Entrepreneurship

An overview of the entrepreneurship process starting with the individual, the creativity process, the entrepreneurial idea/concept, and feasibility analysis, and concluding with the business plan. Field trip(s) and guest speakers (e. g., alumni and faculty) appropriate to venture startup and infancy are incorporated. Topics include forms of business organization, patent/copyright laws, management, finance, store layout, employee theft, and franchising.

Your startup/inheritance/acquisition has grown and faces a new set of opportunities, problems and risks. Topics include foundations for long-term success, strategic planning, business development, sustainable growth, and control systems in venture-specific, critical areas. Field trips and guest speakers from growing ventures are planned.

An overview of the financial requirements for an entrepreneur and the management of a startup business. The focus of this course is to evaluate and minimize the major financial issues associated with the starting and maintaining a business. These include determining and acquiring sufficient startup capital and financial indicators of failure such as to much inventory, high administrative costs, etc.

This course offers an introduction to the principles of management and their application to business. The basic management concepts of planning, organizing, controlling, motivating, communicating, staffing, and leading provide the basis for understanding of the management profession and a basis upon which higher level management courses can build more specialized knowledge.

Marketing is a key activity that enables businesses and organizations to achieve their goals by satisfying the needs of others through mutually beneficial relationships. This course will provide students with an understanding of important marketing theory and practices, including: the marketing concept; the marketing environment; market segmentation, product positioning; product and brand strategies; pricing strategies, marketing communication strategies; distribution strategies; consumer and business buying behavior; and electronic marketing.

This course examines the problems of personnel relationships in business and industry. Primary emphasis is placed upon the psychological factors in human relations; the purpose, organization, and functions of the personnel department; instruments of personnel control, such as interviewing, testing, the making of job analysis, classification, personnel education and training, employee incentives, retention, and similar related topics.

This course provides a conceptual framework for understanding and studying the dynamics of behavior in organizational settings and for applying these concepts to improving organizational effectiveness. Included are personality, organizational theory and structure, the decision process, the communication process, group dynamics and leadership, and conflict resolution.

This course is divided into two major topics. The first will address global logistics and supply-chain management. Areas of interest will include international transportation modes, inventory control, packaging, storage, special trade outsourcing, logistics security, internet utilization, and the environment. Emphasis will be placed on the future challenges in managing global logistics and the supply chain. The second will address the principles and concepts involved in negotiating internationally. Areas of interest will include the stages of negotiations, cultural differences, development of business negotiation plans, and contract writing based on negotiation results. The course will include a business negotiations simulation between an American company and a foreign company.

Professional sales is the primary personal communication tool used by businesses to find, create, and retain customers. Firms and individuals with superior sales skills will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The goal of this course is to expose students to the current state-of-the-art sales methods and skills used in business today. Students will learn through active participation and will receive the same type of professional sales training found in top corporations. Topics and methods include need-satisfaction selling, partnering skills, prospecting, SPIN questioning, handling objections, and closing.

Social media has changed the much of the playing field in marketing and advertising. Through social media, customers now have access to the vast experiences of other customers to guide their purchase behavior. Conversation and participation are the norms in social media and social communities. Marketers now must embrace this new relationship with customers to be successful. In this course, students will learn about the different types of social media, create social media marketing strategy, and create content and engagement strategies for various social media and sites platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and YouTube.

Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand. Students will learn how to position brands and to create differences in the marketplace. Analysis of the market, competition, technology, and cultural changes are fully examined.