Objectifs

The primary purpose of the entrepreneurship and strategy course is to provide participants with the essential knowledge required to identify and evaluate new venture opportunities that have the potential to create value in start-up/early stage ventures and within established entrepreneurial organizations. The course will not focus on ‘how to launch a start-up’, the focus will be on the entrepreneurial mindset. Participants will learn about the key activities and stakeholders associated with entrepreneurial venture as well as exploring why failure rates are so high globally. The development of an entrepreneurial mindset requires the integration of several disciplines including economics, finance, psychology, and sociology and participants will engage in experiential learning to explore each of these topics in an entrepreneurial context. Some of the specific topics to be covered include opportunity recognition, financing options, and the role of government policy on entrepreneurial activity.

Contenus

The course will be highly interactive and the class discussions will be centered on the assigned readings, cases, on-line forums, or other key topics as assigned. Everyone is expected to come to each class session prepared to discuss the readings or central topic; anyone may be called upon to share their insights, views, etc. All students are also expected to critically evaluate every reading, not simply accept everything that is presented in the articles or other materials.

Students will be evaluated based upon their individual contribution and a group project. Each group will consist of five (5) or six (6) students and projects will focus on the evaluation of an activity that the team believes will have viable growth potential, meaning that the founder/team can at least make a living from owning and/or managing the organization. However, the objective of the project is not to prove that the idea is commercially viable, the project assessment may result in the team deciding that the idea should not be pursued in the end.

Each group will be required to develop and submit an initial written overview of the business idea as well as a written business assessment/proposal document related to their project. Each group will also be required to present their business assessments as a team, which will also be graded.

Références

A collection of articles, case studies, and podcasts related to the topic. Additional readings from the popular press and audio/video content will also be assigned throughout the semester.

Pré-requis

N/A

Evaluation

1ère tentative

Examen:

Sans examen (cf. modalités)  

Evaluation:

The course evaluation will be based upon the student's course contribution and the group project. The course contribution evaluation will include the student's participation in class, selected exercises, and forum discussions. The evaluation of the group project will be based upon the written project overview, the final written group project assessment, and the group presentation.

Rattrapage

Examen:

Ecrit 2h00 heures

Documentation:

Autorisée avec restrictions

Calculatrice:

Non autorisée

Evaluation:

In the event of a retake, the written exam will account for 100% of the course grade. The grades from the case studies, course contribution, and the group project will not be included.