Online Courses | Entrepreneurial Programs Office

online courses

Entrepreneurship

FSE 501 Technology Entrepreneurship

This course will introduce students to entrepreneurship and the processes that are involved in launching and operating a successful technology venture. Understanding the new venture as a collection of logical decisions and systems will be the focus of this course. Each participant will be exposed to the process of creating a new venture idea, examining market feasibility, testing financial models, and preparing a go-to-market strategy. This hands-on course will also feature a number of prominent Valley area entrepreneurs as guest speakers. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

Envision oneself as an entrepreneur or as someone who contributes value to an entrepreneurial venture.
Understand the many ways of being involved in entrepreneurial ventures.
Think about business opportunities as they pertain to your career path and technical strengths.
Understand the basic accounting cycle and cash management.
Prepare pro forma financial statements.
Understand how to network and negotiate for business advantage.
Understand the role of intellectual property in the creation of a technology venture.
Identify sources of capital for new ventures in the Valley area.
Identify other resources to assist entrepreneurs and new ventures in the Valley area.

Note: This course is offered live each fall semester and online during the fall, spring and summer semesters.

Enterprise

FSE 502 Strategic Enterprise Innovation

The challenge faced by globally competitive enterprises is where to lodge the responsibility for innovation. Who is the “Chief Innovation Officer” and who does he/she command? Of course, there is currently no such title and our observation has been that no one knows for sure exactly where to begin to transform the organization. For the better part of the past two decades, the enterprise has done well to focus its collective wisdom and energy on system-wide continuous improvement and cost control. These management paradigms are predominate among large and mature organizations with stable revenue and market share. The objectives of this course are:

To familiarize students with leading theories on strategic enterprise innovation.
To examine cases of firms using a range of approaches to strategy innovation.
To develop an appreciation for the complexities inherent in driving innovation throughout the enterprise.
To understand the role of innovation in the modern economy.
To develop skills in systems thinking, knowledge management, and creativity.
To develop managerial skills aimed at promoting cross functional workplace communication and collaboration.
To assume the role of executive decision maker and appreciate the importance of knowledge and information in strategy formulation.
To develop the capacity to become the Chief Innovation Officer in a variety of enterprise settings.

Note: This course is offered live each spring semester and online during the spring, summer and fall semesters.