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CMA Final · Entrepreneurship and Startup · Leadership

Case: Arjun, founder of a Bengaluru fintech startup, took every decision himself during the first two years. As the company grew to 150 employees, decisions became slow and senior hires left citing lack of ownership. He now wants to fix this while keeping accountability for outcomes. Which action best addresses the root problem?

Delegating defined decision rights to functional heads, with clear targets and periodic review, is the best fix. It removes the founder bottleneck and builds ownership, while the founder keeps ultimate accountability, since accountability cannot be fully delegated even though authority can.

  1. AIntroduce delegation of defined decision rights to functional heads with clear targets and review, while retaining overall accountabilityCorrect
  2. BHire more junior staff to execute his decisions faster
  3. CMove to a laissez-faire style so that the team sets its own goals without any review
  4. DPass accountability for outcomes entirely to the heads so he is no longer answerable

Explanation

The root problem is centralised decision making. Delegating authority with clear goals and review restores speed and ownership. Authority can be delegated but ultimate accountability cannot, so D is wrong; C removes control and B keeps the bottleneck.

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