Admission requirements
3rd year bachelor students
Description
In the lifecycle of entrepreneurial companies, different stages necessitate specific configurations of leadership, management, strategy, financing, HR, and routines. In this course, we aim to study entrepreneurship planning concerning start-up growth stage. We will focus on successful transitioning of entrepreneurial companies from infancy to maturity stages. Considering the requirements of the growth stage, we pay specific attention to founders/managers’ characteristics, market and financing strategies, ownership and strategic relationship between entrepreneurial companies and their partners, and entrepreneurial companies’ capability development.
Students who seek to pursue a job as an entrepreneur, business analyst, consultant, investor, and alike can enjoy acquiring knowledge and skills regarding entrepreneurial growth in this course. Drawing on cases from different industries, we leverage the scientific background of students to enhance their skills of navigating a startup company toward higher maturity levels.
Course objectives
The primary objective of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills required for discussing growing entrepreneurial young companies. At the end of this course, students can
recognize different stages of company life cycle and their associated pitfalls,
discuss alternative stakeholder management methods for growth,
analyze finance and market strategies for a growing company and strategize for navigating the company in its growth trajectory,
evaluate strategic partnership with other entrepreneurial companies as well as established businesses, and
relate relevant concepts and frameworks to real-life cases of growth.
Timetable
Semester 1:
Course: December 12th 2018 – January 18th 2019
Exam: January 30th 2019, 14:00 – 17:00 hrs
Please check the latest version of the schedule on Blackboard.
Mode of instruction
The course emphasises small-scale, interactive teaching that focuses on real-life case studies.
Course Load
10 classes (the tentative plan: lectures 13:30-14:15, seminars, 14:30-15:15, and tutorials 15:30-16:15)
Preparation for each seminar
(Group) assignments
3-hour exam
Assessment method
Final exam (40%); Assignments (40%); Class preparation and participation (20%)
In order to pass students must have a total grade of at least a 6 (six). The final grade is rounded off to the nearest half or integer.
Blackboard
Yes.
Reading list
Part III and IV and few selected chapters: Burns, Paul. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 4th Edition (2016). Red Globe Press.
More information can be found on Blackboard.
Registration
Students have to register for the course in uSis. The registration in uSis for 2018-2019 will open two months before the start of the academic year. Click here for instructions.
This course is part of the SBB minor. If you would like to follow this course as an elective, please contact the programme coordinator to discuss the possibilities.