Business & Entrepreneurship

What makes a business succeed in today’s market and what are the steps between identifying a need and opening your doors? In recent years, larger-than-life characters like Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk have dominated headlines and raised questions about leadership, charisma, and risk-taking, all while cornering their markets. This hands-on course begins by examining the economic players and the playing field where firms operate, with discussions of supply and demand, regulations and free trade, international trade, and currency flows. Learn about the conditions that create fertile ground for businesses to thrive, from 19th-century industrialists to modern Silicon Valley, and glean insights from the individuals who succeed in these environments. With role-playing, guest speakers, and lectures, consider the practical aspects of business, including management, finance, marketing, advertising, public relations, organizational psychology, corporate leadership and culture, and business ethics. Examine profiles, strategies, successes, and failures of the famous and infamous as you develop and present your own “formula for entrepreneurial success.” Then, working together as a team, put what you have learned into practice as you research, develop, and pitch your own business.