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1. On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your level of personal interest in becoming an independent
entrepreneur? Why did you rate yourself as you did?
Each student should be instructed to rate his or her level of interest in becoming an independ-
2. How would you assess your capability of becoming a successful entrepreneur? What are
your strengths and weaknesses? How could you increase your capability?
Refer the students to the section entitled, “What Does it Take, Personally?” and have them
rate themselves on each of the six characteristics. (“High-medium-low” scale should be suf-
ficient although it could be done on a numerical basis.)
1) Commitment and determination
3. Most entrepreneurs learn the most important skills they need after age 21. How does this affect
your outlook and plans?
Most entrepreneurs learn and develop their skills after age 21 in the area of taking on additional re-
4. Identify and discuss new ventures that fit each of the four cells in the entrepreneurial strategy
matrix.
High innovation/Low risk – new products, without competition, that are backed by large firms with
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
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5. Brainstorm a list of ideas for new business ventures. Where did the ideas come from? Which
ones are most and least viable, and why?
Divide the class into a number of small groups to facilitate the brainstorming process.
6. Identify some businesses that have recently opened in your area. What are their chances of sur-
vival and why? How would you advise the owners or managers of those businesses to enhance
their success?
Most students will be able to identify one or more retail businesses that have recently opened in the
area. They will recognize that their chances for survival will depend on a number of factors including
7. Assume you are writing a story about what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur. To whom
would you talk and what questions would you ask?
The ideal person to talk to would be an individual who started a business at about the same age as the
students with very little money and who had experienced a number of “ups and downs” before build-
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
8. Conduct interviews with entrepreneurs, asking whatever questions most interest you. Share
your findings with the class. How do the interviews differ from one another and what do they
have in common?
Many students may not be personally familiar with any entrepreneurs, and thus the simplest way of
9. Read Exhibit 7.1, some myths about entrepreneurs. Which myths did you believe? Do you still?
Why or why not? Interview entrepreneurs by asking each myth as a true-or-false question.
Then ask students to elaborate on their answers. What did they say? What do you conclude
from their answers?
This exercise could be handled by handing out a sheet listing the nine myths and asking students
10. With your classmates, form small teams of skunkworks. Your task is to identify an innovation
that you think would benefit your school, college, or university, and to outline an action plan for
bringing your idea to reality.
The term “skunkworks” is used to describe a project team designated to produce a new product within
a specified time frame. This exercise will test the students’ creativity, and it may be useful to have
11. Identify a business that recently folded. What do students perceive were the causes of the fail-
ure? What might have been done differently to prevent a failure?
This exercise can be approached in two ways. The first involves a search of publications (such as
Business Week) and the local presses to identify a company that folded and see what reasons were
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
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12. Does franchising appeal to you? What kind of franchises would have the most and least interest
and why?
Students will differ in their responses to the first question. Often, people who are attracted to
non-borrowed personal resources before they will be considered for franchise training.
13. The chapter specified some of the changes in the external environment that can provide busi-
ness opportunity (technological discoveries, lifestyle and taste changes, and so on.) Identify
some important recent changes or current trends in the external environment and the business
opportunities they might offer.
As the “baby boom” population ages, caring for the elderly will offer multiple business opportunities
– everything from providing health care to providing assistance with the day-to-day tasks of living.
14. Choose an Internet company with which you are familiar and brainstorm ideas for how its ser-
vices or approach to business can be improved. How about starting a new Internet company al-
together – what would be some possibilities?
Student responses to this question will be different, but encourage students to be creative, and keep
15. Find some inspiring examples of social entrepreneurship and describe them to your classmates.
Bill Drayton the founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public was one of the first social entrepre-
16. Brainstorm some new ideas for social enterprise. What challenges do you foresee and how
would you proceed?
Based on class discussion from the previous question, have students share ideas in small groups for
new social enterprises. Have each group report one or two ideas to the class. Hold a discussion re-
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
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Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
EXERCISE 7.1 – TAKE AN ENTREPRENEUR TO DINNER
Objectives
1. To get to understand what an entrepreneur does, how she or he got started, and what it took to
succeed.
Sample Response
The individual entrepreneur selected in my area is Charles Craft, an owner/operator of a Dairy Queen
franchise. The appointment should have sufficient lead-time to develop interview questions. Approxi-
mately 1 to 2 hours will be sufficient time to interview this entrepreneur. Interview questions should in-
clude: “How did you come up with this idea?” “Have you completed any marketing research for this
Teaching Tips:
1. It may be easier to invite an entrepreneur to visit the classroom for the interview than having each
student attempt to identify an entrepreneur. If you take this approach, it may be useful to have the
students prepare their questions in advance. This will allow you to guide the question and answer
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
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EXERCISE 7.2 – STARTING A NEW BUSINESS
Objectives
1. To introduce you to the complexities of going into business for yourself.
Suggested Responses
1. Product
A customer need that will be satisfied is a fresh submarine sandwich shop. Sandwiches will be cus-
advertising to attract a different marketing segment.
4. Suppliers
Suppliers will be local and should continue to provide reliability, dependability, quality, and price as
the primary marketing tools of purchasing. The business practices are long hours, good location, cash
and carry, etc. The relationship is to partner and attempt to communicate price differential and differ-
ent market segmentation.
5. Location
Location is extremely important and we must locate in a primary business district. Location costs
9. Cultural/Social Environment
The cultural issues include understanding the customs and practices of the community. It is important
to create a philosophy of management that is conducive and acceptable with the business community
we will live and work.
10. International Environment
International issues will become relevant if there is expansion in a boundaryless U.S.
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
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Teaching Tips:
1. This exercise can be assigned before class – have the students discuss their results at this point in the
lecture.
3. At the end of the exercise, ask each team to evaluate what they feel is the likelihood that the business
will be a success.
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
Rolling Out ScrollCo
Case Summary:
The entrepreneur behind ScrollCo is Mandy Toberman, an engineer who grew tired of the routine
Chapter Topics Related to the Case:
• Discuss the personality characteristics associated with entrepreneurship
Case Discussion Questions:
1. What actions could Acme Electronics take to foster intrapreneurship? What consequences does it suf-
fer from failing to foster it?
Suggested Response:
Acme Electronics could encourage intrapreneurship by setting up a skunkworks and by tolerating or
even encouraging bootlegging such as Mandy’s design of the Scroll on her own time. Acme’s man-
2. What information should Mandy include in her business plan?
Suggested Response:
Mandy’s business plan should lead off with an executive summary of the overall business concept
CONCLUDING CASE
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
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3. Describe three nonfinancial resources likely to be important for the future of ScrollCo. How can
Mandy ensure that her business has those resources?
Suggested Response:
Important nonfinancial resources for a start-up include legitimacy in the minds of the public and net-
works of advice and support. Legitimacy comes from establishing goals and methods consistent with
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
Will Foxconn Remain Apple’s Top Supplier of iGadgets?
Case Overview
This case examines some of the key issues facing Foxconn, the primary manufactures of Apple’s iPad,
iPhone, and Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, along with Dell and HP computers. –These issues include
problems with working conditions following the suicides of several workers. In the following year, an
Teaching Objectives
• Use a SWOT analysis to identify the appropriate corporate strategy initiatives for an organization
• Recommend strategies to improve an organization’s image and performance.
Purpose and Relationship to the Part
The purpose of this case is two-fold:
1) to show the serious consequences of “unethical” business decisions and strategies companies can use to
Case Discussion Questions
1. What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can you identify at Foxconn? How is it
addressing these with its strategy?
Suggested Response
Student responses to this question may vary, but students should consider the following factors in their
analysis:
PART II SUPPORTING CASE
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2. If Foxconn’s management hired you to offer advice on improving its ethical decision making and
corporate social responsibility, what measures would you suggest? Why?
Suggested Response
Corporate responsibility is defined as the obligations toward employees, the community, and society as-
web to discover new locations for Foxconn’s manufacturing locations.
3. For Foxconn, what management challenges arise from running an exporting business based in
China and serving developed nations such as the United States? What management skills does it
need under these circumstances?
Suggested Response
It can be very challenging for business leaders in less developed countries to understand and implement
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
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Example 7.1 – Why become an entrepreneur?: Dave Domm, Cofounder and Executive Vice
President of Raceline Motorworks, in Vernon Hills, Illinois, wanted to start a business that had a
Example 7.2 – Today’s entrepreneur: Who is today’s entrepreneur? Meet Jefferson Han, the
son of Korean immigrants, who spent his childhood taking apart virtually anything that moved,
Example 7.3 – Risk: In 2004, Richard Branson, a British entrepreneur, introduced an early proto-
type became the fastest amphibious vehicle ever to cross the English Channel. The Aquada, a
Example 7.4 – Lessons from failure: Kamran Elahian was born in Teheran, immigrated to the
US in 1972 and worked in HP as a design automation software engineer. He co-founded several
Example 7.5 – Business plans: Students can see real business plans, prepared by MBAs, at
Example 7.6 – Intrapreneurship: A good example of intrapreneurship in action is Mobile
World, a product that was created by David Goldie while working at Carphone Warehouse. Mo-
bile World is a mobile-phone service targeted at people living in Britain who come from other
countries and need to phone friends and relatives overseas. Goldie discussed the idea with a
EXAMPLES
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
7-30
7 Bridge, Rachel. “Harness the innovators in your midst.” Sunday Times (London). January 29, 2006. Business, pg. 13.
Chapter 07 – Entrepreneurship
Please see the following additional materials in Connect.
• Pillow Pets
Pillow Pets finder, Jennifer Telfer comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. She came up with the
What was the impetus for Jennifer Telfer to start Pillow Pets?
Telfer observed her son flattening his favorite stuffed animal into a pillow and started the compa-
How did she expand the business?
Before starting Pillow Pets, Telfer and her husband participated in trade shows and other venues
to better understand customer demand. Telfer notes that one of her most important ideas was to
There are no Manager’s Hot Seat clips for this chapter
• Assessing Your Flexibility
SELF-ASSESSMENT
CHAPTER VIDEO
SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES
MANAGER’S HOT SEAT (MHS)