Entrepreneurship in Action (Fall 2024)
Section outline
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Entrepreneurship is a combination of thinking and of doing. It implies “creating something from nothing" and successful entrepreneurs know how to manage and mitigate uncertainty and risk. The course content is relevant to those individuals who are thinking about starting a business venture or who are already in business - large or small, those who are interested in commercializing their own innovations or of others, those who like to be updated and smart in entrepreneurship, and those who advise entrepreneurs or involve in strategic development and policy-making in the area of entrepreneurship.
Course Objectives:
CO1 To understand that entrepreneurship has different applications in practice.
CO2 To gain an understanding of how to discover, develop, and assess opportunities to create sustainable and viable businesses
CO3 To help you define your target market, identify your user, harness the wisdom of the crowd, and come up with an informed plan for your venture.
Reference Books:
- A Journey Towards Entrepreneurship by Md. Sabur Khan
- Bygrave, W., & Zacharakis, A. (2017) Entrepreneurship, 4th Edition (3rd Edition is ok too) Wiley.
- Eric, Reis (2017) The Startup Way: How Entrepreneurial Management Transforms Culture and Drives Growth
- Entrepreneurship: The Practice and Mindset Heidi M. Neck, Christopher P. Neck, Emma L. Murray
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Learning Objective
Assess your entrepreneurial characteristics and prepare an action plan to strengthen specific characteristics in need of development.
Overview
Although no exact set of characteristics is possessed by all entrepreneurs, many entrepreneurs share a number of common traits and skills. In this exercise, you will evaluate to what degree you possess common entrepreneurial characteristics and prepare an action plan to strengthen those characteristics you wish to develop further.
- Step 1: Review common entrepreneurial characteristics. Review the character traits, skills, knowledge, and abilities in the Entrepreneurial Characteristics Self Evaluation.
- Step 2: Conduct a personal self assessment. Evaluate the strength of your entrepreneurial characteristics by circling the number that best represents how well each of the characteristics below applies to you. Use a scale from 1 to 10, in which 1 indicates your competency is weak and 10 indicates your competency is strong.
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Objective: This is an exercise to convey the importance of creativity.
- Each student will work with a common household item—a clothespin, a pill bottle, a cotton t-shirt, for example—and instruct them to think of alternative uses for their item.
- Once the teams have identified ways their item can be repurposed, they will be encouraged to contemplate how to deconstruct and reconstruct each item to make it more user-friendly.
- This exercise is particularly useful because students are able to better internalize the connection between creativity and entrepreneurial opportunity.
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Presentation Date: March 13, 2024
Instructions:
- Complete the task mentioned in Topic 2: Pure Imagination exercise!
- Each student will showcase their output from this exercise
- Participate in "Creativity and Innovation" exhibition.
- You must present in English.
- Individual presentation
- Show your creativity and depth of thinking
Judgement Criteria:
- Creativity and Innovation: How unique and novel is the idea (1 mark)
- Functionality: Is the product functional and can it be practically used for its intended purpose? (1 mark)
- Aesthetics: Does the product have an attractive and pleasing appearance? (1 mark)
- Materials and Sustainability: Does the product demonstrate environmentally friendly design and use of materials? (1 mark)
- Problem-Solving: Does the product solve a real-world problem or fulfill a need? (1 mark)
- Cost-Effectiveness: How cost-effective is the product in terms of materials used and potential production costs? (1 mark)
- Presentation technique (2 marks)
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Objective:
Students will be able to clearly identify and define problems. Entrepreneurs find solutions to problems they see in the world. To help students build this skill, defining problem exercise is very helpful.
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- Students will be given piece of papers individually, on which they have to take notes.
- Students will be shown pictures that depict issues and will be asked to define the problems they can see.
- Students will be asked what information they would need to help define the problem better.
- They may come up with solutions right away but challenge them to focus on clearly defining the issue before trying to resolve it.
- Then students will write solutions of those problems.
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Share your opinion on this activity
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Objective:
The goal is for students to use their creative thinking skills that are important in entrepreneurship to come up with ways of increasing the given investment.
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- For this activity, print fake money and place small amounts in envelopes for individuals or small amounts in envelopes for individuals or small groups of students.
- You can choose to give everyone different amounts of money or keep it all equal.
- Students will be given 20-30 minutes to brainstorm before having each individual or group share their ideas.
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Was this activity useful? ✅
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- Students will be enlightened about various techniques of idea generation and opportunity recognition
- They will be given task to generate business ideas/identify business opportunities from their surrounding environment
- This task will lead them one step forward to their Quiz 1
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Do you consider yourself a leader? Why?
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Instructions:
Round ONE
- Students will be divided into groups
- Each group will be given paper, scissor, glue
- They will have to prepare paper chains
- The team which will make the longest paper chain will win
- Time: 3 minutes
Round TWO
- Students will be divided into groups
- Each group will be given paper, scissor, glue
- They will have to prepare paper chains
- The team which will make the longest paper chain will win
- Time: 3 minutes
- A team leader will be selected from each group
- Teacher will take the leaders aside and give them some instructions like as:
- Team leader will get 30 seconds to talk with the group
- Team members can not talk among each other after 30 seconds
- They can use only one hand for preparing the paper chain
- Student will be given reflective questions which they need to write:
- Why you all voted for …………………………… to be your team leader? Give three solid reasons that intrigued your decision and justify it with real life experience. (5*1=5 marks)
- Which leadership style (Directive/Participative) your leader has followed during the game? Did it have any impact on the team’s performance? (2*1=2 marks)
- What were the key learning points from the game? (2*1=2marks)
- Playing the Game (5*1=5 marks)
Position
Team Name
Marks
1st
5
2nd
4
3rd
3
Others
2
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Written Exam:
- Questions will include all the theoretical lessons, class activities, case studies and played games!
- Questions will include all the theoretical lessons, class activities, case studies and played games!
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Objective: The students will learn that tall organizational structures take a great deal of work to ensure proper communication happens at all levels, and they learn that email is not always the best method to communicate.
- Students will be organized into a pyramid which signifies a typical tall organizational structure.
- The students are arranged so that one student is in the front, one student sits directly behind the first and 3 - 5 students are in a line forming the back row.
- The front student is the CEO, the second student is the middle manager and the back row of students are the workers.
- This hierarchy must be followed and students are only allowed to talk through email (in which we simulate using paper - text messages can be used as well).
- Each student receives their individual instruction sheet.
- The basic objective is to solve the problem, however only the CEO knows the problem and the objective.
- Each student's instructions contain a set of symbols.
- The CEO's instructions contain all the symbols with one extra.
- The CEO's instructions tell them the objective of the game and the purpose to find the one symbol on their sheet that does not appear on any of the other student's instruction sheets.
- They have to pass paper (email) with questions through the middle manager to get the answers they need.
- The middle manager will retype the message (write) and send it in their own words to the "workers" behind them.
- In almost every instance, the CEOs fail to share the "purpose" of the activity as they assume all participants have the same information they have. This causes the 'workers' to feel left out and a little lost.
- This game may run with two or three teams at once, making it a competition to see who can figure it out first.
- Then discussion will take place on how the teams differed in their communication style. The importance of the "why" in business delegation and communication. As the middle manager, many times they are more in the dark than the workers. We talk about how this role helps in the communication process (if at all). The handouts for each student are attached with this topic.
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All available (A-I)
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Are you excited to play the risk taking game?
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Items required to play the game:
1. One cricket/tennis ball
2. One basket
3. Paper, glue, marker, pen
Instructions:
- Students will be divided into groups
- All members of the groups must participate
- A basket will be placed in the front in which they need to throw the ball from a certain distance
- The distance will be marked from "1 to 10" each indicating the level of risk
- The more the distance, the higher the risk taken resulting into higher rewards
- For example: If a student wants to throw the ball from distance level/risk level 5 and if successfully does so, will get {5(marks for the risk level)+5(for successfully putting the ball into the basket)}=10 marks in total.
- Again, If a student wants to throw the ball from distance level/risk level 2 and if successfully does so, will get {2(marks for the risk level)+2(for successfully putting the ball into the basket)}=4 marks in total.
- But If a student wants to throw the ball from a certain distance level/risk level and if can't do so, will get {0(marks for the risk level)+0(for successfully putting the ball into the basket)}=0 marks in total
- Each member of the team can throw the ball only once.
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- The simulation begins by randomly splitting the entire class into pairs of students.
- One student in each pair is designated as Player 1 (P1), the other as Player 2 (P2).
- At the beginning of each game the instructor places nine white table tennis balls and a single orange table tennis ball into an empty bowl or small bucket.
Round 1 of the game:
- P1 must decide whether to concede the first extra credit point to P2, or to “stand firm” and refuse to concede.
- If P1 concedes, P2 receives one point and P1 receives zero points.
- If P1 stands firm, the instructor will blindly draw a single ball from the ten in the bowl.
- If the instructor draws a white ball, both players survive, gets one point each and the game continues to the next round.
- If the instructor draws an orange ball, then “disaster” occurs and both players lose two points.
Round 2 of the game:
- If the game continues to the second round, the instructor removes a white ball from the pot and replaces it with another orange ball—there are now eight white balls and two orange balls.
- It is P2’s turn to decide whether to stand firm or concede.
- If P2 concedes, P1 receives one point.
- If P2 stands firm and the instructor draws a white ball, both players survive, and the game continues to Round 3.
- If, however, the instructor draws an orange ball, both players lose two points.
Round 3 of the game:
- For Round 3, it is again P1’s turn to decide how to act.
- But again before a decision is made, the instructor replaces another white ball with an orange one so that there are three orange balls and seven white balls in the pot.
- The game continues along this path either until an orange ball is drawn, or the number of rounds set by the instructor have been played.
- When the game ends, record the points earned by each player.
- Return to the original ratio of white and orange balls, and begin the next game.
- After several iterations have been played, total points earned are tallied for each student and the instructor can dole out whatever reward they choose in proportion to the points students have earned.
The players’ relative tolerance of risk is the primary determinant of who will win points. The player that is more willing to risk mutual disaster is likely to continue standing firm while the more risk-averse player will concede whenever he or she decides that the probability of mutual disaster is unacceptably high.
After the exercise, instructors should ask students
- how the different iterations of the game varied over time and across student pairings.
- If, for instance, one player acquires a reputation for high risk tolerance, others might begin conceding to her early in the game in order to avoid disaster.
- Alternatively, players might begin playing more aggressively over time simply out of spite.
- This is a valuable opportunity to highlight the non-rational components of bargaining.
- Instructors might also want to adjust certain parameters at different points to illustrate how specific factors affect the bargaining process. For example, the inherent uncertainty of conflict escalation can be simulated by randomly varying the number of balls drawn after a player opts to stand firm.
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Mention one key learning point from solving this case study.
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Th is can be a group activity or be done on a thoughtful individual basis.
- Consider any industry of your choice, think about any disruptive change that occurred in that industry.
- How the existing players in that industry accommodated with that change?
- Can you imagine a different way of adapting to this situation?
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Was it useful?
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Which one do you wish to be?
Entrepreneur or Intrapreneur
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Did you enjoy playing this game? What were the learnings?
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Have you been able to use the lessons learned in this chapter into your real life?
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Dear Entrepreneurs, let's get ready for a fun business challenge!
- You will be divided into groups of 4-5 students.
- Each group will invest 100 Tk., they will decide the investment ratio among their partners
- You will get one hour (Today; May 14, till 3pm) for doing business within the campus area with this seed money.
- Use your imagination power to create a business & generate profit!
Do's:
- You will submit the hardcopy of the Quiz in the class with all the details filled up
- Your team needs to calculate the total sales revenue, profit, price, units sold and share it in the Course's WhatsApp group within 3 pm, your marks will be deducted if you respond late.
- You will share your whole experience through video and upload it (video drive link) in BLC by May 18, 11:59 pm, your marks will be deducted if you respond late.
- Winner Team will be decided based on a few criteria: Amount of Revenue/Uniqueness of business idea/Marketing strategy/Teamwork/Video Presentation technique etc.
Don'ts:
- You can't use any existing resources for business, the only resource you can use is 100 Tk. Seed Funding!
- You can not fake the amount of revenue.
- Do not share your team's business idea with other teams.
LET'S MAKE IT FUN!
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Dear Students, please upload your presentation & pictures/videos of your whole experience here!
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Assignment Name: Class Journals
Objective:
The purpose of this assignment is to encourage students to reflect on their class activities, capturing insights into what was discussed, observing the actions of others, and contemplating alternative approaches. Through this reflective process, students will gain a deeper understanding of class dynamics and enhance their critical thinking skills.
Instructions:
- Throughout the semester, maintain a reflective diary where you record observations, thoughts, and reflections on five different class activities.
- These activities can include lectures, group discussions, presentations, workshops, or any other class-related events.
- For each entry in your diary, include the following elements: Date and Class Activity/What Was Said/Actions of yours/Actions of Others/What Could Have Been Done Differently and many more.
- Compile your reflective diary entries into a well-organized document.
- Ensure proper formatting, including dates, headings, and clear separation of each entry.
- Submit Hardcopy of this assignment (Hand Written/Computer typed)
Submission Deadline: May 22 (Wednesday)
Judgment Criteria:
- Depth of Reflection
- Consistency
- Clarity of Expression
- Relevance
Note: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Ensure that your reflections are genuine and based on your personal experiences and observations.
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- Final exam questions will include all the theoretical lessons, class activities, case studies and played games!
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