Course Syllabus

EEE 370 (SUPA)

Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Mr. Gonzalez

[email protected]

 

1. Course Overview:

Welcome to the entrepreneurial revolution! EEE 370 is an introductory course intended to provide students with a solid foundation in terms of the vital role played by entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in the 21st century global economy. In a sense, this is the cornerstone course, which is complemented at the end of your program with the capstone business plan course. During this semester, we will assess, explore, critique, and celebrate the phenomenon of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is approached as a way of thinking and acting, as an attitude and a behavior. Our emphasis is on entrepreneurship as a manageable process that can be applied in virtually any organizational setting. Moreover, our interest is in sustainable entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship over the life cycles of people’s careers, of organizations as they evolve from start-up enterprise to sizeable corporation, and of societies as they move from undeveloped to post-industrial. However, our principal focus will be on the creation of new ventures, the ways that they come into being, and factors associated with their success. This is a course of many ideas and questions, and you will be encouraged to develop and defend your own set of conclusions regarding each of these issues. It is also a course that integrates a number of different disciplines, ranging from sociology and psychology to economics, finance, marketing and human resource management. Further, it is a course that mixes theory with practice, and you will be challenged to apply principles, concepts and frameworks to real world situations.

II. Course Objectives:

The course is built around a number of core objectives. By the end of the semester, you should be able to:
• Recognize the entrepreneurial potential within yourself and others in your environment;
• Appreciate the role of entrepreneurship within society, at the level of the organization, and in your own personal life;
• Understand the process nature of entrepreneurship, and ways to manage the process;
• Identify the many ways in which entrepreneurship manifests itself, including start-up contexts, corporate contexts, social contexts, public sector contexts, and others;
• Develop an appreciation for opportunity, how to recognize it, and how to evaluate it;
• Appraise the nature of creative new business concepts that can be turned into sustainable business ventures;
• Appreciate the ethical issues that are intimately intertwined with entrepreneurial activities, and develop a personal framework for managing ethical dilemmas;

III. Texts (Required):

Hisrich, R.D. and Peters, M.D. (2001) Entrepreneurship, New York: McGraw-Hill, 5th Edition.

 

IV. Student Assessment/Evaluation:

Students will be assessed on the following:

Tests/Quizzes

Original Concept and Business Model*
Interview of an Entrepreneur**
Class Contribution/Participation

*Each student will form a team (maximum of three people per team) for the purposes of coming up with an original business idea, translating the idea into a well-conceptualized business concept, and then building a business model around that business concept. This business model must demonstrate the basic market and economic feasibility of the proposed business. Please note that the students are not developing a full business plan, and the specific issues to be addressed in the business model differ from those in a full business plan. A framework for doing the analysis and writing up the business model will be presented in class.

***Students will individually interview an entrepreneur based on an outlined structure provided in class. Selected entrepreneurs must have ventures at least two years old with a minimum of five employees and preferably at least ten employees.

V. Attendance Policy:

As per Memorial High School Handbook

VI. Participation Policy:

You are expected to come to class prepared, and play an active in the discussions that take place during class periods. This means reading all assignments and preparing all cases in advance. The issue is the quality of your contribution more than the quantity. Participation/contribution includes asking questions, answering questions, agreeing or disagreeing with points made by the instructor or your peers, insights provided regarding the assigned cases, and examples that you bring into class of issues we are discussing.

 

VII. Teaching/Learning Style:

The course will involve a lecture format with extensive interaction between students and the instructor. The teaching style will mix theory and academic concepts with practical applications. Students will be challenged to grasp a concept or idea, relate it to other concepts, and then apply it in real-world entrepreneurial contexts. In general, case discussions and student presentations will occur on the second meeting of each week.

VIII. Academic Integrity

All work in this course must be your own individual effort. Where you have a team assignment, the submitted or presented work must be solely that of the team members. Violations of this rule will be considered academic dishonesty and be referred to the Academic Disciplinary Committee. The Martin J. Whitman School of Management has adopted an Academic Integrity Policy emphasizing that honesty, integrity and respect for others are fundamental expectations. The Policy requires all students who take SOM courses to certify in writing that they have read, understand, and agree to comply with the  academic Integrity Policy. SOM students should already have completed a certification statement. All non-SOM students enrolled in this course, including SOM minors, are also required to complete a certification statement available in the Undergraduate Office or the MBA Office. Completed statements are kept on file. The complete text of the Academic Integrity Policy can be found at http://sominfo.syr.edu/degree/ai_policy.html.

 

 

Subject	Required Reading
Intro to Entrepreneurship	Chapter 1
Recognizing opportunities and generating ideas	Chapter 2
Feasibility analysis	Chapter 3
Writing a business plan	Chapter 4
Industry and competitor analysis	Chapter 5
Developing an effective business model	Chapter 6
Preparing the proper ethical and legal foundation	Chapter 7
Assessing new venture’s financial strength and viability	Chapter 8
Building a new venture team	Chapter 9
Getting financing or funding	Chapter 10
Unique marketing issues	Chapter 11
SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK
The importance of intellectual property	Chapter 12
Preparing for and evaluating the challenges of growth	Chapter 13
Strategies for firm growth	Chapter 14
Franchising	Chapter 15