CE 59700 – Entrepreneurship and Business Strategy in Engineering

Credits and contact hours:

• 3 credits
• Lecture meets 150 minutes per week for 15 weeks

Specific course information:

• Catalog description: This course offers students the opportunity to learn and apply the core skills required to build and grow engineering- and technology-based businesses through lecture, case discussions, and weekly activities tied to a semester-long team project. Course content includes market analysis techniques to link technology attributes to opportunity and vice versa, combinatorial business design and planning methods, strategic innovation theories, competitive analysis, methods of emergent strategy and risk mitigation, as well as examination of team building, firm influence and navigation, and organizational design principles. Emphasis throughout is placed on the implications of research and development uncertainty, longlifecycle economics, and the management of subcontracts and multidisciplinary teams often encountered when developing and delivering complex engineering outputs. Case studies are used to contrast the challenges faced when creating new businesses (entrepreneurial) with those encountered in attempts to grow an existing enterprise (intrapreneurial). Coursework and project activities also facilitate development of business acumen, and skill building in conceptual thinking, synthesis, and persuasive communication. This course is particularly relevant for engineering students intending to progress into managerial roles in technology or R&D driven organizations. This course can be counted toward the College of Engineering Minor in Innovation and Transformational Change and the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship (BDMCE) Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
• Prerequisites: There are no field-specific prerequisites. Graduate or upper level undergraduate standing is recommended. Exceptions may be granted by permission of the instructor.
• Course status: 

Specific Goals for the course:

• Student learning outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course the student shall be able to:
  • Articulate the similarities and differences between entrepreneurship and intraprenership
  • Employ open-ended problem solving techniques to identify opportunities to grow or transform new or existing organizations and/or commercialize new technologies
  • Utilize and interpret qualitative and quantitative issue and market analysis methods to understand and/or quantify the level of market interest in an idea
  • Understand and apply theories of innovation to define competitive market entry strategies
  • Employ combinatorial business design methods to explore and prioritize alternative paths to achieve financial sustainability for an idea
  • Employ principles of risk mitigation and emergent strategy to define the assumptions underlying new ideas and explore paths to capture market value
  • Perform and interpret financial evaluations of new ideas and businesses
  • Interpret the tradeoffs of varying legal and management structure for a new enterprise
  • Recognize influence paths in an organization and/or market ecosystem and tailor oral and written communications accordingly
•  Relationship of course to program outcomes
  • Outcome 1: An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
  • Outcome 2: An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
  • Outcome 3: An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
  • Outcome 4: An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
  • Outcome 5: An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
  • Outcome 6: An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.

Topics:

• Entrepreneurship vs intrapreneurship
• How businesses work
  • Organizational design and implications
  • Business functions
  • The cash flow cycle
• Pursuing growth
  • Processes to drive innovation
  • Developing and communication a growth idea
• Organizing to Innovate
  • Structures to facilitate growth
  • Developing and managing a masterplan
  • Building and running teams
• Communicating and measuring performance