Instructor Dr. Edward E. Ackerley Contact Edward.Ackerley@nau.edu Syllabus BBA 405 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Class Meets Online Class Meeting Dates: October 26- December 13, 2015 COURSE PREREQUISITES BBA 300, BBA 305W, and Admission to BBA program. COURSE/CATALOG DESCRIPTION Course description: Concepts and techniques of organizing and managing small enterprises. Emphasis on practical problems, especially the analysis of practical business case studies and interviews with local and regional businesses that will help the student identify the key steps in successfully managing an ongoing business for profitability and long term enterprise survival. This course is a letter grade only. COURSE STRUCTURE / APPROACH This course is in the online environment, using PowerPoint, some lectures, class discussions, and other classroom tools. IMPORTANT: Online Course Guidelines: If you need help navigating in Blackboard Learn, visit http://www.nau.edu/stc/ COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Define the elements for planning and selecting a business Develop a business plan Define marketing strategies Define growth strategies READINGS AND COURSE MATERIALS Required Text Longenecker, J. G., Petty, J. W., Palich, L. E., & Hoy, F. (2014). Small business management (17 th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. ISBN 978-1-133-94775-2 Additional articles and reading materials as assigned.
General course information: 1. The class covers chapters 1-23 and is divided into 7 modules with each module covering up to five chapters. Each module will contain Power Point lecture and homework chapter summaries, two Discussion Questions that require each student to post one initial response and to post at least one response post to another student s post. 2. Each course assignment has a firm due date listed in the description of the assignment, as well as in the Course Schedule. EVALUATION TOOLS Evaluations of student performance will be conducted by assessment. The assessments consist of: a Biography, participation in the discussion board in Blackboard Learn, a business selection report, and a final business plan. Module Exams There are four module exams in this course. Each of the seven exams is worth 75 points, and you must complete the attempt in 60-minutes by the due date shown in the course outline. Course Requirements: 1. Syllabus Acknowledgement...10 points 2. Biography...10 points 3. Business Selection Form (the company you create for the final business plan)....10 points 4. Discussion Board (14 DQs, Two post each/5 points post/5 points response)....140 points 5. Chapter Homework (23 chapters 10 points each)............230 points 6. Final Business Plan.......300 points 5. Module exams - 4 Module exams at 75 points each......300 points Total..1000 points Grade Scale: 900 1000 points... A 800 899 points... B 700 799 points... C 600 699 points.....d 0 599 points... F COURSE POLICIES All assignments must be original work of the student or properly referenced All assignments must be turned in on the due dates specified in the syllabus. No late work accepted. This is an online course. Participation in the classroom is required as described in this syllabus. A university education aims to expand student understanding and awareness. Thus it necessarily involves engagement with a wide range of information, ideas, and creative representations. In this course of college studies, students can expect to encounter and critically appraise materials that may differ from and perhaps challenge familiar understandings, ideas, and beliefs. Northern Arizona University
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ASSIGNMENTS: BBA 405 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Syllabus Acknowledgement: Send an email to Edward.Ackerley@nau.edu that you have read and understand the syllabus and course schedule Biography: The Biography is a short post on the discussion board briefly describing you and should include at least your name, how far along in you are in the BBA program, why you decide to get a degree in business, and a little about your family. A photograph of you inside your personal profile is encouraged but not required. Discussion Board (DB): Each module will have two Discussion Questions (DQs). Each DQ will require an initial post and a response post. The requirements for each are as follows: 1) Initial Post a) You most paste the original DQ inside your initial post. b) Your initial post must be a minimum of 100 words. c) Your initial post must contain one citation with a reference listed from a scholarly source and in proper APA format. d) For each module, DQ-1 will be due on Wednesdays. For each module DQ-2, will be due on Fridays. Please see the course outline for specific due dates. 2) Response Post a) The response post must be substantive; a minimum of 50 words, and adds to the discussion. b) A response post must be about another student s initial response or can be a reply to another student s post about your own initial post. c) Although no citations is required for a response post, plagiarism rules are still in effect, so if you are borrowing other s work - cite it and list the reference. d) All response posts are due on Sunday of each week at midnight. Remember this is an all or nothing assignment and you must meet these minimums to receive any of the points. This includes turning them in by the due date (see the course outline for due dates). Homework: Each Chapter will have a homework summary and questions. All chapter homework assignments for each module are due by Sunday at midnight. The Business Plan: Throughout the course you will learn about principles governing small business entrepreneurial management. This assignment is to apply these to a real life scenario. You must identify a problem that has a solution solved by starting a new business (no existing business will be approved for this assignment). By the end of week two you must submit your business selection. Then, following the guidelines for a short (abbreviated) plan found on page 148 of the course text, you must write a business plan. The assignment is worth 300 points and is due on Sunday, December 6, 2015, at midnight (during the 6 th module week). The following rubric will be used to grade the assignment so use it as a guide.
Criteria Novice 25% I. The Problem The Problem is short and very inadequate. II. The Strategy III. The Measurements of Success IV. The Milestones V. The Task and Responsibilities VI. The Business Model Writing Skills, grammar, APA format The strategy is not present. The measurements of success are not present. not presented. The team is not discussed The Business model is not presented. The paper has many formatting and grammatical errors, charts are hard to read or incorrectly formatted, and the paper is missing citations and/or a references page. Business Plan Grading Rubric Needs Improvement 50% The Problem is somewhat adequate at explaining the business plan. The strategy is briefly explained but is incomplete. The measurements of success are briefly explained but incomplete. briefly explained but is incomplete. The team is briefly explained but is incomplete. The business model is presented but incomplete. The paper is presented in a decent order, but has grammatical errors, charts are decent, and citations and the reference page have many formatting errors Proficient 75% The Problem adequately explains the basic business plan but fails to catch the attention of the reader. The strategy is but lacks supportive The measurements of success are but lack supportive but lack supportive The team is explained. The business plan is complete but lacks supportive The paper is presented in a logical format, charts are professional and free of most errors, mostly free of grammatical errors, and citation and the reference pages are free of most formatting errors. Superior 100% The Problem adequately explains the basic business plan and catches the attention of the reader influencing them to continue reading. The strategy is and is backed with The Measurements of success are and is backed with and is backed with The team is completely explained. The business plan is complete and is supported by The paper is presented in logical order and format, all charts are professional, it is free of most grammatical errors, and citations and the reference page are in APA format.