The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of
Business
Belmont University
Spring Semester, 2008 (S08)
Thursday 6:15 - 9:00 p.m. (MC210)
Course Objectives:
Successful entrepreneurism requires the effective identification, evaluation, articulation and pursuit of opportunity in an increasingly complex and global economic context. It also requires a deep and thorough sense of self. Accordingly, thorough development and integration of each of these aspects in order to gain a rich understanding of the nexus of the individual and opportunity is crucial to well-rounded, intelligent entrepreneurial efforts.
We improve our ability to recognize and evaluate opportunity by observing and carefully analyzing our own experiences, as well as the experiences of others; we gain a sense of self by identifying and assessing our unique passions and resource bases. Perhaps most importantly, we gain understanding of the likelihood that we can successfully engage in entrepreneurism by integrating each of these aspects, and thereby making venturing activity judgments from a more strategic (i.e., holistic) perspective. What makes the study and practice of entrepreneurship challenging is that the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities typically requires a skill set that can be characterized as both "art" and "science" in nature. In short, some facets of entrepreneurial opportunities lend themselves well to quantitative analysis (i.e., "empirical science"), whereas others require careful analysis of the role distinctly "human" elements play (i.e., "art").
Students who take this course will: