Syllabus
SPRING 2001
4 Credit Hours
Instructor: Frank Pianki
Phone: (765) 641-4372 (office), (765) 642-2661 (home)
Email: frpianki@anderson.edu
Class Schedule: Monday Evenings 6:30 - 9:15 p.m.
Class Location: Decker 377
Purpose:
To emphasize practical application of management principles (general, strategic, and operational) to entrepreneurship. For our purposes, we shall define a "small business" as a startup enterprise to a very small "mom and pop" store to a geographically localized firm having up to 100 employees. From this course, students should gain a reasonably thorough understanding of whether they truly have entrepreneurial interests and skills; and if so, how to plan, establish, and grow a small business.
Text:
Entrepreneurship: Strategies and Resources, 2nd edition, Dollinger, Marc, J.,1999, Prentice Hall
Attendance Requirements:
Class attendance is vital to the learning experience of the student in this class. Therefore, students are expected to attend and participate in the class unless prevented by reasonable circumstances. The instructor may contact students if excessive absence is apparent in order to discuss the problem.
Grading: The final grade will be based upon the following:
Individual: Team:
Personal Essay 100 Idea Assignment 100
Full Case Analysis 150 Final Business Plan 250
Journal Articles 100 Critique panel 50
Participation 150 Presentation 100
Notes on Grades and Assignments.
1. Unexcused absences on the day of an assignment will result in a grade of zero (0) for that exercise. Excused absences will have deadlines reset. Late papers on excused absences will be reduced in grade by one full grade for each day (not class period) late.
2. All are expected to attend class and be prepared to participate. This requires everyone to read the material before coming to class.
3. All written assignments: Keep an extra copy for yourself and your group, all typed and double-spaced please. The business plan should cover all the relevant competitive and financial issues in depth and be limited to 40 pages plus appendixes.
4. Because much of the work for the course will be done in small teams, “social loafing” may be a problem. If this problem arises, bring it to my attention immediately. Grades may be adjusted accordingly for documented cases of social loafing.
Syllabus -
Business Plan Development
Page 2
Course Objectives:
This course is designed for those individuals interested in creating a new business venture, acquiring an existing business, working in industries (e.g., banking) that serve the entrepreneur, or students who simply wish to familiarize themselves with the concepts, issues, and techniques of new venture creation and entrepreneurship.
The learning goals for the course are:
1. To learn the language and theory of entrepreneurship.
2. To be able to identify and analyze entrepreneurial opportunities and evaluate these opportunities.
3. To integrate the functional areas of business into a business plan.
4. To assess the student’s own entrepreneurial aspirations, abilities, and objectives.
Course Format:
This course will be taught using a combination of a case analysis and seminar format. Outside speakers and articles from current business periodicals will also supplement the course, as well as relevant videos and student presentations.
Student
Responsibilities:
Students should be able to identify and explain the important concepts of a business plan, and then apply them in practical situations. Through the comprehensive application of these concepts, the student should develop an ability to both confidently and meaningfully analyze existing business plans and/or develop a new business plan providing a solid foundation of subsequent study and work in strategic planning assignments and situations.
Formal Business Plan (250 pts): Each group (of no more than 3 persons) will develop a formal business plan. This plan may be for a business startup in either an entrepreneurial or corporate setting. Try to create a plan in an area that is applicable for you. The plan will be graded on the following criteria:
1.Development of the Business Description
2.Identification of the Market: (Customers, Industry, and Competitors)
3.Creation of a Marketing Strategy
4.Creation of the Financial Proposal
5.Development of the Operational Plan
6.Conclusions and Recommendations
Business Plan Presentation (100 pts): At the end of the semester (see the syllabus general outline) each student or group will be required to give a 20 minute presentation plus Q&A of their business plan. The context of this presentation will be that you are presenting to a commercial banker, venture capitalist group or some other appropriate source of funding to convince them to invest or loan you the required capital. Therefore your presentation should be professional, concise and compelling!
Personal Essay (100 pts): At the beginning of the semester each student will be asked what their professional goals are, what previous experience in entrepreneurship they have, and their own personal theory of why some businesses succeed while others fail. Of course, there are no right or wrong answers here, but the essay does give you an opportunity to explore your own career aspirations and should be helpful when you are forming business plan teams.
Syllabus -
Business Plan Development
Page 3
Case Analysis (150 pts): Each student team will be responsible for one complete case analysis and will be expected to lead the case discussion on the assigned class date. A summary report will also be turned in on the same evening. The instructor early in the semester will provide questions. In addition, everyone is expected to be able to discuss the particulars of each case. This means that everyone will be, in some manner, preparing all of the cases.
Journal Articles (100 pts): Each student will find two articles (during the semester) about entrepreneurship in recent publications and will be prepared to lead a 10-15 minute discussion on the facts of the case and the relevant “learnings” regarding the principles of business plan development.
Participation (100 pts): Each student is expected to contribute in a positive way and be prepared to do so at most times. Of course there are times when other priorities prevent full preparation, but these should be rare. There is no need to contribute in every class. Some of the best contributors in the past have participated in only a few of the sessions. Their contributions, however, were insightful and persuasive. The issue is one of quality, not quantity or frequency.
Idea Assignment (100 pts): As a team, the group produces four proposed ideas for business plans. From these four ideas, the group’s business plan emerges. Sometimes none of the ideas seem feasible, however, some groups will produce more than one very good idea and groups that are still having trouble can borrow the additional ideas.
Critique Panel (50 pts): Although all students who view the presentations are encouraged to ask questions and offer comments, one group will be designated as a critique panel for each presentation. A written critique form will be provide for the group to fill out and submit. The critique group will be graded on the quality and usefulness of the questions and comments offered during the Q&A session and the written critique form.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF COURSE
BUSINESS PLAN DEVELOPMENT
(Subject to some variation as appropriate)
Session Topic Chapter
1/10 A Perspective on Entrepreneurship 1
1/17 Business Plans and Case #6 5
1/24 Resource-based theory 2
1/31 Personal resources and Case #1 2
2/7 Macroenvironment and Case #2 3
2/14 Competitive Environment and Case #3 3
2/21 Entrepreneurial Strategies and Case #5 4
2/28 Marketing and Case #7 6
3/6 SPRING BREAK
3/13 Finance and Case #8 7
3/20 Finance and Case #9 8
3/27 Creating the Organization and Case #10 9
4/3 Corporate Venturing, Networking and Franchising 10
4/10 Presentations of Business Plans
4/17 Presentation of Business Plans
4/24 Presentation of Business Plans
Revised 1/4/00