Courses - Winter 2008
Fall
2007 Courses | Winter 2008 Courses | Ross
Course Descriptions
Course Descriptions
ES 395 Entrepreneurial Management
This course is a pragmatic, "real-world" orientation
to the entrepreneurial process of conceiving and implementing
an idea for a new venture. It is intended for students
who have strong aspirations to eventually develop their
careers in the context of entrepreneurial firms. Specific
objectives of the course are for students to: gain experience
identifying and screening potential business ideas; understand
the early stage development of a business idea into a
opportunity with the potential to generate profits or
other desirable returns; understand capital and other
resource requirements, and how to gain access to them;
develop managerial confidence through the creation of
a compelling business plan; and to experience the intensive,
give-and-take of a team effort directed toward a specific
goal. Advisory Prerequisites: A272&M300. Cross-listed
with: CSIB 395.
ES 569 Managing the Growth of New Ventures
New entrepreneurial ventures, once successfully past the
formation stage, often encounter problems caused by their
very rapid growth. Different functional and technical
skills are needed. More reliable information is a must.
External support groups (bankers, attorneys, accountants,
and investors) and new company employees both have to
be integrated into the goals and operations of the firm.
The activities of the entrepreneur have to change, from
innovation to delegation, communication, and organization.
This is a very basic change that many entrepreneurs never
make. The purpose of the course is to convey in a very
pragmatic fashion the reason, the areas, the tools, and
the urgency of that critical leadership change. Advisory
Prerequisites: STRATEGY 502/601.
ES 615 New Venture Creation
This course focuses on the preparation of the business
plan for new ventures. Competitive positions, marketing
policies, research surveys, production methods, financial
projections and organizational assignments all have to
be included in this document. The course is taught both
through the case method and through team projects involving
4-6 students working on a business development project
for the entire term. The business plan project requires
a substantial amount of research, team and faculty meetings,
detailed and carefully constructed deliverables, and the
final delivery of a full business plan. Advisory Prerequisites:
Completion of MBA core.
ES 626 Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance
in Transitional Economies
As the third course in the sequence, this course extends
the coverage of venture capital and private equity from
the US model to other parts of the globe. Similarities
and differences among regions and countries are examined
and related to fundamental forces such as political, cultural,
legal and regulatory differences. Emphasis is placed on
investment characteristics found in emerging markets and
in developed markets of the world. Text, cases and live
deals are employed to study the issues involved. As with
the earlier courses, this course applies simulation and
real options technology to the valuation issues involved
as well as game theory to the negotiating of contracts
among the several categories of players mentioned above.
Familiarity with these valuation technologies is a necessary
prerequisite for the course. Cross-listed with: FIN 626.
BIT/MKT 678 Service Innovation Management
Service Innovation Management focuses on the process
of designing innovative new information-based services,
including problem definition, research, design, development,
and execution. Concepts include blueprinting, ideation,
blue ocean strategy, branding, observation and interview,
personas, storyboards, customer journey, stage-gate process
and project portfolio management. Skills developed and
tools gained in the class will be enduring and valuable
for consultants, financial managers, marketers, and anyone
else charged with leading a group in developing valuable
new information-based services.
ES 701 Wolverine Venture Fund
This course was launched at the University of Michigan
in Fall 1997, with a dual mission: to earn a venture rate
of return, and to support the educational missions of
the Ross School of Business in the area of private equity
investing and entrepreneurship. Students have substantial
input into decisions to invest in start-up ventures. This
course is designed to give students "hands-on"
experience in the entire process of venture investing,
including: sourcing applicants, initial analysis, due
diligence investment negotiation, and monitoring the portfolio
of investment. An external advisory board provides assistance
and input. Cross-listed with: CSIB 701.
ES 702 Frankel Commercialization Fund
This course is provided for students interested in technology
commercialization, new business creation and venture capital.
The course combines class room learning with experience
managing a student run investment fund formed to accelerate
the rate of successful commercialization of ideas and
technology found at the University of Michigan. Students
will have an opportunity to evaluate new technologies,
meet with inventors and company founders, perform due
diligence on opportunity of interest, work with the inventors
to develop a value adding investment plan for the idea,
to prepare and obtain approval for a recommendation to
invest, and most importantly, to convince the inventor
to accept the investment team's investment proposal. Student
teams will seek guidance from and make their recommendations
to a Board of Advisors made up of successful business
people and industry experts.
ES 715 Driving the Innovation Process
This graduate elective course is designed for a mix of
MBA and engineering graduate students. This course will
provide students with the understanding, skills, tools,
and methodology necessary to consistently navigate the
fuzzy front end of an innovation process. New scientific
discoveries put forth by students and other researchers
are the starting points of projects that culminate in
the design of innovative new businesses.
ES 735 Entrepreneurial Turnaround Management
Turnaround management techniques will be examined in this
course, led by an experienced practitioner. This "hands
on" course evaluates analysis techniques, prioritization
of tasks, communication strategies, strategic repositioning,
financial restructuring, and the psychological aspects
of troubled situations. Advisory Prerequisites: MBA CORE.
ES 750 Research Projects
Individual research projects, supervised by faculty, are
available to graduate business students in good academic
standing. To select a project, students should consult
the appropriate professor about the nature of the research
and the number of credit hours the work would garner.
Students earn one to three credit hours per project and
may elect only one research project in a term and no more
than three over the course of their program. No more than
six credit hours from research projects will count toward
degree requirements. Advisory Prerequisites: G.BUS.STU.
