Business Management and Entrepreneurship Pathway Programs Proposal

Pathway Introduction

Entrepreneurship is the individual’s ability to translate ideas into action. It encompasses creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and direct action towards the achievement of goals. These qualities support everyday life in education, at work, in leisure activities and in other societal activities. These qualities are needed in entrepreneurship, but they also enhance workers’ awareness of their work and help them seize opportunities (Finland).

For entrepreneurs and business managers to increase their chances of success many master essential business skills.   These skills cover the areas of Strategic Planning, Managerial Accounting, Decision Methods, Finance, Financial Accounting and Taxation, Business Law, Economics, Human Resource Management, Marketing and Cloud Computing. This Business Management and Entrepreneurship Pathway exposes student learners to specific groups of skill sets delivered through programs in a specific level by level sequence.

To follow the pathway Evergreen students are required to complete either a Pre-foundations orientation Level 1  – Interdisciplinary (4 hours – 16 hours) or Interdisciplinary entrepreneurial endeavors introduction – Interdisciplinary  – Level 1 (Business Plan) (16 hours) and then complete three level 2 (intermediate) pathway modules, one fall, one winter and one spring module, they need not all be taken in the same year and conclude with a capstone program.

The intermediate level of the pathway provides learners with exposure to necessary business skills as outlined by the Institute of Management Accountants as required coverage for the Certified Management Accountant professional examinations.

The pathway concludes with a entrepreneurship and business management capstone program. Students gain exposure to skills content outlined for the Strategy and Competitive Analysis certification.

Upon successful completion of the 3 levels of the pathway program, students will be equipped to identify business opportunities, develop and plan to operationalize a business concept and develop the skills that are necessary to successfully start, operationalize and manage a small business or operate a a self employed individual in the new GIG Economy. Students will also be able to satisfy the core business skill requirements for admission to MBA programs.

Promoting sustainable business practice is a common pathway and program objective and is a pervasive consideration in decision making processes explored. Students are exposed to the differences between for profit, not for profit, co-ops, Special Purpose Corporations (S.P.C’s), B Corporations and B Certified organizations. They will learn how to take operational decisions based on quantitative and qualitative data analysis, understand and manage operations and human resources and work with financial data to take decisions and create budgets and forecasts.

Pre-requisites

To qualify for entrance into the Team Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Innovation – MTA Evergreen LEINN Change Maker Lab, students must complete either a fundamentals in business program or an inter-disciplinary introduction to entrepreneurship program where business plans are formulated. Entry requirements may vary depending on discipline such as whether upper level science credits are being obtained for the upper level program.

Upon completion of the pathway students will be able to:

• Identify employment and income generating opportunities in their preferred disciplines and create value propositions with skills requirements reflected in current student academic statements.
• Test the feasibility of value propositions.
• Build a business model around the value proposition.
• Develop a marketing strategy for the business.
• Learn how to develop an organizational website, perform search engine optimization and implement operations in the cloud.
• Learn how to manage the organization by viewing the organization as a team.
• Understand the different forms of enterprise entities.
• Understand both personal and organizational tax implications of doing business.
• Distinguish different methods of financing a business and investor, grantor and lender financing requirements.
• Prepare a business plan which will include projected financial statements for a business.
• Learn how to pitch a business plan to investors, donors and lenders.
• Learn how to ope-rationalize a business plan and start the business utilizing methods learned from the best practices of the Evergreen learning model and the Mondragon Team Academy’s (MTA World) global community of social innovation ecosystem labs using the Mondragon’s Worker Cooperative Experience roots & TiimiAkatemia’s Finnish Educational methods.
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Pathway Program Level Summaries

Pre-foundations orientation Level 1  – Interdisciplinary (4 hours – 16 hours).

During the pre-foundation orientation students are exposed to various employment and income generating opportunities within a broad discipline. This can be done within most if not all programs. Students are exposed to the roles not for profit, for profit and governmental organizations play in the discipline by undertaking field trips, seminars and guest speaker events.

Outcome

Upon completion of the pre-foundations orientation the student will understand what opportunities there are to earn a living within a discipline by identifying specific activities that are performed in the field. Integrating this orientation into programs will expose students to the need for them to begin thinking about their careers and learning purpose and stimulate interest in students to pursue further studies in entrepreneurship or business. Ideally this orientation will have as learning outcome a unique value proposition and list of possible costs specific to the unique selling proposition and a skills gap analysis.

Interdisciplinary entrepreneurial endeavors introduction – Interdisciplinary  – Level 1 (Business Plan) (16 hours)

The introductory or foundations program introduce the students to the concept of business and how the different disciplines within business interact to develop and ope-rationalize effective business strategies and illustrate their understanding of the interaction by completing an executive summary of a business plan. The  business foundations program can be presented as a standalone program but ideally as a interdisciplinary program combining almost any discipline such as for example Agriculture, Marine Biology, Physics, Fine Art, Drama and Film, Environmental Science, Computer Science, etc.  that have been exposed to the pre-foundations orientation and are choosing to pursue the Level II Leadership pathway.

Intermediate Business Entrepreneurship Fundamentals Pathway Modules – Level 2

There are three intermediate Programs that are 16 hours each. The intermediate pathway provides learners with necessary business skills as outlined by the Institute of Management Accountants that is required coverage for the Certified Management Accountant professional examinations.

Business Skills Coverage of the intermediate pathway.

Financial Reporting, Planning, Performance, and Control

External Financial Reporting Decisions

Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting

Performance Management

Cost Management

Internal Controls

Financial Decision Making

Financial Statement Analysis

Corporate Finance

Decision Analysis

Risk Management

Investment Decisions

Professional and Business Ethics

Outcome

Students will prepare a business plan and a search engine optimized website for the business based on an activity identified in the pre-foundations orientation or may be provided with a generic activity as a group project. The business plan is then used to present a pitch to investors, lenders and creditors.

Entrepreneurship and Business Management Capstone – level 3

Entrepreneurship and Business Management capstone outcome is the formulation of a operationalization strategy.

Business skills coverage:

• Strategic Analysis
• Creating Competitive Advantage
• Strategy Implementation and Performance Evaluation

Current Program Catalog Description

Team Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Innovation – MTA Evergreen LEINN Change Maker Lab – Spring 2019

“The world has not been given to us to contemplate but to transform and we do it as team-entrepreneurs, learning by creating in teams”

Hone your skills as a team-entrepreneur and experience the Evergreen Inter Disciplinary way of study and the LEINN and Mondragon Team Academy’s (MTA World) “team learning by creating” over the course of an optional one to three consecutive quarters.

This program is designed around a set of unique ingredients that seeks to promote and empower the entrepreneurial spirit of its participants. It offers a time and space for people from all around the world to work on real projects together at Evergreen. The program will be a combined group of Evergreen Teampreneurs with a exchange group of team-entrepreneurs from MTA’s LEINN International. The program features a faculty team that combines Evergreen’s pedagogy and local environment with Mondragon’s pedagogy and team-entrepreneurs experience. It further introduces tools and resources to support the development of entrepreneurial foundations.

Students will use skills learned in prior programs such as Marketing, Accounting, Business Law, Finance, Statistics, Strategic Planning and Business Management from programs such as; Business Entrepreneurship Fundamentals,  Financial Heartland, Coral Reef Conservation and Entrepreneurial Endeavors etc. to develop and implement real projects by continuing to and focusing on developing collaborative skills as team-entrepreneurs to implement these ventures.

Team-entrepreneurs will attend seminars, lunch time speaking events, field trips, guest lectures and team activities. As a participant, one may supplement knowledge by attending certain supplemental workshops and lectures. There will also be some opportunities for optional international and local travel. Some travel to Seattle may be required.

The program has been designed by a shared team of faculty members from MTA Travelling University & The Evergreen State College. Thanks to this strategic collaboration, it is the first time that students from the United States will learn and experiment with Mondragon Team Academy’s methods.

There are 21 competencies in three categories that students will get exposure to namely;

Learning as a team; Information technologies and computer skill, Team-learning techniques, Personal learning methods and attitudes (mental models), Creativity, International vision, Communication skills, Self-guidance.

Leading a team; Self-management skills, Project management, Team leadership capacity, Planning techniques, Coaching skills, Strategic skills, Decision making and determination.

Team entrepreneurship; Consumer services and negotiation and sales techniques, Comprehension of financial elements, Marketing, Innovation, Theoretical and modelling skills of an entrepreneur, Networking, Bravery and will to overcome obstacles.

Program Schedule

Team Coaching with faculty coaches will take place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons 1 to 5pm.  Seminar, workshops and lunch time speaking events will take place from 9am to 1 pm Tuesday and Thursday. Group team activities will take place both in Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle.

About Mondragon Team Academy (MTA World)

Mondragon Team Academy (MTA World) is a global community of social innovation ecosystem labs using the Mondragon’s Worker Cooperative Experience roots & TiimiAkatemia’s Finnish Educational methods. MTA was created in 2008 to rebirth and transfer the team-entrepreneurial spirit and creating capacity of Mondragon by developing an open and international community of team-entrepreneurs co-operating on a multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary level worldwide. As of January 2019, MTA is an international community of 1,547 team-entrepreneurs “team learning by creating” in 11 MTA Labs where MTA programs run: Irun-San Sebastian, Onati (Mondragon Valley), Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, Valencia, Maastrich (Netherlands), Shanghai (China), Pune (India), Queretaro & Puebla (Mexico), Seoul (South Korea).

FACULTY MEMBERS, FACILITATORS & ROLES:

MTA Evergreen – LEINN Optional 1 to 3 Quarter Program
Faculty	Institution	Faculty Role
Dion Gouws	Evergreen Faculty	MTA Evergreen Team Coach
Yujiao Xia	MTA China Visiting Faculty at Evergreen	LEINN International Team Coach
Ane Beitia Salaberria	LEINN International	MTA Assistant Team Coach
Martin Fernandez de Labastida	LEINN International	MTA Assistant Team Coach
Nataly Salguero	Evergreen Staff	MTA Evergreen Assistant Team Coach
Rhian Peterman	Evergreen Staff	MTA Evergreen Assistant Team Coach
Petra Arbayo	Evergreen Senior	MTA Evergreen Assistant Team Coach
Christopher Kai	Evergreen Senior	MTA Evergreen Assistant Team Coach
Jose Maria Luzarraga	MTA World visiting faculty at Evergreen	Program Coordinator

 

Prerequisites

Students who have taken programs such as Business Fundamentals or a Entrepreneurial Endeavors program will be well prepared for this program otherwise; an Entrepreneuriship Level 1 program is a pre-requisite for admission after other programs have been completed. Familiarity with Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet software is required.

Students will work in groups on formally proposed, extensive independent projects focused on improving their analytic, synthesis and evaluation skills. They will be required to analyze a compelling problem or issue centered on our primary themes of economically sustainable enterprises. The research may include a term paper or formulation of a business plan and will conclude with a multimedia presentation.

Anticipated credit equivalencies for the program include leadership, accounting, finance, business law, data analysis, decision sciences, marketing, organizational behavior, managerial accounting and strategic planning, which will build upon previous work done in any of the inter disciplinary entrepreneurship programs.

Desired Program Development Outcomes 

Exposure will be gained for a selection of business topics that are closely aligned with the content specification outlines for the CMA (Certified Management Accountants) and the CSCA (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) examinations.

For the Certified Management Accountant’s examinations preparation content will introduce and cover at various levels the following:

• Financial Reporting, Planning, Performance, and Control
• Financial Decision Making

For the Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis content will cover three areas at various levels:

• Strategic Analysis
• Creating Competitive Advantage
• Strategy Implementation and Performance Evaluation

Evergreen is a progressive, public liberal arts and sciences college located in Olympia, Washington, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Learn more.

The Evergreen State College has been accredited continuously by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities since receiving initial accreditation in 1974.  The Commission most recently reaffirmed Evergreen’s accreditation in 2014.