Business and Startup Foundations (Summer University) (Spring 2024)

Abstract

The course is for students looking for an introduction to entrepreneurship, to develop business understanding and learn the startup development processes. 

Students will be given a toolbox of academic frameworks and models to develop business in multiple situations and propose strategic changes to overcome them. Through case studies and group work the students will become familiar with business language which will help to build a bridge between business and technology.

The course is an iteration of the Business Foundation course. This means you cannot register for this course if you have passed the Business Foundations course and vice versa.

Description

In order to support a business with effective IT based solutions or processes, it is necessary to understand what the business is doing and how it is done. The aim of this course is to provide the student with an insight of business development, business management and introduce business vocabulary.

The course will provide students with a framework to analyse a business to understand its competitive position. As such the students will read and reflect on classic as well as new management theories and use these in own startup projects or provided case studies. The aim of the course is to sharpen the students’ analytical skills within the field of business management.

A broad selection of classic management theories will be presented and discussed related to both the public and private sector. Some new theories will be presented e.g. Business Model Canvas, such that students are aware of the new trends.

• Introduction to business strategy 
• Circular approach to startup development 
• The external environment 
•  Business systems and the value chain 
•  Product portfolio 
• Customer orientation 
• Public management 
• Financial resources 
• Strategic positioning

Formal prerequisites

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

• Describe different perspectives on business strategy
• Relate different competitor based strategies to different situations
• Perform a stakeholder analysis
• Create a simple marketing plan using the taught concepts
• Describe and apply common external and internal financial concepts (e.g. EBIT, P/E)
• Critically analyse and implement both qualitative and quantitative data for startup development

Learning activities

The course will consist of lectures and exercises under supervision, with the exercises serving as practical applications of the theories covered in class. These exercises will revolve around startups that students will develop or other real-world companies. In addition to classroom activities, students will be expected to actively engage in interviews and other data collection methods outside of the scheduled sessions. The collected data will play a crucial role in understanding customer needs and enhancing critical analysis skills. It is important to note that active participation in the classes is essential to ensure the achievement of our learning outcomes.

Course literature

Essential readings will be shared via LearnIT.

Additional readings: selected chapters of Strategic Management Awareness and Change 10th edition by John Thompson, Jonathan Scott and Frank Martin.

Student Activity Budget

Estimated distribution of learning activities for the typical student

• Preparation for lectures and exercises: 40%
• Lectures: 15%
• Exercises: 15%
• Assignments: 5%
• Project work, supervision included: 5%
• Exam with preparation: 20%

Ordinary exam

Exam type:
C: Submission of written work, External (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
C22: Submission of written work – Take home

reexam

Exam type:
C: Submission of written work, External (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
C22: Submission of written work – Take home

Time and date

Ordinary Exam - hand out Tue, 6 Aug 2024, 08:00 - 14:00
Ordinary Exam - submission Fri, 9 Aug 2024, 08:00 - 14:00
Reexam - hand out Tue, 20 Aug 2024, 08:00 - 14:00
Reexam - submission Fri, 23 Aug 2024, 08:00 - 14:00