ADM 689 Business Plan Development Capstone
Course Syllabus
General Information
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Business and Administration
ADM 510 - Finance and Economics for Decision Making
Semester: TBD
3 Units
Instructor's Name: TBD
Office Address: TBD
Office Hours: TBD
Course Prerequisites
ADM 680.
Course Catalog Description
Design, development and evaluation of a business plan for existing and new businesses.
Includes consideration of industry, marketing, financial, management, competitive, and
strategic issues relating to the feasibility and operation of new and on-going businesses.
Student Learning Expectations/Outcomes for this Course
● Model an organization using a spreadsheet application.
● Develop company, industry, market, and financial analyses along with strategic planning.
● Gain an appreciation for the opportunities and obstacles to starting and running a business
successfully.
● Craft a strategy for a small business.
● Prepare a small business plan.
Emphasis Outcomes
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Communicate business information in a professional manner.
● Analyze the small business environment using a variety of business tools and produce ethical
actionable strategies to effectively negotiate and profit in that environment.
● Demonstrate the ability to design, write, and produce a business plan meeting professional
standards for finance, marketing, economics, business law and management in organizations.
Program Outcomes
● Demonstrate in writing knowledge of administration, leadership, organizational theory, ethics and
effective management of diverse cultures in organizations. They will specifically demonstrate the ability
to design, write and produce documents meeting professional standards in these key areas.
● Demonstrate the ability to conduct both research and program evaluation that meets rigorous
methodological standards and produces useful, actionable, results.
● Analyze problems and create solutions using a variety of qualitative and quantitative problem-solving
processes, technologies, systems approaches, and innovative/creative thinking.
● Demonstrate professional skills applied to practical problems by consistently meeting deadlines,
working both independently and collaboratively in teams, and integrating scholarly knowledge from the
student's chosen field of specialization and the Core area.
● Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning and develop the skill sets necessary to pursue and find
the answers to professional questions through detailed study in and contribution to the scholarly
literature of the student's chosen field.
Textbook and Required Materials
“The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan,” by Tim Berry; Entrepreneur Media, Inc., 2008. ISBN13-978-1-59918-190-5; ISBN-10: 159918-190-8.
Course Outline
Module 1 – Business Planning Basics
This module serves as an introduction to business planning and explains the basic
components of an effective business plan. The book suggested above covers the material
very well and has the virtue of laying it out in a very practical “how to” manner. Of course there
are many good books on business planning and the instructor should have the latitude to
select one which s/he prefers. The main components of the plan that should be included are:
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Executive Summary
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Company description and ownership
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Full description of the products and/or services offered
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The business model and implementation strategy
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Market analysis, including identification of target market and market segmentation
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Marketing strategy
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Distribution plan and logistics
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Management summary including organizational structure & personnel plan
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Sales projections
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Pro forma financials (P&L, Balance sheet, cash flow, b/e analysis)
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Financial plan and key indicators
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Long term plan
Module 2 – Research and Writing the Plan
This module is dedicated to the actual writing of a business plan. The students will have the
option of preparing a plan of an actual business (their own or one to which they have full
access to detailed info and data) or a fictitious plan based on improvised data and information.
The preparation of this plan will be completed using a powerful software program called
“Business Plan Pro”, one of the many good software programs available that guides the writer
through the preparation of the plan. The dual purpose of using Business Plan Pro (BPP) or
another software package is to allow the student to experience the integration of all parts of the
operating business and to learn how to use an effective software tool. BPP is excellent at
guiding the student through all the steps and producing a plan that covers all the components
listed above in the plan description given in Module 1. BPP includes 10 steps
that guide the student through the researching, structuring, and writing of the business plan
and preparation of a full set of financial projections (pro forma financials). Each step of the
plan will be graded and scored against a maximum number of points for each module. (See
Summary of Work Products & Points below.) The BPP software closely follows the content in
the book recommended above, “The Plan-As-You- Go Business Plan. In addition the software
includes the “Hurdle Book,” a full textbook on business planning.
As the work assigned is completed, the student will be progressing through the steps that will
produce a complete business plan. The student’s grade for the plan will depend on how
well s/he carries out each of the steps and the quality of the final version of the
business plan. The student will earn points for each step completed. The grade will be
based on the number of points earned doing this work. The summary of possible points you
may earn is presented below.
The BPP software has a wealth of examples of business plans the students can study to
enrich their understanding of each part of the business plan being prepared and gives a clear
picture of what the final plan should look like. The BPP program also contains a “Help” feature
that will be very useful.
Module 3: Business Strategy Simulation Game – A Group Project
Module 3 of this course consists of “The Business Strategy Game,” a simulation game in
which each team will run a fictitious business. The are many such simulation exercises
available to use in this module. One suggestion is the “Glo-Business” case. The simulation
exercise requires the students to make a variety of strategic and operational decisions to
guide the firms' actions. These decisions will require the students to draw upon expertise from
virtually every area of business.
The Business Strategy Game (BSG) will provide several learning benefits. First, it should
convincingly demonstrate to the student that it’s crucial for the various business functions to
work together in a coordinated way. BSG will requires the students to make numerous
decisions with many of these decisions falling into the general areas of marketing,
manufacturing, distribution and finance. Poorly made decisions in one area will undermine
good decisions in the other areas. Second, the game should demonstrate the importance of
strategy implementation. It isn’t enough to have a good overall strategy. All of the little
operational details, e.g. how many units to produce in China and ship to Europe or how much
extra to spend for higher quality material, must be determined carefully or even a brilliantly
conceived strategy will fall flat on its face. Third, the game will give the students an arena in
which to apply many of the various concepts covered in the course. Students’ grades for this
assignment will be based on how well their business does in its competition with the other
teams.
Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes
Summary of Graded Activities
Module
Activity
Maximum Possible
Points
#1 Weeks 1 – 4
Exam on Business
Business Planning Basics Planning Basics
150
#2 Weeks 5 – 10
Research & Write
Business Plan
using BPP
Complete 10 Steps of
Business Plan
400
#3 Weeks 11 – 16
Strategy Simulation
Game
Complete Game – score
per performance of team
450
Maximum Possible Points
1000
Grading System
Scale
Grade
>= 90%
A
80% ~ 89%
B
70% ~ 79%
C
60% ~ 69%
D
< 60%
F
Course Policies
MAKE-UP WORK
Life throws obstacles in the way of our plans. If you are unable to complete a module on time,
you MUST NOTIFY THE INSTRUCTOR PRIOR TO THE DATE WHEN THE WORK IS DUE.
You can call me, leave voice mail or send an email but your notice must arrive before the
deadline for that module except in the case of an extreme emergency.
DEADLINES and EVALUATION METHODS
All work is due on the dates indicated in the above schedule. Late work will be penalized at
20% of the maximum grade per day. Work not received within five days of the due date
will receive a grade of zero.
CLEAR, CORRECT WRITING IS REQUIRED
The purpose of this course is to teach you to WRITE an outstanding business plan. Notice the
emphasis on WRITING! Good WRITTEN and oral communications skills are the first things
employers expect of college graduates. Correct grammar, spelling, and syntax are
fundamental to good written communication skills. Since this is a writing intensive course, your
work will be evaluated and graded not only on content but also on correct use of English.
Points will be deducted for unclear writing and especially for incorrect spelling, grammar and
syntax.
CREDIT YOUR SOURCES
In preparing your business plan, YOU MUST CITE EACH REFERENCE SOURCE USED and
give proper credit for data, an idea, quotation, or finding. Failure to cite the source of
referenced data and material is a violation of professional ethics and NAU policy. Furthermore
it may be a violation of copyright or other intellectual property laws. Therefore, the instructor
can not accept material that contains plagiarism or lacks proper citations of material drawn
from other sources. Any reports failing to meet these standards will be returned with a grade
of zero(0).
For guidance on proper citation of references, please see "The New McGraw-Hill Handbook,”
Part 4: pages 373 to 495. APA format is required.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF WORK IN THIS COURSE
1. Thoroughness and creativity of research employed in devising your business plan,
especially the analysis of your market and your marketing strategy.
2. Clarity of presentation.
3. Soundness of argument and documentation. Effective use of research material.
4. Grammar, spelling and general professionalism and tidiness of presentation (all
plans must be typed).
5. Evidence of understanding of effective business plan structure and presentation
6. Observance of standard procedures for citing sources, etc. PLAGIARISM WILL
NOT BE TOLERATED. Failure to cite the source of referenced material is a violation of
professional ethics. It is a violation of University policy. Furthermore it may be a violation of
copyright or other intellectual property laws. In particular, it is unacceptable to lift sections
of the sample business plans provided in the BusinessPlanPro program and use them
in your plan. Even close paraphrasing must be avoided. Your business plan must be
your original work, not a “remake” of one of the sample plans from BPP.
7.
Any form of dishonesty or cheating will not be tolerated. If discovered, the
activity will be graded with a zero and in severe cases the student may be give an “F” in the
course.
NAU Policy Statements
Attach the Safe Working and Learning Environment, Students with Disabilities, Institutional
Review Board, and Academic Integrity policies or reference them in the syllabus. See the
following document for policy statements:
http://www4.nau.edu/avpaa/UCCPolicy/plcystmt.html