Entrepreneurial Growth
ENTREPRENEURIAL GROWTH
Fall Semester – 2010
MAN 385.24 - Unique #04700
Professor John N. Doggett
Class Times Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:30 pm
Class Room UTC 1.118
Office CBA 5.124K
Office Hours Mondays from 3:30 to 4:30 pm or by appointment
Phone 512-232-7671
E-Mail john.doggett@mccombs.utexas.edu
Teaching Assistant Ben Brooks Ben.Brooks@mba11.mccombs.uterxas.edu Course Objectives
This course is for students who want to explore the challenges of running and growing an entrepreneurial company or a division of an established firm. We start by looking at the most basic question. Can the firm grow; should the firm grow? Since growth is a choice, we will also look at the trade-offs between aggressive growth and what venture capitalists call "life style" businesses. We will also look at the importance of identifying opportunities for new product development and responding to competitive threats.
We will then look at how managers can learn how to identify and respond to strategic inflection points that shape the growth potential of all firms. This is a critical first step before one can decide what growth model makes the most sense for a firm.
We will focus on the key things that managers must do to determine:
1. What is the right type of growth?
2. How much growth their firms can manage and
3. What their competitors will do in response.
Since growth is not a given, we will also look at the challenges that threaten the viability of firms that have escaped the launch pad and those that have been in existence for some time. A crucial part of our analysis will be to better understand how managers can anticipate and respond to the reaction of competitors to their growth strategies.
No course on entrepreneurial growth would be complete without asking the "was it all worth it?" question. While many think that owing a firm that is experiencing hyper-growth is a dream come true, the reality is that such
Fall Semester – 2010
MAN 385.24 - Unique #04700
Professor John N. Doggett
Class Times Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:30 pm
Class Room UTC 1.118
Office CBA 5.124K
Office Hours Mondays from 3:30 to 4:30 pm or by appointment
Phone 512-232-7671
E-Mail john.doggett@mccombs.utexas.edu
Teaching Assistant Ben Brooks Ben.Brooks@mba11.mccombs.uterxas.edu Course Objectives
This course is for students who want to explore the challenges of running and growing an entrepreneurial company or a division of an established firm. We start by looking at the most basic question. Can the firm grow; should the firm grow? Since growth is a choice, we will also look at the trade-offs between aggressive growth and what venture capitalists call "life style" businesses. We will also look at the importance of identifying opportunities for new product development and responding to competitive threats.
We will then look at how managers can learn how to identify and respond to strategic inflection points that shape the growth potential of all firms. This is a critical first step before one can decide what growth model makes the most sense for a firm.
We will focus on the key things that managers must do to determine:
1. What is the right type of growth?
2. How much growth their firms can manage and
3. What their competitors will do in response.
Since growth is not a given, we will also look at the challenges that threaten the viability of firms that have escaped the launch pad and those that have been in existence for some time. A crucial part of our analysis will be to better understand how managers can anticipate and respond to the reaction of competitors to their growth strategies.
No course on entrepreneurial growth would be complete without asking the "was it all worth it?" question. While many think that owing a firm that is experiencing hyper-growth is a dream come true, the reality is that such