MAN 4802 Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management Online Fall 2013 INSTRUCTOR Dr. William T. Jackson OFFICE HOURS OFFICE Piano Man 103D Monday By Appointment Office Phone 727-873-4892 Tuesday By Appointment Wednesday By Appointment FAX 727-873-4192 Thursday By Appointment EMAIL wtj@usfsp.edu Friday By Appointment Course Description This is a totally online course. Students are not required to come to campus for any reason. If, however, at any time you would like to meet with me other than electronically, I will be glad to set up an appointment during normal day-time hours. There will be two basic sides to this course. The focus of these two sides includes a background in small businesses and an introduction to Entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, many authorities will instruct these as if there is not a difference. You will learn throughout the semester that there is a major difference. Let me explain why the two approaches. Because this is typically the first course each of you will take for either a major or minor in Entrepreneurship, you will need to have a basic understanding of how small businesses function. In many of the other business courses you take little attention is given to this concept you learn very valuable business skills, but might not see how they apply to small businesses. Therefore, I have included material that will give you a better understanding of those issues.
The second side to this course is to introduce you to the concepts that are covered in detail in other courses you would take as a major or minor in Entrepreneurship. Some of these topics include: Creativity and creative problem solving Opportunity recognition Lean Startups Business Modeling Research techniques for entrepreneurial firms Entrepreneurial communication skills In short, this course introduces students to the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship. It includes sound academic theory, success stories, case studies, and exercises in critical thinking to help students develop the understanding, skills, and plans needed to start a successful new business. Course Outcomes By the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate an understanding: Components of a viable business plan and a business model Creative problem solving techniques Processes necessary for opportunity recognition and execution The differences in types of entrepreneurs and what makes these types different Skills necessary for running and growing a business Strategies viable for entrepreneurial firms Problems associated with growing an entrepreneurial firm Research tools available for entrepreneurial firms Communication skills needed for an entrepreneurial firm Techniques for analyzing costs, preparing financial documents and reporting requirements Design an effective strategy for marketing, customer service, selling and relationship building Required Reading There is no required textbook for this course. You will, however, be required to purchase access to the course material provided by Pearson Learning. The easiest way to do this is to click on Start Here link on the welcome page. There you will create a user name and password and pay $50.00 for the access. Otherwise, you can purchase the access at the bookstore on campus at USFSP. One item that is necessary on the sign in is that you indicate the Zip Code of 33701. There is a video that walks you through this process on the welcome page if you are having difficulties. Time Requirements As a college course, you will need the put the necessary time into this course to be successful. The classified classroom time for the course is 3 hours per week. In addition, a rule of thumb is that you put 2
hours extra for each hour in class. Thus, you should be willing to put approximately 9 hours per week into the class to do well. Due Dates To pace your acquisition of course concepts, due dates have been set throughout the term. Assignments, quizzes, exams, etc. MUST be submitted by the due date and time. After the Due Date the assignments and exams will no longer be available. Only under extreme unforeseen emergencies will due dates be amended. Computer issues, outages, etc not due to university or system wide outages will NOT be considered an unforeseen emergency. Having to work late, overtime, extra shifts, etc will NOT be considered an unforeseen emergency. Minor illnesses will NOT be considered unforeseen emergencies. It is your responsibility to ensure your computer equipment meets online course requirements and is functioning properly. Unfortunately, there is no means for me to verify an outage on your computer. Do not wait until the last minute to complete assignments. Allow time for work, family and life interruptions. Exams and Quizzes Four regular exams will be administered throughout the semester. Material included on the exams will come from any material covered since the last exam. The format of the exams will be multiple choice. These exams will be posted to Canvas. You will have access to each of these exams at the beginning of the week they are assigned. You will be allowed 1 minute to answer each question there will normally be 50 questions on each exam. You can only open the exam one time if you close out of the exam prior to completing it, the exam will be graded at that point if the answers were recorded in Canvas (most exits result in not having answers recorded). In the past, there have been students that either closed out of the exam by mistake or lost internet access. As previously mentioned, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure the reliability of their computer access. Unfortunately, I will not consider re-opening any exam or quiz. If this occurs on an exam (or if you fail to take an exam) the final exam will automatically be worth an additional 150 points (total of 300 points) please do not contact me regarding missing an exam. On the quizzes, I will give an additional quiz during the semester that can replace your lowest quiz score again please do not contact me if you miss a quiz or have a computer problem. Due to the time limitations on the exam, relying on looking up the questions during the exam will not be possible. The student is also expected to complete the exam alone. Any student caught completing these exams in a group setting will be given a failing grade for the course and reported for further proceedings to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg disciplinary committee.
In addition to the three regular exams, there will also be final exam. This exam is comprehensive and will be administered on campus at USFSP. The final exam is not mandatory but will include some material from previous modules that material will be outlined on the study guide for the fourth exam. The format of the exam will be multiple choice. Except for the fourth exam, no study guides will be provided. Videos There are numerous videos included in the course. These are normally short snippets relating to small business or entrepreneurship. Most, in fact, are intended to give you a better understanding of the entrepreneur and how each is different. Many of these are short YouTube (www.youtube.com) videos. All videos are fair game in terms of exam and quiz questions. Lesson Outlines Every week is classified as a module (except for week 1 which will be explained later). Requirements for that week are listed as the first item under the module and provide a list of activities that must be completed for the week prior to 11:59 pm on each Sunday. Each week will generally consist of: an imbedded lesson on small business; supplemental material on entrepreneurial concepts; videos; outside reading; and a quiz. Modules are broken into blocks of three (i.e. 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12). During the third module of each group there will be an exam covering those three modules. I will only open one block of modules at a time. At the end of the third module of each block, I will open the next three modules. The exam can only be taken in the third week of each block. Research shows that students absorb material better using this approach rather than working too far ahead in the course. Course Components This course is made up of the numerous graded assessments and ungraded activities listed here Graded Assessments Quizzes Analysis Exercises Writing Assignments Article Review Exams
Ungraded Assignments Online Practice (in the lesson presentations) Reading Assignments Watching the assigned videos and reviewing the supplemental material Grades The following table shows the graded assessment types contained within this course and the assigned weighting to determine the final course grade. Quizzes 12 @ 20 points Bonus Quiz 1 @ 10 points Various Assignments Exams 4 @ 150 points Total points 240 points 10 points 150 points 600 points 1,000 points Letter grades for the course will be based on the following grading scale. A 921 points or above A- 900 920 points B+ 870-899 points B 821-869 points B- 800 820 points C+ 770-799 points C 721-769 points C- 700-720 points D 600-699 points F 599 or below Course Participation Unlike a traditional classroom-based course, you do not need to show up to class at a specific time every day to earn your class participation grade in an asynchronous online course. Instead, you need to complete the online lesson presentations, assignments, quizzes, and exams by the due dates specified. Although some of your activities will be ungraded (online practice and outside reading), completing these will surely improve your grades on quizzes and exam. Online Etiquette
The objective in an online discussion is to be collaborative, not combative. In any of your correspondences to either myself or other students, please be respectful. A good rule of thumb is would I say the things I am saying in an email if I were sitting across the desk from this person. Tentative Schedule Week of Assignment Overview (see detailed weekly assignment sheet under that week s module for complete detail Aug 26-Sept 1 Introduction Sept 2-8 Module 1 Sept 9-15 Module 2 Sept 16-22 Module 3/EXAM 1 Sept 23-29 Module 4 Sept 30-Oct 6 Module 5 Oct 7-13 Module 6/EXAM 2 Oct 14-20 Module 7 Oct 21-27 Module 8 Oct 28-Nov 3 Module 9/EXAM 3 Nov 4-10 Module 10 Nov 11-17 Module 11 Nov 18-24 Module 12 Nov 25-Dec 1 Review Week Dec 2-8 EXAM 4 Academic Honesty and Other University Policies Online courses often tempt students to behave in a less than honest way. Your tests and quizzes are to be taken with the aid of books or notes not dropping this course implies that you agree and will abide by this policy. HONOR SYSTEM: Under the USF Honor System, each student is expected to observe complete honesty in all academic matters. Violation of the Honor System will be referred to the Honor Council. Note: The following are violations of the Honor Code: Copying another student s homework, signing another student s name on the attendance roster, copying another group s disk or written work, using another student s computer disk to print out your assignment, copying another student s file onto your disk, and misrepresenting a reason for a missed exam. Punishment for academic dishonesty may result in an automatic F or FF in the course or action that may result in suspension or expulsion. See the USF Policy on Academic Dishonesty & Disruption of the Academic Process at http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/ 0304/adadap.htm STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Please notify your instructor by the end of the first week of class meeting if you have a learning disability or require special assistance with this course. Confidential personal and learning assistance counseling are made available to students through the Division of Student Affairs.
Contact R. Barry McDowell, St. Petersburg Campus: TER 200 (727) 873-4940, (mcdowell@stpt.usf.edu) for more information. RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES: Students who anticipate the necessity of being absent from class due to the observance of a major religious holiday must provide notice of the date(s) to the instructor, in writing, by the second class meeting. COPYRIGHTS: Students who wish to audiotape lectures can do so with direct permission from the professor, but tapes and lectures may not be sold. No videos or photos can be taken in the classroom! INCOMPLETE GRADES: An I grade may be given to an undergraduate student only when a small portion of the student s work (normally 30% or less) is incomplete due to circumstances beyond the control of the student and only when a student is otherwise earning a passing grade. I grades are to be used only in emergency situations and cannot to be used as a means of avoiding a poor grade. Normally these are only for medical emergencies and require a signed letter from a medical professional that the student was prevented from attending class. The student must petition the professor before the week of final exams for a grade of I to be given. GRADE FORGIVENESS: Grade forgiveness is limited to three USFSP courses with no more than one repeat per course. Accounting majors can use the forgiveness only once in upper level accounting courses. WITHDRAWAL: No W grades can be obtained after the official drop or withdrawal date (indicate date for each semester). All students enrolled as of the withdrawal date (indicate date for each semester), will receive a letter grade of A, B+, B, C, C+, C, D+, D or F. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Blackboard, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It is the responsibility of the student to monitor Blackboard site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information. Be the best you can be!