Explore Options; Plan Your MBA Academic Program

MANAGEMENT
legal status was granted to state-owned enterprises, which
were made responsible for profits and losses; in 1993, state
enterprises were redefined as business corporations, and private
businesses were allowed to incorporate as limited liability or
stockholding companies. China’s economy has grown rapidly
since, but the development of Chinese firms has been uneven.
A few have large domestic market share and are global competitors,
but most outside of industries like electrical power, petroleum
and telecommunications remain regional competitors
at best and are small by Western standards. The governance
of Chinese firms remains work in progress. Repeated reforms
aimed at corporatizing firms while preserving state control
have created extremely complicated ownership and governance
practices, which differ from industry to industry and from
region to region. This course will acquaint students with the
governance and management of some of the largest and best
known Chinese firms, and with the capabilities and liabilities
of Chinese firms and hence their strategic options. It will provide
students tools needed to assess the investment potential of
Chinese firms and the opportunity to do original research on
issues of governance and management of Chinese firms.
Format: Lectures, short papers, group reports, and class
participation.
MGMT 801 (.5 cu)
Entrepreneurship
Description: MGMT 801 is the foundation course in the
Entrepreneurial Management program. The purpose of this
course is to explore the many dimensions of new venture creation
and growth. While most of the examples in class will be
drawn from new venture formation, the principles also apply
to entrepreneurship in corporate settings and to non-profit
entrepreneurship. We will be concerned with content and
process questions as well as with formulation and implementation
issues that relate to conceptualizing, developing, and
managing successful new ventures. The emphasis in this course
is on applying and synthesizing concepts and techniques from
functional areas of strategic management, finance, accounting,
managerial economics, marketing, operations management,
and organizational behavior in the context of new venture
development. The class serves as both a stand-alone class and
as a preparatory course to those interested in writing and
implementing a business plan (the subject of the semester-long
course, MGMT 806).
Format: Lectures and case discussions, class participation, interim
assignments, final project.
Prerequisites: Wharton MBA students only.
MGMT 802 (.5 cu)
Innovation, Change and Entrepreneurship
Description: This course will provide you with a theoretical
foundation and a set of practical tools for the management of
innovation, and the change associated with it, both in corporate
settings and start-up situations. For the purposes of the
course innovation is defined as the profitable commercialization
of a new idea: product, market, process or technology.
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The theoretical background will be provided by multiple readings,
your knowledge of which will be tested in a readings report.
The practical tools will be provided via lecture/discussion
sessions, your skills at which will be demonstrated in an innovation
assessment for an actual innovation situation.
Format: Lectures, discussion, interim reports, class participation,
readings report.
Prerequisites: Wharton MBA students only.
MGMT 804 (.5 cu)
Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Management
Description: This elective half-semester course focuses on
venture capital management issues in the context of the typical
high-growth start-up company. The course is fundamentally
pragmatic in its outlook. It will cover six principal areas relevant
to the privately held high-growth start-up — these include:
• Commentary on the venture capital industry generally, as
well as a discussion of the typical venture fund structure and
related venture capital objectives and investment strategies
• Common organizational issues encountered in the formation
of a venture backed start-up, including issues relating
to initial capitalization, intellectual property and early stage
equity arrangements
• Valuation methodologies that form the basis of the negotiation
between the entrepreneur and the venture capitalist in
anticipation of a venture investment
• The challenges of fundraising, financing strategies and the
importance of the business plan and the typical dynamics
that play out between VC and entrepreneur
• Typical investment terms found in the term sheet and the
dynamics of negotiation between the entrepreneur and the
venture capitalist
• Corporate governance in the context of a privately-held,
venture capital-backed start-up company and the typical
dynamics that play out between VC and entrepreneur in an
insider-led, “down round” financing
Format: Lecture, case studies, class participation, weekly case
assignments, and final exam.
Prerequisites: MGMT 801 recommended.
MGMT 806
Formation and Implementation
of Entrepreneurial Ventures
Description: This advanced course in entrepreneurship centers
on writing a comprehensive business plan and implementation
plan for a venture of your choice. The course examines ways
to profitably launch and exploit business opportunities (as
opposed to what opportunity to explore). It will allow you to
acquire the skill set necessary for crafting a winning business
model for your venture — developing and writing a coherent
and effective plan to start a business, in either an independent
or a corporate setting. The venture must distinguish itself from
existing companies through differential innovation; for example,
through an innovative product or service, an innovative
production process, a new business model, or by creating a
new market. Students must have successfully completed