Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development

(1) AFIS122 or AFIS188 or AFIS102; (2) 44 points from MGMT202, MGMT204, MGMT206, MGMT207, MGMT208, MGMT209, MGMT220, MSCI220, MSCI221.

BSAD305, BSAD314

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Bob Hamilton

Guest Lecturers

Professor David Smallbone and Glen Senior

Assessment

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Submission of Assignments:
Case study assignments must be submitted at or before the beginning of the class on the specified date. Late assignments may be handed to the Departmental Administrators on Level 3 Commerce during office opening hours. Late work may be penalised.  Business Plans are due in on Friday 17 October – see below for details.

Nature of Assignments:
The course uses two types of assignment: case study reports and a business plan.

Case Study Reports:
There are five case studies to be analysed and discussed in class but note that two of these are due on the same week (18 and 22 Aug). The class discussion is an important part of the learning process so you must come prepared to participate in the discussion of each case study, not just the ones that you submit. You must hand in reports on at least two of these (any two) for marking. If you hand in three, the two best marks will be used to compute your final grade. You cannot hand in more than three, so you should plan in advance which ones you intend to submit. Case studies must be individual work.  The case study assignment questions are set out in the timetabled section below. You may find these questions rather general. This is intentional.

The marking criteria for case study reports are:

• Does the analysis ‘add value’? Would the client be happy to pay commercial rates for your advice?
• Does it have depth and accuracy, including appropriate application of
course content?
• Are key issues identified quickly? Are all assumptions, conclusions and recommendations adequately justified?
• Are clarity, good style, and professionalism evident?
• Does it conform to specified length, deadlines and other instructions?

Very low marks, if any, would be awarded to an ‘analysis’ that just described the problems evident in the case study; ignored key information, e.g., financial data; and then advised that the business hire a consultant to work on their problems.

Maximum assignment length is 1200-1500 words (say 3-4 pages) excluding financial appendices. Be brief and use bullet points when you can. Always reference sources of material that you use. Professionalism is expected. You must assume that you are producing this work for a real client – you could be in this position quite soon. This is what the marker will be looking for.

Business Plan
Assume on leaving university that you are going to be self-employed. You are to prepare a business plan for a new business of your own. A plan for the significant development of an existing small business may be acceptable but must be approved in advance by the Course Co-ordinator. Every plan must contain a detailed monthly cash flow covering the first 18 months of the new business. You can work on these plans in pairs if this is appropriate but with the understanding that each member of a pair will get the same mark. There is no disadvantage in working on your own: the marking will take into account the number of hours available. There is also no penalty in producing a plan for a business that is shown not to be viable. The business plans however must develop a business to a scale that could sustain the founder(s). Small-scale 'hobby' businesses operating part-time will not be sufficient unless expansion is intended. Again professionalism is expected. The Business Plan marking are similar to those given above for case study reports.

Maximum length is 3000 words (say 10 pages) excluding financial appendices. The due date is 5pm Friday 17 October. This is to allow time for marking and avoid this assignment getting in the way of your exam preparation.

Final Examination
The course also has a final exam on a time that will be published at the beginning of the semester. This will involve essay style answers and there will be a choice of questions, as there has been in previous years. The final examination may not cover all the course content: this will be made clear once the course is underway.

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Carter, Sara. , Jones-Evans, Dylan; Enterprise and small business : principles, practice and policy ; 2nd ed; FT Prentice Hall, 2006.

MGMT321 Course Readings provide material on most lecture topics and all the case studies used in the course. There is no single specified text for 2008. However, copies of Enterprise and Small Business – Principles, Practice and Policy (2nd edition, 2006) edited by S. Carter and D. Jones-Evans, will be on restricted loan from the library.  Lecture notes and other course information will be posted on to the course MOODLE site.

Notes

Relationship to Other Courses:
This is an integrative course that will apply knowledge from the main functional areas of Management and also from MGMT320. It also prepares students for the Honours course on Entrepreneurship (MGMT441).

Grading:
Marks are not normally standardised in this course. Grading follows the Department of Management's Academic Policies for Undergraduate Courses. Cut-points used to convert marks to final grades may vary slightly and therefore 50% may not translate into a passing grade.

Departmental Academic Policies
If you want a hard copy of this document, please ask the course co-ordinator. The Department assumes that you have read this document. You should also read the “Information related to courses and assessment” on page 364 of the Enrolment Handbook 2008 (also in UC Calendar under “General Course and Examination Regulations”).

Indicative Fees

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.