Syllabus
Master of Science in Applied Nutrition
APN 725: Entrepreneurship and Business Development
Credits - 3
Description
Small business development in the nutrition and wellness industry will be examined. Strategic decision making and leadership will be emphasized. Topics include the development of business plans, assessing the risk of business concepts, and identifying strategies for success in competitive, traditional and emerging markets. This capstone course will culminate in a business plan, feasibility study, market analysis report or other project or work-product approved by the Instructor.
Materials
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
Program Outcomes
- Analyze and communicate the impact of social analytics and social media campaigns on nutrition-related business to a variety of audiences
- Develop business assets for a competitive nutrition and wellness market
Course Outcomes
- Describe the characteristics and process of a small business
- Discuss the evolution of strategy and structure in a growing business
- Identify strategies targeting growth in a small business
- Research and evaluate the market opportunity and competitive environment for a new business
- Write and present a business plan for a proposed venture to potential investors or potential management team members
- Create and present a project using audio/visual techniques
Assignments
Capstone Project:
With the knowledge gained from this course, you will develop a cumulative capstone project. This project will take the form of a Business Plan, which you will complete as six component submissions, a final document synthesizing those six submissions, and a final audio/visual presentation of the plan.
Discussion Board:
You will be required to participate in discussions. Initial posts are due on Sundays, and responses are due by Tuesday. If the initial post and response are not submitted within the discussion week you will be given a zero. Posts submitted after the discussion week will not be graded.
Your success in the course relies on robust discussion, critical thinking, and peer response. Weekly posts responding to prompts posed are meant to facilitate a deeper understanding of the broader themes of the course as well as enrich the readings, handouts, and lectures. Your initial response should be no less than 400 words. Peer-responses should be no less than 200 words and must be thoughtful, contain compliments as well as constructive criticism, and maintain a professional tone.
Specific statements about nutrition and health outcomes should be supported appropriately with citations of peer-reviewed research.
Furthermore, in regard to all assignments, please observe the following:
- All assignments must be completed using AMA formatting where appropriate.
- Written assignments should be double-spaced, using a 12-point Times Roman or another professional font
- All times refer to Eastern Time (ET).
- All questions about assignments and all questions, in general, should be sent through email.
Writing Statement
As professionals in the field, you will consistently be expected to clearly and concisely articulate advanced concepts for diverse audiences at a variety of educational levels.
Graduate students are expected to produce their best quality work, including screening their work prior to submission for clarity, grammatical, spelling, formatting and mechanical issues.
While there is often a portion of each assignment’s rubric dedicated specifically to grammar, spelling, mechanics, and formatting, it is critical to understand that failure to submit work that has been adequately proofed may result in a reduction of points in other areas of the rubric. These may include, but are not limited to metrics rating professionalism or content knowledge and synthesis; work submitted in graduate courses should provide evidence of strategic reading, writing, and academic speaking skills essential for success in the discipline.
Grading Policy
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Grade Breakdown
| Syllabus Contract | 1 |
| Discussion Board (7 @ 3 Points Each) | 21 |
| 6 Individual Business Plan Components @ 7 points each | 42 |
| Comprehensive Final Business Plan Document | 11 |
| Audio/Visual Presentation | 25 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
Grade Scale
| Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
| A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
| A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
| B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
| B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
| B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
| C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
| C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
| C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
| D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
| F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
Schedule
Weekly Dates
Week 1: Aug 24 – Aug 30
Week 2: Aug 31 – Sep 6
Week 3: Sep 7 – Sep 13
Week 4: Sep 14 – Sep 20
Week 5: Sep 21 – Sep 27
Week 6: Sep 28 – Oct 4
Week 7: Oct 5 – Oct 11
Week 8: Oct 12 – Oct 16
Week One
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Distinguish between the terms small business and entrepreneurial opportunity.
- Explain the basic characteristics of entrepreneurs and describe several different kinds of entrepreneurship.
- Define integrity and understand its importance to small businesses.
- Explain how integrity applies to various stakeholder groups.
- Identify some common challenges and benefits of maintaining integrity in small businesses.
- Suggest practical approaches for building a business with integrity.
- Distinguish among the different types of sources of startup ideas.
- Use innovative thinking to generate ideas for high-potential startups.
- Screen business ideas to identify those with the greatest potential.
- Assess the feasibility of a startup idea.
Lectures
- Course Introduction
- Lecture 1: The Entrepreneurial Life
- Lecture 2: Integrity, Ethics, and Social Entrepreneurship
- Lecture 3: Starting a Small Business
Readings
- Required:
- Chapters 1–3 in course text
Discussion
- Introductions & Ethics in Business
Week Two
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Explain the purpose and objectives of business plans.
- Give the rationale for writing (or not writing) a business plan when starting a new venture.
- Describe the preferred content and format for a business plan.
- Offer practical advice on writing a business plan.
- Identify available sources of assistance in preparing a business.
- Maintain the proper perspective when writing a business plan.
- Describe the five key factors in locating a brick-and-mortar startup.
- Recognize both the attraction and the challenges of creating a home-based startup.
- Understand the potential benefits of locating a startup on the Internet.
Lectures
- Lecture 4: Writing a Business Plan
- Lecture 5: Creating a Marketing Plan
- Lecture 6: The Location Plan
Readings
- Required:Chapter 6, 7, and 9 from course text
Discussion
- Business Plans
Assignments
- Assignment 1: Executive Summary
- Assignment 2: Company Description
Week Three
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Use the income statement and balance sheets to compute a company’s cash flows.
- Analyze the financial statements using ratios to see more clearly how decisions affect a firm’s financial performance.
- Forecast a firm’s cash flows.
- Provide some suggestions for effective financial forecasting
- Describe how a firm’s characteristics affect its available financing sources.
- Identify the typical sources of financing used at the outset of a new venture.
- Explain how business relationships can be used to finance a small firm.
- Distinguish among the different government loan programs available to small companies.
Lectures
- Lecture 7: The Income Statement
- Lecture 8: Forecasting Financial Requirements
- Lecture 9: Sources of Financing
Readings
- Required: Chapters 10-12 in course text
Discussion
- Profitability
Assignments
- Assignment 3: Market Research
- Assignment 4: Product/Service Description
Week Four
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Define customer relationship management (CRM) and explain its value to small business.
- Discuss the significance of providing extraordinary customer service.
- Understand how technology can be used to improve customer relationships and the techniques used to create a customer database.
- Explain how consumers are decision makers and why this is important in understanding customer relationships.
- Identify certain psychological influences on consumer behavior.
- Recognize certain sociological influences on consumer behavior.
- Explain the benefits of credit, factors that affect credit extension, and types of credit.
Lectures
- Lecture 10: Building Customer Relationships
- Lecture 11: Pricing and Credit Decisions
Readings
- Required: Chapters 14 and 16 in course text
Discussion
- Customer Relationships
Assignments
- Assignment 5: Marketing
- Assignment 6: Financial Projections
Week Five
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Describe the communication model and the factors that determine a promotional mix.
- Explain methods of determining the appropriate level of promotional expenditures.
- Explain how the Internet and social media are changing promotional practices.
- Identify advertising options for a small business.
- Discuss the use of sales promotional tools.
Lectures
- Lecture 12: Promotional Planning
Readings
- Required: Chapter 17 in course text
Discussion
- Using Social Media to Promote Your Business
Assignments
- Assignment 7: Comprehensive Business Plan
Week Six
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Understand the entrepreneur’s leadership role.
- Explain the small business management process and its unique features.
- Identify the managerial tasks of entrepreneurs.
- Understand how operations enhance a small company’s competitiveness.
- Discuss the nature of the operations process for both products and services.
- Recognize the contributions of operations management to product and service quality.
- Describe lean production and synchronous management and discuss their importance to operations management in small businesses.
Lectures
- Lecture 13: Professional Management and the Small Business
- Lecture 14: Managing Small Business Operations
Readings
- Required: Chapters 19 and 21 in course text
Discussion
- Small Business Management
Assignments
- Assignment 8: Presentation Development
Week Seven
Weekly Learning Outcomes
- Define business risk and explain its two dimensions.
- Identify the basic types of pure risk.
- Describe the steps in the risk management process and explain how risk management can be used in small companies.
- Explain the basic principles used in evaluating an insurance program.
- Identify the common types of business insurance coverage.
- Describe the potential of small firms as global enterprises.
- Identify the basic forces prompting small firms to engage in global expansion.
- Compare strategy options for global businesses.
- Explain the challenges that global enterprises face.
Lectures
- Lecture 15: Managing Risk
- Lecture 16: Global Opportunities for Small Businesses
Readings
- Required: Chapters 18 and 23 in course text
Discussion
- Business Plan Presentations
Week Eight
Discussion
- Conclusions (ungraded)
Student Resources
Online Student Support
Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.
Questions? Visit the Student Support Applied Nutrition page
UNE Libraries:
- Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
- Applied Nutrition Database
- Library Tutorial: Find an article
- Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.
UNE Student Academic Success Center
The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:
Information Technology Services (ITS)
- ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673
Accommodations
Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.
Policies
AMA Writing Style Statement
In keeping with the requirements of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course and is available at both UNE libraries under the title "AMA Manual." Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.
Online resources: AMA Style Guide
Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool
The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.
Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in AMA citation and academic writing.
You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.
Technology Requirements
Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements
Course Evaluation Policy
Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.
Attendance Policy
Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.
Late Policy
Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.
Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.
Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.
Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures
The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.
UNE Course Withdrawal
Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.
Academic Integrity
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
- Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
- Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
- Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
- Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.