The “Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship” course is part of the BBA curriculum for colleges affiliated with Pokhara University. It aims to provide students with a broad understanding of the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and the skills to identify and seize business opportunities. Key topics include the entrepreneurial mindset, business strategy, financing options, and the role of creativity in launching successful ventures.
The “Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship” course provides students with the fundamental concepts, principles, and skills required to begin and operate entrepreneurial companies. It covers the entrepreneurial attitude, business strategy, and funding choices, with a focus on creativity and practical application via hands-on exercises and case studies. By the end of the course, students will be ready to confidently pursue their entrepreneurial goals.
Table of Contents
Course Objectives
This course intends to provide students with the essential concepts, principles and skills of entrepreneurship so that students are able to apply them while launching and operating an entrepreneurial venture.
Course Description
To achieve this objective, the course covers the concept and nature of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intentions and strategies, creativity, and business ideas, identifying and evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities, protecting intellectual property rights and other legal issues, business plans, and emerging issues in entrepreneurship.
Course Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship;
- Appreciate entrepreneurial intentions;
- Analyze entrepreneurial strategy;
- Know the concepts, nature, and process of creativity and innovation;
- Identify and analyze entrepreneurial opportunities;
- Consider legal issues relating to intellectual property rights, licensing, and contracts;
- Write business plans;
- Comprehend emerging issues of entrepreneurship.
Course Contents
Unit I: Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship – 4 hours
Nature and development of entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial process; Ethics and responsibilities of entrepreneurs; Role of entrepreneurship in the economic development of a developing nation like Nepal; Promoting entrepreneurship in Nepal.
Unit II: Entrepreneurial Intentions – 4 hours
Intention to act entrepreneurially; Entrepreneurs’ background and characteristics; Role models and support system; Entrepreneurial intentions within existing organizations; Managerial versus entrepreneurial decision making; Establishing corporate entrepreneurship in organization.
Unit III: Entrepreneurial Strategy – 5 hours
New entry; Generation of new entry opportunity; Entry strategy for new entry exploitation; Risk reduction strategy for new entry exploitation.
Unit IV: Creativity and Business Idea – 8 hours
Concept of creativity; Creativity process; Ideas from trends analysis; Common sources of new venture ideas; Methods of generating ideas and solving problems; Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship; Innovation: concept, types, and classification of new products; Entrepreneurial innovation; Opportunity recognition; Product planning and development process; e-Commerce and business start-up.
Unit V: Identifying and Analyzing Opportunities – 7 hours
Concept; Opportunity recognition and opportunity assessment plan; Information sources; Sources of information for start-up entrepreneurs in Nepal; Nature and significance of international entrepreneurship; Domestic versus international entrepreneurship; Technological environment; Culture; Available distribution system; Motivation to go global; Strategic effects of going global; Foreign market selection; Entrepreneurial entry strategies; Entrepreneurial partnering; Barriers to international trade; Implications for global entrepreneur.
Unit VI: Protecting Idea and other Legal Issues – 8 hours
Concept and nature of intellectual property; Types of intellectual property; Need for a lawyer and criteria for selecting a lawyer; Patents: concept, types, and procedure for obtaining patent rights in Nepal; Trademarks – concept, types, and procedure for obtaining trademark rights in Nepal; Copyrights – concept and procedure for obtaining copyrights in Nepal; Concept of trade secrets and steps for protecting trade secrets; Licensing; Product safety and liability; Insurance; Contracts.
Unit VII: Business Plan – 5 hours
Concept and nature of business planning; Business planning process; Concept, nature, scope, and significance of business plan; Contents and criteria of a business plan; Information needs; Reasons for failing a business plan.
Unit VIII: Emerging Issues in Entrepreneurship – 4 hours
Social issues: social entrepreneurship; Gender issues: women entrepreneurship; Minority issues: minority entrepreneurship; Environmental issues – eco-efficiency and ecopreneurship
Basic Text
Hisrich, R.D., Manimala, Mathew J., Peters, M. P. and Shepherd, D. A. Entrepreneurship. McGraw Hill Education (India) Limited, New Delhi.
References
- Barringer, B. R. and Ireland, R. D. Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures. Pearson Education, New Delhi.
- Roy, R. Entrepreneurship. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
- Blundel, R, and Lockett, N. Exploring Entrepreneurship: Practices and Perspectives. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
- Kuratko, D. F. and Rao, T. V.Entrepreneurship: A South-Asian Perspective. Cengage Learning, New Delhi.