Curriculum Syllabus

The Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program is offered as a series of 4 courses over a 9-month period of time. Each course is 7 weeks long and begins with a FAST Week. During the FAST Week, students must be physically present from 1:30 PM to 6 PM each day, Sunday through Thursday (with the exception of public holidays). Following FAST Week, classes will be held each Wednesday evening from 6 to 7:30 PM. All classes will be held on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

Start Dates:	Course Title	Faculty in Charge
Sunday October 12  2008	Course 1: Entrepreneurial Thought and Action	Tom Emerson
Sunday January 4 2009	Course 2: Technology Commercialization Strategy	Art Boni, John Mather
Wednesday February 25 2009	Course 3: Technology Commercialization Workshop	Art Boni, John Mather
Wednesday April 15 2009	Course 4: Entrepreneurial Business Planning	Tom Emerson

The four courses teach models of successful entrepreneurial businesses along with the art and science of business planning. At the end of the 4 courses, the students will have created business plans for entrepreneurial startups that would be worthy of submission to Venture Capitalists, private investors, or economic development groups for funding or to corporate management for implementation of an innovation in a corporate setting. At the start, in Course 1, the essential elements of business planning are covered, and pro-forma plans are produced by Course end, but these plans will be missing adequate industry background research, marketing studies, and financial analyses. In Course 2, formal business plans are produced, with all essential elements covered, but these plans are not expected to be strong in content since sufficient time will not be allotted to do the necessary industry background research. In Course 3, in-depth studies of business dynamics and industry background are covered, sufficient to identify good business ideas and thus lay the foundation for solid business planning. Finally, in Course 4, the focus is on writing well-researched, formal business plans for well-researched business ideas.

 

The summaries for each of the 4 course are as follows.

Course 1: Entrepreneurial Thought and Action	This course teaches how entrepreneurs think, generate ideas, identify and screen opportunities and covers the 3 components of entrepreneurship – opportunity, resources, team. At the end of the course, students know the necessary ingredients for business success.	Fall 2008 Emerson
Course 2:   Technology and Commercialization Development Business Strategy	This course focuses on the commercialization of disruptive technologies and business models. Students will gain a perspective of how innovations are brought to the market and positioned for successful launch and growth. Students will study cases of previous successful and unsuccessful companies. This is the pivotal course that links the business plan to the key market and strategic issues necessary for successful commercialization.	Fall 2008/Spring 2009 Boni, Mather
Course 3: Technology Commercialization and Business Development Workshop	In this course, students are divided into teams to develop commercialization strategies for ideas generated by them or provided to them by the faculty. Each student team is expected to develop a mini business plan. The students learn by doing and getting feedback from each other, from the professor and from entrepreneurs.	Spring 2009 Boni, Mather
Course 4: Entrepreneurial Business Planning	This course teaches students take how to recognize an opportunity and develop a business plan. Includes financial analysis, building the business and revenue model, intellectual property, financing sources (equity and other), and corporate forms.	Spring 2009 Emerson

Course 1:
Entrepreneurial Thought and Action – Professor Tom Emerson

This course provides an introduction to the way entrepreneurs think and act, and how entrepreneurs seek out innovative ideas, screen them and develop them into opportunities. Students, usually working in small teams, generate an original idea for a business or work with an idea suggested by the instructor. They study the market and competitive environment; they produce informal business plans and make investor presentations. Guest lectures by entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and others close to the entrepreneurial process are used extensively.

To adapt this course for Qatar, we will emphasize the cultural and personal sides of what it means to be an entrepreneur. We will discuss how entrepreneurs are perceived in different cultures, perhaps including a self-test that helps a student determine if they have the personality to be an entrepreneur.

Required Course Reference Texts

1. "The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki, Published by the Penguin Group (2004), ISBN 1-59184-056-2
2. “Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise” 2 nd Edition, Richard C. Dorf and Thomas H. Byers, McGraw Hill (2008) ISBN 978-0-07-352922-6
3. "Outrageous Optimism: Wisdom for the Entrepreneurial Journey" by Jack Roseman and Steve Czetli, Corbett Publishing, 2004, ISBN: 0-9745135-1-2
4. “Business Plans that Win $$$:  Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum”
   Stanley R. Rich and David E. Gumpert
   Harper & Row Publishers (1985) ISBN 0-06-091391-6

 

Course 2:
Technology Commercialization and Business Development Strategy – Professors Art Boni and John Mather

Technology commercialization and business development is targeted at entrepreneurs and innovators who are interested in introducing innovations to the marketplace through start-up, emerging and established organizations. Class participants will learn how to evaluate, develop and “pitch” their opportunities and teams to investors and corporate executives to acquire successfully the resources necessary for market entry.

The course focuses on commercialization of disruptive technologies and on the development of appropriate business models and market strategies required to successfully introduce these technologies to the market, gain growth and capture dominant market positions. Students will gain a perspective of how innovations are brought to the market and positioned for successful launch and subsequent growth. Students study and discuss both successful and unsuccessful attempts to bring innovation to the market via lectures, readings, and case discussions. The course emphasizes the upfront thinking that must be the basis of a proactive and potent new business plan which must be the result of intense understanding of the environment into which the idea must be introduced and grow. The three key modules are the first sections of a business plan are market analysis, segmentation and positioning. These are the drivers for execution of a successful market entry point, strategy and growth.

Course Objectives

1. To understand the critical importance of the early integration of information from the market, competition and value impact of product/service concept for determining the best market fit that increases the probability of success for market entry point, positioning and growth.
2. To acquire a knowledge base of the required information for the upfront strategic planning of entrepreneurial activities, ie, market, customer, competition, value and financial profile.
3. To introduce and describe the emerging discipline of Business Development as related to corporate strategy and business direction.
4. To provide initial application of the business development and early strategic planning through selected case analyses and presentations that will serve as the transition to the Commercialization Workshop, the next mini.

Project Guidelines

Projects for Technology and Business Development

Student teams will be expected to do background research required to deliver a 10 to 20 page write up and PowerPoint presentation on selected disruptive innovations from a choice of their preference. The idea can be yours, from an article, from the news, or even the list in the Christensen and Raynor text ( The Innovator’s Solution, Table 2-2). The research project is expected to include the following components: Market definition, market segmentation and targeting, strategic positioning, business model, partnering and networks incorporated into the go to market strategy, product life cycle and timeline for introducing the innovation. Your job will be to develop early on the market entry point and strategy within the market and competitive set. The emphasis this term is the upfront strategic thinking about the market (competitive set), targeting and early positioning. “Go to Market” follows the positioning and can be noted. But focus on the critical upfront thinking.

A number of projects are available for development of commercialization plans in Technology Commercialization Workshop – these will be discussed in class. For those who are interested in pursuing one these projects the Workshop, the option for the first mini is to perform research in an industry segment that would encompass this technology, but not exactly the product, e.g. Quality of Life Technologies derived from the CMU/Pitt Engineering Research Center; digital entertainment technologies derived from the CMU Entertainment Technology Center, and others. You would be developing a head start on the initial strategic planning for your Mini 2 product selection. Prior to the start of Technology Commercialization and Business Development Strategy, the class will be provided with a list of potential projects as an alternative to Table 2-2 in Christiansen and Raynor (or to individual projects identified by members of the class). For the “instructor provided projects”, meetings with the principals will be arranged for individual teams.

Course Texts:

1. Christensen, Clayton M. and Raynor, Michael E. The Innovator’s Solution – Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 2003.
2. Anthony, Scott D. and Christensen, Clayton M. Innovation Handbook: A Road Map to Disruptive Growth, Harvard Business School Publishing, Product No. 9580, 2005. [This text will be handed out in class.]
3. Chesbrough, Henry Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 2006

Recommended Reading:

1. Chesbrough, Henry Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 2006

Course 3:
Technology Commercialization and Business Development Workshop – Professors Art Boni and John Mather

In this course, students are divided into teams to develop commercialization strategies for projects generated by them or provided to them by the faculty. Outside projects may come from Carnegie Mellon, other universities, individual inventors, or companies interested in “mining and monetizing their technology portfolios”. Each student team is expected to develop the upfront business plan that incorporates a commercialization strategy for market entry point, strategy and growth that will provide the organizational direction to execute product configuration, distribution, MARCOM and pricing. Weekly feedback meetings and coaching is provided by the faculty to provide the teams support in development of their strategic business plans.

The students learn by doing and getting feedback from each other, from the professor and from visiting entrepreneurs (via distance and on-site).

The basis for learning in this Workshop is practical experience. Participants learn collaboratively in working with their teams, by sharing experiences with other participants during Workshop meetings, and from personal interaction with experienced entrepreneurs who serve as senior management for each team.

Course Reference Texts

1. Christensen, Clayton M. and Raynor, Michael E. The Innovator’s Solution – Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 2003.
2. Anthony, Scott D. and Christensen, Clayton M. Innovation Handbook: A Road Map to Disruptive Growth, Harvard Business School Publishing, Product No. 9580, 2005.

 

Course 4:
Entrepreneurial Business Planning – Professor Tom Emerson

Students, usually working in small teams, develop a business plan and an investor presentation for a new business. Usually this represents further development of the mini-business plan and presentation they developed for 45-881. Lectures deal with the development of entrepreneurial businesses, entrepreneurial management techniques and hazards and entrepreneurial success factors. Guest lectures by entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and others close to the entrepreneurial process are used extensively.

Course Reference Texts

1. “Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise” 2 nd Edition, Richard C. Dorf and Thomas H. Byers, McGraw Hill (2008) ISBN 978-0-07-352922-6
2. "Outrageous Optimism: Wisdom for the Entrepreneurial Journey" by Jack Roseman and Steve Czetli, Corbett Publishing, 2004, ISBN: 0-9745135-1-2
3. "New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21 8t Century," 6 th edition, by Jeffrey A. Timmons & Stephen Spinelli, McGraw Hill Irwin, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-249840-4.
4. Business Plans that Win $$$:  Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum by Stanley R. Rich and David E. Gumpert, Harper & Row Publishers (1985) ISBN 0-06-091391-6
5. “Starting Something.” by Wayne McVicker, Ravel Media (2005) ISBN: 1-932881-01-8.

 

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