Executive Summary-Entrepreneurship

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

To:  Professor Palermo
Subject: Entrepreneurship
Team name: 4
Section: 4
Team Members:
Anna Sklyarova (Ford)
Ryan Ong (Time Warner)
Michael Obrycki (Continental Airlines)
Alex Reminick (Goodyear)
Written by: Anna Sklyarova

Often the most successful companies are the ones that were bought off or have transferred in ownership from the initial idea makers. Smart investors with financial and marketing know-how can easily take a company based on an innovative idea from nothing to the top. 
    Coca-Cola is one of the most recognizable and powerful symbols in the world today. One would never imagine that something so identifiable was started in a backyard. Dr. John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in a three-legged kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886. It debuted as a five-cent non-carbonated beverage. After creating the final product, Pemberton sold part of the Coca-Cola Company to Asa Candler and after Pemberton's death the remainder was sold to Candler. Under Candler’s progressive management the first syrup manufacturing plant was created in 1884 and large scale bottling of Coca Cola began in 1899.
The Time Warner Incorporation is an aggregation of a variety of media companies such as Time Inc. and Warner Bros., which merged in 1990 and then further merged in 2000 with AOL under the chairmanship of Steve Case. The company has been developing and changing its focus as new business opportunities have presented themselves.
     Although Walter T. Varney and his partner, Louis Mueller, were the technical fathers of Continental Airlines, they ran it only for two years before selling it to Robert F. Six. Today, most people consider Six as the true founder and entrepreneur of Continental Airlines, responsible for making Continental the fourth largest airline service in the United States. He took it from a limited regional operation to longer routes to larger cities, transforming the regional into a trunkline.
Henry Ford was widely known for his engineering capabilities but he was almost entirely uninterested in the actual management of the Ford Motor Company. It was not until 1919, when the presidency of the company transferred from Henry Ford’s hands into Edsel Ford’s, the person who held the company together behind the scenes in business and administration that Ford facilities were expanded to foreign locations. Edsel expanded on the aesthetics of the cars and service as the prime factors in Ford sales. (Ford.com)
Many companies benefit from their environment. If the social and economic background of the time is well suited to the type of product being marketed, then even a product that at any other time might have gone unnoticed can be catapulted in prominence.
The first Goodyear factory opened in Akron, Ohio in 1898. In 1901 Frank Seiberling provided Henry Ford with racing tires. By 1908 Ford was outfitting his Model T with Goodyear tires. The company grew with the advent of the automobile. In 1912 Goodyear manufactured its first aircraft tire. Both Ford and Goodyear contributed significantly in outfitting the Allies during World War I and this provided them with a strong financial base for future operations.
During World War II, Continental's Denver maintenance facilities became a conversion center where the airline converted B-17s, B-29s and P-51s for the United States Army Air Force. Profits from military transportation and aircraft conversion enabled Continental to contemplate expansion and acquisition of new aircraft types that became available following the war.
Many companies start out with an individual with a enterprising idea. However often these individuals are too focused on their ideas to be able to effectively promote them. Thus it is important to bring in new administrators or allow the idea to be marketed by someone with a strong drive. Multiple factors come into play once you actually start promoting the idea, the most important being “Is this the right environment and time for this product to succeed?” Companies that are lucky enough to fulfill the requirements of rigorous management and convenient timing are the most likely to succeed.