BET 601Strategically Managing the Entrepreneurial Organization0.50 units
The nature of strategy, what it means for an organization, how it comes to be, and the essentials of effective strategy implementation are discussed. Economic and organizational foundations of strategic management are reviewed. The development of an entrepreneurial culture, building and sustaining the innovative capabilities of the firm, and the role of technology are key topics. Insight is developed into the strategic and management issues facing new ventures as they progress from seed/concept through product development and market development stages.
BET 602Value-based Marketing Strategies for New Ventures0.50 units
Market-based management practices and the key relationships that enable businesses to attract, satisfy and retain customers, and grow their profits are examined. The contribution of marketing strategy to the creation of value for both customers and shareholders is emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the unique contexts of marketing knowledge-intensive products and services, new and rapidly growing markets, business markets, and investor relations. Familiarity is developed with the marketing activities typical for each of the seed/concept, product development and market development stages of a new venture.
BET 603Managing the Technology Driven Organization0.50 units
Management of technology-based organizations requires an understanding of the interaction of technology with all aspects of the organization to build and maintain sustainable competitive advantage. This course focuses on the management of technology and innovation to formulate technology strategy, develop technological capabilities and use them to achieve strategic objectives. Attention is paid to the range, scope, and complexity of technology management issues. Development of a practical framework for assessing the technology-base and innovative capabilities of a firm and the skills necessary to manage the innovation process effectively are key topics.
BET 604Delivering Value through High Performance Business Operation0.50 units
This course takes a practical, hands-on approach to understanding and dealing with the operational issues associated with the management of technology-based ventures in fast-paced environments. Key topics include development of an effective and well coordinated product development process, effective system integration management, hardware and software design issues, and their impact on manufacturability and quality, managing high-performance teams and cross-functional coordination, and advanced project management issues within technology-based enterprises.
BET 605Essential Accounting for Entrepreneurs & Enterprise Intrapreneurs0.50 units
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to how accounting information can be used to assist entrepreneurs and enterprise intrapreneurs. Students travel a "road of discovery" learning how to become proficient at understanding and interpreting financial statement information, at assessing the usefulness of this information for decision purposes and how accounting information can be used to support value-creating organization strategies, operational tactics and performance measurement schemes.
BET 606Managerial Finance and Risk Analysis for the Technology Enterprise0.50 units
Managers, particularly those in technology enterprises, are forced to operate in environments characterized by risk and uncertainty. Financial planning and decision-making in these circumstances are essential skills for effective management. In this course, students will initially learn to differentiate between risk and uncertainty. Measuring risk with probability distributions leading to decisions under risk will be developed. The criteria will include maximization of expected value, mean-variance analysis, coefficient of variation analysis and expected utility analysis. Decision making under uncertainty will then be developed and students will learn how to apply these concepts in Investment Decision making opportunities. Valuing risky cash flows, choice of the appropriate discount rate, measuring the value of the firm, and alternative criteria including return on investment and internal rate of returned will be studies.
BET 607An Entrepreneur's Introduction to Law0.50 units
Businesses operate in an environment prescribed as much by legal principles as by financial rules and performance expectations. The course will show students how legal issues insinuate themselves into most management activities, including those of technology-oriented firms. It will provide an introduction to legal issues affecting business professionals generally and an examination of legal issues specifically relevant to managers planning careers in the technology field.
BET 608An Entrepreneur's Introduction to Taxation0.50 units
This course will introduce students to the Canadian taxation system. Since taxation is an important element in business planning as well as legal compliance, the course provides future technology managers and entrepreneurs with an understanding of Canadian and provincial taxation and how taxation may influence fundamental decisions such as organizational form and compensation arrangements. Emphasis will also be placed on features that are of particular interest to entrepreneurs, including incentives for activities like research and development, and manufacturing.
This course will address e-business models and value propositions, e-business strategies and marketing approaches and e-business infrastructure requirements including 1) e-commerce infrastructure requirements for order processing, payment, fulfillment, and integration with other entity systems and 2) key elements of enterprise IT architecture required to support e-business activities, including physical infrastructure, networks, enterprise software, business processes, transaction processing, data organization and access methods, organizational structures and IT governance and control processes.
BET 610Entrepreneurial Application of Business Technology0.50 units
The focus of this course is on cases involving entrepreneurial successes and failures in applying information technologies in innovative ways. Examples of innovative applications of IT include a variety of Internet applications, wireless communication technologies, intelligent agents, data analysis and decision support technologies, graphical display and visioning applications, and other innovative applications. Key success factors and implementation requirements will be identified and discussed.
BET 611Applied Business Leadership Skills for Entrepreneurs0.50 units
The course provides students with the opportunity to develop a range of soft skills and business acumen necessary to maximize the likelihood of success in an entrepreneurial environment. Topics include written and oral communication skills, business planning, leadership skills, raising capital, produce development, negatiation skills and sales management. A wide range of applied approaches is used, including integrated cases, simulations, and hands-on work with local companies. A team-based approach is frequently used.