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 Entrepreneurship
(MGT 411 3.0 Cr)
Business & Management
Course Description
The idea of starting a business is appealing
to many people. This course will introduce
the many aspects required to create a successful
new venture. It is however, just a starting
point. The outcome of this course will not
be a fully researched business plan, ready
to implement. The effort required for meeting
such an objective would consume many months
of a prospective entrepreneur's time. Rather,
this course will help give students a feel
for what is involved with being entrepreneurial
and if the role of entrepreneur is one he
or she might find appealing.
The life cycle of a start-up company from
the points of view of inventors, engineers
or investors includes issues of planning,
dealing with legal and tax issues, financial
opportunities at different stages, and sources
of technical assistance. The course also examines
creativity in start-ups and creative gap analysis.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, students will
be able to:
• Apply the entrepreneurial process
• Analyze the feasibility of a new venture
business concept
• Evaluate his or her own entrepreneurial
tendency and ability
• Brainstorm ideas for new and innovative
products or services
• Use a variety of feasibility tests,
assess and select prospective new venture
concepts for further study
• Conduct focus groups, surveys, and
other methods for researching customer reaction
to various new venture concepts
• Conduct a variety of secondary research
activities to analyze competition, market
trends, industry structures, and other issues
relevant to specific new venture concepts
• Examine and analyze issues related
to intellectual property protection for specific
new product concepts, (e.g., patent and trade
name searches)
• Create promotional items related to
specific new product concepts, (e.g., advertising
themes, slogans, etc.)
• Investigate state and federal regulatory
requirements for specific industries by contacting
relevant agencies
• Describe how to investigate financing
alternatives for specific new venture concepts
Breadth of Assignments
This course utilizes a variety of assignment
types in exploring the topics of Entrepreneurship
including reading, both online and textbook
based, individual assignments involving flash
and java presentations, online research, writing
assignments, and self-assessment exercises,
and group projects involving discussions and
collaborative research and idea formulation.
Required Resources
Kuratko, Donald F. and Richard M. Hodgetts,
Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary Approach,
Fifth Edition, South-Western, 2001 ISBN
0-03-019604-3
Course Summary
Entrepreneurship
Business & Management
Module/Topics
Module 1: The Entrepreneurial Process
• Comparing your personal profile
with that of a typical entrepreneur
• Surveying and reporting on a selection
of online resources for entrepreneurs
• Evaluating the successful business
venture of a famous entrepreneur
• Laying the groundwork for a new
business venture with your fellow students
Module 2: Brainstorming, Innovation,
and Creativity
• Using creative thinking to enhance
the success of a new business venture
• Using the brainstorming process
to generate new ideas
• Describing the various types of
feasibility tests that are used to evaluate
new products and services
• Applying feasibility testing to
a new business venture with your fellow
students
• Using market segmentation to evaluate
consumer needs
• Using market segmentation techniques
to identify an ideal target market for your
group's new business venture
• Using personal interviews, focus
groups, and written surveys to evaluate
consumer reactions to your group's new product
or service
Module 3: Entrepreneurship
• The major components of a business
plan
• Describing how a well-written business
plan can contribute to the success of a
new business venture
• Conducting a competitive profile
analysis to compare the strengths and weaknesses
of your competitors
• Creating a perceptual map that positions
your product and your competitors' products
against two competitive criteria
• Developing a supply chain that illustrates
all of the organizations your company works
closely with
• The importance of industry organizations
to new business ventures
• Identifying entry barriers for a
new business venture and describe methods
for overcoming those barriers
• How entry barriers can be used to
prevent competitors from entering your marketplace
Module 4: Developing and Initiating the
Plan
• The benefits of different types
of advertising media
• The importance of intellectual property
(patents, trademarks, and copyrights) to
a new business venture's success
• Conducting a basic patent search
• Explaining the differences between
retail and non-retail business locations
• Analyzing a potential business location
to determine its suitability for a new business
venture
• The various regulatory requirements
that affect businesses at the federal, state
or provincial, and local levels
• The specific regulatory requirements
that will face a new business venture in
your home area
Module 5: The Launch: Structuring, Capital
Sources
• The different types of pricing strategies
that are used to determine the unit selling
price of a new product or service
• The different types of financial
analysis that are used to evaluate new businesses
• Performing a break-even analysis
of a new business venture
• The advantages and disadvantages
of various types of business structures
• The differences between debt financing
and equity financing
• Developing a basic financing plan
for a new business venture
• Explaining the advantages and disadvantages
of five different commercialization strategies
• Developing a basic commercialization
strategy for a new business venture
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