1. Minor in Entrepreneurship (Approved Spring 2017)

The Reginald F. Lewis College of Business offers an 18-credit hour minor in entrepreneurship. This degree plan provides students with fundamental knowledge of entrepreneurship, including what it takes to launch, fund, market, and successfully operate a sustainable social or commercial enterprise.

 

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Number of Courses and Credit Hours: 6 courses (3 credit hours each)

18 credit hours

Minimum G.P.A.: 2.5

 

 

LIST OF COURSES & PREREQUISITES (in sequence):

 

Introduction to Entrepreneurship (3 credits)

Prerequisites: None

Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the different types of entrepreneurship that exist, and the excitement and challenges of building your own business. It focuses on identifying and evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as identifying what it takes to get a new venture off the ground. The course is enriched with real-life examples, including personal stories from local entrepreneurs and case studies of start-ups. The instructors emphasize active, hands-on learning, and student teams will get a taste for starting and running a company via a team start-up project.

 

Entrepreneurial Marketing & New Product Innovation (3 credits)

Prerequisites: Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Course Description: This course is designed for business and non-business students who want to use their creativity and knowledge to create and market novel products and services for consumers. Students pursuing for-profit or non-profit entrepreneurship ventures will be required to create a value proposition for their new innovation, strategies to protect their intellectual property, and a marketing plan to deliver their new product/service to customers.  As a result of this course, students will be capable of conducting effective market analysis, industry analysis, competitive analysis, and risk analysis to successfully market an innovation for an entrepreneurship venture.

 

Small Business Finance - (3 credits)

Prerequisites: Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Course Description: This course is designed to help new or aspiring small business owners write a detailed proposal that includes a comprehensive financial management plan for their ventures operational and marketing strategies, and an action plan for acquiring the initial resources (venture capital or financing) needed to implement their new business. In addition to formal academic instruction, students will learn first-hand from experienced small business owners, venture capitalists, and financiers who will offer their venture financing advice and share their experiences.

 

Social Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Ventures (3 credits)

Prerequisites: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (Prerequisite can be waived by instructor based on student’s prior non-profit or social venture experience)

Course Description: The purpose of this course is to examine entrepreneurship as a mechanism for social change, community economic development, and societal sustainability. Via interaction with social entrepreneurs and owners of sustainable enterprises, we will examine the social impacts that both social enterprises and socially responsible for-profit ventures can have in the markets where they are located. A key goal of this course is for students to be able to develop a business model that is scalable (with potential for exponential growth and impact) and sustainable for either a non-profit or for-profit venture.

 

Technology & Entrepreneurship (3 credits)

Prerequisites: Introduction to Entrepreneurship; Computer Tools (Prerequisites can be waived by instructor based on assessment of student’s prior experience)

Course Description: This course will provide an overview of the relevance of technology to the success of new ventures, and highlight specific technology tools, including financial management software, website development services and programs, e-commerce, and social media and e-marketing tools that are crucial for 21st century entrepreneurs in any industry. As part of the course, students will have the opportunity to develop their own website for their small business and e-marketing plan.

 

Seminar: Issues in Management - Special Topics in Entrepreneurship (3 credits)

Prerequisites: Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Course Description: This course will focus on special topics in the entrepreneurship field, including Small Business Legal Forms, Music Entrepreneurship, Education-Related Ventures, Franchise Businesses, Non-profit Management, and Internship in Entrepreneurship on a rotating basis. As part of the course, students will have the opportunity to delve more deeply into a specific industry of their choice in which they would like to launch an entrepreneurial endeavor.

Interested in Studying Entrepreneurship?

Contact us to let us know or for more information.

Educational Programs

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research By Faculty

Dr. Patrice Perry-Rivers, Assistant Professor of Management& Marketing; Center Director

Research Areas: Entrepreneurship; strategic management; social responsibility; minority and women's ventures; social entrepreneurship

Current Projects:

• Latino Transitions from Survival Entrepreneurship to Industry Diversity & Empowerment
• The Impact of Institutionalized Risk Aversion on Minority Entrepreneurship
• Leap of Faith: The Impact of Religious Belief on Entrepreneurship from Dun and Bradstreet to Walmart
• Who’s More Social Entrepreneurial? A Comparative Analysis of the Good Works of the Protestant vs. the Catholic Church in the U.S.
• Conducive Contexts: An Analysis of the Regional Characteristics Spurring Women’s Entrepreneurship
• Doing Good for Whom? An Analysis of the Geographic Contextual Congruence of the CSR Strategies of Fortune 500 Firms
• Does Poverty Status Equal Permission to Pollute? The Effect of Regional Income Levels on Corporate Environmental Strategy

Selected Publications:

• Perry-Rivers, P. (2014). Stratification, Economic Adversity, and Entrepreneurial Launch: The Converse Effect of Resource Position on Entrepreneurial Strategy. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, October 7, 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/etap.12137/

 

 

 

Dr. Venkatapparao Mummalaneni, Professor & Chair, Department of Management and Marketing

Research Areas: Innovation in consumer marketing, retail customer service, and business education instructional delivery

Selected Publications:

• Williams, J.D., Mummalaneni, V., & Erramilli, M.K. 1997. An Innovative Classroom Approach to Analyzing the Role of Culture on Business Relationships Using The Global View International Business Simulation, in Samsinar Md. Sidin and Ajay K. Manrai (eds.), Proceedings of The Eight Biennial World Marketing Congress, 8: 123-125.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.