Management
of Smaller Enterprises
-
GBUS 8230
Click here for Detailed Summary
of this course
COURSE OVERVIEW
Managing a small
business is different than being part of a large company or
organization.
Small business leaders
("SBL") are challenged:
(1) to manage simultaneously across functions;
(2) to develop and execute strategies with significant capital,
time and people restraints;
(3) to constantly prioritize and make decisions "on the
fly";
(4) to lead by example and create a high performance culture;
(5) to one-on-one engage line employees in the pursuit of daily
excellence;
(6) to manage legal, quality, people, and financial risks daily;
(7) to balance growth with the firm's capabilities;
(8) to install more policies, procedures, and processes while
executing daily; and
(9) to decide what, when, and whether to invest ahead of or
behind the growth curve.
Managing a small
business is a multitude of daily decisions requiring judgments
and priorities. What comes first? Customers? Culture? Quality?
Employees? Lifestyle? Managing this way requires a heightened
sensitivity to the intended and unintended consequences of every
small leadership act.
The case readings
will involve small and large companies. Large company cases
will focus on the critical decisions made during their growth
phase from a small company. The journey from small to big is
the focus not how they are managed now.
Lastly, we will
explore two other areas. The potential boredom one can experience
when a small business becomes successful and the added management
complexities when the small business is a family business.
We will watch one
film and have three invited CEOs participate.
Entrepreneurial
Leadership
- Bus 665
Click here for Detailed Summary
of this course
Building a business, managing a project, managing a division,
leading a consulting engagement, or building a sales force all
require you to lead - to lead and influence others. Leadership
in a volatile hyper-competitive business world will be required
more and more of more and more people at all levels of an organization.
In this course we will explore many leadership issues including
the following:
- What is leadership?
- Can you lead?
- What do leaders do?
- Can a leader build a successful business and still be a
good ethical and moral person?
- Why should anyone follow you?
There are over 200 definitions of leadership in the business,
political and academic world. In this course, we will focus again
and again on a definition which I have developed based on my 30+
years of experience with business leaders:
Leadership is:
- The courage to act;
- In the best interests of your followers (and not in your
self-interest);
- In such a way that you earn their trust.
Leadership is doing what is right when it is hard to do so.
What is right depends on your values and your organization's
values. Leadership in a volatile, changing world is values based.
It is the bedrock values of the leader which become directly
and indirectly the business's culture. Values as evidenced by
hundreds of little actions by the leader, all of which send
messages to the followers. Leadership is acting. Leadership
is building trust with your colleagues, employees, customers,
financiers, etc.
Growth
Companies
- Bus 668A and 668B
Click here for Detailed Summary of
this course
The challenge for all growth companies is to grow the top
line. This is very hard in a saturated market and in a low inflationary
environment. It is far easier to manage productivity and expenses
through layoffs and consolidations. The objectives of these
seminars are:
- Create a financial model which can determine which companies
are actually growing their business organically in contrast
to those who are creating earnings through accounting manipulations,
financial and investment transactions, and/or by buying revenue
through M&A transactions; and
- Pair the organic good growers with poorly growing companies
in the same industry and try to determine what are the best
practices of growth companies.
Course Materials:
- Financial Shenanigans by Howard Schilit (McGraw Hill, 2nd
edition 2002)
- Financial Statement Analysis by Martin Friedson & Fernando
Alvarez (Wiley, 3rd edition, 2002)
- Blockbusters by Lynn and Reilly, (Harper Business, 2002)
- "Quality of Earnings," Special Research Report by Merrill
Lynch (August 2002)
- S & P "Core Earnings" database
- EVA Database by Stern Stewart
- Good to Great by Jim Collins (Harper Business, 2001), pp
219-260
- Tough Minded Ways To Get Innovative by Pearson, HBR Aug.
2002, pp 117-124.
- The Growth Crisis - And How to Escape It by Slywotzky and
Wise; HBR, July 2002, pp 73-83
- Open-Market Innovation by Rigby & Zook, HBR, Oct. 2002,
pp 80-89.
- New Products: The Factors That Drive Success by Robert
G. Cooper, International Marketing Review, 1994.
Entrepreneurship
- Bus 636
Click here for Detailed Summary of
this course
This course is designed for entrepreneurs, investment bankers,
consultants, private equity investors or advisors.
How do you realize value from a good business concept or idea?
How do you distinguish between a good business idea and a good
business opportunity? How do you finance a growth company? We
will study evaluating a business from the idea stage to the
value realization exit. We will focus on the practical aspects
of discriminating between good and bad business ideas and the
integration of corporate finance, strategy, organizational structure,
compensation, and leadership principles.
This course is focused on real-world practical applications.
Learn how-to skills. How to quickly analyze a business; how
to find investors; how to make an elevator pitch; how to choose
investment bankers, etc.
Course Requirements:
Each person individually or as a member of a team will be
required to write and critique a business plan and to write
and present an executive summary for raising investor capital.
In addition, class discussions will utilize readings and visiting
lecturers. The success of this course depends on your preparation
and involvement.
40% of your grade is class participation and 60% is your written
work product.
The course materials will be supplemented by real-time handouts.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2004
