Principles of Business Management

This course introduces 21st Century business management. It pays special attention to managing start-ups and new initiatives. By way of case studies, role play, and group projects, participants learn how entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and their teams understand the complex situations they face, strategize, and then create business models enabling them to innovate continuously. All sessions of the course offer opportunities for participants to learn to design systems of human activity in a “hands-on” fashion, using the cloud-based technical platforms that distinguish this century’s businesses from all of their predecessors.

Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to:
-Participate in “management” as a collaborative practice of organizing systems of human activity in turbulent environments.
-Co-design, develop, and test “branding”, that is, marketing objectives and images for a new product or service.
-Co-design, develop, and walk-thru (or “pitch”) to investors a model for a new business, including its marketing, operational, and financial objectives.

If you are new to business and/or you would like a solid, practical understanding of entrepreneurship, then this course is for you. It should also be useful to individuals thinking about joining a start-up or a “fast company”, such as employees of traditional corporations, as well as professionals, technical people, or “creatives” working alone.

Business Model Generation

Daniel Clapper, PMP

Dan Clapper is an applied linguist, learning architect and entrepreneur with 30 years of international experience. He graduated from Stanford University with a A.B. in English (Phi Beta Kappa), he earned an M.S. in Cybernetic Systems from San Jose State University and an M.S.Ed. in TESOL from Temple University Japan Campus. He now holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. He has two decades of success as a manager of innovative educational projects at enterprise scale, including work with government, schools, universities and businesses in 16 countries. In 2004 he was invited by the US Department of Defense to speak on US foreign language education for the post 9/11 era. His company provides consulting on project management.