Students are required to attend all
twelve classes, complete the assigned reading prior to each
class, complete seven interrelated assignments, actively participate in class
discussions, and write a final examination. To determine the
course grade, these components will be weighted as follows:
- Business Plan (30%)
- 1. Elevator presentation
(4%)
- 2. Financial plan (4%)
- 3. Marketing plan (4%)
- 4. Business plan presentation (8%)
- 5. Business plan report (10%)
- Industry Forecast (20%)
- "Gate 0" Project Proposal (20%)
- Final Examination (30%)
Assignments submitted late and presentations not made will
receive a grade of zero.
All students in a group receive the same grade (with the
exception of free-loaders, as noted below). Group
conflicts are to be managed within the group. The
instructor does not settle group disputes.
Free-loaders are not welcome anywhere. This course is
no exception. The best way to deal with free loaders is to
not include their names in the first page of the group
assignments. If a student's name does not appear in an
assignment submitted by his or her group, the student must
submit his or her own assignment or receive a grade of
zero. There is zero tolerance for free loaders.
Final grade reports will follow
Carleton University guidelines.
BUSINESS PLAN (30%)
Individually or in a team of two or three people,
identify an opportunity to develop and bring to market a product
and/or service based on a telecom technology. Prepare a full
business plan to commercialize this opportunity. The full
specification of what is required is here.
There is also a business plan outline at PriceWaterhouseCoopers
(2002). Other resources, including an MSWord template
workbook, are posted to the MyCarleton
Portal.
Develop the business plan in the following five stages:
1. Elevator pitch (4%): Week 5 (Saturday Feb 3)
You have 3 minutes to sell your opportunity to an investor that
you happen to meet on an elevator. Answer the following
questions:
- what is the product/service that you will offer
- who are you going to sell it to
- why would they buy it
- why would they buy it from you
Put in another way, answer the questions: So what? Who cares?
Why you?
Advice on making a
good elevator pitch is posted to the MyCarleton
Portal.
Hand in a one page specification of your opportunity
also.
2. Financial plan (4%): Week 6 (Saturday Feb 10)
Maximum 2 pages (double spaced) plus
appendices.
An Excel financial analysis template is available
at PriceWaterhouseCoopers
(2002). A simple Excel template is posted to the MyCarleton
Portal.
- financing requirements for the opportunity
- sources of financing
- plan to obtain financing
- appendices
- quarterly cash flow estimates for the first year
- yearly cash flow estimates for years 2, 3, 4 and 5
- assumptions made on interest rates, tax rates, etc.
Make sure that you include an improved definition of your
opportunity with your financial plan report.
3. Marketing plan (4%): Week 7 (Saturday Feb 24)
Maximum 4 pages (double spaced).
- analysis of the business and market environment
- market segmentation
- pricing strategy
- entry strategy
- competitor analysis
Make sure that you include an even better definition of your
opportunity with your marketing plan report.
4. Business plan presentation (8%): Week 8 (Saturday Mar
3)
20 minutes in class.
5. Business plan report (10%): End of term (Thursday Apr
5)
Maximum 20 pages (double
spaced including appendices).
Marking for the business plan will be cumulative.
That means if the content of your final report is better
than your intermediate financial plan or marketing plan, the
final report will count for a greater proportion of your mark
(14% or 18%), and the intermediate deliverable will not be
counted. Likewise,
if the introduction of your business plan presentation is better
than your elevator pitch, the presentation will comprise 12% of
your mark, and the intermediate elevator pitch will not be
counted.
You are encouraged to
enter your plans into the
Wesley
Nicol Business Plan Competition and the $20K Student Technology
Venture Challenge. INDUSTRY
FORECAST (20%)
Individually, or in teams of two or three people, employ the
theories, frameworks, and concepts discussed in class to assess
the impact of a recent or potential development in a segment of the
telecommunications industry. Possible developments include
innovations in technology or business models, or externalities
such as changes in regulation or customer preferences.
Your topic should be interesting (not trivial or superficial),
but also manageable in scope given the constraints of the
assignment. Theory-based prediction is most useful in
situations where, due to change or uncertainty, extrapolating
from past performance is not relevant.
Your analysis should be similar
in style, structure, and depth to the examples that will be
discussed in class. It should employ multiple analytic
perspectives and consider multiple scenarios for outcomes that
depend on strategic choices. More detail will be provided
in class.
You will present your results on
Saturday March 24 in class (approximately 10 minute
presentations, with 10 minutes for questions and
discussion). Your presentation will be graded on
appropriate use of management theory, quality of slides and
delivery, and your responses to questions.
An improved written version of your report is due on
Thursday April 5 (the last day of the Winter term). As
with all TIM deliverables, your final written report should be
much improved over your interim presentation. The style
guidelines for the report are as follows:
- One-page executive summary
- Ten-page body of the report
(maximum)
- Appendices (optional, as many
as you like); supporting material can be relegated to the
appendices, but all central arguments should be in the body
of the report.
- Body of the report is to be
double-spaced, 12-point times roman font, with 1"
margins (figures, tables,
bullet lists, etc. need not conform to these restrictions).
- Referenced in a scholarly
style. APA format is recommended.
The final report will be graded
on appropriate use of management theory and quality of
presentation.
"GATE
0" PROJECT PROPOSAL (20%)
Individually, or in teams of two or three people, prepare, present and defend a
"gate 0" project proposal. Your proposal must be unique to this course, and not be one that
you are using or have used for another course or actual thesis.
Your proposal should focus in some way on innovation in telecommunications.
It should reflect your learning within the TTMG5003 course on
management theory and the management research process.
Information on TIM project development and the TIM gate process is available from the TIM
website at
http://www.carleton.ca/tim/sub/research.html
You will present your proposal on
Saturday March 31. An improved written version of your proposal is due on
Thursday April 5 (the last day of the Winter term). The
written version should comprise a revised version of your
presentation slides with annotations on the notes page. Do
not include more annotations than will print.
FINAL
EXAMINATION (30%)
The final exam
will be a take-home examination. It will be posted on
Thursday April 5 (the last day of the Winter term) and will be
due one week later on Thursday April 12.
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