Undergraduate Business and Technology (B&T)

Stevens Institute of Technology Howe School of Technology Management AACSB ASSURANCE OF LEARNING Undergraduate Business and Technology (B&T) Learning Goal #4 Students demonstrate analytic problem-solving skills Responsibility: Vartuhi Tonoyan August 1, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LEARNING GOAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS Rubric for the mid-term exam RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT: Fall ‘07, ‘08 and ‘09 .16 RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT: SPRING 2013 19 RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT: SPRING 2014 21 Outcomes from Previous Assessments: 23 Results of Assessments and Specific Steps Taken 23 10 Close Loop Process – Continuous Improvement Record 24 11 APPENDIX 26 INTRODUCTION In BT-372-B “Entrepreneurship: Discovery and Commercialization of Technical Business Opportunities”, students are assessed each year’s spring semester Course Overview Examples of successful entrepreneurs are Steve Jobs of Apple, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Michael Dell of Dell Computers, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Fred Smith of FedEx, and Dietmar Hopp of SAP They all have pursued new business opportunities in ways which were innovative, path-breaking and contributed to economic growth and employment generation But, who is a typical entrepreneur, and how well does a typical start-up perform? Why people start businesses? What is the role of people’s education as well as their work experience for launching new businesses? How entrepreneurs typically finance their start-ups? What is the role of people’s social networks for starting new businesses? Finally, what makes some places (countries, regions) more entrepreneurial than others? These and other questions have been answered in Part I of this course, which aimed at providing students with solid knowledge about the subject of entrepreneurship, by drawing on contemporary and classical theories of entrepreneurship, as well as recent empirical (quantitative) evidence on the subject The objective of this part has been to dissect the common myths about entrepreneurship that investors, policy makers and entrepreneurs live by, and re-assess empirical facts about entrepreneurship, and help students develop analytical and problem-solving skills pertaining to a complex issue related to starting and growing entrepreneurial companies Teaching methods for this part were primarily lecturing and class discussions Part II of this course provided students with practical skills for setting up businesses and was suitable for those who may want to undertake an entrepreneurial career either by pursuing opportunities which lead to partial or full ownership of a business or those who consider becoming an entrepreneurial consultant and/or venture capitalist It focused on the creation of a new venture by providing frameworks and applying them to the identification and pursuit of a viable business opportunity Employing a dynamic perspective, we have dealt with issues revolving around the birth, growth and exit of newly founded companies Concepts included the new venture formation process, opportunity identification, evaluation and analysis, customer development, market research, business models, managing intellectual property, entrepreneurial finance, as well as growth and exit strategies of newly established entrepreneurial companies This part was taught primarily by using the “case method” We drew on real-life cases which were previously employed at the Harvard Business School and the Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Students were required to critically analyze organizational success factors of companies featured in business cases, by focusing on the following: (i) the role of the entrepreneur; (ii) the opportunity identification and exploitation, (iii) the product, (iv) the start-up, and (v) the strategy This was the second rubric for developing students’ analytical and problem-solving skills pertaining to an issue related to starting and growing entrepreneurial companies In Part III of the course, students were expected to develop and write a business plan in teams of two, and also pitch their ideas in front of the class This course was designed for small classes to provide our students with intimate, handson learning experiences, as well as opportunities to bridge academic theory and realworld practice Since “one size does not fit all”, I used a variety of teaching methods which were designed to give the student the breadth and depth of skills and experience they will need for successfully pursuing an entrepreneurial career These teaching methods included the following: • Lecturing, theoretical and empirical overviews • Class discussions • Case studies • Role-plays • Team projects • Problem-solving sessions • Face-to-face feedback Outcomes Upon completion of this course, students were expected to understand the strategic management of new businesses in technology-intensive industries (such as IT, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals) Specifically, they were expected to develop skills for understanding and critically analyzing the following four themes: (1) the source, discovery, and evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities (2) the provision of products and services that satisfy the needs of customers; (3) the development of mechanisms to appropriate the returns from the exploitation of the opportunity; and also (4) the organizational efforts to innovate Evaluation There are four basic requirements for the course: Participation in Class Discussion: 30% Midterm Exam: 30% New Venture Business Plan (Team): 30% Pitch (Team): 10% LEARNING GOAL B&T Learning Goal #4 Students graduating with a bachelor degree will be able to critically evaluate, analyze and interpret information for solving issues pertaining to technology entrepreneurship and innovation ASSESSMENT PROCESS Where and when measured? The mid-term exam was used for evaluating the student’s ability to demonstrate problemsolving skills and develop innovative solutions to business problems Below is the description of measurements and rubrics of the mid-term exam Mid-Term Exam The 17 students enrolled in the course section BT-372-B “Entrepreneurship: Discovery and Commercialization of Technical Business Opportunities” in Spring Semester of 2014 were assessed in week of 14, using the mid-term examination (see the mid-term exam questions in Appendix 1) The objective of this measurement process was to determine if the student understood contemporary and classical theories of entrepreneurship as well as recent empirical (quantitative) evidence on the subject, and thus tools that would enable him or her to critically evaluate, analyze and interpret information about the (1) the source, discovery, the evaluation of entrepreneurial and technological opportunities; (2) the provision of products and services that satisfy the needs of customers; (3) the development of mechanisms to appropriate the returns from the exploitation of the opportunity; and (4) the organizational efforts of entrepreneurial companies to innovate See the specific rubric (including the description of the learning objective and traits) on pages 10-16 Assessment of the mid-term exam The mid-term exam consisted of two tasks, each including two to three questions which tested students on their understanding of, and ability to use and critically discuss various theoretical and empirical concepts related to entrepreneurship and innovations Examples of such mid-term exam questions are shown below: Task I Question 1: Different types of innovation that are developed and introduced by entrepreneurs These include radical versus incremental innovations; the introduction of a new good (or a quality of the good); the introduction of a new method of production; the opening of a new market; the utilization of a new source of supply for raw materials, and the carrying out of new organizational forms of industry Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development and the entrepreneur’s role for the process of the creative destruction and development of innovations in Schumpeter’s theory Israel Meir Kirzner’s “Theory of Entrepreneurial Discovery and Competitive Market Process” and the entrepreneur’s role for the development of innovations in Kirzner’s theory Question 2: Although the tales of successful entrepreneurs emerging from college dormitories capture the popular imagination, the vast majority of entrepreneurs enter into entrepreneurship from employment in established firms Students were required to spell out different mechanisms why it is that small training firms but not large, bureaucratic organizations that are breeding grounds for entrepreneurship They were expected to come up with the following explanations: : (i) small firms are fonts of knowledge and skills related to entrepreneurship; (ii) small firms are fonts of beliefs, values and life preferences; (iii) small firms are fonts of social capital; (iv) small firms are fonts of entrepreneurial opportunities; (v) small firms not have internal labor markets, and thus not provide employees with incentives to stay at the small company Students were judged on their ability to analyze whether and how far determinants of the entry into entrepreneurship (which are associated with having a background from small firms) can also be seen as determinants of the success of entrepreneurial companies Task II Question 1a: Students were tested on the knowledge of technology S-curves and on what these Scurves measure Technology S-curves are graphical representations of the development of a new technology They compare some measures of performance (for example, speed, cost, or capacity) with some measures of effort (for instance, research and development dollars, or person-hours devoted to research) These graphs are called S-curves because the relationship between effort and performance is typically S-shaped Initially, performance improvements per unit of effort are small because there are many things that a start-up needs to learn before it can improve the performance of new technologies significantly Moreover, when the start-up first begins to develop a new technology, it probably does not understand the key drivers of performance Consequently, its’ efforts to improve the technology involve much trial and error, with many dead ends, before it figures out how to generate performance improvements As a result, a start-up gets very little performance improvement for each unit of effort Question 1b: Students were tested on their understanding and analytic discussion of how far approaches of managing and introducing innovations are the same or different for entrepreneurs and incumbent firms, and why Even though incumbent firms typically investigate new technologies when the core technology with which they are working reaches the point of diminishing returns, new entrants tend to be the ones to introduce products and services based on new technologies Incumbent firms tend to persist with investments in their current technologies and rarely shift to newer technologies until the new technologies challenge their ability to serve their core customers with their core products, even when they have developed the new technologies Students were also judged based on the following explanations why it is new entrants who tend to introduce the new technologies that shift the existing technology S-curves These explanations include the following: • • • • • • Incumbents have no incentive to introduce the new technology: The performance of new technology is typically inferior to the performance of existing technology when it is first introduced, giving incumbent firms the option of changing to a technology that will produce less income (sometimes no income) or making an incremental change to their existing technology Incumbents have investments in existing technology: Incumbents have to writeoff their investments in the old technology to adopt the new technology, and the size of these write-offs can be very large when new technologies require fundamentally different assets to be produced Products based on the new technology cannibalize incumbents’ sales If a product based on a new technology completely cannibalizes existing sales, then introducing a product based on a new technology generates additional costs, but no extra revenue, making it financially unattractive Managers at incumbent firms not see the new technology as a threat: To maintain focus on their core activities, established firms create routines that lead managers to filter out information about alternatives to their core technologies, which leads them to view new technologies negatively Incumbent firms can improve the performance of their old technologies: Jim Utterback, a professor of technology management at MIT has shown that the producers of mechanical typewriters, sailing ships, mechanical watches, and the telegraph all improved those products significantly in response to the introduction of new technology Incumbent firms face organizational obstacles to changing their core technologies: When a new technology comes along, organizations often have to change their structures to fit the new technology This causes fighting within the organization because some managers have to lose political power and influence These managers resist the changes, even if they are necessary for the organization to survive For example, Polaroid failed in its efforts to exploit the shift to digital camera technology because its managers resisted making the people in charge of electronic digital signal processing, software, and storage technologies more central to the organization than the people in charge of optics and film technology Question 2: S-Curves of Technology Development and Technology Diffusion Students were expected to explain the difference between an S-curve of a technology development and S-curve of technology diffusion Although there is some variation in the distribution of adopters of new technology products and services, the single most common pattern is a normal distribution Why? Because most patterns of human behaviors are normally distributed, with a small portion of people doing things early, a small portion doing things late, and most people doing things in the middle Understanding the distribution of adopters provides someone with information that will help him or her to estimate demand growth over time The normal distribution of adopters translates into an S-shaped pattern of demand growth over time because the bell curve shows the rate of adoption while the S-shaped curve shows the cumulative adoption In calculus terms, the bell curve is the derivative of the S-curve and the Scurve is the integral of the bell curve The S-curve of technology adoption shows the adoption pattern of a new technology by different types of customers (namely innovators, early adopters, early and late majority, as well as laggards), whereas the S-curve of technology diffusion shows the representation of the development of a new technology over time (see Question 1a) For the mid-term exam, the following learning objective and traits have been applied to evaluate students’ ability to demonstrate problem-solving skills and develop innovative solutions to business problems: Rubric for the mid-term exam BSB - Trait Students demonstrate problem-solving skills and can develop innovative solutions to business problems Objective Students are able to analyze and explain the unique nature, process and determinants of starting and growing a high-technology start-up, by utilizing entrepreneurship theories and supporting their answers with real-life examples and/or evidence from cases and empirical studies Values Traits Poor Good Excellent (0-7) (8-15) (16-20) Students are able to explain Has poor understanding of Has good understanding of Has excellent and evaluate the nature of the the nature and sources of the nature and sources of understanding of the nature entrepreneurial opportunity entrepreneurial entrepreneurial and sources of of a high-tech start-up They opportunities Did not opportunities Has good entrepreneurial are able to explain and understand the importance understanding of the opportunities Has excellent evaluate determinants of the of technological changes, importance of technological understanding of the discovery and exploitation political and regulatory changes, political and importance of technological of the entrepreneurial changes, as well as social regulatory changes, as well changes, political and opportunity and sources of and demographic changes as social and demographic regulatory changes, as well innovation for technology changes for technology as social and demographic entrepreneurship entrepreneurship changes for technology Has good understanding of entrepreneurship Sources of Innovation and loci and types of Has excellent Generation of Entrepreneurial Has poor understanding of innovation, as well as the understanding of loci and Ideas: loci and types of importance of R&D and types of innovation, as well innovation, as well as the industry for the generation as the importance of R&D importance of R&D and Sources of of entrepreneurial ideas and industry for generation industry for the generation Opportunities: of entrepreneurial ideas of entrepreneurial ideas Technological Change; Political and Regulatory Change; Social and Demographic Changes Locus of Innovation R&D: Types of R&D, Why Firms Invest in R&D; Costs of R&D Trait Forms of Innovation and Technology Strategy; Industry and the Nature of Innovation Students understand and critically analyze the role of an entrepreneur’s resources for managing and growing a high-tech start-up These resources include the human capital, financial capital, and social networks Human Capital: Opportunity Costs Education Career Experience: General Business Has little understanding of the role of opportunity costs, education, as well as career experience (general business experience, functional experience, selfemployment experience; and vicarious learning) for starting and growing hightech companies Has little understanding of the sources of funding and valuation methods for startups 10 Demonstrates an average understanding of the role of opportunity costs for the decision to become an entrepreneur Can explain the importance of career experience (general business experience, functional experience, industry experience, selfemployment experience, and learning by imitation) for starting and growing new ventures Is able to explain the importance of jack-of-all-trades skills for starting and growing new Has solid understanding of the importance of human capital (education and career experience), financial capital, and social networks for starting and growing new ventures Utilizes entrepreneurship theories, explains mechanisms which underlie the relationship between the entrepreneur’s endowments with resources and his/her likelihood of starting and growing new ventures Discusses more than one view, theory or perspective Trait Students are able to analyze and critically evaluate the role of the intellectual property rights for the organizational survival and growth of a high-tech company Patents Secrecy Copyrights Trademarks technology products and services Has little understanding of the different legal mechanisms that can be used by a technology entrepreneur to protect intellectual property, and is not able to develop ways to employ these mechanisms to the entrepreneur’s advantage International Issues in Protecting Property 15 technology products and services Average understanding of different legal mechanisms that can be used by a technology entrepreneur to protect intellectual property Is able to create a credible strategy by employing these mechanisms to the entrepreneur’s advantage Offers keen insights into ways that companies protect their intellectual property through legal means: patents, trade secrets, copyrights, and trademarks Discusses advantages and disadvantages of different legal mechanisms Can explain differences in intellectual property regimes and explain international agreements on IP RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT: Fall ‘07, ‘08 and ‘09 Staring in the Spring 2013 a new course and rubric are being used to fit in line with the newly designed BS in Business curriculum These three assessment are recorded here for historical purposes and to demonstrate continuous improvement using our AoL process Explanation of Table Col Col Col Col Col Col Col Col Col Col 10 Student name Student’s score on Q1, 1st administration; 50 points possible Student’s score on Q2, 1st administration; 50 points possible Student’s score on Q3, 1st administration; 50 points possible Student’s total score on 1st administration Student’s score on Q1, 2nd administration; 50 points possible Student’s score on Q2, 2nd administration; 50 points possible Student’s score on Q3, 2nd administration; 50 points possible Student’s total score on 2nd administration Student’s change: points and percent Table 1: Fall 2009 Assessment Col (1) Name Bandy, T Blackbourn, S Caroccia, A Couture, A Decker, D Doutis, A Devenney, J Egebo, C Fajardo, K Galati, J Gehring, S Gray, V Greco, G Johnson, L Kallberg, L Kearns, J Lavin, B Lockhart, A Muse, E Col (2) EX1 Q1 20 50 50 50 50 50 40 50 40 50 50 50 50 50 30 50 50 50 50 Col (3) EX1 Q2 20 25 30 20 30 20 35 30 50 25 20 20 25 20 20 50 20 20 20 Col (4) EX1 Q3 50 10 10 50 10 10 10 50 40 50 10 10 50 10 10 Col (5) EX1 40 125 90 80 130 80 85 90 140 115 70 120 85 70 60 150 80 80 70 Col (6) EX2 Q1 50 45 50 50 50 50 40 50 50 50 50 40 50 50 30 50 50 50 50 16 Col (7) EX2 Q2 50 50 50 20 50 30 20 30 30 50 35 40 50 20 20 50 20 15 20 Col (8) EX2 Q3 50 46 50 50 50 50 20 50 50 50 30 40 50 30 50 50 50 30 30 Col (9) EX2 150 141 150 120 150 130 60 130 130 150 115 120 150 100 100 150 120 95 100 Col (10) ∆ = EX2 – EX1 (% change) +110 (+275%) +16 (+12.8%) +60 (+66.7%) +40 (+50.0%) +20 (+15.4%) +50 (+62.5%) -25 (-29.4%) +40 (+44.4%) -10 (-7.10%) +35 (+30.4%) +45 (+64.3%) unchanged +65 (+76.5%) +30 (+42.9%) +40 (+66.7%) unchanged +40 (+50.0%) +15 (+18.8%) +30 (+42.9%) Napolitano, J Parra, M Peine-Ardilla, A Rasulo, M Salem, S Sipcikoglu, M Smith, E Steinhauser, B Sypytkowski, R Theinert, B Tsatskin, L 50 30 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 30 30 20 25 20 20 15 30 20 30 30 10 10 50 50 10 10 10 10 10 50 90 60 80 125 120 80 75 90 80 90 130 50 50 40 50 40 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 25 20 50 40 30 20 50 50 30 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 30 50 30 50 50 150 120 110 150 130 130 100 150 130 130 150 +60 +60 +30 +25 +10 +50 +25 +60 +50 +40 +20 (+66.7%) (+100%) (+37.5%) (+20.0%) (+8.30%) (+62.5%) (+33.3%) (+66.7%) (+62.5%) (+44.4%) (+15.4%) Results: 26 of the 30 students improved their performance from the first exam to the second Two students actually performed more poorly on the second administration; two other students were unchanged, though of these one did not improve because he scored a perfect 100% on both administrations The examination itself is in Appendix A Comparison of 2009 students with 2008 students The students from 2009 (who got more formal exposure to, and practice with, the financial aspects of marketing management) took the same midterm exam as the students from 2008 (who did not receive a stand-alone formal section of the course focusing on financial methods) Reported below (in Table 2) are the distribution of scores for students from 2008, the distribution of scores for students from 2009, some summary descriptive statistics (Tables and 4), and the exam itself Table 2: Comparison – Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 Assessments Student name-2008 Amelio Bajrushi Basi Buntin Charles Chenowith Eberlin Eliassen Gray Guevara Higgins Hinton Krasnovsky Lebedev Lorah %-Score 84 85 100 98 74 83 76 78 98 87 100 94 100 68 74 Student name-2009 Bandy Blackbourne Caroccia Couture Decker Devenney Doutis Egebo Fajardo Galati Gehring Gray Greco Johnson Kallberg 17 %-Score 100 100 97 97 100 100 100 95 100 100 85 94 100 99 81 Matusiak Megill Milloy Mojena Ng Palk Passalacqua Patel Ramirez Rizzuto Ryba Sangiovanni Schaefer Scherck Skocypec Stewart Suarez Tennyson Tovar Turner Waishham Williams Zucker 73 53 98 66 100 94 77 84 94 100 60 100 86 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Kearns Lavin Lockhart Muse Napolitano Parra Peine-Ardila Rasulo Salem Sipcikoglu Smith Steinhauser Sypytkowski Theinert Tsatskin 93 100 85 94 100 100 100 100 93 100 77 100 88 99 100 Table 3: Summary differences – Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 Assessments 100% 90% to 99% 80% to 89% 0% to 79% Number of students with this score in 2008 18 13 Number of students with this score in 2009 16 Table 4: Statistics – Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 Assessments Population Mean Population Std Dev 2008 (n = 38) µ = 86 σ = 19.6 18 2009 (n = 30) µ = 96 σ = 6.4 RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT: SPRING 2013 LEARNING GOAL Nr 4: Students demonstrate problem-solving skills and can develop solutions to business problems ASSESSMENT DATE: 04/04/2013 ASSESSOR: Prof Vartuhi Tonoyan NUMBER OF STUDENTS TESTED: 17; COURSE: BT-372-B Learning Goal Objectives and Traits Objective Number of Students Poor Good Excellent Trait Trait Trait Objective 1 N/A 2 N/A 14 14 N/A Trait Trait Trait 1 N/A 2 N/A 14 14 N/A Not meet Meets Exceeds Expectations Expectations Expectations Total Students by Category (Based on Average score across all traits) Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 14 94% COMMENTS: Overall, the above results are promising in that the main goals of the course have been accomplished I am confident that based on lectures (which included theoretical and empirical overviews), oral discussions, case study analysis, the mid-term exam, the group project (which consisted of interviewing a high-tech entrepreneur) as well as final project (business plan submission), the vast majority of the class had gained a high level of learning in the learning goal Nr The fact that such a high percentage achieved an “exceeds expectations” rating makes me confident that the course is well designed and accomplishes a high level of learning REMEDIAL ACTIONS: The results are overly encouraging, but I would like to see all of the students accomplish an “exceeds expectations” The main area that I will improve and 19 focus on is the understanding of the entrepreneurship and technology management theories I can improve this by emphasizing and designing a more detailed discussion of management articles dealing with the theory While the practical application is important, an in-depth understanding of the theory is key to allowing a sophisticated comprehension and interpretation of the entrepreneurship and technology management theory as it applies to establishing and growing new high-technology start-ups as well as managing innovations in these start-ups I am planning to ask student volunteers read key theory articles and have them present to the class for discussion along with the critique focused on how this theory can be applied This will allow me to understand the level of comprehension accomplished in the class 20 RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT: SPRING 2014 LEARNING GOAL Nr 4: Students demonstrate problem-solving skills and can develop solutions to business problems ASSESSMENT DATE: 06/15/2014 ASSESSOR: Prof Vartuhi Tonoyan NUMBER OF STUDENTS TESTED: 36; COURSE: BT-372-B Learning Goal Objectives and Traits Objective Poor Number of Students Good Excellent Trait Trait Trait Objective 1 N/A 2 N/A 33 33 N/A Trait Trait Trait 1 N/A 2 N/A 33 33 N/A Not meet Meets Exceeds Expectations Expectations Expectations Total Students by Category (Based on Average score across all traits) Students meeting or exceeding expectations: 33 94% COMMENTS: Overall, the above results are promising in that the main goals of the course have been accomplished I am confident that based on lectures (which included theoretical and empirical overviews), oral discussions, case study analysis, the mid-term exam, the group project (which consisted of interviewing a high-tech entrepreneur) as well as final project (business plan submission), the vast majority of the class had gained a high level of learning in the learning goal Nr The fact that such a high percentage achieved an “exceeds expectations” rating makes me confident that the course is well designed and accomplishes a high level of learning REMEDIAL ACTIONS: The results are encouraging, but I would like to see all of the students accomplish an “exceeds expectations” The main area that I will improve and focus on is the understanding of the entrepreneurship and technology management theories I can improve this by emphasizing and designing a more detailed discussion of 21 management articles dealing with the theory While the practical application is important, an in-depth understanding of the theory is key to allowing a sophisticated comprehension and interpretation of the entrepreneurship and technology management theory as it applies to establishing and growing new high-technology start-ups as well as managing innovations in these start-ups I am planning to ask student volunteers read key theory articles and have them present to the class for discussion along with the critique focused on how this theory can be applied This will allow me to understand the level of comprehension accomplished in the class I also plan to invite entrepreneurs as guest speakers in Spring Semester of 2015 as a means to provide an opportunity for a classroom of students to hear, firsthand, about a particular business-related issue and also impart real-life experiences 22 Outcomes from Previous Assessments: Spring 2014: The results are good but I would like to see students to better understand and apply theories related to entrepreneurship and technology management   Spring 2013: The results are very encouraging, but I would like to see all of the students accomplish an “exceeds expectations” The main area that I will improve and focus on is the understanding of the entrepreneurship and technology management theories Results of Assessments and Specific Steps Taken Results of Assessment in the Fall 2007: Despite the students being seniors, it was apparent that many (if not most) students had weak financial analytic skills Because the case method (employed in the class) repeatedly exposed this weakness, and actually slowed our progress through the cases, I ended up having to re-teach the various fundamental methods of financial analysis as needed Specific Steps taken in Fall 2008: In light of this weakness among our students, I started explicitly testing their ability to use financial analytic methods See Tables 2, 3, and above for the results; see Appendix for the exam itself Results of Assessment in the Fall 2008: The results as reported in Tables 2, 3, and reveal wide variability in students’ financial analytic skills While the mean score is acceptable ( µ = 86), the variability is rather extreme ( σ = 19.6) Specific Steps taken in Fall 2009: For the first time, I incorporated more formal instruction in financial analysis (especially managerially-related finance and accounting) This was reinforced with formal examinations that explicitly tested students’ understanding of, and ability to use, these financial methods See the exam in Appendix Results of Assessment in Fall 2009: Tables 2, 3, and report two types of improvements First, the mean score has improved (to µ = 96) and, second (and perhaps even more important), the variability across students has shrunk considerably (to σ = 6.4) Comment: This improvement is gratifying in that students not now seem to be slipping between the cracks; everyone seems to have acquired a basic competence in this all important diagnostic skill Plans for Fall 2010: In view of students’ improving analytic skills, I intend to introduce cases characterized by even more challenging financial environments By forcing students to apply the methods they learn formally from the instruction, they will (hopefully) be able to incorporate a more analytic approach to business problems they confront in the cases 23 10 Close Loop Process – Continuous Improvement Record Assurance of Learning Assessment/Outcome Analysis Close Loop Process - Continuous Improvement Record Program: BS in Business Goal 3: Students demonstrate analytic problem-solving skills Goal Owner: V Tonoyan Where Measured: Assessed in spring semester each year Closing the Loop: Actions taken on specific objectives When Assessed Spring 2014 I am planning to ask students read key theory articles and have them present to the class for discussion along with the critique focused on how this theory can be applied in practice Remedial Action Outcome from previous Assessment When Assessed: Remedial Action Outcome from previous Assessment I also intend to invite entrepreneurs as guest speakers in Spring Semester of 2015 as a means to provide an opportunity for a classroom of students to hear, firsthand, about a particular business-related issue and also impart real-life experiences The results are good but I would like to see students to better understand and apply theories related to entrepreneurship and technology management   Spring 2013 I can improve this by emphasizing and designing a more detailed discussion of management articles dealing with the theory While the practical application is important, an in-depth understanding of the theory is key to allowing a sophisticated comprehension and interpretation of the entrepreneurship and technology management theory as it applies to establishing and growing new high-technology start-ups as well as managing innovations in these start-ups I am planning to ask student volunteers read key theory articles and have them present to the class for discussion along with the critique focused on how this theory can be applied This will allow me to understand the level of comprehension accomplished in the class The results are very encouraging, but I would like to see all of the students accomplish an “exceeds expectations” The main area that I will improve and focus on is the understanding of the entrepreneurship and technology management theories 24 25 11 APPENDIX Appendix 1: Mid-Term Exam “BT-372-B: Discovery and Commercialization of Technical Business Opportunities” This is an individual, 60-minutes, closed-book and closed-notes written mid-term exam Answer only one of the two tasks! A complete answer to the exam task requires a maximum of 60 points The distribution of points among different questions is shown in tables below Question Task I Distribution of Points Achieved Points Question a 20 20 Total b 20 60 Grade Question Question Total Task II Distribution of Points Achieved Points a 20 b 20 20 60 Grade 26 Task I Question 1: Types of Innovation Spell out different types of innovation that are developed and introduced by entrepreneurs Use examples to support your answers What entrepreneurship theories could you use for naming various types of innovation that are developed and introduced by entrepreneurs? (20 points) Question 2: Organizations as Fonts Entrepreneurship a) Most entrepreneurs emanate from established organizations Yet, it is a stylized empirical fact that it is small (training) firms which are breeding grounds for entrepreneurship Spell out different reasons why it is small firms but not large, bureaucratic organizations that are breeding grounds for entrepreneurship What economic and sociological theories could you use to support your answers? (20 points) b) Do you think that having a background in a small company will also be associated with a higher entrepreneurial success, i.e a higher survival ability, higher innovativeness and growth of entrepreneurial companies? Or you assume that entrepreneurs that emanate from larger organizations will be able to establish more successful start-ups than their counterparts that emanate from smaller organizations? Why? (20 points) Task II Question 1: Innovation Management by Entrepreneurial and Incumbent Firms a) Graph a technology development S-curve and describe what it measures (20 points) b) How are the approaches to managing and introducing innovation the same or different for new entrants (“entrepreneurs”) and incumbent firms? Why entrepreneurs tend to introduce new technologies, by shifting the existing technology S-curves? (20 points) Question 2: S-Curves of Technology Development and Technology Diffusion Explain the difference between a technology development S-curve and a technology diffusion S-curve (20 points) APPENDIX 27 Previous Assessment Exercise used prior to 2013 A recording company is looking to produce and market a new compact disc The following cost information pertains to this new product: • • • • • • direct material and labor: $1.65/CD songwriters’ royalties: $0.40/CD recording artists’ royalties: $1.15/CD advertising and promotion: $250,000 overhead: $285,000 selling price to distributor: $10.00/CD Calculate the following: a Contribution per CD unit: $ /unit (10 pts) b Break-even volume in CD units and dollars: units (10 pts) $ (10 pts) c Net profit if 1,500,000 CDs are sold: $ (10 pts) c Necessary CD unit volume to achieve a $500,000 profit: units (10 pts) A product manager is reviewing price and promotion alternatives for two products: Rash-Away and Red-Away Both products are designed to reduce skin irritation, but Red-Away is primarily a cosmetic treatment whereas Rash-Away also includes a compound that eliminates the rash The price and promotion alternatives recommended for the two products by their respective brand managers include the possibility of using additional promotion or a price reduction to stimulate sales volume A volume, price, and cost summary for the two products follows: • • • Rash-Away: $price/unit = $2.50; $var cost/unit = $1.60; unit volume = 1,200,000 units Red-Away: $price/unit = $1.50; $var cost/unit = $0.90; unit volume = 1,650,000 units Both brand managers recommend either reducing the price by 12.5% or investing an incremental $200,000 in advertising a What absolute increase in unit sales and dollar sales will be necessary to recoup the incremental increase in advertising expenditures for Rash-Away? Red-Away? Rash-Away: units (5 pts) $ (5 pts) 28 Red-Away: units (5 pts) $ (5 pts) b What absolute increase in unit sales and dollar sales will be necessary to maintain the level of total contribution dollars if the price of each is reduced by 12.5%? Rash-Away: units (5 pts) $ _ (10 pts) Red-Away: units (5 pts) $ _ (10 pts) A company has spent nearly a million dollars on R & D to develop a new breakfast drink The drink, called Zap, will provide the consumer with twice the amount of vitamin C currently available in breakfast drinks Zap will be packaged in an eightounce can and will be introduced to the breakfast drink market, which is estimated to be equivalent to 25,000,000 eight-ounce cans nationally One major management concern is the lack of funds available for marketing Accordingly, management has decided to use newspapers (rather than television) to promote Zap in the introductory year and distribute Zap in major metropolitan areas that account for 50% of the U.S breakfast drink volume Newspaper advertising will carry a coupon that will entitle the consumer to receive $0.20 off the price of the first can purchased The retailer will receive the regular margin and be reimbursed for the redeemed coupons by the company Past experience indicates that for every four cans sold during the introductory year, one coupon will be returned (i.e., the coupon redemption rate has been in 4) The cost of the newspaper advertising campaign (excluding coupon returns) will be $300,000 Other fixed overhead costs are expected to be $100,000 per year Management has decided that the suggested retail price to the consumer for the eight ounce can will be $0.75 The only unit variable costs for the product are $0.20 for materials and $0.10 for labor The company intends to give retailers a margin of 25% off the suggested retail price; the wholesaler’s margin will be 15% of the wholesaler’s final selling price a At what price will the company be selling its product to wholesalers? $ /unit (10 pts) b What is the contribution per unit? $ /unit (20 pts) c What is the break-even unit volume in the 1st year? units (10 pts) d What is the 1st year break-even share of the market? % (10 pts) 29 ... manner and has little understanding Understands basics of a Is able to graph a of technology S-curves and technology S-curve Has technology S-curve and who and why shifts the Sbasic understanding... changes, political and opportunity and sources of and demographic changes as social and demographic regulatory changes, as well innovation for technology changes for technology as social and demographic... optics and film technology Question 2: S-Curves of Technology Development and Technology Diffusion Students were expected to explain the difference between an S-curve of a technology development and