Entrepreneurship Class all Activity and Discussion questions

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Discussion Question 1_01

Analyze Case 1: Mrs. Gooch's (Allen, 2003, pp. 486-488). Use the Guidelines for Analyzing Cases located in your Course Syllabus to structure your response. (30 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

 

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Discussion Question 1_02

You have hired an information technology firm as an independent contractor to design and build an e-commerce Web site for your company. You paid a large portion of the fee, $25,000, up front to begin the work. The owner assures you that the work is on schedule and will be completed on time, but as of a week before the due date, you have yet to see any designs.

You schedule a meeting at the information technology company's office to check on the project status. While waiting in the reception area of the office, you overhear employees talking about the impending closure of the business. You also hear that the programmer assigned to your project has not been paid and there is no money to pay him.

The company's owner mentions nothing of this during your meeting and assures you that the project will be completed as planned. You suspect that the owner is not being truthful. You know that if the business closes and you have not received the designs and software for the project, you will be out $25,000 and will have to file a lawsuit. (Adapted from Allen, 2003, pp. 44-45)

Analyze this ethical dilemma by addressing the following issues. (20 points)(A 1-page response is required.)

  1. Should you talk to the programmer and reveal what you have heard? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of talking with the programmer.
  2. Should you confront the owner? Why or why not?
  3. Should you approach the disgruntled employees to find a way to gather the data you need to win a lawsuit? Why or why not?
  4. What two (2) other issues are involved and how do you propose handling them?

 

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Activity 1_03

Activity #1: Recognizing Opportunity (100 points)

This Activity is comprised of three (3) parts. Your Activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 3-page response is required for the combination of Parts A, B, and C.)

Part A

During the course of a relatively normal week, observe the things that you might not normally see when you are in a hurry.  Watch people – what products and services they use and don't use.  Then list ten (10) product or service opportunities, needs, or solutions that you recognized from your observations.  Include a brief situational description for each.  State what you observed.  (50 points)

 

 

Part B

How could five (5) of the ten (10) products or services observed in Part A be changed or offered differently as a new business opportunity?  (30 points)

 

 

Part C

Pick one (1) of the ten (10) opportunities, needs, or solutions observed and state why you feel it has the best potential to become a new business opportunity.  (20 points)

 

 

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Discussion Question 2_04





Analyze Case 6: Highland Dragon (Allen, 2003, pp. 516-521). Use the Guidelines for Analyzing Cases located in your Course Syllabus to structure your response. (30 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

 

 

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Discussion Question 2_05

Offer specific methods of how you would gather the knowledge required for performing each of the first three (3) feasibility tests for a new business concept by providing the following. (20 points) (A 1-page response is required.)

  1. Four (4) ways to identify industry risks and benefits.
  2. Three (3) methods to analyze market/customer risks and benefits.
  3. Three (3) methods to analyze product/service risks and benefits.

 

 

 

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Activity 2_06

Activity #2: Market Research (100 points)

As you learned in Lesson 1, the three "Ts" of marketing (trade shows, trade publications, and trade associations) can be used to research information about your competition. However, they can also be helpful in providing information about a business concept's feasibility. In this Activity, you will perform market research for a new nanotechnology product using the three "Ts" of marketing. Your Activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 3-page response is required for the combination of Parts A and B.)

Part A

Examine a nanotechnology product by researching relevant trade shows, trade publications, and trade associations.  Create an annotated bibliography of resources that includes a minimum of four (4) trade shows, four (4) trade publications, and two (2) trade associations that provides useful information about the nanotech product.  Be sure to include details about each event/activity/organization/publication (online and in print), etc.  Organize the annotated bibliography into the three (3) distinct sections (shows, publications, and associations) and for each section, include a statement explaining why this research is important when learning about the nanotechnology industry and competing companies and products.  (75 points)

 

 

 

Part B

State the conclusions you have drawn after performing this market research activity and acquiring new nanotechnology industry, company, and product knowledge. Specifically address the following issues.  (25 points)

 

1.

What else can you learn from the trade show Web sites besides information about the trade show itself?

 

2.

What else can you learn from trade publications?

 

3.

What benefits can you obtain from trade associations?

 

4.

From a revenue perspective, why is researching the 3T's important?

 

 

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Discussion Question 3_07






Analyze Case 7: Roland International Freight Service (Allen, 2003, pp. 522-525). Use the Guidelines for Analyzing Cases located in your Course Syllabus to structure your response. (30 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

 

 

 

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Discussion Question 3_08

While it takes a team to establish and develop a new business, many company founders have learned from painful experience that they can spend all of their time interacting with the founding team and their internal and external networks rather than focusing on revenue generation and keeping the business financially stable. Given this important, but not-well recognized issue, respond to the following. (20 points) (A 1-page response is required.)

  1. How would you comprise a successful founding team with the absolute minimum number of members so that the founder has competent resources to rely upon and yet still has time to focus on the main business of revenue generation?
  2. What role should outsourcing play, and how can the founder minimize his/her outsourcing oversight time?

 

 

 

 

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Activity 3_09

 

Activity #3: Selecting a Bank (100 points)

Go to the Web sites of three (3) banks in your area of which at least one (1) should be a community bank, and discuss the following issues. Your Activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 3-page response is required.)

  1. Focuses and Pro-Activity: Discuss each bank's focus including how pro-active each bank appears to be toward start-ups and small businesses. (60 points)
  2. Differences: Discuss the primary differences between each of the three (3) banks. (21 points)
  3. Selection: Discuss how to choose one bank over the other two banks for your start-up or small business banking needs. (19 points)

 

 

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Discussion Question 4_10

Analyze Case 2: Franchising a Dying Business (Allen, 2003, pp. 489-491). Use the Guidelines for Analyzing Cases located in your Course Syllabus to structure your response. (30 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

 

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Discussion Question 4_11

Go to http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm. Select a sample business plan to review. Using the suggested "Business Plan Components: An Overview" from Chapter 11 in your textbook (Allen, 2003, pp. 233-237), perform the following. (20 points) (A 1-page response is required.)

  1. List the title of the selected business plan.
     
  2. List the Internet link to your chosen plan.
     
  3. Evaluate the plan in terms of its weaknesses and missing elements. List eight (8) weaknesses and/or missing elements).

NOTE: Real learning takes place from studying a business plan's weakness rather than its strengths. Since we have not yet studied the financial plan, you will only be expected to provide a cursory review of the financial components of the business plan.

  1. List the sections of the plan where each weakness or missing element is found.

 

 

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Discussion Question 5_12

Case 9: Wizards of the Coast (Allen, 2003, pp. 544-555) is different from the other cases in your textbook. It is intended to be used as a basis for discussion rather than as an illustration of either an effective or ineffective handling of a situation (Allen, 2003, p. 544 footnote). Therefore, for this case only, analyze the marketing strategies and tactics used by Wizards of the Coast from its inception to mid-year 2000 (i.e., the end of the case) in terms of the marketing mix (i.e., the 5 P's of marketing – product, price, place, promotion, and people). Begin with a description of the target market for all products. (29 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

 

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Discussion Question 5_13

Using three (3) publication Web sites that focus on product quality, explain what value these Web sites offer an entrepreneurial or small business in terms of quality control. You may choose any publication Web site that focuses on quality. The following publication Web sites are for your reference. (21 points) (A 1-page response is required.)

  1. Quality Digest: http://www.qualitydigest.com
  2. Food Quality: http://www.foodquality.com
  3. PFQ (formerly Pharmaceutical Formulation and Quality): http://www.pharmaquality.com

 

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Discussion Question 6_14

Analyze Case 3: Overnite Express (Allen, 2003, pp. 492-494). Use the Guidelines for Analyzing Cases located in your Course Syllabus to structure your response. (30 points) (A 2-page response is required.)

 

 

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Discussion Question 6_15

Five (5) market factors that affect a company's growth are described in your textbook (Allen, 2003) on pages 395-398. Apply your understanding of these market factors by finding one (1) company for each of the factors that grew due to that factor. Your response should list each market growth factor along with the chosen company and include a brief discussion of why that particular market growth factor is important to the company. (20 points) (A 1-page response is required.)

 

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Activity 6_16

Activity #6: Funding Sources (100 points)

This Activity is comprised of three (3) parts. Your Activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 3-page response is required for the combination of Parts A, B, and C.)

Part A

The most popular source of capital for new ventures is private investors; these investors are called angels and are typically people the entrepreneur knows or has met through business acquaintances.  Today many angels have joined forces to create large pools of capital called angel networks (Allen, 2003, p. 436).  (60 points)

 

1.

Perform research to find at least four (4) angel networks that exist in your state; if your state does not have four networks, then find networks by looking at bordering states.  (If you live outside the United States, change "state" to "province" or "region" in the above instructions.)

 

2.

Provide a general description of each angel network, its investment criteria, and the contact information in your response.

 

 

 

Part B

Many areas of the United States offer access to venture capital through institutes or organizations established on the campuses of major universities.  The university acts as a conduit through which the entrepreneurs and investors are matched and assumes no liability for, nor has any ownership interest in, either the new venture or the investor's company (Allen, 2003, p. 440).  (20 points)

 

1.

Perform research to find one (1) major university offering access to venture capital that is geographically close to you.  If you live outside the United States, first perform this research within your country.  If none exists, then you should research major universities in the United States.

 

2.

Provide a general description of an institute's or university's offering, its investment criteria, and the contact information in your response.  Discuss if the institute or organization targets a specific industry.

 

 

 

Part C

Many states provide venture capital funds or a loan program to help new and growing ventures (Allen, 2003, p. 442).  (20 points)

 

1.

Perform research to find out if your state offers any venture capital funds or loan programs to help new and growing ventures; if your state does not provide this type of funding, investigate and describe a neighboring state's funding.  (If you live outside the United States, change "state" to "province" or "region" in the above instructions.)

 

2.

Provide a general description of your state's offering, its investment criteria, and the contact information (i.e., address, phone, Web site, etc.) in your response.