Home > Services > Step Up Program > The GMU MEC Step Up Program Curriculum GMU MEC Entrepreneurial Step Up Program™ The GMU MEC Entrepreneurial Step Up Program™ Curriculum The curriculum for The Phase I Executive Management Education Program emphasizes developing new skills and analyzing case studies that address the challenges of managing and growing early stage companies. The program covers the following eight core Course Modules in the 12 session program: Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership Entrepreneurial Management and Planning Skills The Business Planning Process Entrepreneurial Marketing and Sales Alternative Growth Strategy Analysis Financial Management and Analysis Intellectual Property and Legal International Business The integrated, “hands on” program integrates the following six course elements to provide participants with a dynamic, highly interactive learning experience. Class Lectures Class Cohorts (‘Teams’) EEP Case Studies EEP Executive Mentor Program Guest Speakers and Executive Roundtable Sessions EEP Management Forums Highlights of each of these course elements are as follows: Class Lectures Participants will be required to complete reading assignments prior to attending each class session. Class lectures will include a review of the subject materials and other supporting materials provided by the Instructor. To the extent possible, class presentation materials will be posted on the EEP class website prior to each session. Class Cohorts ("Teams") In the initial class session, the class will be organized into six Cohorts or ‘teams’. Each cohort will be assigned to present the assigned EEP Case Study on the respective due date. All Cohorts will also submit a hard copy of the Case Study Analysis on the respective due date. In Class Session 7, the Cohorts will be reorganized providing increased opportunity for all participants to work together in analyzing and presenting case studies. EEP Case Studies A key component of the EEP Phase I program are the EEP Case Study analyses and class discussions. Case study analysis is a highly effective teaching tool to identify critical entrepreneurial business issues and management “best practices.” The assigned EEP case studies are all included in the GMU MEC Management Studies Case Pack – Volume I provided to all class participants during the first session of the program. During most sessions, two Cohorts will be scheduled to present the assigned case. All Cohorts will be required to submit a hard copy of the assigned case study on the due date. We will employ a highly structured ‘executive oriented’ case study analysis structure which has been effective based on experience with other programs. Cohort case study presentations will be limited to 20 minutes with a 10 minute Q&A session. All submitted case study analyses will be limited to a maximum of 4 typewritten pages. EEP Executive Mentor Program Each participant in the Executive Entrepreneur Program™ will be assigned a Step Up Program Executive Mentor who will meet with each participant monthly throughout the six month program. Executive Mentors will be assigned to each participants based on needs identified during the participant application process, as well as the respective specialized management skills offered by the EEP Executive Mentors. During the monthly Executive Mentor Program sessions, participants will review company issues, management concerns, identify and develop Key Performance Indicators (“KPI’s”) and work with the executive participant develop monthly KPI progress reporting and action plans. For the EEP Phase I program, six EEP Executive Mentors will support the program with each EEP Mentor assigned to support five EEP participants. On a monthly basis, the Step Up Program Director, EEP Instructor, and other selected Step Up Program committee staff will briefly meet with all EEP Mentors in the EEP Instructor/Mentor Review Session to review overall progress and issues, review feedback and recommendations to all participants, identify common areas and issues and secure new EEP Mentor resources as needed. The monthly EEP Instructor/Mentor Review Session provides a valuable forum to track program progress and identify possible areas of improvement. In the final class meeting (Session 12), a roundtable discussion is scheduled with all EEP Executive Mentors participating. The roundtable discussion will provide all participants with insights developed by the EEP Mentors during the program based on working on a one-to-one basis with class participants. Guest Speakers and Executive Roundtable Sessions Guest speakers will be invited to participate in most sessions. The guest speakers and executive roundtable participants will include legal, financial, venture capital and entrepreneurs among other highly experienced industry professionals who will make a substantive contribution to the overall program. EEP Management Forums A unique element of the Executive Entrepreneur Program™ are the 8 EEP Management Forums that are scheduled during the 12 week course. The EEP Management Forums are conducted on-line via the EEP class website. Typically class participants are provided a reading assignment and a discussion question is posted by the instructor. Each Management Forum accepts postings for a two week period. At the end of the two week period, the respective Management Forum is closed and the new Management Forum is started. Each class participant is expected to submit at least one comment and a minimum of two reply comments to other postings in each Management Forum. The EEP Management Forums use best practices developed within the distance learning environment and provides a highly efficient and complimentary teaching tool to further reinforce key entrepreneurial management concepts. The ability to share these insights among all participants throughout the program is another key benefit of the EEP Management Forum. Discussion questions addressed within the EEP Management Forums are structured to maximize discussion among participants and ensure, to the extent possible, that the discussion address the key points. Participants may be asked to compare what they are learning with their current company operations. Or participants may be encouraged to synthesize what is stated with other information to create new findings or ideas. To illustrate, in EEP Management Forum V : Strategies for Managing New Venture Growth and Expansion Stages, the assigned readings review how alternative growth strategies pursued by Compaq and Osborne Computer impacted their respective success and failure in the PC market. A possible initial Discussion Question in Management Forum V structured to maximize class discussion and create a dynamic learning experience for all participants may be as follows:   Both Osborne and Compaq Computer entered the same market at about the same time. While both companies successfully managed the first stage of growth, Compaq achieved considerable future success while Osborne failed. What went wrong- why did Osborn fail? And why did Compaq win – what strategies are the real drivers for their success? Are these strategies relevant just for the PC business or are there lessons to be learned here that may apply to others? How does this relate to your company’s positioning and possible strategies?   © 2007 Mason Enterprise Center. All rights reserved. Web site designed by Forest Ridge Technologies