QUESTION 1
Why would someone like Meg Whitman give up the comfort of working for someone else and taking home a nice salary and fridge benefits for the stress of running a new kind of business that may or may not succeed ? ( 8 marks )
Nothing compares with taking on a major challenge in life and making it work. This is true even when you have a couple of kids to raise and have other important things to attend to. It is a particular challenge and an opportunity to show what you can do. This same motivation drives great athletes and great racecar drivers. Meg Whitman didn’t need any new challenges. It was a huge risk for her to take the job, but she had the guts to leave what was comfortable and follow her instincts. Meg Whitman saw in the tiny Internet bargain company something beyond the conventional. EBay began as an Internet auction company that resembled an online garage sale. The process involved bidding for items – mostly used goods – and waiting to see if others outbid you. It turned out to be a wonderful way of selling stuff that was cluttering up the house. It also became a great way to find collectors’ items and goods of all kinds…show more content… Today, customers are so devoted to the site that they don’t consider themselves “bidding” for items so much as “winning” them.
Whitman has expanded available goods from garage sale-type items to more expensive goods such as homes, antiques, automobiles, boats, and computers. The company adjusts to the wants and needs of the market very quickly. Whitman’s goal is to make overseas sales reach half of eBay’s total