charging plugs that allows Tesla to sell energy to people when they recharge.

Threats Increased competition through major car companies New oil reserves found and increased levels of extraction

drives fuel prices down Ambition to sell lower cost electric car could be

intercepted by another company Weakness of changing cultural paradigms by challenging

a very old technology of combustion engines If battery technology does not continue to improve as it

has. More car companies are making greener cars. Media coverage of battery accidents making the news.

4) Tesla Blue Ocean Strategy BMCKey PartnersPartners Over 150

suppliers of over 2000 parts

Investors eg Angel Investros, Google,

Key Suppliers: Chei Mei Opto GARMIN

navigation systems,

Google Earth

Key Activities Designing and building assemblies

inside their cars Tesla Sports Car manufacturing Tesla Model S manufacturing Tesla Model X manufacturing Tesla Mode I personal transporter

manufacturing Car dealerships Powerwall manufacturing at the

gigafactory Manufacturing and installing charging

stations (112 so for in the US, 4 in Australia)

Establishing service centres

Value Proposition Batteries available to

create home energy independence and security

Environmental friendly cars

High acceleration vehicles Longest driving range of

any electric car Unique power train design FREE charging at

supercharger stations 3 different battery options The ability to connect

you battery in your car

Customer Relationships Update and

newsletter services via website

Software updates for vehicles via wifi

Expanding charger station network

Tesla owners clubs being established

Interaction at Supercharging

Customer Segments Wealthy

ethically conscious consumers

Wealthy panel owners to purchase batteries

In the future Tesla aims to sell cars to people

Journal Part 1 30

Ahri Tallonmap overlays,

NVIDIA TEGRA 3,

3G modems from Sierra

Panasonic Toyota Mercedes

easily to your house when you are not driving your car very often.

Added services available at Superchargers

Customisation options on cars

stations for under $30,000Key Resources

Reputation for open sourcing its innovations Location in the San Jose Technology strip Largest battery factory in the world almost

complete Strong leadership Story system Financial investments Media interest Government support

ChannelsSales are made directly to customers via Tesla dealerships all around the world and through the website for car shipments to remote places.

Cost Structure Start up capital: Venture capital, Start up sunk costs: set up, marketing, staff training,

manufacturing plant costs Variable costs: Payroll, related, materials, partnerships,

batteries are the largest single cost, Fixed costs: Rent, Loan repayments, Utilities, Licensing

costs, Insurance, Depreciation and other administrative overheads

Federal loans to support environmentally friendly carsBroke into profit in 2013 Q1

Revenue Streams Licensing agreements with Toyota and Mercedes for Electric

Power Train Designs. Direct sales of cars Direct sales of powerwall batteries Advertising at Superchargers

References:Journal Part 1 31

Ahri Tallon

Baker, D. R. (2014). Unions Press for Place with Tesla. SFGATE. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Unions-press-for-place-with-Tesla-5109708.php

Forbes. (2015). Elon Musk. Forbes 400. Hall, D. (2004). The Innovative Organisation. Retrieved from Entrecode: Junod, T. (2014). Elon Musk: Triumph of His Will. Retrieved from http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a16681/elon-musk-interview-1212/Muller, J. (2014). The Real Reason Tesla Is Still Arive Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2013/05/11/the-real-reason-tesla-is-still-alive-and-other-green-car-companies-arent/Nicholson, D. (2014). Inside Tesla- A Rare Glimpse of Electric Carmaker's Culture. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Unions-press-for-place-with-Tesla-5109708.phpOlexander S. Chernyshenko, M. A. U., David Gomulya, Francis L. K. Wong, Moon-ho R. Ho, Yoke Yong Lai, Kim Yin Chan & Olwen

Bedford. (2013 . Singapore: Nanyang Technological University.). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 Singapore Report. Retrieved from Singapore:

Osterwalder, A. (2010). Business Model Generation. A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Hoboken NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Research, T. A. C. f. E. (2011). National Entrepreneurship Assessment for Australia. Retrieved from Australia: Tesla. (2015). About Tesla. Retrieved from http://www.teslamotors.com/en_AU/aboutUrban, T. (2014). Elon Musk: The World's Raddest Man. Retrieved from http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/05/elon-musk-the-worlds-raddest-

man.html

Journal Part 1 32