Small Business Management
(BUS 320 3.0 Cr)
Business & Management
Course
Description
This
course focuses on the unique needs of individuals
and small firms (fewer than one hundred
employees), giving special attention to
family-owned and closely held businesses.
Topics include executive succession, planning,
time management, use of outsourcing, and
other available resources.
This
course is being presented in a Problem-Based
Learning (PBL) format. For the purposes
of this course, PBL is an approach that
confronts the student with problems, which
he or she has to solve. The problems drive
the course - not the content. For example,
in a typical classroom course, students
would be given reading assignments, asked
to complete several exercises, perhaps do
some research and write a paper or essay,
and then finally write a test. The PBL approach
puts everything in reverse! First, students
will be confronted with a problem. Then,
he or she will identify and accumulate information
that will help you solve the problem. Finally,
students will apply what you learned and
suggest a solution to the problem.
Learning
Objectives
After completing this course, students will
be able to:
•
Apply small business constructs to your
personal situation
• Manage issues as they arise in your
Business Plan/Case and Small Business Portfolio
• Strategically trade off the time
demands of business, self, and family
• Document your personal small business
aspirations
• Conduct an interview to extract
relevant small business expertise
• Write a business plan/case
• Build networks of relationships
to support your small business
• Evaluate business opportunities
• Document strategies for entry, operation,
and exit
Breadth
of Assignments
This course utilizes a Problem-Based Learning
strategy for explore the various topics
of Small Business Management. PBL uses case
studies and typical real-world problems
to drive course discussions, projects, and
writing assignments. Students will operate
in a group for many of the assignments and
will formulate documentation as though he
or she is a small business manager.
Required
Resources
Richard M. Hodgetts & Donald F. Kuratko,
Effective Small Business Management, 7th
ed., 2000, Wiley. ISBN 0-03-032930-0
Small
Business Management
Business & Management
Module/Topics
Module
1: Thinking of Business: An Introduction
• Integrating the Expertise Enhancement
Principles in your learning
• Identifying your specific areas
of interest in small business
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses
of your social interaction style
• Gaining a preliminary knowledge
of the skills, experience sets, and interests
of other students in the course
• Defining the role of small business
in the economy
• Defining unique challenges imposed
by the cycle of entry, operation, and exit
• Recognizing the two core questions
in small business: Is it a business? Will
it make money?
Module
2: Major Course Projects
• Introduction to creating a Business
Plan or Case
• Creating a Small Business Portfolio
Module
3: Entry: Beginning Your Small Business
• Selecting a preferred style for
entry
• Discriminating and prioritizing
entry opportunities on both hard (numerical)
and soft (personal) criteria
• Calculating a value for a business
opportunity
• Choosing the appropriate legal form
for your entry
• Establishing core parameters and
values at the time of entry that are coherent
with personal objectives
• Relating your personal wealth creation
strategy to the choices made for entry
• Filtering opportunities before pitching
them to a selected audience
• Identifying your business plan/case
concept
• Identifying your Small Business
Portfolio theme and outline
Module
4: Small Business Operation
• The role of financial modeling as
a planning tool
• The importance of an assumption
sheet
• The value of industry standards
and other benchmarks in planning
• Building a financial model for your
business plan/case which addresses the core
competency issues identified in the DuPont
model
• Determining whether in the future
it is best for you to build your own financial
model or contract it out to an expert
• Developing a personal coping skills
strategy
• Applying your understanding of the
issues and challenges a small business encounters
when it begins operations
Module 5: Small Business Exit Strategies
• Selecting a preferred style for
exit
• Discriminating and prioritizing
exit opportunities on both hard (numerical)
and soft (personal) criteria
• Choosing appropriate legal form
for your exit
• Establishing core parameters and
values at the time of exit that are coherent
with personal objectives
• Relating your personal wealth creation
strategy to the choices made for exit
• Creating an exit plan
|