ENTREP 2006NA - Opportunity Assessment
Ngee Ann Academy - Quadmester 2 - 2017
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General Course Information
Course Details
Course Code ENTREP 2006NA Course Opportunity Assessment Coordinating Unit Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation & Innov Centre Term Quadmester 2 Level Undergraduate Location/s Ngee Ann Academy Units 3 Contact Intensive: 36 to 40 hours Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y Assessment Individual and group assignments, exam Course Staff
Course Coordinator: Dr Gary Hancock
Program Director Contact Details:
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Name: Gary Hancock
Phone: +61 8 8313 0125
Teaching staff:
Term 2
Name: Dr. Hermina Burnett
Short Bio:Dr. Hermina Burnett was born in the Netherlands, but has lived in Australia for over twenty five years. She arrived in Australia as a primary school teacher, but instead of continuing her career, she joined the ‘migrant dream’ by founding and operating four successful commercial companies.Having an interest in other start-up entrepreneurs like herself and (Not-for-profit) Entrepreneurship in general, Hermina developed a federally funded Not-for-profit ‘Business Incubation’ program in Melbourne, Australia. This service called New Business Development Services (NBDS) provided a range of networking events, seminars, counselling and mentoring programs to more than 300 start-up entrepreneurs in their first three years of operation.
Hermina returned to university to undertake an MBA followed by a PhD to further develop and teach Entrepreneurship & Innovation courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Australia, Europe and Singapore.
Based on her different experiences in for profit and not-for-profit Entrepreneurship practice, teaching and research, her interests and papers are in Business Incubation, Social Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship Education.Hermina holds a BEd, a Post Grad.Cert in Teaching & Learning Higher Ed, an MBA and a PhD.
Email: hermina.burnett@adelaide.edu.au
Course Timetable
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .
Opening intensive:
Friday 5th May 2017 7pm-10pm
Saturday 6 th May 2017 1pm-8pm
Sunday 7 th May 2017 9am-4pm
Closing intensive:
Friday 26 May 2017 7pm-10pm
Saturday 27 May 2017 1pm-8pm
Sunday 28 May 2017 9am-4pm
Examination:
Saturday 10th June 2017
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Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1 identify entrepreneurship theory and principles, especially in the context of assessment of new ventures as distinct to traditional business 2 conduct detailed market research (primary and secondary) and become familiar with external and internal environmental scanning techniques 3 articulate a new venture investment proposition and communicate ideas and concepts effectively 4 build an assessment process for a new opportunity or venture to determine its viability and sustainability 5 develop and use appropriate assessment frameworks for different new ventures and present these to fellow students and industry 6 identify the areas of risk and ethical dilemmas in research commercialisation and/or in introducing new technologies or other innovations into a market University Graduate Attributes
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:
University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s) Deep discipline knowledge
- informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
- acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
- accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
1, 2, 4, 5, 6 Critical thinking and problem solving
- steeped in research methods and rigor
- based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
- demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
2, 4, 5, 6 Teamwork and communication skills
- developed from, with, and via the SGDE
- honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
- encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
1, 2, 3, 5 Career and leadership readiness
- technology savvy
- professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
- forward thinking and well informed
- tested and validated by work based experiences
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Intercultural and ethical competency
- adept at operating in other cultures
- comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts
- able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes
- demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges
3, 4, 5, 6 Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
- a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
- open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
- able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
3, 5, 6 -
Learning Resources
Required Resources
Fredrick, Howard, O'Connor, Allan and Kuratko, Donald F. (2016). Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process and Practice, 4th Edition. Cengage LearningRecommended Resources
Library Resources
The 成人大片’s Barr Smith Library provides a range of learning resources including texts, journals, periodicals, magazines, and access to online databases and information services. It also offers a virtual library which is accessible via the University’s website. The University Library web page is:From this link, you are able to access the Library's electronic resources.
Online Learning
MyUni is the 成人大片's online learning environment. It is used to support traditional face-to-face lectures, tutorials and workshops at the University. MyUni provides access to various features including announcements, course materials, discussion boards and assessments for each online course of study (see: ) -
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes
This course is offered in blended learning mode with the face-to-face component offered as intensives.Workload
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
As a guide, a 3 unit course comprises a total of 156 hours work (this includes face-to-face contact, any online components, and self directed study).Learning Activities Summary
This is a draft schedule and session dates are a guide only. The timetable may be changed during the course delivery if necessary.
Intensive Day Exploring Opportunity Preparation Day 1
Friday1. Introduction
- Overview of course and outline of syllabus, assignments and assessment
- Confidentiality and personal backgrounds
- MyUni tools
Entreprneurship and Opportunity
- The core of entrepreneurial activity
- The role of innovationFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 6, 9 Day 2
Saturday2. The Opportunity Landscape
- Scanning for opportunities
- Opportunity and innovation
- Entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour
- The power of creativity
- Visionary thinking - building future scenariosFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2013, Ch 2, 9 3. Exercise - Exploring Opportunity Concepts
- Group activity
- Guidelines for individual presentation in session 9
- Knowing your audience
- Overview of the elements of an opportunity screen4. Value Proposition - Compelling Need
- Problem definition
- Ceating value
- Communicating the needSolomon 2002, Ch4 5. Identifying the Customer
- Needs and wants
- Customer identification and segmentation
- Customer motivationsFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 10
Supplemental:
Lehman & Winer 2005, Ch4
Kaplan & Warren, 209 Ch4Day 3
Sunday6. Right time, right place?
-Market Analysis
- Environment analysis
- Sources of opportunities
- Life cycle analysisRice et al 2010, Ch3
Schaper & Volery 2004, Ch37. Industry and Market Dynamics
- Channels to market
- Industry value chain analysis and profitability
- Channel power and five forces analysisFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 9
Supplemental:
Porter, 1979
Rice et al 2010, Ch 38. Competitor Analysis
-Who are your competitors?
- Category mapping
- Competitive positionFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 9
Supplemental: Aaker 2001,Ch 4
D’Aveni 2007 Ch39. Individual concept presentations and discussion Assignment 1 (Part A) 10. Wrap up intensive 1
Intensive Day Topic Readings/Activities Day 4
Friday11. Review and introduction to intensive block 2
- Review
- Team assignment discussion and presentation preparationDay 5
Saturday12. Sustaining of New Ventures
- Thinking about Exit
- Resource based view
- internal value chain and other logicsFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 3, 11
Supplemental:
Dollinger 2003 Ch2 Afuah 2003 Ch 313. Internal Sustainability
-Vision
- Mission
- Value and Principles Business Ethics
- Customer service (CSR) and Triple bottom line (TBL)Frederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 11
Supplemental: Wickham 2006, Ch1814. The Entrepreneur and the Team
- Capabilities and constraints
- Personal objectives
- Management team
- Identifying gaps and building teamsFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 2
Supplemental:
Kuemmerle 2002. Harper 2008Day 6
Sunday15. Assessing Strategy
- Creating a strategic business modelFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 11
Supplemental:
Sull 2004
Morris, Schindehutte and Allen 200516. Resilience (Can the risks be managed?)
- SWOT analysis
- Risk Management principles Fatal flaws
- IP protectionFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 11 English 2006, Ch 2, 5, 16 17. Financial analysis for opportunity assessment
- Aquiring resources
- Managing cash
- Start-up resources
- Set-up costs
- Fixed and variable ongoing costs
- Break-even analysisFrederick, O’Connor and Kuratko 2016, Ch 5, 14 18. Wrap up and review
- Review main points
- Structuring the major assignment19. Team Presentations Team Assignment 2 (Part A) Specific Course Requirements
This course requires you to present mature and well reasoned work that addresses the assessment of ideas and technologies for feasibility in a professional business context. You will specifically refer to those factors that promote or work against successful opportunity assessment. Of prime importance is to show insight into limitations and risks of any approach you suggest or take – you therefore need to always take a critical stance.
You will need to read more widely on the topic then the list of references provided and beyond hits found on Google.
Your work will need to be succinct and you should avoid overly verbose presentations. Do not labour the point, regurgitate theory or address irrelevant issues. Examples or cases may be used, if appropriate, to illustrate your point as they will serve to strengthen your arguments.
You are also required to structure your work so as it flows logically and your reasoning needs to be logical, sound and clear. The proper use of headings, sub-headings, bullet points and paragraphing will assist this purpose. Further, an executive summary or abstract at the beginning of your work will provide a clear overview of what follows in the body of your report.
Keep to the word limits and do not ramble. In every instance present your work as if it is a submission to a Board of Directors – succinct, clear, structured and reasoned. -
Assessment
The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:
- Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
- Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
- Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
- Assessment must maintain academic standards.
Assessment Summary
An overview of the course assessment appears in the following Table. Details appear in the following section:
# Assessment Length Weighting Learning Outcomes 1 Individual Assignment
(Concept proposal and Executive Summary)2-5 minutes,
750 words
(2 pages)10%
(5% Oral presentation &
5% Executive summary)1,2 2 Team Assignment
(Opportunity Assessment Frameworks project) and presentation3500 words
(10 Pages)30%
(10% Oral presentation &
20% written report)1,3,4 3 Individual Asssignment
(Opportunity Assessment Plan)Max 2500 words
(7 pages)30% 4,5,6 4 Exam 2 hour 30% 3,4,5 Total 100% Assessment Related Requirements
It is expected that assignments will be typed, using word processing software such as Microsoft Word.
Don’t cram too many words onto a page: use a line spacing of 1.5 lines, and a right-hand margin of 4cm (to enable feedback and comments). If software other than Microsoft Word is used, the file format must be one that can be read using Word, such as .doc or .rtf (rich text format). PDF (Acrobat) format is not acceptable unless accompanied by an editable Microsoft Word document or similar. All assignments may be scrutinised using Turn-It-In as per University policy (see below).
Students should attend all classes in order to pass the course. There is considerable experiential learning in workshops during the intensive classes that build your knowledge and thus enable you to be successful in this course.
Course results are subject to moderation by the ECIC Board of ExaminersAssessment Detail
Assessment 1: An Opportunity Concept (Individual)
Weighting: 10% (5% Oral Proposal and 5% written Executive Summary)
Length: 750 words (2 Pages)
Submission Details: Executive Summary online through MyUni; Oral Proposal in class (no powerpoint allowed)Task:
This assignment comprises a one minute oral presentation (pitch) of a proposal to seek permission to explore an opportunity concept and prepare a short Executive Summary of the opportunity. You are required to pitch a perceived opportunity to an interested audience with the primary aim to win support and resources to pursue the concept to full opportunity assessment. This is your chance to attract team members for assignment two and showcase your skills and abilities. The opportunity is to be positioned as a real business case and you will need to convince your audience of the perceived potential of the opportunity and your competence as a team leader or member. The opportunity could be from your workplace, be known to you through family or friends, or be a new venture perceived from environmental sources or influences. As a minimum your oral presentation and Executive Summary should include your perception of the following:- A description of the product or service
- Identification of the potential customers and/or end users
- A description of the opportunity in terms of innovation
- A description of the market in terms of life cycle
- An estimate of the size of the market
- Any supporting evidence that the opportunity is real and exists
The pitch will allow up to an additional 5 minutes for question time.
Your Executive Summary should address at least all the points included in your presentation and further include an outline of the tasks to be undertaken to complete the opportunity assessment. Depth and detail is not the objective of this assignment rather it is concerned with your ability to structure and present a persuasive and compelling case.
Length and Presentation:
The Executive Summary no more than 2 pages long and not exceed 750 words. 12 font and spacing 1.5Oral presentation – two minutes with up to 5 minutes for questions
Criteria by which your assessment will be marked:
The oral presentation will be assessed against the following criteria:
- Engagement with the reader/audience
- Extent of preparation
- The structure of the pitch and executive summary
- The professionalism of the presentation, and
- The persuasiveness of your argument
The Executive Summary, in addition, will include an assessment of the extent to which the key content areas are covered succinctly and accurately.
Assessment 2: Opportunity Assessment Project (Team)
Weighting: 30%
Length: 3500 words (10 pages for body of report)Submission Details: Online through MyUni
Task:
For start-up entrepreneurs looking to raise capital for their new venture early-stage investors such as Venture Capitalists (VC) and Business Angels can be awfully hard to find, and when you do find them, it's even tougher to get investment dollars out of them. It is equally difficult to get a bank loan or to find crowd funding as external investors are taking on serious risk; new ventures frequently have little or no sales in the beginning and the founders often lack business experience.
Based on desk research and possible interviews with knowledgeable people develop four different opportunity assessment frameworks (team size depending) with your team (max. 4 members) for the following four opportunities.1. Develop an opportunity assessment framework that can be used through Crowd funding to assess a small team of artists who want to start a cooperative selling art made by unemployed young people.
2. Develop an opportunity assessment framework that can be used by a Bank Manager to assess a start-up entrepreneur wants to set up a tea house in Singapore.
3. Develop an opportunity assessment framework that can be used by a Business Angel to assess two university students who want to set up a 24/7 fitness centre.
4. Develop an opportunity assessment framework that can be used by a Venture Capitalist firm to assess a small team of start-up entrepreneurs who want to set up a business specialising in software tools for online retail businesses.
By using existing or self developed assessment frameworks, you need to draw together, justify and demonstrate the value of the four different funding perspectives:- Crowd funding
- Entrepreneurs themselves (equity funding or via bank loans)
- Angel investors and
- Venture Capital investors.
An example of one framework is the Timmons Quickscreen, which will be discussed in class. Conclude your team assignment by recommending and proposing your chosen or developed assessment frameworks and argue how and why they need to differ.
During the second intensive your team will be given an opportunity to present a summary of your project (in Pecha Kucha format) for class discussion. Base this presentation on clearly articulated conclusions drawn from your research and analysis.
Length and Presentation:
Reports are to be posted to the MyUni grade centre. The body of the report should not exceed 3500 words; however, appendices may be used for supporting documents or demonstration of analysis to the extent that is appropriate.
The report should be submitted as an electronic version in WORD. No report will be accepted in Adobe Portable Document Files (pdf) (they cannot be electronically marked).Criteria by which your assignment will be marked:
The standards by which the assignment will be assessed include:- Ability to find, access and interpret available literature
- Ability to recognise important aspects of concept validation
- Ability to present principles in a succinct and useable format
- Originality and ability to present the concepts in a PECHA KUCHA format
- Completeness and coverage of the Opportunity Assessment Framework report
Assessment 3: Opportunity Assessment Plan (Individual)
Weighting: 30%
Length: 2000-2500 words (7 pages) font 12, 1.5 spacing
Submission Details: Online through MyUniTask:
Prepare a full Opportunity Assessment report that outlines the possibilities of a technology or business concept of your own choice. Make your recommendations clear and base these on clearly articulated conclusions drawn from your opportunity assessment investigations and analysis.An opportunity assessment plan is NOT a business plan. Compared to a business plan, it should: 1. Be shorter 2. Focus on the opportunity, not the whole venture 3. Be the basis to make the decision on whether to act on an opportunity or wait until another, better opportunity comes along.
This can be a yes or no decision as long as it is clearly motivated. There are two possible recommendations for the business concept being presented.
- Yes, this appears to be a feasible and sustainable opportunity. The report should fully outline the reasons and rationale for this assessment to the reader of the report. Your report should further show what actions are next required to capitalise on the opportunity.
- No, this is neither a feasible nor sustainable opportunity. The report should fully outline the reasons and rationale for this assessment to the reader of the report. In this case, the report should also suggest a course of action in response to the rejected opportunity. This should include a recommendation on what could be done to re-position the opportunity, an outline of other areas of potential opportunity discovered through the assessment process or actions that might be required in response to others who may detect or seek to exploit the opportunity.
Consider using the frameworks and tools presented in the course.
Length and Presentation:
The body of the report should not exceed 2500 words; however, appendices may be used for supporting documents or analysis to the extent that is appropriate. Format: 12 font and spacing 1.5. The report should be submitted as an electronic version in WORD. No report will be accepted in Adobe Portable Document Files (pdf) (they cannot be electronically marked).Criteria by which your assessment will be marked:
Ability to find, access and interpret available literature relating to the assessment- Ability to apply the assessment principles presented in the course
- Originality and ability to present your findings in a clear succinct manner
- Ability to draw sound conclusions from your investigation
- Ability to make clear recommendations based on the analysis and conclusions
- The inclusion of external data
- The inclusion of additional research
- The extent to which assumptions have been validated.
- Succinctness and businesslike presentation
Assessment 4: Exam (Individual)
Weighting: 30%
Submission Details: In class examTask:
You will be expected to complete a combination of short answer and essay type questions for this exam. Questions will be designed to test your knowledge of topics relevant to this course. You can expect the exam to cover between four and eight of the following topic areas:- Defining opportunity
- Entrepreneurial thinking
- Innovation and the opportunity landscape
- Environmental analysis
- Market analysis
- Identification of customer, value proposition and compelling need to buy
- Internal analysis
- Competitive analysis
- Issues of sustainable competitive advantage
- Financial analysis, cash projections and break-even analysis
- Management team, networks and advisors
- Risk identification
- Exit strategy
Length and Presentation:Completed on paper in the timeframe of the exam (two hours). Worksheets will be provided as relevant.
Criteria by which your assessment will be marked:
Depth of your knowledge of the selected topic areas- The extent to which you are able to relate analytical tools to the opportunity assessment task
- Your understanding of risk relative to commercial opportunities in terms of markets and/or technology
- Your ability to frame opportunity within the context of feasibility and sustainability
- Clarity of written expression
- Succinct presentation of ideas and concepts
Submission
All text based assignments must be submitted via MyUni.
Please refer to step by step instructions:
There are a few points to note about the submission of assignments:
- Assignment Submission: Assignments should not be emailed to the instructor; they must be lodged via the MyUni Course site (unless specified to do both). Note that assignments may be processed via TURNITIN, which is an online plagiarism prevention tool.
- Cover Sheet: Please submit, separate to your assignment, the completed 成人大片 Assessment Cover Sheet providing details of yourself and your team members (if applicable), your assignment, the course, date submitted, etc. as well as the declaration signed by you that this is your (your team’s) work. Note that the declaration on any electronically submitted assignment will be deemed to have the same authority as a signed declaration.
- Backup Copy of Assignments: You are advised to keep a copy of your assignments in case the submitted copy goes missing. Please ensure that all assignment pages are numbered. If your assignment contains confidential information, you should discuss any concerns with the Course Lecturer prior to submission.
- Extensions of Time: Any request for an extension of time for the submission of an assignment should be made well before the due date of the assignment to the Course Lecturer. Normally, extensions will only be granted for a maximum of two weeks from the original assignment submission date. Extensions will only be granted in cases of genuine extenuating circumstances and proof, such as a doctor’s certificate, may be required.
- Failure to submit: Failure to submit an assignment on time or by the agreed extension deadline may result in penalties and may incur a fail grade. Note that a late penalty of 5% of the total available marks for that assessment item will be incurred each day an assignment is handed in late (Unless otherwise stated in 'Assessment Related Requirements' or 'Assessment Detail' above). Assignments handed in after 14 days from the due submission date will fail even if a 100% mark is granted for the work.
Resubmission & Remarking
Resubmission of an assignment for remarking after reworking it to obtain a better mark will not normally be accepted. Approval for resubmission will only be granted on medical or compassionate grounds.Course Grading
Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:
M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme) Grade Mark Description FNS Fail No Submission F 1-49 Fail P 50-64 Pass C 65-74 Credit D 75-84 Distinction HD 85-100 High Distinction CN Continuing NFE No Formal Examination RP Result Pending Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.
Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.
Final results for this course will be made available through .
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Student Feedback
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SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
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