BA 161 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship

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Required Text:
Entrepreneurship: A Process Perspective (2004). Robert A. Baron and Scott A. Shane. Thompson
Publishers.

Suggested Readings:
New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century (6th Edition) (2004). Jeffry A.
Timmons and Stephen Spinelli
The Entrepreneurial Venture (1999). William A. Sahlman, Howard H. Stevenson, Michael J.
Roberts and Amar Bhide, Harvard Business School Press.
The Systematic Search for Entrepreneurial Discoveries (2002). James O. Fiet, Quorum Books.

Course Description:
BA161 Introduction to Entrepreneurship (2) is the second course in a three-course sequence for
students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial managers. Topics
include evaluating entrepreneurial capabilities, creativity and innovation, opportunity assessment
and feasibility analysis, business plan creation and implementation, new product introduction,
seeking funds and harvest strategies.

Course Overview:
Introduction to Entrepreneurship focuses on the concepts, skills and know-how, information,
attitudes and alternatives that are relevant for start-up and early-stage entrepreneurs,
entrepreneurial managers and the relevant stakeholders. The course has two fundamental goals.
The first is to teach future entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial managers to use the entrepreneurial
perspective in order to make better decisions, and thereby positively influence the odds for
success, and thus minimize the odds – and costs – of failure. The expectation is that students will
enhance their capacity to envision, anticipate and orchestrate what is required in order to succeed.
The second aim is to teach effective entrepreneurial and general management practice from the
perspectives of the founder and the vital stakeholders that can make a substantial difference in the
ultimate success or failure of the entrepreneurial process.

It has been suggested that a key difference between managers and entrepreneurs is that managers
are ‘resource driven’ and entrepreneurs are ‘opportunity driven’. Within the broadest definition,
entrepreneurs are found in most businesses, since any firm, if it is to survive and prosper, must
have some entrepreneurial drive. The central focus of this course, therefore, is the critical role of
opportunity creation and recognition, and the entrepreneur, as the principal success factors in new
enterprise formation and building. The course is especially relevant for aspiring entrepreneurs
bent on launching and growing a business.
Learning Objectives:
⋅ Identify and determine what entrepreneurs need to know about the critical driving forces in
a new venture success.
⋅ Identify how successful entrepreneurs and investors create, find and differentiate profitable
and durable opportunities from just “other good ideas,” and how opportunities evolve over
time.
⋅ Evaluate and determine how successful entrepreneurs and investors create and build value
for themselves, and others.
⋅ Identify the necessary financial and non-financial resources available for new ventures;
identify the criteria used to screen and evaluate proposals, their attractiveness and risk, and
how to obtain start-up and early growth capital.
⋅ Determine the critical tasks to be accomplished, the hurdles to be overcome during start-up
and early growth, and what has to happen to succeed.
⋅ Identify the future consequences of decisions made by entrepreneurs at each point in time;
options that are precluded or preserved; and the nastier minefields and pitfalls to be
anticipated, prepared for and responded to.
⋅ Determine decisions that can be made to increase the reward to risk ratio at various stages
of the company’s development, and thereby change the odds.
⋅ Determine what are the important factors outside the control of the founders, and how
critical and sensitive the current context and timing are to all of these above issues.

Achieving Learning Objectives:

The course will accomplish these learning objectives through a diverse mix of methods and
activities, including:
• Analysis and discussion of actual cases
• Guest speaker presentations and dialogue
• Work in teams to prepare a Feasibility Plan
• In-class team assignments and exercises
• Outside of class tutorials and meetings with me regarding Feasibility Plans
• Lectures and presentations
• Related readings and video tapes

Classes will be conducted with equal emphasis on lecture and class participation. Class lectures
will relate to chapter reading assignments but will not attempt to cover all the material in the text.

All lecture slides, course notes, example papers, additional readings and marking criteria for all
assessment will be posted on the BA161 webpage page: http://classes.bus.oregonstate.edu/ba161/
Email bulletins that contain relevant updates etc. will be sent to all students’ ONID addresses as
required.
 Assessment:
1. Class participation including mandatory attendance at 3 Austin Entrepreneurship Program
Activities (individual grade) 5%
2. Progressive assessment 20%

1. Class Participation: Entrepreneurship is a “full contact” activity and it is expected that

students engage in lively class discussions. Optimum learning will occur if students arrive to
each session adequately prepared. Quality input to all class activities will secure a good class
participation grade. Participation does not equate to attendance…class attendance is
mandatory. Students will also be required to attend at least 3 Austin Entrepreneurship
Program (AEP) activities over the course of the term and submit a brief emailed summary
that includes 3 key learning points (KLPs). These activities include attending sessions with
visiting Weatherford Fellows or attending Entrepreneurship Society meetings or
entrepreneurship related lectures etc. that will be advertised in class and via the weekly email
bulletin. The purpose of these sessions is to promote “out of the classroom” learning in less
formal settings.
Indicative grading for class participation:
>90: Attend ALL class sessions having completed chapter reading and contributed to class
discussion and attending 3 AEP activities.
80-90: Attend MOST class sessions (i.e., missed only 1-2 sessions) having completed chapter
reading and contributed to class discussion and attending 2 AEP activities.
70-79: Attend MOST class sessions (i.e., missed only 1-2 sessions) with minimal preparation
and contribution and attending only 1 AEP activity.
<70: Spasmodic class attendance with minimal preparation and contribution and not
attending any AEP activities.

2. Progressive Assessment: A quiz worth 20% of your final grade for the three-part course will
consist of 40 multiple choice and 3 short-medium length essay type answer questions that
will test knowledge of the key concepts introduced in the chapters of the assigned textbook.
Indicative grading for progressive assessment:
>90: Evidence in short answer questions of thorough understanding of course concepts
combined with application to case studies and examples introduced throughout the term; a
balanced exam that includes a high degree of interpretation and insightful analysis etc.
80-90: Evidence in short answer questions of understanding of course concepts but limited
application etc.
70-80: Limited understanding of course concepts and scant application to case examples etc.
<70: Poor understanding of course concepts and failure to apply to case examples etc.

The following (final) grade cut-offs will be employed in this class:

A > 92; A- 90-91; B+ 88-89; B 82-87; B- 80-81; C + 78-79; C- 70-71; D+ 68-69; D 62-67; D- 60-61; F <60

Statement Regarding Students with Disabilities

Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Services for Students
with Disabilities (SSD). Students with accommodations approved through SSD are responsible
for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the
term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but
who have not yet obtained approval through SSD should contact SSD immediately at 737-4098.

Link to Statement of Expectations for Student Conduct, i.e., cheating policies

http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm
 BA161 Introduction to Entrepreneurship (Winter)

Week DATE Text CONCEPTS ASSESSMENT DEADLINES

TIME Chapter

Winter 2 Wed Submit details (one page; in class) of the

6-8pm 7 Writing an Effective Business Plan: Crafting a Road opportunity on which your team
Map to Success will conduct a feasibility plan

Entrepreneur interview key learning points

(KLPs) shared at start of class
by teams (10 minute semi-
formal presentation with 5
Launching the New minute question time) (5%)
Winter 3 8 Venture The Legal Form of New Ventures – And The Legal Interview-KLPs presentation at start of class
Wed Environment In Which They Operate
6-8pm
Winter 4 9 Marketing A New Firm Interview-KLPs presentation at start of class
Wed
6-8pm
Winter 6 10 Strategy: Planning for Competitive Advantages Interview-KLPs presentation at start of class
Wed
6-8pm
Winter 7 11 Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Ideas Interview-KLPs presentation at start of class
Wed
6-8pm
Winter 9 7-11 PROGRESSIVE ASSESSMENT Multiple Choice and Short-Medium Length
Wed Essay Style Answer Quiz (20%)
6-7pm

Winter: 5 x 2 hour lectures; 1 Progressive Assessment