GISDepartment of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies

This is an active learning course centered on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial management. It is positioned as an entry point for students who think that they might want to start their own business “someday,” and want to learn about the startup process now. Specifically, the course is designed to help students develop a better understanding of how to generate and identify business opportunities, define potential business concepts, refine the business concepts through creativity and business modeling, translate the business concepts into minimum viable product definitions informed by design thinking and lean startup customer development approaches, and then prepare to drive sales of the product through an online presence.

The learning goal of this course is to acquire academic and practical knowledge about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial management. The primary learning objective of this course is to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Additional learning objectives for this course include developing critical thinking, communication, leadership, teamwork, and ethical reasoning skills.

Will be able to gain “DP 1”, “DP 2”, “DP 3”, and “DP 4”.

英語 / English

This course is lecture and discussion-based, has an assigned reading every week, requires the use of an online journal, and uses group-driven experiential exercises to reinforce key concepts.

Preparation. Students must complete the assigned reading and write a journal entry about the reading before each class.

Class. In the first half of each class, there is a lecture. After the lecture, students break into groups in order to complete experiential exercises that are aimed at applying key concepts from the lecture and the assigned reading.

Review. After each class students are required to complete a journal entry describing their key takeaways from the class.

The Final Deliverable in the course is a Business Model Canvas and Executive Summary.

Feedback. Feedback is provided via the grade book feature in the Learning Management System (LMS) used by the Professor. Additionally, when warranted, comments are provided by the Professor via the LMS.

あり / Yes

なし / No

授業形態/methods of teaching：対面/face to face

※各回の授業形態は予定です。教員の指示に従ってください。

1[オンライン/online]：The Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship

This session is an overview of the course.

2[対面/face to face]：Nuts & Bolts and Hypotheses Associated with Registering a Business in Tokyo

In this session we will discuss the basic requirements for registering a business in Tokyo. We will also consider the hypotheses founders must develop as they go through the registration process.

3[対面/face to face]：Opportunity Recognition & Evaluation

In this session we will consider how to evaluate whether an idea is just a thought exercise or it is a genuine business opportunity appropriate for us to pursue.

4[対面/face to face]：Creativity & Entrepreneurship

In this session we will consider when creativity is essential for an organization, and when it is unwelcome.

5[対面/face to face]：Segmenting, Targeting, Customer Value Propositioning, and Positioning

In this session we will discuss positioning (the effort to influence consumer perception of a brand or product) and customer value propositioning for targeted customer segments.

6[対面/face to face]：Business Models

In this session we will discuss business models.

7[対面/face to face]：Design Thinking & New Product Development

In this session we will discuss the design thinking process as it is applied to new product development.

8[対面/face to face]：Lean Start-Ups & The Business Model Canvas

The reading on Lean Startups for this session changed the way that entrepreneurship is taught and practiced.

9[対面/face to face]：Customer Experience

In this session we consider how good customer experience design and good website design can translate into more sales.

10[対面/face to face]：Leveraging the Cloud and Integrations

In this session we will learn about software as a service and web services automation and integration.

11[対面/face to face]：Go-To-Market Strategy

In this session we will consider the go-to-market strategy which is "an action plan that specifies how a company will reach customers and achieve competitive advantage."

12[対面/face to face]：Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization

In this session we will use a case study to explore the potential for using social media marketing and search engine optimization to compete against large enterprises.

13[対面/face to face]：Counterfeiting & System D

In this session we will discuss the logic of counterfeiters and the challenge of competing against them and System D (the informal economy).

14[対面/face to face]：Course Wrap Up

This session is a review of the course.

Before each class, participants complete the assigned reading(s) and then write their journal entry in the online journal tool provided by the professor. After each class, students summarize their key takeaways in another online journal entry. In accordance with MEXT guidelines for 2-credit courses, I recommend allocating at least 150 minutes to read the assigned reading, reflect, and write the pre-class journal entry before each class, and at least 150 minutes to review, reflect, and write the post-class journal entry after each class.

An online coursepack of readings from the repository at Harvard Business School Publishing will be created by the professor. The cost of the coursepack is approximately US $42.50. Students who want to earn points for assignments that use coursepack readings must purchase the readings directly from Harvard Business School Publishing using the URL associated with the coursepack. (Note: Payments for the coursepack can be made with either a credit card or a debit card).

If you want to read a book before taking the class, I recommend The Lean Startup and/or The Startup Way, both by Eric Ries.

LMS registration: REQUIRED
Class participation & attitude: 39 points (29%)
Journal entries: 48 points (36%)
Group Experiential Exercises: 22 points (16%)
Final deliverable: 25 points (19%)
Total available points: 134 (100%)
(% is rounded)

N/A

•A credit or debit card to pay for the online coursepack.
•A PC & internet connection.

•IMPORTANT: This course does not use HOPPII. Instead, this course uses CANVAS, a global Learning Management System (LMS). If you would like an invitation to join this course on CANVAS, then, as a first step, please complete the APPLICATION FORM which is located at https://hackettlabs.com/gis/

•ESOP students bring an important international dimension to Department of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies (GIS) courses like this one. As long as seats are available, I welcome ESOP students who want to take this course.

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