COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA295T.1
This course is
cross-listed with the Full Time MBA Program. Please note that this course description is from Fall 2011. This should only be used as a reference.
COURSE TITLE: Business Model Innovation and Entrepreneurial
Strategy
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2
INSTRUCTORS: David Charron
EMAIL ADDRESSES: david.charron@berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesdays 6:00 – 9:30PM for first 10 weeks of
the semester (8/23 – 10/25)
PREREQUISITES: EWMBA Core
CLASS FORMAT: Primarily case discussions, with lectures and guest
speakers
REQUIRED READINGS:
We do not have a textbook for the class, but will draw upon
readings from several sources along with the case material, all of which will
be available electronically. The course requires a great deal of reading
and synthesis of historical contexts and patterns with current market
conditions in the pursuit of anticipating opportunities. Every attempt
will be made to provide time in the class for discussion of current issues in
new ventures and market changing events and companies.
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
The main requirements for this course are class participation
(case preparation and discussion) and three projects. The first two
projects will be assessments of specific venture business models of your
choosing, and the third will be an individual paper (10-15 pages) analyzing the
business model of a student-selected venture, due at the end of the
semester.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This class explores innovation of the business model as a strategy
for new venture creation and growth. We will see that the business model,
the set of assumptions that fundamentally underpin a business, can dramatically
affect the venture’s chances of durable success.
The class presents an integrated view of the business model to
teach how to characterize and analyze competitor businesses and how to
efficiently construct and test business models that will succeed in the
market. The course explores how business models differ across industries
and phases of a firm’s growth – from high-tech to social ventures and from the
earliest start-up phases through realization and maintenance of significant
value. The course provides students with the skills and knowledge to
rapidly assess and shape business models to their advantage in constructing new
enterprises that have the potential to scale. You will learn about
specific business model decisions that entrepreneurs make when building a
company and how they drive the value capture process.
This course uses case studies, with short lectures and occasional
guest speakers to reinforce frameworks and showcase actual business
examples. Your preparation, attendance and active participation is critical and required for success in the course.
You will be provided with opportunities to present to the class, and the class
will have the opportunity to provide feedback during the presentation.
Our goal is to make you comfortable with discussing business model innovation in
any context.
INSTRUCTOR BIO:
DAVID
CHARRON – Mr. Charron is acting Executive Director of the Lester Center for
Entrepreneurship & Innovation and lectures at the Haas School on
entrepreneurship, new business formation and technology commercialization. He
is also Executive Director of the Lester Center’s affiliated new business
student incubator, the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Laboratory. Mr. Charron
has been working in the field of technology commercialization and
entrepreneurship for 20 years; and has held positions in technology licensing
and commercialization with Xerox PARC, MIT and Stanford University. In
1995, he co-founded Scientific Learning Corporation, a publicly-traded
neuroscience/software company. He has been active in many other entrepreneurial
ventures and consults to startups, inventors and entrepreneurs. He holds
a Mechanical Engineering degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the
Haas School of Business.