Entrepreneurial- Course Schedule/ Descriptions/Concentrations
Undergraduate Course Descriptions
MGMT 3010: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (4 cr.) This course provides students with insights into the entrepreneurial process and entrepreneurship as a career. Careers include those associated with starting a business, buying a business, running a business, assisting/consulting for entrepreneurial businesses, developing entrepreneurial endeavors within a large corporation, and investing in entrepreneurial businesses. Also, the course is designed to help the student build foundation entrepreneurial skill sets in the basic functional areas and refining those through lecture, guest speakers, in-class exercises and a new venture project.
MGMT 4008: Entrepreneurial Management (4cr.) Assessing opportunities, managing constraints in developing new business. Structuring the venture, perceiving critical issues, obtaining skills needed to succeed. Management, operations, marketing, financial, legal, and competitive issues. Business plan for start-ups, buyouts, franchises, and family firm. (Prerequisites: Completion of core recommended, MGMT 3010 or concurrent enrollment)
MGMT 4050: Management of Innovation and Change (2 cr.) This course develops the managerial skills and knowledge needed to run an entrepreneurial business. Skills include problem analysis and solution formulation. Alongside this, the course provides students with secondary experiential knowledge that enables them to understand the challenges and opportunities that arise in entrepreneurial and intrepreneurial endeavors so that they can accurately assess those situations and deploy relevant solution models. Lastly, problem identification and solution formulation is made relevant through sound research. Learning how to conduct research and apply it to problems and solutions is a key goal in this course. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3001)
MGMT 4177: The Business Plan (2 cr.) This course provides students with a business planning skill set that will enable them to conceive and write strategic business plans for the entrepreneurial enterprise and the ongoing business. This includes formulation of sound ideas, understanding relevant business planning models, building relevant strategic and tactical plans and underscoring this with the utilization of research tools relevant to this process. (Prerequisites: MGMT 4008)
BA 3900: Entrepreneurship in Action (2 semester, 8 cr.) The EIA requires students to conceive of, plan, launch, and operate a business. Students gain hands-on experience with all aspects of business including strategy, sales and marketing, finance and accounting, operations, human resources, and information technology. The course runs for two semesters during a student’s senior year. In the fall, students identify a business opportunity, develop the concept, determine the resources required, and acquire the resources to launch the business. In the spring, the students implement the business plan, manage the business, and determine the exit strategy for the business. (Application required)
BA 3900: Entrepreneurial Perspectives Class (2 cr.) Students interact directly with founding entrepreneurs of leading MN businesses and study their successes and failures. Students are paired with an entrepreneur to write a case study and analyze a pivotal business decision in their business. Students later analyze the cases of seven other entrepreneurs who share their perspectives in class. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3010 or concurrent enrollment)
Graduate Course Descriptions |
 
MGMT 3010: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (4 cr.) This course provides an overview to students regarding the role of entrepreneurship in our economy and to the process of new venture creation. The course is intended to broadly introduce the set of skills known to have an impact on entrepreneurial success. The students are introduced to various forms of entrepreneurial pursuits including independent start-ups, venturing within established organizations, franchising, and acquiring existing businesses. The course is delivered through formal lecture, guest speakers, group work and a variety of experiential exercises. NOTE: In addition to the standard sections, this course offers one section each fall semester that focuses on technology-based entrepreneurship and one section each spring semester that includes a 2-week trip to Shanghai and Beijing, China.
MGMT 3070: Entrepreneurship in Action (2 semester, 8 cr.) In this full year class, students conceive, plan, launch, and operate a business. Students gain hands-on experience with all aspects of business including strategy, sales and marketing, finance and accounting, operations, human resources, and information technology. The course runs for two semesters during a student’s senior year. In the fall, students identify a business opportunity, develop the concept, determine the resources required, and acquire the resources to launch the business. In the spring, the students implement the business plan, manage the business, and determine the exit strategy for the business. (Application required)
MGMT 3070 – NEW SPRING 2009: New Venture Finance (2 cr.) This course is designed for students who are interested in starting, joining or acquiring their own businesses; as an investor. The course objectives are to help students achieve an understanding of how America ’s financing system works for all types of business ventures – with an emphasis on financing of high-growth ventures. Students will learn how to translate a business plan to a financing plan; to develop alternate financing plans for a specific business/plan; choosing the “best” one based on financial and non-financial criteria; financial institutions in the U.S., what they finance and their financing criteria; financing instruments used to finance business ventures in the U.S. – when to use them and why. Methods used: cases, exercises, developing financing plans, guest speakers. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3010, ACCTG 2050, FIN 3001)
MGMT 3090: Entrepreneurial Perspectives Class (2 cr.) Students interact directly with founding entrepreneurs of leading Minnesota businesses and study their successes and failures. Students are paired with an entrepreneur to write a paper on the launch and development of their entrepreneurial firms. Students later analyze the cases of five other entrepreneurs who share their perspectives in class. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3010 or concurrent enrollment)
MGMT 4008: Entrepreneurial Management (4 cr.) This course focuses on developing the students’ ability to manage a business enterprise. It explores how business models change from start-up through maturity, as well as key challenges at each stage of growth. It also explores organizational leadership methodologies as they pertain to stakeholder management, strategic planning, management development, control systems, financial analysis and financing. This course concludes with the employment of course learning through the examination of a live case. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3010 or concurrent enrollment)
MGMT 4050: Management of Innovation and Change (2 cr.) This course focuses on the process of creating innovative new businesses or entrepreneurial ventures. Special attention is paid to understanding the sequence of events that typically unfold among individuals, groups, organizations, and industries as innovations develop from concept through implementation, and what paths along this journey are likely to lead to success and failure. The course is based on concepts and findings from the Minnesota Innovation Research Program and other research studies. Special emphasis is given to understanding the development of organizational learning, leadership, external relationships, infrastructure, and implementation during the innovation journey. This course also provides training in diagnostic methods for analyzing cases or problems, arguing proposals, evaluating conceptual models, and implementing solutions. Students get opportunities to apply course topics and methods by diagnosing a case of innovation or entrepreneurial of their own choosing. By learning these concepts and methods, students can increase their odds of successfully maneuvering organizational innovation and change journeys. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3001 or MGMT 3010)
MGMT 4177: The Business Plan (2 cr.) This course provides students with a business planning skill set that will enable them to conceive and write strategic business plans for the entrepreneurial enterprise and the ongoing business. This includes formulation of sound ideas, understanding relevant business planning models, building relevant strategic and tactical plans and underscoring this with the utilization of research tools relevant to this process. (Prerequisites: MGMT 3010 and 4008)
MGMT 4080 - NEW SPRING 2009: Applied Technology Entrepreneurship (4 cr.) The class will center around applied team projects based on commercializable technologies or innovations. Ideas from students or University research will be developed into comprehensive business plans. Student teams will present their ideas to investors and industry professionals at the end of the semester. They will also be encouraged to submit their business plans to the Minnesota Cup. (Prerequisite for Carlson students: MGMT 3010; Also satisfies MGMT 4177 requirement for entrepreneurship major)
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ENTR 6020: Business Formation (4 cr.) This course focuses on issues that are important at the launch and development of a business from concept development through business entry, either as a startup or through an acquisition. It covers opportunity identification and evaluation, entry strategy, competitive analysis and business planning, forecasting and budgeting from a “blank slate,” resource markets and resource assembly, and problems/ opportunities from concept stage through establishment of a viable business. The goals of this course are to develop the ability to:
1. Spot, select, and evaluate business opportunities for independent, and corporate, ventures.
2. Understand how to evaluate the competitive advantage (or lack of it) and forecast potential revenues of the business concept.
3. Develop marketing, operating and financing plans, identify types and levels of resources required to launch and monitor the business venture.
ENTR 6021: Preparing and Implementing the Business Plan (2 cr.) Students work collaboratively under the direction of the course instructor to develop and implement business plans for their “own” business venture launch. The course includes weekly class meetings where each team of students presents aspects of their business plan: at various times these may include the 'elevator pitch,' company mission, product/ service value proposition, customer and market segmentation, competitive analysis, business strategy, marketing plan and financial projections. Students analyze and provide feedback on each other’s plans. Students without a business concept will be grouped with others who have business ideas that they wish to pursue in the “real world”.
ENTR 6023: Financing Business Ventures (4 cr.) This course is designed for students who are interested in the venture field as potential entrepreneurs interested in starting, joining or acquiring their own businesses; as an intermediary/consultant; or as a financier. The course objectives are to help students achieve an understanding of how America ’s financing system works for all types of business ventures – with an emphasis on financing of high-growth ventures. Students will learn how to translate a business plan to a financing plan; to develop alternate financing plans for a specific business/plan; choosing the “best” one based on financial and non-financial criteria; types of non-Fortune 1,000-type businesses – as financiers view them; financial institutions in the U.S., what they finance and their financing criteria; financing instruments used to finance business ventures in the U.S. – when to use them and why. Methods used: cases, exercises, developing financing plans, guest speakers.
ENTR 6036: Growing the Independent Business (2 cr.) This course deals with the unique challenges posed by rapid growth and change in newly-formed independent startups, including infrastructure development, radical changes in strategy, continuous needs for substantial additional resources. Intellectual work in the course emphasizes analysis of factors accelerating and impeding growth; and review and creation of "growth strategies," which may present issues different from strategy decisions typical of established firms. Integration of concepts from strategy, operations, marketing, finance, and human resource management. Focus is on the small fraction of new firms that grow to account for most of the wealth created by new businesses. Intended for students who plan to manage their own businesses or to hold senior management positions in new, rapidly growing firms. Format includes cases, short group projects, guest speakers.
ENTR 6037: Corporate Venturing (2 cr). Formation and/or acquisition of new businesses within established corporations. Focus on the entrepreneurial role of top management in maintaining and increasing stakeholder value of corporations through the formation or acquisition of new businesses, new products, or new markets. Examination of strategic role of corporate venturing in survival and prosperity of corporation, and analysis and development of strategies for successful venturing. Integration of concepts from quality, marketing, strategy and finance. Intended for students interested in career paths aimed at positions in new product and business development, corporate venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, or management consulting. Format includes cases, guest speakers, short group projects.
ENTR 6041: New Product Design and Business Development (6 cr.—2 semesters**)This is a nine-month intensive course on new product design and business development. Engineering and business students work in teams on “real” product development projects sponsored by business organizations to design prototype products and develop business plans for their commercialization. Students gain “hands-on” experience and develop skills in technology management under close supervision of a faculty advisor and executives from the sponsoring company. In an interactive setting, students learn about the new product development process, project management, information sharing and collaboration. “Short-cycle” development process is emphasized. Methods used: Lectures, workshops, guest speakers, team meetings, company visits and project work. This course is a university-wide initiative offered jointly by the Carlson school of Management and the Institute of Technology for preparing students for leadership positions in a cross-functional environment. It is team-taught by six full-time faculty and experts from industry, drawing on a wealth of classroom and industry experience. The course is designed for students interested in general management or business consulting. It is particularly appropriate for engineers interested in management career or business students interested in technology intensive companies. The course is strongly recommended to students interested in new product development/technology management and/or marketing.
MGMT 6050: Management of Innovation and Change (2 cr.) This course focuses on the process of creating innovative new businesses or entrepreneurial ventures. Special attention is paid to understanding the sequence of events that typically unfold among individuals, groups, organizations, and industries as innovations develop from concept through implementation, and what paths along this journey are likely to lead to success and failure. The course is based on concepts and findings from the Minnesota Innovation Research Program and other research studies. Special emphasis is given to understanding the development of organizational learning, leadership, external relationships, infrastructure, and implementation during the innovation journey. This course also provides training in diagnostic methods for analyzing cases or problems, arguing proposals, evaluating conceptual models, and implementing solutions. Students get opportunities to apply course topics and methods by diagnosing a case of innovation or entrepreneurial of their own choosing. By learning these concepts and methods, students can increase their odds of successfully maneuvering organizational innovation and change journeys.
MBA 6503: Carlson Ventures Enterprise (6 cr.**- 2 1/2 semesters) The course provides highly-motivate students with the skills and knowledge to identify and screen new business opportunities, evaluate the value proposition, and present concepts to prospective investors. Students learn to develop the potential of the venture so that it better meets the needs of formal sources of funding. Students run the course as their own early stage investment company; they take a direct hand in the selection of, management of, and exit from a portfolio of equity investments. Career tracks for those focusing energy in and around the Carlson Ventures Enterprise include angel, private and corporate venture capital; investment banking, high-potential venture consulting, and corporate investor positions. This course is offered only to a select group of the most highly qualified full-time students each year. The best students are chosen from across all functional majors.
ENTR 6090: Technology-based Entrepreneurship: (2 cr.) The course addresses the unique challenges face during the launch and development of technology-based ventures. Topics include transitioning from R&D to product, intellectual property, capital formation, licensing, strategic partnerships and the unique aspects of managing a technology-based firm. Format includes cases, guest speakers, short group projects.
ENTR 6090: Topics in Entrepreneurship: Managing Venture Capital (2 cr.) This is a entrepreneurial management course that gives students an overview of the venture capital industry and the issues facing venture capitalists (VCs) and entrepreneurs (Es) engaged in the venture capital process. The course will essentially follow the venture capital fund creation, screening, disbursement, and exit cycle. While we will discuss financial issues important to the calculation of returns to investors and entrepreneurs, our focus is more on the managerial issues that underlie the creation of financial instruments and on the choice of instruments to employ. We focus on the roles played by the various parties involved in the venture capital process and on what is known about how these parties deal with issues in the venture-building process. Lecture topics will include structuring a VC firm and raising capital, developing deal flow, evaluating investment opportunities, structuring and negotiating deals, working with portfolio companies, serving on a board of directors, dealing with problem investments, and exiting investments. Lectures, case studies, and guest speakers will be used to convey core subject matter. The course emphasizes early stage investing (i.e. seed, start-up and first stage investing). As a result of this course, the student should have a basic understanding of how to work with venture capital firms, both from the perspective of someone working within a VC firm and from the perspective of a firm that has or seeks to receive venture capital financing.
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