CURRENT AFFAIRS
‘Until we get a properly functioning banking system, then there’s going to be little progress’
being the end of the road, these moments can be starting points for new organisational ventures, what I call ‘ex mortae’ entrepreneurial ventures,” saysWalsh. “I know it is very difficult for the many Irish people who are feeling
the pain but, inmy mind, Irish society is facing a true opportunity here, if we choose to take advantage of it, to spur on more entrepreneurship, and to try and find some sense of collective energy in these moments, to shape the collective conversation in a different way.” Walsh believes it is important to move away from the blame game
and to start looking forward. “Ireland has all sorts of social, political and economic advantages that we need to look to, a cultural heritage that’s strong and people psychologically tied to this country all around the world,” he says. “This really is an opportunity to change the way we think about
things and look at what is good here and what we want more of. As difficult as that is in moments like these, that is the path towards building our economy and our organisational structures back up. “Entrepreneurship starts at the grassroots level and the key to rebuilding, regenerating our success on a more solid foundation, is through taking the risks to build new organisations,” insistsWalsh. “That is a challenge for a lot of people. I ask my students what
stops them from investing their time, energy and resources into starting a new organisation and, by and large, it is the fear of failure. There’s no doubt that entrepreneurial ventures are high risk in and of themselves, but there’s also a high potential reward – ventures that can produce more satisfying careers for the entrepreneur as well as building the economic life of our society and our local economies.” He believes more needs to be done to ensure people get to hear
about the success stories, and points to the recent Entrepreneurs Live series at UCD Business School. “This gives people a chance to hear from entrepreneurs who have been successful, to hear what it’s like to start a new business, and the challenges involved. “More than anything that’s what people need, because the task of
starting a new organisation can seem daunting to someone who’s never done it. Finding ways to get the role models out there, thus building the capacity and the courage of would-be entrepreneurs is a big piece of the puzzle.” Walsh says he sees that entrepreneurial hunger among his students.
“It is a matter of stoking that interest and getting people to see that they can be successful. The current sense of failure that has pervaded so many organisations, and that we see on the news every day, these have to some extent imprinted on people a sense of doom and gloom. “The way past that inmy mind is to really start some new conver- sations, to get people together to really start thinking about their own strengths: ‘What skills do I bring to this situation?; What inter- ests do I have?; What people do I know who have access to resources?; What can I do from where I amnow to give this a shot?’”
20 UCD BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
What is more, entrepreneurship does not have to be an all-or- nothing venture, says Walsh. “Many successful entrepreneurs have started their organisation on a small scale, on an experimental basis, even while they’re still working in another job. “I would encourage people to look at their current situation, their
current organisation and their own personal careers and look at what’s great about them, to really think about what they have avail- able to them and how they can harness that energy, those resources to do something meaningful and personally exciting – whether that is within the organisation, or a new venture.” In his own research,Walsh has looked at organisations like Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), the large US-based computer com- pany that had a strong presence in Ireland until the Nineties. “Digital itself has been gone from the corporate landscape for over 12 years, but if you look around you see evidence of people who have emerged from that context and taken the risk to create newventures. “You see new businesses that have in some way tapped into DEC’s technological capacities, people who have gone on to new settings that have used the DEC cultural model or management philosophies to design their own businesses, or others who have even created alumni associations – there are 26 alumni groups around the world devoted to maintaining strong interpersonal connections among for- mer employees of the company.” “I think that offers a strong example of how what might be con-
strued as failure, can be turned around and used as the basis for new organisations.” DEC’s iconic founder Ken Olsen passed away in February this year.
“In the many tributes to him it was clear that people throughout the technology industry attribute the dynamics of today’s technical envi- ronments to his passion, his form of organising, his management style,” saysWalsh. “They argue that this has been embedded in many successors, that there’s a whole new generation of organisations that call on the cultural heritage of DEC. “That to me points back to the idea that an organisation that is
going through tough times or has even made the ultimate decision to close down, can offer great opportunity for building new ventures. “While there are lessons to be learnt from the past, now is the time to look forward,” concludesWalsh.
BRAND IRELAND: Reputation damage and recovery Mary Lambkin is Professor of Marketing in the UCD School of Business. Ireland’s travails of recent years have led her to carry out extensive research into the area of reputation damage and recovery. She argues that while reputation is a fragile asset, history shows it
can be recovered, and that Ireland can expect to return to business as usual in a relatively short time frame. There can be no doubt that Ireland has taken a reputational hit in
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