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Technology Innovation Management at Carleton University

TTMG5003T
Issues in Telecommunications

Winter 2007

Evaluation
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" Research 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 (Tuesday Feb 6)
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 concise specification of your opportunity (in hard copy).

You will deliver a version 1 draft of your elevator pitch in class in Week 2 (January 16).  Version 1 will not be graded.

2.  Financial plan (4%): Week 6 (Tuesday Feb 13)
 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 (in hard copy).

3. Marketing plan (4%):  Week 7 (Tuesday Feb 27)
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 (in hard copy).

4. Business plan presentation (8%): Week 8 (Tuesday Mar 6)
20 minutes in class.

5.  Business plan report (10%): End of term (Tuesday, 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. 

The report is to be submitted in hard copy.

You are encouraged to enter your plans into the Wesley Nicol Business Plan Competition and the $20K Student Technology Venture Challenge.

INDUSTRY FORECAST (20%)
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 Tuesday March 27 in class (approximately 8 minute presentations, with 8 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 (in hard copy) 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" RESEARCH PROPOSAL (20%)
In teams of two or three people, prepare, present and defend a "gate 0" research 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 must focus on innovation in telecommunications.  It should reflect your learning within the TTMG5003 course on management theory and the management research process.

Information on TIM thesis development and the TIM gate process is available from the TIM website at the following links:
 http://www.carleton.ca/tim/sub/research.html
http://www.carleton.ca/tim/sub/theses.html

You will present your proposal on Tuesday April 3. Your presentation slides should employ the standard TIM gate 0 template.

An improved written version of your proposal is due (in hard copy) on Thursday April 5 (the last day of the Winter term).  The written version should comprise a hard copy printout 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 (in hard copy) one week later on Thursday April 12.