Conferences

  		 
Pre-Conference Sessions
   
 
We are pleased to announce a number of pre-conference sessions, which will take place on Thursday, January 13, 2011. You can register for pre-conference sessions as part of the online conference registration process. Click here for Conference registration information.
  
 
 
Assessing Entrepreneurship Programs: A Continued Dialog on How to Push the Envelope
Presenter(s): Alex F. DeNoble, San Diego State University; Michael H. Morris, Oklahoma State University; Gangaram Singh, San Diego State University
 
Workshop Length: Half Day (1:00PM - 5:00PM)
 
Description: How do we know if our entrepreneurship programs are working? Is it enough to track business start ups, or is this even a relevant metric?  As we continue to design and implement new programs in entrepreneurship at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, it is increasingly important that we establish relevant and measurable student learning outcomes and adopt meaningful protocols to effectively assess performance. Developing and implementing a viable assessment approach is not only important to donors and program stakeholders, but is a key challenge for schools working to establish and/or maintain AACSB accreditation.
  
This workshop is builds on an inaugural session held at last year’s USASBE conference that led to the launch of the Assessment Resource Initiative now available on the USASBE website under ‘Knowledge Resources’.  This year’s session will explore more deeply the best practices in entrepreneurship program assessment, and will present two unique measurement approaches. Specific issues covered in this pre-conference will focus on:
  • A unique look at competency-based assessment;
  • Developing a range of student learning outcomes both at the programmatic level and at the individual course level;
  • Designing assessment protocols for measuring student progress relative to learning outcomes;
  • Approaches to assessing non-curricular aspects of contemporary entrepreneurship programs;
  • An expanded pool of resources to help those trying to implement assessment programs.
During this workshop we will hear from entrepreneurship faculty members who have taken steps to establish quality assessment practices in their programs. We will examine two novel measurement approaches that can be applied to the key components of an entrepreneurship program at any college or university.  Based on interactive discussion with those attending, we will explore approaches to building upon these best practices and overcoming apparent obstacles.
 
 
Legal issues in university entrepreneurship programs: How do we best teach, advise, and mentor our students (and ourselves) on the legal implications of entrepreneurship?
Presenter(s): Eden S. Blair, Bradley University; Tanya M. Marcum, Bradley University; Brian P. Hanlon, North Central College; Thomas D. Cavenagh, North Central College
 
Workshop Length: Half Day (1:00PM - 5:00PM)
 
Description: Those advising and teaching entrepreneurship students are often asked questions with serious legal implications.  The focus of this workshop is to address some of these legal implications so that those that advise and teach students in entrepreneurship programs can have a better understanding of the legal issues.  This knowledge will assist the advisor/instructor towards a better understanding of how ideas and investments can better be protected for the entrepreneurship students and their potential start-ups.  The workshop will provide practical information about how to manage and minimize legal risks and better inform students of the legal implications of entrepreneurship.
  
Issues such as business entity formation, founders’ agreements, intellectual property, alternative dispute resolution and non-compete and nondisclosure agreements will be discussed.  A panel discussion at the end of the session will provide answers to legal questions.
  
The presenters will also share their recent research regarding the relationship that small business owners and entrepreneurs share with the professionals that advise them.
 
 
Publishing in Entrepreneurship Journals: The Art and the Science
Presenter(s): [This presenter list is tentative] Editors of ET&P, JSBM, JDE, and one or two other journals (JBV, International Small Business Journal, others as appropriate).
 
Workshop Length: Half Day (8:00AM - 12:00PM)
 
Description: Enhancing the quality of articles published in scholarly publications devoted to Entrepreneurship is vital to ensuring the sustainability of the profession and to its attainment of credibility within academe. Editors of leading journals in Entrepreneurship will address a basic question: What does it take to publish a manuscript? Each journal’s editorial philosophy, topic coverage, review procedures and other requirements that authors must know before submitting manuscripts will be discussed. Participants will be able to ask questions that would assist them in formulating a high quality manuscript. The role of reviewers is an extremely important one for scholarly publications. Providing a thorough manuscript review represents a valuable service to the collective quality of our published research. The Editors will discuss the elements of an effective and contrastive manuscript review.
 
 
Innovative Teaching Techniques for Family Business Courses
Presenter(s): Frank Hoy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Ritch Sorenson, University of St. Thomas; Kimberly Eddleston, Northeastern University; Reg Litz, University of Manitoba
 
Moderator(s): Roland Kidwell, University of Wyoming
 
Workshop Length: Half Day (8:00AM - 12:00PM)
 
Description: Innovative techniques and best practices for teaching family business are shared in this pre-conference workshop. Whether workshop participants teach a course that focuses solely on family business, or teach a family business module in an entrepreneurship course, they are sure to gain ideas for making their family business lessons more interactive and memorable. Each presenter will discuss a unique innovative teaching technique they use in the classroom, including family business consulting projects, the use of movies/videos, cases, and exercises. Presenters will also offer contemporary family business topics that they have recently added to their courses. For example, Frank Hoy will discuss cross-cultural issues that affect family businesses. Materials and resources that can be used to enhance a family business course will be shared.
  
This workshop will be highly interactive. We anticipate that many of the workshop participants have taught family business and/or entrepreneurship at some point in their careers. Thus, we will encourage participants to share their experiences and best teaching practices, and engage in discussion. The workshop will conclude with a discussion on how to develop a well-rounded, innovative and energetic family business course based on highlights from the session.
 
 
Baylor University Student Case Writing Competition
Moderator(s): Marlene Reed, Baylor University
 
Workshop Length: Full Day (8:00AM - 5:00PM)
 
Description: The Baylor University Entrepreneurship Program and USASBE are jointly sponsoring a student case writing competition in conjunctions with USASBE’s annual meetings beginning in 2011 at the 25th Annual USASBE Conference to be held in Hilton Head, South Carolina January 13-16, 2011. This is an innovative international event that supports and encourages undergraduate and graduate students who wish to engage in case research and case writing. Submitted cases are suitable if they advance the field of entrepreneurship, broadly defined, and contribute to an understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena. The cases must be original, and their focus can include, but is not limited to, the following:
  • New Venture creation
  • International entrepreneurship
  • Small business management
  • Family-owned businesses
  • Minority and gender issues in small business and entrepreneurship
  • Venture financing
  • Corporate entrepreneurship
  • Marketing in small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures
  • The launch and development of social enterprises
Accompanying the submitted case must be an instructor’s manual. The format for the instructor’s manual is shown on the web site address listed below. With the submission of a case and instructor’s manual, at least one of the author(s) and a faculty supervisor must agree to attend the competition if the case is accepted for presentation.
  
Student authors are not required to register for the conference, but faculty supervisors are required to register. Cash prizes for the winning cases will be $2,000 for first place; $1,000 for second place; and $500 for third place.
  
For further information about the competition, see the following web site: http://www.baylor.edu/business/entcwc/
  
Or contact Marlene Reed at: Marlene_Reed@baylor.edu
 
 
New Law & Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group
Presenter(s): Lisa Lesage, Lewis & Clark Law School; Helen Scott, New York University School of Law; Anthony Luppino, University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation; Laura Hollis, University of Notre Dame
 
Workshop Length: Half Day (8:00AM - 12:00PM)
 
Description: This half-day pre-conference will be the kick-off event for the new USASBE Law & Entrepreneurship Interest Group.  The  Interest Group is being organized to disseminate  information regarding existing interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship at intersections of law and entrepreneurship and to promote growth in both areas; create widespread access to resource materials on legal issues of particular interest to entrepreneurs and innovators and related discussion platforms; increase active involvement of faculty from law schools in USASBE in conjunction with Interest Group members from other academic units involved with legal issues in entrepreneurship; expand  awareness and generate further interactions of law schools with other academic units involved with cross-campus entrepreneurship programs on their campus or at other nearby institutions; and facilitate the availability of affordable legal services to entrepreneurs and innovators through networking with law school clinics, bar associations and other organizations.
The preconference agenda will include: (a) introductory discussion of interdisciplinary education in law and entrepreneurship; (b) a panel presentation of some examples of interdisciplinary collaborations in both classroom and clinical settings; (c) a panel presentation regarding the updated and expanded eLaw website maintained by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; (d) a panel discussion regarding other law and entrepreneurship resources (including the Law & Entrepreneurship section being organized within the Academy of Legal Studies in Business); and (e) business meeting of Interest Group (election of Chair and Vice-Chair, getting volunteers for a website committee, discussion of possible mid-year event and future events at USASBE annual conference, and open discussion among  Interest Group members).
 
 
How to Teach Entrepreneurial Finance to Entrepreneurship Students
Presenter(s): Christopher M. Scalzo, Morrisville State College; Joseph Roberts, Columbia College Chicago; Caroline Glackin, Shepherd University; Kimble Byrd, Rowan University
 
Workshop Length: Full Day (8:00AM - 5:00PM)
 
Description: Entrepreneurial finance education is unique and integral to entrepreneurship education.  This uniqueness (i.e. teaching to artists, social entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations) requires searching for different pedagogies.  Approximately 46% of 157 institutions identified with an entrepreneurship program had an entrepreneurial finance course (Glackin and Byrd, 2010).  “This adds up to a need for analysis of course content and overall pedagogy” (p. 2). Entrepreneur Magazine (2009) highlighted 70 schools with undergraduate programs or concentrations in entrepreneurship.  Thirty-two (46%) schools had a course in entrepreneurial finance.  The variations in course description create multiple approaches to the course that includes teaching methodologies amongst professors.
  
This pre-conference is a forum for best practices for teaching entrepreneurial finance or finance within an introductory entrepreneurship course. Approaches to teaching artists, non-profits and social entrepreneurs will be discussed.  The pre-conference will include a discussion of (a) different approaches to teaching entrepreneurial finance, (b) diagram integration of finance to other entrepreneurship courses,(c) moving from accounting to financial statements to proforma statements needed in a business plan, (d) helping attendees with different firm valuations using forecasted financial statements, (e) working through and calculating cash flow including the tips and traps of cash flow management, and (f) providing break-even calculations that include determination of fixed and start-up costs.  The pre-conference will involve attendees in actual application of the material.  This type of involvement will require using laptops during the workshop.  In addition, the attendees will receive copies of various syllabi, applicable cases, and spreadsheets that will help to teach the topic.
 
 
The Graduate Entrepreneurship Curriculum: Establishing a Paradigm
Presenter(s): Dennis Ceru, Babson College; Ralph Hanke, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Jerry Katz, St. Louis University; Fred Maidment, Western Connecticut State University; Michael Morris, Oklahoma State University; Mark T. Schenkel, Belmont University
 
Workshop Length: Full Day (8:00AM - 5:00PM)
 
Description: This is a follow-up workshop on the highly successful undergraduate Entrepreneurship curriculum that was held last year. It is the intent of this workshop to develop a paradigm for the graduate (masters) curriculum in Entrepreneurship. The paradigm will help to establish the legitimacy of the discipline of Entrepreneurship on the graduate level in the business school so that faculty in Entrepreneurship will be able to gain resources for the discipline/department and tenure for faculty.
    
Graduate curriculums in Entrepreneurship are as many and varied as there are programs in the subject. While many of these programs are often covering the same material, they are often covering it in very different ways and in different sequences.  This has led to problems for Entrepreneurship educators both inside and outside the business school. Since there is no agreed upon sequence of courses, or names of courses to be studied,  educators outside of Entrepreneurship are often confused as to the maturity and legitimacy of the discipline.  Unlike Accounting where the courses are identified and the sequence is definitive. While this may add to the creativity of the discipline, something that is innate in Entrepreneurship, it does not help Entrepreneurship in establishing itself in the academy.
   
This leads to the second problem of legitimacy in the business academy.  Entrepreneurship is often viewed as a kind of sub-discipline in the business school, often a sub-discipline of Strategic Management, not as a unique, stand-along discipline such as Marketing or Management.  This leads to problems for Entrepreneurship educators in obtaining resources for the discipline and in getting their research recognized by their institutions for purposes of tenure and promotion.
   
The purpose of this workshop is to develop a paradigm for graduate study in Entrepreneurship to help establish the legitimacy of the discipline of Entrepreneurship in the business school.
 
 

You can register for pre-conference sessions as part of the online conference registration process. Click here for Conference registration information.