BA 447 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Course
Syllabus
Winter 2007
319-233-0662
(319) 352-8416
patrick.langan@wartburg.edu
MEETING TIMES
This
course will meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:45-8:50.
OFFICE HOURS
Regular
office hours will be from 9-10:45 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and by
appointment.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Both
internal organizational and external entrepreneurship will be explored. The role of the individual as a leader in the
management and innovation of change will enable the learner to understand the
meaning of entrepreneurship in the technical, economic, and social aspects of
an organization. Prerequisites: Business Law 1 BA 331, Marketing BA 353,
Principles of Management BA 345, Principles of Accounting AC 121, Introduction
to Macroeconomics EC 141, and Introduction to Microeconomics EC 142.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This
course is designed primarily to provide an overview of entrepreneurship,
develop an entrepreneurial frame of mind, and learn the rudiments of how to
differentiate an idea from an opportunity. Students will work in teams to come
up with a business idea and explore its potential for becoming a viable business.
Students will become familiar with market research and experience first-hand
the rewards and difficulties in dealing with people in the real world. They
will meet entrepreneurs and business professionals as part of the course and
learn how to make effective presentations -- both written and oral. Other
important aspects of the course include self-assessment to determine one's
strengths and weaknesses, understanding the "magic" of leadership,
and gaining an entrepreneurial perspective on life.
This
course will provide the learner with an overview of entrepreneurship with
emphasis on the role of the entrepreneur, finding products and services
suitable for new ventures, and the preparation of a mini business plan for a
project of interest to the student. Emphasis
is placed on criteria for selecting products and services suitable for new
ventures, analyzing the risks, and arranging the financing. The focus of this course is on the
entrepreneurial or opportunity management of growing companies. The course will help students develop
insights into the strategic, control and operations functions important to a
growing company.
Entrepreneurs
and entrepreneurial managers are the innovators in national and world
economies. They identify business opportunities, plan ways to address market
needs, gather resources, and manage the process of building businesses.
Entrepreneurs produce jobs, transfer technology to the market, and create
value, adding immeasurably to our well-being.
Many
of the elements of entrepreneurship are understood and can be taught. This
class will go far beyond the mechanics of writing a business plan for a new
venture. Students learn the methods and philosophy of the entrepreneur, and
begin to view business from the entrepreneur's perspective.
Students
in BA 447 Entrepreneurship explore business opportunities ranging from
computer-aided design software to real estate ventures to medical devices to
international partnerships. Students will engage in the critical thinking
thought process necessary for making realistic plans for new and unstructured
ventures.
Students will be expected to demonstrate:
1. A general understanding of
entrepreneurship.
2. Identify the basic variables
necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur.
3. Discuss the rudiments of how
to differentiate an idea from an opportunity.
4. Demonstrate an ability to
successfully conduct market research.
5. Articulate the variables
necessary for making an effective presentation on a proposed business venture.
6. Demonstrate an understanding
of how to assess risks and analyze market data.
7. Students will be expected to
demonstrate an understanding of entrepreneurship with emphasis on the role of
the entrepreneur in identifying products and services suitable for new
ventures.
8. Students will be expected to
complete a business plan including components for analyzing risk, arranging
financing, and growing the venture.
9. Students will be expected to
demonstrate an understanding of the strategic, control, and operations
functions important to growing a business.
10. Students will be expected to
demonstrate an understanding of addressing market needs, gathering the
necessary resources, managing the process of building businesses, and the
transfer of technology to the market.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
Essentials of Entrepreneurship. Zimmer and
The
New Business
STUDENT REQUIREMENTS
1.
Each
student will be assigned a team of individuals who will complete a project summarizing
the business venture that they are going to “invest” in. As part of this project each learner will
participate in group decision making and will contribute to both the oral and
written presentation of the project.
2.
Each
team will design a survey to be distributed in class for the purpose of
assessing the venture’s feasibility.
3.
You
will note that there are several research days built
into the course syllabus. Unless
otherwise noted, Dr. Langan will be available in his office during the normal
class period to assist individuals or teams in their research. It is expected that the class use these days
as excellent opportunities to make progress on their projects.
GRADING CRITERIA
Business
Plan 80
points
Plan
Presentation 20
points
Barnabus 150
points
Exams 150
points
Total 400 points
GRADING SCALE
Percentage Grade Points
95-100%
A 380
90-94% A- 360
87-89%
B+ 348
83-86% B 332
80-82% B- 320
77-79% C+ 308
73-76%
C 292
70-72% C- 280
67-69% D+ 268
63-66% D 252
60-62% D- 240
Below
60% F Anything below
240 points
Additional Issues that this
course will address
Issue:
What is entrepreneurship; can you really teach it?
Issue:
Where have/do good venture ideas come from?
Issue:
How do I know a good idea when I see one?
Issue:
How do entrepreneurs think about opportunity and risk?
Issue:
What does it really take to make a venture successful?
Issue: "What special risk issues do start-ups raise, how do we manage it?"
Issue: "When we ""run the
numbers"", which numbers do we run?"
Issue: "What is a feasibility report, why do
it?"
Issue: "What is ""cash
flow"" and why is it ""the name of the
game""?"
Issue: What are the critical logistical issues at
start-up?
Issue: What are the best sources of finance for
beginners?
Issue: How do I find and assess personal
acquisition opportunities?
Issue: How do you determine what a business is
worth?
Issue: What special issues are of concern to family
businesses?
Issue: Encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship
in a large firm (explanation of how this happens)
By
attending
COURSE SCHEDULE/OUTLINE
The Following is a tentative
class schedule. This schedule may change as deemed appropriate.
|
Jan. 8 |
Course Introduction |
Feb. 9 |
Chptr. 8 Communication And pricing strategies |
Mar.
16 |
Chptr. 13 Location
and Layout |
|
Jan. 10 |
Barnabus |
Feb. 12 |
Chptr. 8 Communication And pricing strategies |
Mar.
19 |
Research
Day |
|
Jan. 12 |
Chptr.1 Foundations of
Entrepreneurship |
Feb. 14 |
Chptr. 8 Communication And pricing strategies |
Mar.
21 |
Chptr. 14 Global Entrepreneur-ship |
|
Jan. 15 |
Chptr.1 Foundations of
Entrepreneurship |
Feb. 16 |
Chptr. 9 Managing a Cash Flow |
Mar.
23 |
Chptr. 15 Leading and Growing the Company |
|
Jan. 17 |
Chptr. 2 Ideas to reality. |
Feb. 19 |
Barnabus |
Mar.
26 |
Team
Presentations |
|
Jan. 19 |
Chptr. 2 Ideas to reality. |
Feb. 21 |
Chptr. 9 Managing a Cash Flow |
Mar.
28 |
Team
Presentations |
|
Jan. 22 |
Chptr. 3 Strategic Management |
Feb. 23 |
Chptr. 10 Creating a Successful Financial Plan |
Mar.
30 |
Team
Presentations
|
|
Jan. 24 |
Chptr. 4 Franchising and ownership |
Feb. 26 |
Chptr. 10 Creating a Successful Financial Plan |
April
2 |
Team
Presentations |
|
Jan. 26 |
Chptr. 5 Buying an Existing Business |
Feb. 28 |
Exam 2 |
April
4 |
Barnabus |
|
Jan. 29 |
Chptr. 6 The Marketing Plan |
March 2-11 |
Winter Term Break |
April
6 |
Barnabus |
|
Jan. 31 |
The Marketing Plan |
March 12 |
Barnabus |
April
11 |
Research
Day |
|
Feb. 2 |
Exam 1 |
Mar. 14 |
Chptr. 11 Crafting a Winning Business
Plan |
April
13 |
Individual Conferences |
|
Feb. 5 |
Chptr. 7 The Internet and the
Business Plan |
Nov. 1 |
Chptr. 12 Sources of Financing |
April
18 |
Final
Exam |
|
Feb. 7 |
Chptr. 7 The Internet and the
Business Plan |
Nov. 3 |
Barnabus |
|
|