Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor

This course examines the historical and philosophical roots of management as well as current management theory and practices. The critical success factors leading to effective performance in the roles of planner, decision maker, organizer, leader, motivator, controller and manager of a diverse workforce in a changing environment are identified and evaluated.

Full course description for Management Principles and Practices

This course introduces the application to financial decision-making of mathematics, statistics, economic theory, and accounting procedures. The two central ideas are time value of money and the relationship between expected return and risk, and how these ideas are used to value bonds, stocks, and other financial securities, and to make capital investment decisions.

Full course description for Principles of Finance

This course surveys factors that marketing managers take into account when creating a marketing plan, including consumer behavior principles, market segmentation, product life cycle, packaging, branding, pricing, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, product distribution methods and key laws affecting marketing practices. The course takes a practical approach to explaining how to identify marketing objectives and determine strategies for reaching them. It is useful to general business students, students who plan marketing management or marketing communications careers and those who wish to be better informed consumers. This course is also offered online. Prerequisite: Goal 1 writing requirement plus 30 credits must be satisfied.

Full course description for Marketing Principles

Interdisciplinary Business Knowledge and Skills for Non-Business Majors is designed to provide broad coverage of major business concepts in finance, marketing, accounting, and management and deep coverage of specific skills and knowledge needed as a foundation for applying that knowledge to opportunities in existing or new businesses. Students will learn how to research data within the Metropolitan State library databases to augment their knowledge and skills to evaluate opportunities and existing organizations. The students will be asked to enhance their analytical thinking by asking pertinent questions, determining relevant information, and systematically developing and applying the business processes to make decisions.

Full course description for Interdisciplinary Business Skills and Knowledge for Non-Business Majors

Entrepreneurship Mindset in a Diverse World provides students with an overall understanding of entrepreneurship while developing the mindset for thinking creatively, solving problems, and discovering opportunities. Students build competencies to recognize and apply innovative strategies and processes in start-up ventures and existing organizations, as well as barriers to creativity and challenges specific to groups of individuals based on gender, ethnicity, or social background. Strong emphasis is placed on understanding diverse organizational cultures and thinking outside the structured environment while dealing with real world applications. The course exposes students to concepts and principles engaged in mind mapping, adaptability, and personal assessment and self-reflection. This class can benefit students greatly in how to think and act from an entrepreneurial viewpoint which is useful for any career choice.

Full course description for Innovative Mindset in a Diverse Economy

This course prepares students to start, manage and grow a new business venture. A business idea will be evaluated, as well as the process to transform the idea in a new business. Different aspects of managing and growing a new business will be examined, assisting students to make educated decisions to solidify the business.

Full course description for Entrepreneurship and Venture Creation

Entrepreneurs confront many challenges. Often they want merely to focus on their core business. Managing technology cost effectively to support an enterprise at start up and as it grows requires expertise that could detract from other entrepreneurial pursuits. This course is designed to help jump start the process of selecting and maintaining technology during the stages of starting and running a business.

Full course description for Technology Management for Entrepreneurs

This course blends financial theory and current industry trends and practices to instruct students on various aspects of financing an entrepreneurial venture. Major topics include attracting seed and growth capital from sources such as venture capital, investment banking, government, and commercial banks. Among the issues discussed are valuing a company, going public, selling out, acquisitions, bankruptcy. Course format includes: case analysis, writing a financial plan, and readings.

Full course description for Finance for Entrepreneurs

The course covers common legal and human resources issues encountered by business owners in starting, growing, and exiting a business, including the choice of entity, financing, contracts, employment, intellectual property, potential areas of liability, and methods of sale of business.

Full course description for Entrepreneurship and Law

This course focuses on new product/service development from an entrepreneurial perspective. Through case studies, interactive exercises, team and individual projects, students will learn and apply ideation and harvesting concepts, gating methodologies, opportunity analysis, pro forma and forecasting. Students will enhance their research skills and critical thinking through evaluation of new product or service ideas.

Full course description for Developing New Products and Services

This course focuses on the process of marketing plan preparation by having the students create an actual marketing plan for an individual product or service offering, a product line, or a business unit of a company. Topics include environmental scanning, SWOT analysis, market positioning of the offering, pricing, break-even analysis, sales forecasting, product placement, and promoting the offering.

Full course description for Writing a Marketing Plan

Writing a Business Plan provides students with practical knowledge and skills needed to write a business plan for a new business idea. Students will be able to deepen their understanding of the steps to creating a business and determine the resources needed to minimize risk and enhance the probability of creating a successful and sustainable business. Students have the opportunity to develop analytical/critical thinking and research skills through the completion of a business plan for their own business idea.

Full course description for Writing a Business Plan