Bus55 DL Syllabus

Business 55
Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Course Overview and Syllabus
Fall 2008 / 5 Units

Top Course Description Learning Outcomes Advisories Materials Requirements
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**Instructor: Michele Fritz**
Instructor Email Address:	fritzmichele at deanza.edu (Please note that Michele has one "L". Also, you may receive a reply from another email account, but this is the account that I check most frequently so please use it.)
Telephone:	(408) 864-8615 (Please use email for urgent messages.)
Faculty Web Site:	http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/fritz/ My web site contains many tools and resources for students.
Office:	F-51J, which is near the Forum building on campus in Cupertino, CA.
Office Hours:	Mondays through Thursdays from 10:30-11:30 AM (PST). Online Fridays.

Course Description:

This course provides students with an introduction to the potential and pitfalls of Entrepreneurship. Students will learn about the various methods for starting up, managing and financing a new venture. Students will get a chance to evaluate real world business plans and videos of entrepreneurs.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, student should be able to:

Describe the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.
List the procedural and legal requirements for starting up a business.
Analyze a business opportunity and its potential to gain competitive advantage.
Illustrate how customer needs are central to marketing.
Demonstrate consistency in selecting elements of the marketing mix.
Discuss the significance of asset management processes in a business.
Formulate plans to motivate employees and predict the consequences.
Use accounting information to solve problems and monitor the business.
Describe the methods for managing cash flow in the business.
Assess risks in a proposed business.
Summarize the issues associated with success and the growth of the business.
Define and use common business terms relevant to entrepreneurship.

Advisories:

English Writing 100B & Reading 100 (or Language Arts 100), or English as a 2nd Language 172 & 173.

Materials:

All of the required materials for this course may be purchased at the De Anza Bookstore. The phone numbers for the bookstore are (408) 864-8907 or (408) 864-8949. Online ordering is available via the Bookstore Home Page (Note: All links in this document open in a new window).

Textbook: Jerome A. Katz and Richard P. Green, Entrepreneurial Small Business, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2009. ISBN: 9780073405063.

Technology: The following technology is required in order to access the course materials.

You will need a computer (on Windows-Minimum of PII 300 mhz; on Mac-G3 350 mhz) with broadband access (at least 256k) to the Internet. Modem users will not be able to view the streaming videos. Remember, if you don't have broadband but can come to campus periodically, you are welcome to use the Open Media Lab to watch the videos. It is located in the basement of the Learning Center West building.
You need to have a current browser in order to view the web-based course materials (Firefox is recommended). You also need to allow cookies, Java, and pop-ups.
You will need to download and install the free Real Player media player in order to view / listen to the course videos. The streaming videos will also be made available in the format for the Windows Media Player, but you must use the Real Player if you are on a Macintosh or if you need close captioned files.
For a few of the videos from PBS, you will use a Java clipstream or Windows Media Player. Again, the Java clipstream option works well and is recommended for Macintosh users. You will need to have Java installed on your computer, and ensure that your browser allows it.
You will need to download Flash to view the presentations in their graphical format. (Most people already have this installed.)
You will also need Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or the Word Viewer 2003 to view the business plans and some other Word documents.
You will also need a personal email address to receive course announcements. As soon as you log into your account, you should receive an email welcome message from the instructor. If that does not occur, you may need to decrease the security on your email or empty your email account (if it is full). These proactive measures will ensure that you receive all important reminders from your instructor. If you don't have an email address, get a free one by following the instructions on my web site under Tools, Tips and Resources.

Top Course Description Learning Outcomes Advisories Materials Requirements
Lesson Plan Tips for Success Grading Academic Integrity Dropping Support

Requirements:

Orientation: Please watch the Course Orientation Tutorial located at on the home page of the course and also on the Business 55 Page of my faculty web site. I am also available to walk any student through the course in my campus office hours or over the phone. (Arrange this by email.)

Reading and Review: Each week you will have approximately two chapters to master. You should read the assigned text chapter, and then review the associated Flash presentation. (A text version is also provided if you cannot use Flash.)

Games: Each week there is some type of online game available to test your comprehension of the lessons. The games are provided to help you determine how well you understand the material, and to help you prepare for the midterm and final examinations. You may use these games as many times as you like and your score is not recorded in my grade book. However, you will receive 2 points for trying the game and submitting your initial score to me where the quiz is located before the posted deadline that week .

Examinations: There will be 2 exams to test you on the material you have learned. The questions will contain similar content to issues explored in the practice quizzes and games, readings, and discussion assignments. These tests will be timed, so you will need to be competent in course concepts to complete them. You will not have the time to look up many answers in the textbook.

Midterm (40 points) covers textbook chapters 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,11, and 12. It is due by Friday 10/31 by midnight Pacific Standard Time.
Final Exam (40 points) covers textbook chapters 2, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. Students must complete the final by Tuesday 12/09 by midnight PST.
Optional Extra Credit Final Essay (8 Points) The student has the option of answering a final exam essay question for up to 8 points of extra credit. Students will have up to one hour to compose their answer to the essay question. This extra credit is also due by Tuesday 12/09, although it is timed separately to allow you to take a break. Points will be allocated according to the following rubric:

**Extra Credit Essay Rubric**
Criteria	I'm impressed!	A successful start!	Every bit of extra credit helps!
Professionalism	Writing is clear and easy to read, containing proper grammar and punctuation. (2 points)	Writing is generally clear but contains some grammatical errors or typos. (1 point)	Writing is difficult to understand. (0 points)
Specifics and Level of Detail provided	Essay contains 5-6 specific and elaborated examples of how the student will implement course concepts into his/her planned business. (5-6 points)	Contains 3-4 specific and elaborated examples of how the student will implement course concepts into his/her planned business. (3-4 points)	Contains 1-2 specific and elaborated examples of how the student will implement course concepts into his/her planned business. (1-2 points)

Discussion Forums: Each week you will also be expected to contribute to your choice of class discussions. This discussion forum allows you to demonstrate your understanding of course concepts and learn from the experiences of your classmates. The assignments are varied, they involve tasks such as web research, video case studies, or even a role play exercise. Your grades in the discussion forum will be evaluated according to the Discussion Rubric provided in the table below. (Please note that students will not get credit for doing more than one topic per assignment. The instructor is looking for quality, not quantity. Students who do multiple discussion topics each week will only be graded on their first one.

Discussion Rubric - All Criteria Listed Have Equal Importance

Criteria	A Level work	B Level Work	C Level Work
Completeness	All questions posed in the assignment are fully answered and explained or justified. All directions have been followed.	All questions posed in the assignment are fully answered but explanations may be brief or some of the directions were not followed.	Some of the assigned questions are skipped or ignored.
Originality	Adds two or more significantly new ideas to the chosen discussion topic and demonstrates that the discussion has been reviewed prior to posting.	Adds one new idea to the chosen discussion topic and demonstrates that the discussion has been reviewed.	Enhances or further explains an idea that has already been mentioned in the chosen discussion topic.
Timeliness	Posts fully in the discussion by the deadline.	Posts up to a week after the deadline.	Posts later in the course.
Professionalism	Writing is clear and easy to read. Posts are written in a professional manner with proper grammar and punctuation.	Posts are generally clear but may contain occasional grammatical errors or typos.	Posts may be difficult to understand due to grammatical and stylistic problems.

Top Course Description Learning Outcomes Advisories Materials Requirements
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Lesson Plan:

Dates	Lessons
Week 1	Course Orientation; What is Entrepreneurship?
Week 2	Starting a Business
Week 3	Planning and the Opportunity
Week 4	Marketing and Promoting Your Business
Week 5	Products, Pricing, and Place
Week 6	Midterm Exam; Operations Management
Week 7	Managing Human Resources
Week 8	Basic Accounting for Small Business
Week 9	Happiness is Cash Flow
Week 10	Financial Management and Risk
Week 11	Legal Issues and the Challenges of Success
Week 12	Final Exam due Tuesday.

Tips for Success:

There are many ways that you can demonstrate your understanding of course concepts in this class. I hope that you enjoy the flexibility of the course design, and I welcome your input. Here are some of the ways that you can boost your performance in this class. Please take advantage of them!

Do the games each week to identify areas in the text to study more, and to identify topics that are likely to appear on exams. Make certain to review the textbook for the questions you missed.
Schedule your work to complete tasks on time. For instance, games completed on time are worth 2 points. Games completed late are still helpful for review, but they do not earn you any points.
Email the instructor when you don't understand the answer to one of the practice questions, or post a question in the "Student Café" and ask another student to help.
Try to be one of the first few students to answer the discussion group topic, so that you don't have the pressure of reading 30 posts and coming up with something "new".
If you don't receive 9 or 10 points on the discussion group, go back to that earlier week's posting to see if your instructor posted a response. Discussion group postings may be improved to gain additional points (although any late penalties will remain). Please email me to let me know that you have improved your posting so that I can re-evaluate it. You may improve discussions 1-5 until the date of the midterm exam and discussions 6-10 until the Sunday night before the final exam.
Do the Optional Extra Credit Essay if you don't have enough points to get the grade you desire, after taking the Final Exam.

Grading:

Grades will be assigned to students based on the total points earned in the course. You may access your final grades in Catalyst by the weekend after the final exam. After that, look on the web at http://www.deanza.edu/my or through the Star System (408)-777-9394 or (650) 917-0509.

**Assignment Weights**
*Course Requirement*	*Point Value*	*Percentage*
Doing the 10 games before the posted deadlines	20	10%
Midterm Exam	40	20%
Objective Portion of Final Exam	40	20%
Participation in the 10 Discussion Forums	100	50%
Total (Extra Credit Essay is not included here)	200	100%

**Grade Scale**
*If Your Total Points Are*	*Resulting Grade*
196 and up	A+
186 to 195	A
180 to 185	A-
176 to 179	B+
165 to 175	B
160 to 164	B-
156 to 159	C+
139 to 155	C (no C- grades given)
136 to 138	D+
125 to 135	D
120 to 124	D-
less than 120	F

Academic Integrity:

Students who plagiarize, submit the work of others as their own, or cheat on exams will receive an F in the course and will be reported to college authorities. For more information, see the Student Handbook Powerpoint presentation on Academic Integrity.

Dropping:

Please note: I will drop students who have not logged on and completed assignments by the end of the first two weeks, and those who have not completed the midterm exam (or emailed me regarding an emergency) by the due date for that exam. Other than that, students are responsible for submitting the appropriate form to drop or withdraw from the course. If you mean to drop the course but do not submit the appropriate form, you can expect to see a grade for the course on your transcript! The drop procedures is as follows. (There is no other online or telephone method for doing a drop after the first two weeks of class.)

Download and fill out a form from the De Anza web site at: http://www.deanza.edu/registration/Drop.pdf
Fax it to Admissions & Records at (408) 864-8329 before the deadline in the 8th week of class.

Support:

Help with Course Content	Email me Mondays through Fridays. (24 hour turnaround is typical except over the weekend.)
Technical Support (24 X 7):	Toll-free phone: 1-866-518-3953 Web Site URL: Posted on https://catalyst.deanza.edu
Distance Learning Center (Administrative Support)	Home Page: http://distance.deanza.fhda.edu (Hours of operation are posted on the page entitled "About the Distance Learning Center.) Phone: (408) 864-8969

Top Course Description Learning Outcomes Advisories Materials Requirements
Lesson Plan Tips for Success Grading Academic Integrity Dropping Support