Undergraduate Curriculum
Entrepreneurship course Description
MGT 3013 Principles of Management (IBC Section)
In this course we will study the theory, principles and concepts of management as they relate to the traditional managerial functions of (1) planning, (2)organizing, (3)leading/directing, and (4)controlling. The integration and utilization of functional teams in both professional disciplines and organizations will be discussed in detail and applied in a variety of classroom interactions. In addition to the specifics involving these organizational principles we will focus on management, human and organizational behavior, organization structure, communications and other related areas as they impact the management and interpersonal dynamics of organizations. We will also emphasize the operational dynamics of these principles and theories as they relate to managing in any business or public sector agency/organization. The principal process for gaining insight into the practical application aspects of what are studied will be through case study situations, classroom exercises and contemporary illustrations.
MKT 3013 Principles of Marketing (IBC Section)
This course will provide the student with an introduction to the various marketing function of a business organization. The primary emphasis will be on the study of managerial factors and processes utilized in order to plan and control marketing actions. Upon the completion of this course you should understand how marketing has an impact on the lives of each and every one of us. That the basic marketing principles and the need for designing a customer-driven marketing strategy (relationship marketing) which will result in a firm developing and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage.
BAD 3013 IBC Practicum
The Practicum section of the IBC course was designed to meet three primary objectives:
To provide students with the opportunity to create and manage a small business enterprise. To cultivate and reinforce the students' sense of corporate and ethical responsibility by requiring profits generated by the company to be used to assist a non-profit service project. To cultivate a sense of individual responsibility to the community by requiring the personal involvement of the student with the selected non-profit service project.
LS 3323 Legal Environment of Business (IBC Section)
To gain an understanding of law as it pertains to business. We will explore such topics as employment law, contract law, business ethics, partnerships and corporations, business torts and crimes, and many other areas as it pertains to the core IBC presentation. You should leave this class with an understanding of how business and law interact especially in the business setting and how law can affect you personally.
ENT 3003 Introduction to Entrepreneurship
This course is designed to introduce the concept of what an entrepreneur is, how they think, and how they grow from self-employed to creating a high growth venture. This course helps students understand the entrepreneurial journey. The course takes you on an adventure, from evaluating an opportunity, to launching a business, through growing it and finally harvesting the profits. From the first day of class you are challenged by dilemma regarding customer selection, pricing, production methods, financing, and hiring.
Twenty HBS cases are used:
* Lemonade Stand [AFEE] * R&R * Peanut Butter Fantasies * Willow Creek Community Church (A) * Explo Leisure Products * Honda (A) * Steven B. Belkin * Precision Parts, Inc.(A) * Lake of the Hills [AFEE] * Technical Data Corporation: Business Plan * Stamp Plus [AFEE] * Boston Duck Tours, 1996: Has Boston Gone Quakers? * Fjord Trading Co. (A) [Babson 802-060-1] * Calyx & Corolla * Case: Harris Seafood, Inc. * Davis Boatworks * Virginia Craftsmen, Inc. [Darden UVA-G-0286] * Wirefab,Inc.(A)
ENT 3103 Entrepreneurial Process
The course focuses on the early development of independent ventures as well as those within established organizations. Individual and organizational level issues will be addressed. Entrepreneurial thinking will explore the thought processes that challenge existing norms and pave the way for novel solutions to problems in any field. The venture life-cycle of opportunity, launch, growth, and harvest is highlighted. The course will also address start-up team issues, legal issues with new firms and innovations, and organizational form. Concepts are illustrated through field and case studies and guest speakers. Twenty HBS cases are used:
* Lemonade Stand [AFEE] * R&R * Peanut Butter Fantasies * Willow Creek Community Church (A) * Explo Leisure Products * Honda (A) * Steven B. Belkin * Precision Parts, Inc.(A) * Lake of the Hills [AFEE] * Technical Data Corporation: Business Plan * Stamp Plus [AFEE] * Boston Duck Tours, 1996: Has Boston Gone Quakers? * Fjord Trading Co. (A) [Babson 802-060-1] * Calyx & Corolla * Case: Harris Seafood, Inc. * Davis Boatworks * Virginia Craftsmen, Inc. [Darden UVA-G-0286] * Wirefab,Inc.(A)
ENT 3113 Opportunity and Venture Creation
This course focuses on the development of opportunities in today's business environment. The mastery of concepts covered in this course will lead to an initial evaluation of new venture ideas and provide a foundation for subsequent courses in the major. This course represents an early step in preparing you to start and manage an entrepreneurial venture.
ENT 3413 New Product Development
The objectives of this course are to gain an understanding of the new product development process. To gain an understanding and be able to use analytical methods of product planning, development, launch, and control. To understand effective internal structures for implementing innovation processes. Learn how to assess and improve new product development and management performance. Identify a product concept and move it closer to commercialization.
FIN 3513 Entrepreneurial Finance
This course is concerned with the financial aspects of starting and managing an entrepreneurial enterprise. Topics include working capital management which has a significant effect on the timing and amounts of a company's daily cash flow. The evaluation of investments that have the characteristics of options which the entrepreneur must exercise or abandon as conditions dictate. Financial planning which is crucial part of a business plan. How to value an entrepreneurial enterprise and finance it during the early part of its life-cycle. We will examine each topic from conceptual, empirical, and practical perspectives. That is, you will study the finance concepts that form the basis for entrepreneurial finance, you will see empirical evidence that these concepts are actually applied in practice and you will develop the practical skills necessary to apply them yourself. We will use diverse methods to accomplish these objectives including readings, exercises cases, and guest speakers.
ENT 4103 Field Studies or ENT 4303 Entrepreneurship Practicum
A practicum course that provides students with opportunities to apply concepts mastered in previous business courses. In the context of work teams, students work with Oklahoma start-up companies and entrepreneurs as consultants to develop comprehensive business plans for new ventures or to assist business persons with problems related to market research, financial management, managerial issues, and other business requirements such as planning expansion or new product development. The specific scope of each project will be determined on a case by case basis by the entrepreneur. Students will meet in the classroom most Mondays to discuss business cases or interact with guest speakers covering a number of topics. Class will be held on three Tuesday evenings from 7-9pm (location TBA) to accommodate a distinguished panel of business leaders on a variety of topics including fund raising, idea generation, and entrepreneurs. Students are encouraged to participate vocally during case discussions and ask questions of the speakers. Guest speakers and internships are supplemented with cases:
* Keurig * Anasazi: Exclusive Salon Products, Inc. * Boston Beer Co. * Light Beer Decision * Peter Jepsen * Ironwood Golf Corporation
ENT 4503 CCEW Internship
CCEW provides OU with an enhanced mechanism to offer practical experience to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and assist in developing Oklahoma's economy. The Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth operates alongside the university's Office of Technology Development which is the primary source of the Center's intellectual property. CCEW's objectives are: (1) broaden exposure to the entrepreneurial process, (2) give interested students the opportunity to engage in real-world business enterprise, (3) accelerate moving OU technology into the marketplace and (4) strengthen wealth development in Oklahoma. Through Internship and Mentor-in-Residence programs, CCEW participants engage in entrepreneurial outreach activities and the development of actual start-up companies.
For more information about CCEW, please visit http://ccew.ou.edu.
ENT 4603 New Venture Development
This course leads you through the process of developing a detailed business plan for an entrepreneurial venture. The process of developing and launching an entrepreneurial venture is one of the most exciting activities undertaken in business. Creating a business plan is exhilarating, challenging, and times even frustrating. This course is designed to help you develop a comprehensive strategy and plan for launching and growing a new business. Because the development of a new business concept today often demands expertise in divergent areas and high levels of energy, ventures are usually started by teams. Therefore, in this class you will work in teams to develop and write a business plan. Furthermore, this class is about creating a new product or service in a viable market that has the potential to develop into a significant organization with the intent of creating significant financial and social wealth. Such activity may occur in a large firm, a smaller entrepreneurial venture or a new startup. Your entrepreneurship program has been designed to teach you to develop critical skills that allow you to analyze a wide variety of business opportunities and problems. Where ever that may be, we assume that you desire to take a lead role in developing new business opportunities. This course is intense as it is fundamentally about doing a business plan project. While you will read some cases in this class, this is fundamentally an action course. Furthermore, this course represents an integration of your entrepreneurship major and work experience to create business value where none previously existed.
ENT 4613 Market Development
This class deals with the issues an entrepreneur might face during the launch phase of his or her new venture and/or new product. The case-based curriculum teaches students the critical questions that must be answered in order to turn products and ideas into sales and revenue. Issues to be covered are opportunity identification, manufacturing, pricing, market segmentation, advertising, promotions, public relations, branding, sales, negotiations, channels, service, franchising, competition, and strategy. Concepts are illustrated through field and case studies and guest speakers. Twenty HBS cases are used:
* Nantucket Nectars * Marcia Radosevich and Health Payment Review - 1989 (A) * Heineken N.V.: Global Branding and Advertising * The Gillette Company: Dry Idea Advertising (A) * Gardenburger Advertising Strategy (A) * Nike Inc: Developing an Effective Public Relations Strategy [Ivey 9A99C034]) * Burberry * Virgin Mobile USA: Pricing for the Very First Time * Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service * InPart * SaleSoft, Inc. (A) * Steinway & Sons: Buying a Legend (A) * At Play Productions * Ingersoll-Rand (A): Managing Multiple Channels -1985 * Barilla SpA (A) * Donner Co. * National Bicycle Industrial Co. *Supercuts [Stanford E12] * Warner-Lambert Ireland: Niconil * Sealed Air Corporation
ENT 4710 Strategies for Capital Flow - Source, Growth and Harvest.
This course will cover various strategies for capital flow for an entrepreneurial venture. Topics will include strategies for maximizing financing, financials, techniques for valuing new businesses and financial structure. Funding strategies examined will include commercial banks, small business investment companies, SBIC, business angels, IPO, Series A& B & C financing, acquisitions, LBO, and venture capital companies. These processes are often referred to as sourcing, diligence and valuation. Concepts are illustrated through twenty-two Harvard Business School, Babson College, and Stanford cases, supplemented by notes and readings. Concepts are illustrated through field and case studies and guest speakers. Twenty HBS cases are used:
* Cityspace * Widget, Inc. (A) and (B) FEE * Ruth M. Owades * Band of Angels * ONSET Ventures * Stratus Computer * Science Technology Company-1985 * Pathfinder Capital * Parenting Magazine * Kochman, Reidt+ Haigh, Inc. * Starbucks 98 * Be Our Guest * Gordon Biersch Stanford SB-130 * Friendly Cards, Inc. * John M. Case Company * BCI Growth III: May 1993 * Brazos Partners: the CoMark LBO * Interco * Netscape's IPO * Bio Transplant Inc. * Eskimo Pie Corporation * The Carlton Polish Company * Transportation Displays Incorporated (A)
ENT 4813 Entrepreneurial Law
This course is designed to provide the would-be entrepreneur with a working knowledge of certain essential substantive areas of the law and the ability to work with and use lawyers effectively. The focus will be on the practical legal considerations in forming and sustaining an entrepreneurial enterprise, including entity organization, securities laws, employment benefits, operational liabilities, financing, mergers & acquisitions and intellectual property law.
ENT 4913 Strategy for Small/Family Business
Growth Strategies for Small and Family Businesses will focus on a number of issues that must be addressed as a small company seeks growth. Additionally, family-controlled private and public companies are the dominant form of enterprise worldwide, comprising more than 90% of all businesses. The class will focus on growth processes and systems, attracting the right people, managing cash-flow, shareholder decision-making; financial and market-driven options for long-run competitiveness, organizational structures, and management team issues; strategic planning from a resource-based perspective; transition planning for the corporate entity, family dynamics and communication issues; and leadership empowerment. It will present both a theoretical framework for understanding the small/family form of business organization and a practice perspective on working for or consulting to small/family firms and/or working as a family member in the small/family business.
* Kitchen Made Pies * Aspect Medical Systems * Vinod Khosla and Sun Microsystems (A) * Giro Sport Design * Assuming Control at Altex Aviation (A) * The Peppers and Rogers Group * OXO International * KnowledgeNet (A) * Bluewater Aquaculture * Tom Bird & Ken Saxon * Catalina Marketing Corporation * Incat * Au Bon Pain * Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A) * The Khalil Abdo Group * The Pellegrins (A) * Sam Steinberg (A) and (B) * The Graham Family and The Washington Post Co