Principles of Business Management Semester 1

Enrollment Message

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Course Description

Students hear a lot of contradictory advice in life. On one hand, they may hear something like “Follow your dreams. Pursue your passion and the money will come!” On the other hand, they may hear something completely opposite, like “Most startups fail! It’s much safer to get a safe, steady job.” So which side is right? Given the massive changes to the economy and society, the skills of entrepreneurship are going to be critical in building a lasting career. The entrepreneurial mindset of searching for opportunities, creating value, and solving pain points will always be valuable. And this mindset applies not just to starting a business, but in any organization that someone is a part of - school, established companies, or non-profits. In this course, students will explore how to use this mindset to create the next world-class startup.

• Counts as a directed elective or elective for all diplomas

Course Goals

Upon completion of the course, students will…

• discuss the history of entrepreneurship and startups in the U.S.
• define entrepreneurship and describe an entrepreneurial mindset.
• evaluate the benefits of entrepreneurship and startups as a career path, as well as common mistakes and misconceptions.
• examine employment opportunities in entrepreneurship to consider entrepreneurship as an option for career planning.
• outline the topics that will be covered throughout this course (startups, innovation, competition, team-building).
• employ entrepreneurial discovery strategies to generate feasible ideas for business ventures.
• describe what a minimum viable product (MVP) is and provide examples.
• define product/market fit and evaluate different ways for evaluating product/market fit of a business idea.
• evaluate the startup scooter company Lime and describe its product/market fit.
• differentiate between products, services, and platforms.
• define key business model terms such as B2B, B2C, and others.
• outline the various industries that exist in the U.S. and global economies.
• describe the opportunities for entrepreneurship in a given industry.
• compare service platforms that are common for startups (SaaS, IaaS, BaaS, PaaS, etc.).
• evaluate the history of the startup Airbnb and describe how it created a new and unique platform.
• define differentiation and discuss the importance of differentiating yourself as a startup.
• describe tools and methods used to analyze competitors and competing products/solutions.
• examine the advantages that startups have over larger competitors.
• conduct market research on a chosen industry.
• evaluate the history and competition between Facebook and MySpace.
• describe innovation and provide examples of innovative ideas and products.
• examine why startups can be better at innovation than established companies.
• outline the theory of disruptive innovation.
• compare the tradeoff between quality and price in products.
• evaluate the history of the startup Netflix and how it evolved; describe how it exhibited disruptive innovation.

Indiana Academic Standards

• Next Level Programs of Study Competencies

Units of Instruction

• Unit 1 Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Startups
• Unit 2 MVP and Product Market Fit
• Unit 3 Business Models
• Unit 4 Competition
• Unit 5 Disruptive Innovation

Grading/Evaluation

Indiana Online does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school of record can also access this score within the Student Information System, Genius. The final score will be shown as a percentage in Canvas and Genius. The student’s school of record will determine the letter grade based on their specific grading scale.

Students must complete at least 70% of the course and take all parts of the final exam(s) to have a score reported to their school of record. Failure to meet these requirements will result in a score of 0 reported to the school of record.

Assessments

Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, teacher-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments. The course includes the following assessments

• 13 Discussions
• 15 Assignments
• 7 Quizzes

Teacher Contact Response Time

Students can use email or the private message system within Genius or Canvas to access highly qualified teachers when they need teacher assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside Canvas. The Teacher Information page of their course may describe additional communication options.

The teacher will respond to student inquiries (email, text, call) within one business day. Assignments will be graded and posted within two business days.

Expectations for Academic Conduct 

Student Handbook 

It is your responsibility to read the student handbook to understand all aspects of taking an online course including expectations for academic conduct. Contact your teacher if you have any questions. 

Assistance for Students with Accommodations

Indiana Online supports an inclusive learning environment for all students. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that hinder your full participation, such as inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos and podcasts, reasonable accommodations can be arranged.

Technology

Technology Requirements 

Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube. Please review the Indiana Online’s Technology Requirements.

Technical Skills Needed 

Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to

• download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• download and install software
• use a messaging service similar to email
• communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• open attachments shared in messages
• create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• save a file as a .pdf
• copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• insert images or links into a file
• search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• use presentation and graphics programs
• follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• create and maintain usernames and passwords

Technical Questions?  Please contact the Indiana Online Helpdesk.