BUAD 4458 / ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Sanjeev Phukan
Online Syllabus and Assignment Schedule – Fall 2012
Office and
Office Hours
Contacting the Instructor
Monday through Thursday: 10:30 am – 11:00 am & 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Friday: 12:00 noon – 2: 00 pm (online)
Decker Hall 24. On campus office hours end on October 19, 2012.
Phone:
(218) 755-2907. This is the department secretary’s phone number, and she will
forward the call to me, or take a message if I’m not available.
e-mail
sphukan@bemidjistate.edu
Credits:
3 semester credits
Text:
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, 4e. Barringer and Ireland,
Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2012
System:
Required: High speed access to the internet. Access to Microsoft Word and
Microsoft Excel for Assignments, Acrobat Reader, PowerPoint Viewer (the last
two can be easily downloaded from the respective company websites). PLEASE
READ THE SECTION REGARDING COURSE POLICIES VERY CAREFULLY. You’ll
find this in the section labeled ‘Content’ when you access the class on D2L, and you
will be expected to be familiar at all times with the policies outlined therein.
Grades:
Course Grades are based on relative performance and clustering, and not a 90-80-7060 grading scheme. Scores at the end of the semester will be curved, and grades
assigned. Make-up exams will not normally be permitted except under very
exceptional circumstances. Extensive documentation of these circumstances will be
required in all cases, without exception. Tests are not comprehensive, that is, each
test will cover roughly half the material contained in the course. Books and notes
may be used for all tests. No proctor is necessary. While your letter grade will
depend upon your total score at the end of the class, you must pass each major
section individually in order to receive a passing grade. Thus, you must receive
individual passing grades in both Tests as well as assignments. Total points for the
class break down as follows:
Test 1
Oct 22 – Oct 28
50 Minutes
20
Test 2
Dec 17 – Dec 19 (note shorter window) 50 Minutes
20
Assignments and Exercises (see schedule below)
60
---------------100
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Instructor Absences: I will be away in South Africa on university business from Thursday,
September 27 through Sunday, October 7. I will be away in Asia on a visiting professorship and
recruiting for BSU from Saturday, October 20 through Monday, November 19. While I will be in email contact during these periods, it won’t be possible for me to have any regular online office
hours while I am overseas. I don’t anticipate that this will prove to be a problem, as you can
always e-mail me with questions and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.
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Academic Integrity: Students are expected to practice the highest standards of ethics, honesty
and integrity in all of their academic work. Any form of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism,
cheating and misrepresentation) may result in disciplinary action. Possible disciplinary actions
include failure for part or all of a course, as well as suspension from the University.
Mission and Broad-based Student Learning Outcome of the Business Administration
Department: Educate students through a learning-centered environment: Graduates will be
prepared for entry into careers in business and for contributions to their global and local
communities.
Departmental Level Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Graduates will attain higher learning in the field of business (DSL0 #1)
2. Graduates will demonstrate information literacy (DSLO#2)
3. Graduates will demonstrate ability to use practical business tools (DSLO#3)
4. Graduates will demonstrate good communication skills and ability to work effectively as part of
a team (DSLO#4)
5. Graduates will demonstrate the ability to analyze complex business situations in a realistic
business environment (DSLO#5)
Course Student Learning Outcomes
1. Students will be able to demonstrate critical and logical thinking, creative problem solving,
innovation and decision making
2. Students will be able to identify the most appropriate data to make informed decisions
3. Students will be able to create written and oral (on-campus class) reports using the most
appropriate business tools
4. Students will be able to demonstrate effective communication
5. Students will be able to demonstrate interpersonal skills within groups – empathy, active
attention, and written communication (through the discussion area in the online course)
6. Students will be able to explain the concepts of starting, financing and growing an innovative
business
Course Outline and Assignment Schedule: I’ve provided you with a Course Outline and an
Assignment Schedule on a week-by-week basis; you’ll need to follow it closely to get your stuff to
me on time. Use the drop boxes that have been provided for submission of assignments,
do not e-mail them to me! Assignments that are e-mailed will not be read or graded.
D2L Discussion Area: Students may use the D2L discussion area provided to provide general
guidance to other students, ask questions of other students, help other students with resource
availability, and to suggest methods for improvement. Please do not use the discussion areas to
provide solutions to problems, since all assignment problems must be done independently.
Misuse of the discussion area will probably result in its removal, so please use it responsibly.
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COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
Assignments are due by midnight on the last day (Sunday) of each week
Week 0 (August 27 – September 2)
Read:
Turn in:
Course Policy
Course Policy Acknowledgement. The remaining drop boxes and tests will only
become visible to you after you have done this and I have seen the
acknowledgment.
Week 1 (September 3 – September 9)
Read: Chapter 1 – Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Turn in: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read the Case 1.1 “RunKeeper” on page 31 and answer the following questions:
1.
Which of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, discussed in this chapter, do
you see in Jason Jacobs? To what degree do you think these characteristics have
contributed to RunKeeper’s success?
2.
To what extent do you think RunKeeper’s basic business idea “adds value” in the lives of
its customers? Who is the ideal candidate to be a RunKeeper customer?
3.
To what degree do you think it would be easy or difficult for another company to imitate
what RunKeeper is doing?
4.
Spend some time studying the RunKeeper app. A free version of the Runkeeper app can
be downloaded by anyone with an Apple iPhone or an Android equipped phone. What
functionality do you think the app should have that it currently doesn’t have?
Week 2 (September 10 – September 16)
Read: Chapter 2 – Recognizing Opportunities and Generating Ideas
Turn in: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 2.1 “ScriptPad” on page 69 and answer the following questions:
1.
In this chapter, an opportunity is defined as being (1) attractive, (2) durable, (3) timely,
and (4) anchored in a product or service that creates value for its buyer or end user. To
what extent does ScriptPad meet each of these tests of an opportunity?
2.
What environmental trends are working in ScriptPad’s favor? If ScriptPad has uncovered
a promising business opportunity, what environmental trends have made ScriptPad
possible?
3.
Put yourself in the shoes of a family physician that’s part of a five-doctor practice
(containing five doctors). If you were that doctor and were being pitched on ScriptPad’s
method for writing prescriptions, how would you react? What would you see as the pluses
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and minuses of adopting the service? Ultimately, based on the information in the case
and ScriptPad’s Web site, what would your decision be?
4.
On what side do you think ScriptPad faces the biggest adoption challenge—the physician
side or the pharmacy side? Explain your answer.
Week 3 (September 17 – September 23)
Read: Chapter 3 – Feasibility Analysis
Turn in: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 3.2 “Segway” on page 102 and answer the following questions:
1.
Why do you think Dean Kamen and his team didn’t do a better job of anticipating the
problems that beset the Segway?
2.
Describe what you believe would have been an appropriate product/service feasibility
analysis and an appropriate market/industry feasibility analysis for Segway during its
development stage.
3.
In what ways did Segway fail to build an ecosystem around its product? What could
Segway have done, if anything, to ensure that its product would do a better job of fitting
into its users’ environments and lives?
4.
What niche market or markets do you thing Segway should have targeted initially and
been successful in?
Week 4 (September 24 –September 30)
Read: Chapter 4 – Writing a Business Plan
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read the Case 4.2 “d.light” on page 142 and answer the following questions:
1.
Of the six reasons listed in the case that d.light was successful in business plan
competitions, which reason do you find the most compelling? Explain your answer.
2.
If you were one of the founders of d.light, what would your marketing strategy be? How
would you educate people in remote areas about the existence of your device and the
benefits of purchasing it?
3.
Why do you think the problem of bringing light to people who don’t have access to reliable
electricity isn’t being tackled in a meaningful way by a large lighting company, like General
Electric? What qualities do Sam Goldman and his team have that will help them solve the
problem of providing light to the 2.5 billion people in the world who don’t have access to
electricity or only have access to intermittent electricity, which General Electric or a similar
large company is unlikely to muster?
4.
Why do you think Sam Goldman goes out of his way to talk about the importance of
d.light’s business plan? In what ways do you think having a meticulously crafted business
plan has helped d.light?
Week 5 (October 1 – October 7)
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Read: Chapter 5 – Industry and Competitor Analysis
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 5.1 “Panera Bread” on page 173 and answer the following questions:
1. How has Panera Bread established a unique position in the restaurant industry? How has this
unique position contributed to its success? Do you think Panera Bread will reach its goal of
becoming a leading national brand in the restaurant industry?
2. Analyze the restaurant industry using Porter’s five forces model. In what ways has Panera
Bread successfully positioned itself against the forces that are suppressing the profitability of
the restaurant industry as a whole?
3. What barriers to entry has Panera Bread created for potential competitors? How significant are
these barriers?
4. What are Panera Bread’s primary sources of competitive advantage? In your judgment, are
these sources of advantage sustainable? Why or why not?
Week 6 (October 8 – October 14)
Caution! This is a long week with 2 chapters.
Read: Chapter 6 – Developing an Effective Business Model
Chapter 7 – Preparing the Proper Ethical and Legal Foundation
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 7.1 “Preparing a Proper Legal Foundation: A Start-up Fable” on page 242 and
answer the following questions:
1. Complete Jack and Sarah’s list for them, including the issues you think they will place on the
list along with their recommendations. Which of the issues do you think will stimulate the most
discussion with the attorney, and which issues do you think will stimulate the least?
2. Make a list of the things you think Jack and Sarah did right in preparing for their meeting with
the attorney.
3. Comment on the product feasibility analysis that Jack and Sarah completed. Do you think the
way Jack and Sarah approached this task was appropriate and sufficient?
4. What advantages do Jack and Sarah have starting iUser Accessories together, rather than
one of them starting it as a sole entrepreneur? What challenges do you think Jack and Sarah
will have keeping their partnership together?
Week 7 (October 15 – October 21)
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Read: Chapter 8 – Assessing a New Venture’s Financial Strength and Viability
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 8.1 “Heartache and Financial Failure” on page 282 and answer the following
questions:
1.
If you were thinking about buying a franchise, like a Cold Stone Creamery store, what
financial information would you look at and analyze before you completed the sale? Be
specific.
2.
After reading the case, do you sympathize with the disgruntled Cold Stone Creamery
franchisees, or do you believe the company’s explanations?
3.
Do you think that some businesses that have financial trouble might never have had a
chance to begin with? If so, what can a business owner (including a franchisor of Cold
Stone Creamery) do ahead of time to make sure the business is financially feasible? Use
the concepts conveyed in this chapter and Chapter 3 to formulate your answer.
4.
At some point in your career, could you see yourself buying a franchise? If so, what type
of franchise do you think you’d enjoy owning?
Week 8 (October 22 – October 28)
Note test window dates below!! Tests will close at midnight of the last day of the
test window.
Read: Re-read Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 to prepare for your test.
Turn In: Test 1 during October 22 – October 28 (20% of your grade)
Week 9 (October 29 – November 4)
Read: Chapter 9 – Building a New-Venture Team
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 9.2 “Zappos” on page 313 and answer the following questions:
1.
What are some key points/traits that make Tony Hsieh and Zappos successful?
2.
How would you describe Zappos’s approach to human resource management?
Do you think Zappos’s approach to human resource management is unique to
Zappos, or do you think many of the policies Zappos has adopted could be
used successfully in other firms?
3.
To what extent do you believe the story that Zappos excels in customer service and its
customer service excels because of savvy human resource management? If you believe
the story, what can other entrepreneurs learn from Zappo’s experience?
4.
Reflect on the two primary challenges facing Zappos identified at the end of the
case. How do you think Zappos should respond to these challenges? What do
you think Zappos’s third primary challenge is?
Week 10 (November 5 – November 11)
Read: Chapter 10 – Getting Financing or Funding
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Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 10.2 “Zazzle” on page 349 and answer the following questions:
1.
Do you think Zazzle’s investors made wise decisions investing $46 million in the
company? Three to five years from now, do you think that Zazzle will have disappointed or
dazzled its investors? Why?
2.
Look at Table 10.1 in the chapter. At the time that Zazzle raised its initial round of
funding, to what extent did it resemble the ideal candidate for venture capital funding as
stipulated by the materials in the table? How about the second round of funding?
3.
Put yourself in the role of a critic. What would you say if you adopted the view that Zazzle
isn’t worthy of $46 million in venture capital funding? Also, comment on the evolution of
Zazzle’s business model. Do you think the primary way it envisions making money today
is stronger than it was when the company launched? Explain your answer.
4.
What do you think is Zazzle’s exit strategy? How will Kleiner Perkin’s and Sherpalo
Ventures recoup their investment?
Week 11 (November 12 – November 18)
Read: Chapter 11 – Unique Marketing Issues
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 11.2 “Case 11.2 / Proactiv: How Three Critical Marketing Decisions Shaped a
New Venture’s Future” on page 388 and answer the following questions:
1.
How has Proactiv gone about establishing a brand? To what degree do you believe
Proactiv is important in its customers’ lives?
2.
Discuss the things that Rodan and Fields learned, prior to the time that they met Guthy
Renker, that persuaded them that infomercials were the best way to sell Proactiv. If
Proactiv hadn’t developed infomercials in partnership with Guthy Renker, do you think
Proactiv would be in existence today? Describe why infomercials were a better choice
than print or media advertising for Proactiv when the company was first being introduced.
3.
Describe Proactiv’s positioning strategy. To what extend did the three critical marketing
decisions discussed in the case shape the evolution of Proactiv’s positioning strategy?
4.
What is the difference between Proactiv’s core product and its actual product? Describe
its actual product and your assessment of whether the actual product provides an
attractive mix of characteristics.
Week 12 (November 19 – November 25) – Thanksgiving Week
Go to: Family and friends
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Eat:
Some turkey and stuffing, maybe some pumpkin pie.
Watch: A little football
Week 13 (November 26 – December 2)
Read: Chapter 12 – The Importance of Intellectual Property
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 12.1 “You Make the Call” on page 425 and answer the following questions:
1.
Go to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s Web site (www.uspto.gov) and look up Patent
No. 6,004,596. Read the patent. After reading the patent are you more inclined or less
inclined to side with the Smucker’s point of view?
2.
Type the word “Uncrustables” into the Google search engine and look at the Uncrustables
sandwich. Spend a little time reading about the Uncrustables on Smucker’s Web site.
Again, after looking over the Web site, are you more inclined or less inclined to side with
the Smucker’s point of view?
3.
In regard to the arguments espoused by the “critics” of the U.S. patent system and the
“advocates” of the U.S. patent systems, which of the points of view do you agree with?
Thinking as an entrepreneur, use your own words to state why you think the critics or the
advocates have a stronger point of view.
4.
So what do you think happened? Do you think Smucker’s did or didn’t get the patent it
was requesting?
Week 14 (December 3 – December 9)
Read: Chapter 13 – Preparing For and Evaluating the Challenges of Growth
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 13.1 “Redbeacon” on page 453 and answer the following questions:
1.
Look at the material in the chapter under the heading “Preparing for Growth.” Evaluate the
degree to which Redbeacon has been sensitive to the three issues under this heading.
2.
Look at Figure 13.2, which depicts the organizational life cycle. Which stage of the
organizational life cycle is Redbeacon currently in? What issues will the founders of
Redbeacon have to be sensitive to during this particular stage? What issues, if any, do
you think will be problematic for Redbeacon?
3.
The section of the chapter labeled “Day-to-Day Challenges of Growing a Firm” lists four
primary challenges: cash flow management, price stability, quality control, and capital
constraints. Briefly comment on how Redbeacon has dealt with each of these challenges.
Which of the four challenges do you think will pose the greatest challenge for the
founders of Redbeacon moving forward?
4.
Evaluate Redbeacon’s future initiatives. Do you think Redbeacon should be more open
to developing a parallel Groupon or LivingSocial type of strategy, and offer daily deals
featuring local service providers? Do you agree with its overtures to Google, Yahoo!, and
Bing? How likely is it that one of these companies will partner with Redbeacon? Finally,
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do you think it’s a good strategy for Redbeacon to develop co-branding strategies with
organizations such as the mom’s groups as mentioned in the case?
Week 15 (December 10 – December 16)
Caution! This is a long week with 2 chapters.
Read: Chapter 14 – Strategies for Firm Growth
Chapter 15 – Franchising
Turn In: The following assignment: (10 points)
Read Case 14.2 “Will Groupon Maintain Its Sizzling Pace of Growth?” on page 489 and
answer the following questions:
1.
Evaluate Groupon’s strategies for growth. Do you think Groupon has done a good job in
terms of identifying the most fruitful avenues for growth, or do you think Groupon should
have been more creative in its growth strategies? Make a list of things that Groupon
hasn’t done that you think have indirectly contributed to its growth.
2.
How does a company go about getting its business featured on Groupon?
3.
Of the current challenges facing Groupon, which one do you think is the most
threatening? If you were the CEO of Groupon, how would you address this challenge?
4.
Refer to the table shown above that lists Groupon’s internal growth possibilities and its
external growth possibilities. Of the eight growth possibilities, rank them 1-8 in terms of
the order of likelihood that Groupon will utilize that possibility as part of its future growth
strategy. Explain the rationale for your rankings.
Week 16 (December 17 – December 19: note shortened week)
Note shorter test window dates below!! This is to permit grades to be submitted
to the records office on schedule. Tests will close at midnight of the last day of
the test window.
Read: Re-read Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 to prepare for your test.
Turn In: Test 2 between December 17 and December 19 (20% of your grade).
Upon request this document can be made available in alternate formats. Please contact the instructor,
Professor Sanjeev Phukan at 218-755-2907 or Kathi Hagen in the Office for Students with Disabilities at
755-3883. Please contact the Office for Students with Disabilities ONLY if you have a need for
accommodations in this class. All other contact should be with your instructor only.
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