MBA Step One:Two-Class Sequence
The classes were pretty much the antithesis to the real world presented in Dilbert cartoons. Action superseded buzz words. - Amy Childers Elliot MBA '04 |
The OU Entrepreneurship program continues to develop and implement numerous courses that build from content, cases and practical exposure to real world opportunities. We train our MBA students to develop new venture opportunities, whether within existing organizations or new start-ups. With this in mind, we have put in place a two-course sequence plus a group of elective courses to maximize student learning.
The first course, new venture development I, is designed to help students learn how to explore entrepreneurial opportunities, generate ideas for new business concepts and then determine the feasibility of these business concepts. Getting students to start thinking rigorously and analytically about business concepts they might like to be involved with presents a great learning opportunity.
The second course, new venture development II, builds upon lessons learned. Students thinking through and developing a venture concept is the central learning that takes place with the writing of a business plan. Writing a business plan is about thinking through all the various facets of a venture and how they fit together to build a business. Preparing a business plan is a way of ensuring students understand how to think through, communicate and argue for a viable business concept to potential investors. This process represents hands-on learning.