Emerging Enterprise Consulting
Course Syllabus
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Instructor: Debbi
D. Brock
Class: 11:00am-12:15pm T, TH
Office: ERL, 19 N. Poplar
Phone: 529.8345
E-mail: brockdd@muohio.edu
Office Hours: T,
TH 12:15 -1:00pm
or
by appointment M-F
Course Prerequisites
Senior standing, core business courses, or instructor
permission.
Course Overview
Entrepreneurship is the key to the American
dream. Sustainable growth and an
enhanced standard of living for all Americans are dependent on a vibrant,
growing entrepreneurial sector. There is
a need for entrepreneurs with creative business concepts and the courage to
turn these concepts into sustainable enterprises that create jobs and create
value for customers. There is a key
difference, however, between starting a business and growing one. The majority of small
businesses fail to achieve meaningful growth, are marginally profitable,
and operate as “mom and pop” or “hand to mouth” types of businesses. A smaller number are responsible for the vast
majority of new jobs, new products and services, and net new wealth creation in
society. It is this reality that lies at
the heart of the Emerging Enterprises
Consulting course.
The themes of this course are innovation and
sustainable growth. Our focus is to facilitate the survival and growth of
existing small businesses that are owned and managed by local
entrepreneurs. The course is organized
into two major components pursued in parallel with one another. Students will be exposed to a series of
modules that address various aspects of the consulting experience. These modules, and the entire course sequence,
are designed around the SEE Model, which is a three-stage model intended to
guide teams as they approach, decipher, and ultimately create value for the
entrepreneurial enterprise. The second
component involves actual consulting interventions. Students will be organized into teams of
three or four, and each team will be assigned to one
consulting client. The teams will meet
regularly with each client, and, employing the SEE Model, move through an
evolving series of steps which culminate in a set of value-creating
deliverables for the client, and a final consulting report.
To help facilitate the consulting process,
the Page Center for Entrepreneurship has teamed with
Deloitte Consulting to provide training sessions targeted to developing solid
client relationships, becoming an effective consultant, and providing
one-on-one consulting interventions with the student teams to improve business performance, drive value, and create
competitive advantage. Deloitte Consulting is one of the
world's leading management consulting firms, and is uniquely known for its
straightforward approach to solving today's most complex business challenges.
Training sessions will be held on Saturday, August 24 from 9:30pm-12pm (this is session is mandatory for all students), Friday, September
27 from 2pm-4:30pm and Friday, November 1 from 2pm-4pm. If you have a course conflict, you must see
the professor on the first day of class!
Textbook and Course Materials
Strategic Planning for New & Emerging Businesses: A Consulting
Approach, Fry, Stoner, Weinzimmer
Emerging Enterprise Consulting Workbook provided by instructor.
The textbook is a valuable resource on small business issues that
you may deal with during the course.
Your entrepreneur is probably not the first to have the problems you
have identified. The book is a good
starting point to gain information on a variety of topics that many small
businesses face. The book is not the
only resource available to you and should be used along with the readings and
other textbooks available at the library specific to your businesses industry
or area of the business you are evaluating.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel – this and many
other resource are available to you.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
œ Appreciate the unique characteristics, requirements and
contributions of emerging enterprises and the challenges/obstacles the
entrepreneurs who behind these enterprises face.
œ Gain an understanding of the consulting process and developing a
logical and systematic process for identifying the problems and opportunities
confronting small entrepreneurial firms by utilizing the SEE model.
œ Learn how to effectively critique the operations of the business
and develop the ability to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the
enterprise in order to make an impact on the business and it’s
ability to achieve sustainable growth.
œ Develop your capacity to think strategically about a small business
in a complex and changing environment.
œ Integrate knowledge and skills from previous coursework and
business experience to add value to the emerging enterprise and deliver a final
consulting project.
œ Practice leadership and organization skills by establishing
priorities, setting realistic expectations, and completing objectives within a
team environment
œ Create value for a consulting client in terms of tangible
deliverables in the form of new methods, processes, systems, products, and
services that will have a lasting impact on the long-term growth of the
business.
œ To think and act entrepreneurially!
Requirements of Class
The nature of the class requires that the student represent the Page Center for
Entrepreneurship and Miami University to the local business community.
Because of our obligations to the clients we serve, you are asked to
carefully consider the requirements of the class and to commit yourself to the
completion of all course objectives.
Students are not permitted to drop the class after the first week of the
course.
l. Attendance
is required at all class sessions and client meetings. Each student is expected to fully participate
in both engagements.
2. You
should expect to devote 1 to 1½ hours a week to meetings with the client in Cincinnati.
3. You
are responsible for transportation to the client's business location.
4. You are expected to maintain a high level of professionalism at all
times, including appropriate dress and courteous behavior when visiting
clients.
5. Each student will be required to review and sign an employment
contract and non-disclosure agreement for participation in the course. Violation of the agreements will result in a
failing grade for the course as specified in the signed contract.
Student Evaluation:
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Assignment
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Points
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% of Grade
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Final Consulting
Project & Deliverables
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125
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25%
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Class Assignments
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100
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20%
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E-team
Participation and Journal Entries
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75
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A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F Below 60
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15%
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Class
Participation and Attendance
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50
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10%
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SEE Model
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50
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10%
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Final Team
Presentation
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50
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10%
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Midterm Review
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50
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10%
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Total
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500
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100%
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E-Team Participation
An important
part of learning is actually applying the knowledge gained to a real world
environment. Today, more than ever,
professionals collaborate in teams to accomplish company objectives. Students will be placed in E-teams, each
consisting of three to four students.
E-teams will be formed in the first week of the semester using the
following criteria: 1) skill set including degree field and business
experience, 2) interest in the business environment, and 3) compatibility with
the entrepreneur and the E-team. E-team
members will work together throughout the course. It is imperative that team members learn how
to work together to build upon each team member’s strengths and
weaknesses. The teams will meet
throughout the semester in class, during one-on-one consulting engagements, and
outside of class to prepare the final project.
The teams need to agree upon weekly meeting time that works with all the
team members’ schedules during the first week of class and develop an E-team
charter.
The entire course is based on teamwork and collaboration and as
such your grade for the course will be influenced by the efforts of other
students. Students seeking to “ride the
wave” should seriously consider the ramifications of doing such. Students are required to attend all client
meetings and team meetings. The team
will determine how many team meetings may be missed during the semester and
include that information in the team charter.
Students who miss more than two client meetings with no excused absence
as outlined in the class attendance policy will forfeit a significant amount of
their E-team participation points.
Individual contributions to the final report will be carefully
considered. It is not required that each
team member receive the grade – if the amount of effort by each team member is
not equal. Evaluation of you and your
E-team members will occur at two points during the semester. The E-team Project Manager will report on the
team meetings and client meetings that each team member attends in the weekly
team journal entry.
Midterm Review
To ensure your understanding of the course material and readings, a
midterm exam will be given. The goal of the exam is to not only explain the key
concepts introduced in the course, but for students to apply these concepts
into their consulting engagement.
Attendance and Class Participation Policy
Students enrolled in Emerging
Enterprise Consulting must be highly motivated seniors. Enrollment in this course sequence is an
elective choice, and participation in consulting activities is a
privilege. Accordingly, attendance is
required just as you are required to go to work on time every day. As each class focuses on a key aspect of the
consulting experience, more than two unexcused absences will lead to the
student forfeiting his/her class participation grade. Excused absences consist of illness (with
doctor’s note), family funeral, and participation in a university athletic
event for a varsity sport. Interviews are NOT considered excused absences. Students who anticipate scheduling conflicts
should not enroll in the course. The instructor will take attendance at all class sessions.
You are expected to come to class prepared, and play an active role
in the discussions that take place during the class. This means reading all material and preparing
all assignments in advance. Actively
participating in the course is necessary to receive the full amount of
participation points. Contributing to
class discussions includes asking and answering questions, insights provided
regarding the assigned material, examples that you bring into class of issues
you are facing with your client, etc.
There will be random “checkpoints” throughout the course to ensure your
understanding of the readings and course topics.
Final Presentation
The E-teams will present their consulting recommendations to the
class and their client who will attend the final presentation. Presentations will be no longer than 20
minutes with 10 minutes of Q&A.
During the presentation, students should address how their solutions
have or will impact the business.
Additional guidelines for the final presentations will be provided in
class. If you have a course conflict, you need to discuss the conflict with the
instructor on the first day of class.
SEE Model
The Supporting Emerging Enterprise (SEE) model provides a simple
and logical framework to guide students through the consulting process. The model structures the consulting
engagement as it evolves through three interconnected layers of analysis:
I.
Layer One: The Entrepreneurial
Core – Evaluation of the foundation of the business looking at
the entrepreneur, the business concept, and the business opportunity.
II.
Layer Two: Internal Operations
and Resources – Internal issues including financial
records, operational systems and the internal infrastructure of the business.
III.
Layer Three: External
Relationships and Activities – How the business
interacts with the external relationships of the company.
Class Exercises and Assignments
You will be required to turn in a
variety of class assignments dealing with your client and the different aspects
of the consulting experience. These
assignments are meant to significantly help you in the
consulting process both for your identification of problems and in your
relationship with your client. There are
ten assignments that are worth 5-20 points each.
Assignments Points
1)
Industry and Market Analysis 10
2)
Letter of Engagement 10
3)
Map of How the Entrepreneur Spends
His/Her Time 10
4)
Map of Customer Contact…the Moments of
Truth 5
5)
Map of the Operations of the Business 10
6)
Market Research Survey 10
7)
Map of the Economics of the Business 10
8)
Company Press Release 5
9)
Action Plan for Final Deliverables 10
10)
Market Research Summary Results 20
Final Consulting Project and Deliverables
Students are expected to create
tangible deliverables for the business, not simply write a consulting
report. Deliverables can address issues
with marketing, financial, operational, human resources or the strategic
direction of the business. Students will
both develop and implement valuable solutions for the emerging business. Implemented deliverables will be weighted
higher than recommendations in the final grading.
Blackboard Journal
Entries
Every week by Thursday evening at 12:00am (midnight), each team must post a weekly journal entry on blackboard noting
the progress of the team. At least one
member from each team should respond to another teams’ journal entry with an
insight or question. All members of the
team are required to read the weekly journal entries by Monday’s class session
and be prepared to discuss the comments.
The weekly journal entry should cover the progress of the team and
address the following questions:
1)
Amount of time spent at the clients office and time spent with the entrepreneur.
2)
Group members who missed client or team
meetings.
3)
Nature of the meeting, what was
discussed, and what the team accomplished while with the client.
4)
What the team accomplished outside of
class that week.
5)
Address the topic discussed in that
week’s class sessions.
In addition to the team journal
entries, each student is encouraged to communicate your experiences with the
consulting program, interactions with the client and working with your E-team
with the instructor periodically throughout the semester. Issues with team members can often be
resolved by communicating with your teammates and/or seeking the advice of the
instructor. Students are expected to
communicate problems with team members prior to the end of the semester when
the E-team evaluations are filled out.