ET9134

Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2

Batch 50

ET9134
Enterprise Strategy
Instructor Contact Details
Mr. Louis CHAN T.W. Email Address: SVAdmin@solutionz.com.sg

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is an immersive experiential learning module. A business simulator software is used as a
platform to let students experience the process of managing a business through the virtual
media. Students are exposed to some of the major business decisions that entrepreneurs face
when growing their ventures and competing with other companies in the same industry.

Students are grouped into teams to compete with one another. As students work through the
organization's life cycle in the simulation, external forces and managerial dilemmas are added.
Students will apply the various tools, case-studies and theories from previous modules as the
new venture expands its operations and subsequently tackle new tasks, take on additional
responsibilities and make difficult decisions.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To enable students to experience the process of new venture creation and growth.
2. To expose students to a holistic (horizontal & vertical) view of venture creation and growth.
3. To enable students to execute business plans in the virtual world and compete with one
another.
4. To let students experience the various forces in play in a business environment and develop
the entrepreneurial mindset.
5. To provide a platform for students to develop the ability to apply academic theories to solve
business problems.
6. To encourage students to develop reflective thinking skills.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Students will be more confident in implementing business strategies and plans.
2. Students will be able to analyze situational data and make informed decision.
3. Students will be able to negotiate with investors to secure investments.
4. Students will be able to lead and manage teams.
5. Students will learn to compete in the marketplace.
6. Students will have a good perspective of entrepreneurial ventures.

PEDAGOGY
The course pedagogy will include simulation and discussions on real-world problems and
issues. The instructor monitors the progress of the various groups of students and controls the
parameters of the simulation accordingly to make the simulation exercise more challenging
while at the same time horn the decision making skills of the students.

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

SCHEDULE & CONTENTS

Session Description
Day 1 Course Introduction
04.03.2019 Course overview, briefing, account administration
Monday
Simulation Stage 1
Lecture 01
Situation Analysis
Perceptual Map, Demand Analysis, Capacity Analysis, Margin Analysis,
Consumer Report
Lecture 02
Rehearsal Tutorial Part A
Rehearsal Introduction, Research & Development, Marketing,
Production Equipment, Production Schedules, Finance
INP (R&D, Production, Finance)
Human Resource

Administration: Team Formation

Day 2 Lecture 02
05.03.2019 Rehearsal Tutorial Part B
Tuesday Six Strategies
Simulated Rehearsal Rounds

Simulation Stage 2: Familiarization Run

Familiarization Run
66 8 rounds
Day 3
06.03.2019
Simulation Stage 3: Preliminary Run
Preliminary Run [Assessment 1]
y
Wednesday Administration: Briefing on Venture Capitalists Pitch Presentation & Deal Negotiation

Day 4 Simulation Stage 4a: Final Competition

07.03.2019 Briefing, Set-up & Flag-off [Part 1] Ard
Thursday Preparation for VC Pitch Presentation & Deal Negotiation

Day 5 Simulation Stage 4b: Final Competition

08.03.2019 Submission of Team’s Company Portfolio to VCs
Friday Venture Capitalists Pitch Presentation & Deal Negotiation [Assessment 2]

Day 6 Simulation Stage 4c: Final Competition

4 rd
09.03.2019 Final Competition Resume [Part 2]
Monday Consolidation [Assessment 3]
D

Simulation Stage 5
Management Audit & Debrief
Note: Further details of each session will be given by the Instructor during the course.
*Timing for lessons from Day 1 to Day 5: 09:00AM to 18:00PM, unless otherwise instructed
*Timing for lesson on Day 6: 09:00AM to 13:00PM (no lunch break)

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

COURSE ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW

Sub- Sub-
Individual/ Cumulative
Item Total Total
Team Total
(Indiv.) (Team)
1. Assessment 1: Preliminary Run Team --- 15% 15%

2. Assessment 2: Venture Capital

Pitch Presentation
- Team Presentation, 10 mins Team --- 20%
[Content: 10% + Analysis: 10% = 20%]

- Individual [Presentation: 10%] Individual 10% 45%

3. Assessment 3: Simulation Final Team --- 25% 70%

Competition

4. Assessment 4: Individual Individual 20% --- 90%

Reflection Report
-Written Report [20%]

5. Assessment 5: Individual Class Individual 10% --- 100%

Participation
- Ongoing during class time

TOTAL 40% 60% 100%

Note: Further details of each assessment will be given by the Instructor during the course.

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

COURSE ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS REQUIREMENTS

Assessment 1: Preliminary Run [Team-based, 15%]

Instructions:
This is a team-based assessment.
The Preliminary Run will start from Round 1 and end with Round 6 (beginning of Round 7).
All Teams will commence with the same set of data & resources in Round 1.
Teams are to refer to their various reports (Foundation FastTrack, Industry Conditions
Report, Annual Report, etc.) to assist them in the decision making process for each of the
four key functions of the company – R&D, Marketing, Production & HR and Finance.
Teams will be given time to discuss and plan their strategy before the Preliminary Run
commences, including the assignment of roles to each Team member.
For each Round, Teams are to complete and update their official decisions within the
stipulated timeframe. Once the time is up, Teams are no longer allowed to update their
decisions and the simulation will proceed with processing of the Round.
The Preliminary Run will end with Round 6.

Scoring/Grading:
Scoring will be based on the Cumulative Points in the Analyst Report generated by the
simulation: [<Reports> <Debrief Reports> <Analyst Report>]
The Analyst Report will evaluate each Team in ten categories of management performance.
Each category is worth 100 points, total 1,000 points (100 points x 10 category) for each
round. The ten categories are:

(i) Margins (v) Market Share (viii) Productivity

(ii) Profits (vi) Forecasting (ix) Financial Structure
(iii) Emergency Loans (vii) Customer (x) Wealth Creation
(iv) Working Capital Satisfaction

The maximum Cumulative Points possible is 6,000 (1,000 points per round x 6 rounds)
Refer to the in-game <Point Analysis> details on how the score is calculated for each
category.

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

Assessment 2: Venture Capital Pitch Presentation & Negotiation

[Team-based, 20%] + [Individual, 10%]
Instructions:
This is a team-based assessment. The Team will receive a team-score out of 20% (max) and
individual team members will receive an individual-score out of 10% (max)
At the end of Round 4, the simulation will process the official decisions and present the
updated data for Teams to make their decisions for Round 5.
At this point, the Final Competition will stop for an intermission. Teams will then need to
prepare for the Venture Capital Pitch Presentation & Negotiation that will be held on the
next day.

Pitch Presentation
Teams are given the opportunity to present their company portfolio to seek equity
investment to further expand their operations.
Teams which are successful in securing the equity investment will receive the injection at
the start of Round 6.
The injection will appear on the Cash Flow Statement as ‘Sales of Common Stock’.
Do take note that this is a special equity investment and hence is not restricted to
the simulation limitation of maximum 20% of the outstanding shares, i.e. it can be
for more than 20% of the outstanding shares.
Teams can choose whether or not to seek the equity investment money. Apart from this
opportunity to raise funds, Teams can choose to raise funds from within the simulation by
either :
(i) Issue Stock
(ii) Borrow short-term (1 year) loan from the bank
(iii) Issue long-term debt (bonds).
However, Teams should be aware of the limitations and costs of each method.
Example:
For (i) Issue Stock, Teams can only issue up to 20% of the outstanding shares each
year. The final amount raised is also limited by the current Price Per Share. This
severely restricts the amount of funds that they can raise.

For (ii) & (iii), Teams need to pay the high interest on the loans taken. Additionally,
redemption of loans will automatically take place regardless of the cash balance
position (which may automatically trigger Emergency Loan if there is insufficient cash
to redeem the loans when due)

Regardless of their decision, ALL Teams must participate in the Pitch as Banks will also
normally require businesses to present their business profile and status when considering
bank loans applications.
During the Pitch Presentation, there will be neither Q&A nor negotiation with the VC –
this would be done during the VC Negotiation that is held after the Pitch Presentation (there
will be an intermission between the Presentation and Negotiation).

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

The Pitch Presentation should address the following issues:

Your company’s strategy
How each of the four departments’ decisions are aligned to achieving the company’s
strategy
Key decisions made & performance indicators for each Round (1 to 4)
Consolidated current status of the company
Successes and Setbacks till date
The Deal – how much equity investment do you want and in return for how many
points deduction(see below section on Negotiation)
Explain in as much details as possible how the investment will be used (may include
future plans and projections)

Presentation time: 10 mins max

All Team members must participate in the Pitch Presentation. Dress Code: Formal
ALL Teams (regardless of the order of presentation) are to submit a printed copy of their
presentation slides to the Instructor at the start of the day.
Softcopy to be uploaded onto NTULearn immediately after the presentation.
Rename your file as: A2-TEAMXX.ppt(x) (XX: Your Team No.)

Negotiation
Teams are allowed to negotiate for equity investment from a minimum of $5 million up to a
maximum of $20 million, in increment of $1 million.

In return for the equity investment, points will be deducted from the Team’s final Balanced
Scorecard (see Assessment 3: Simulation Final Competition) ranging from a minimum of 5
points to a maximum of 60 points.

Additional Information
Teams which fail to secure equity investment after the negotiation and subsequently incur
Emergency Loans will be subjected to a one-time penalty of 80 points deduction from
their final Balanced Scorecard.

Teams which secure equity investment after the negotiation and subsequently incur
Emergency Loans will be subjected to a one-time penalty of 40 points deduction from
their final Balanced Scorecard.

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

Scoring/Grading:
Presentation is graded based on [C-A-P] and the following are some of the marking criteria:

(a) Content [Team-based, Sub-total 10%]

- Has your team presented all the issues related to your company?
- Have you clearly presented the case for the equity investment?
- Is the pitch presentation organised in a logical flow?

(b) Analysis [Team-based, Sub-total 10%]

- Has your team analysed in-depth the various issues?
- Is your analysis logical, well supported and integrated with the company’s strategy?
- Does the company’s historical performance, future strategic plans and projections
support the amount of equity investment required?
- Is The Deal reasonable and properly ascertained?

(c) Presentation [Individual-based, Sub-total 10%]

- Are you able to articulate your presentation in a clear and confident manner?
- Pace is appropriate without speaking too fast nor too slow
- Use of hand & body gestures to emphasize points
- Not reading off the slides, notes or cue cards
- Exhibits deep knowledge about the company’s current state of performance

Assessment 3: Simulation Final Competition [Team-based, 25%]

This is a team-based assessment.
The Final Competition will start from Round 1 and end with Round 8.
For each Round, Teams are to complete and update their official decisions within the
stipulated timeframe. Once the time is up, Teams are no longer allowed to update their
decisions and the simulation will proceed with processing of the Round.
By the end of Round 4 (beginning of Round 5), the Final Competition will stop for an
intermission to conduct the VC Pitch Presentation &Negotiation.

Final Competition Resumes: The competition will resume the next day after the VC Pitch
Presentation & Negotiation.
Teams which have successfully negotiated for equity investment will receive the funds at
the start of Round 6.
Teams now have to complete the remaining rounds up to Round 8.

Scoring/Grading:
Scoring will be based on the Total Points in the Balanced Scorecard generated by the
simulation: [<Reports> <Debrief Reports> <Balanced Scorecard>]
The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic assessment tool that focuses and evaluates on four key
areas: Financial, Internal Business Process, Customer, Learning & Growth.
Refer to the in-game explanation for details on each key area.

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

Assessment 4: Individual Reflection Report [Individual, 20%]

Reflect on the simulation experience and compare your decisions and outcome with others
in the class. You are required to write the most important aspect of your experience.
Length of report: Between 800 – 1,200 words (include word count at the end of the report)
Report Formatting: Times New Roman (min. 12 pts), Spacing 1.5, Margin 1-inch all round.
Your report should include these points (numbers in brackets denote allocated marks out of
25):

Explain the following using your experience in the simulation as reference and data
provided from the simulation (from Preliminary and/or Final Run) as supporting evidence:
How to grow the business using Equity and Debt? (25 marks)
How to increase profitability? (25 marks)
How to manage cashflow? (25 marks)
What are your sales and marketing strategies? (25)

Be as thorough as possible. Explain your rationale for adopting a strategy. Talk about the
tradeoffs you need to make when adopting a strategy. Focus on your experience with the
simulation. Marks will NOT be awarded to theoretical concepts ‘copy and paste’ from other
sources.

Due Date: Latest by 15 March 2019 (Friday), 23:59PM

You only need to submit a softcopy version of your report – printed copy is NOT
required.
Use the Individual Reflection Report Template that is available on NTULearn for your
report.
Submission: Softcopy of your report to be uploaded onto NTULearn in the course link
found under ‘Assignments’ – maximum size 20MB. Combine your entire report into one
document which includes your cover page, declaration page (digital signature is acceptable),
report, references and appendices.

Rename your file with the following file naming convention:

A4-RPT-LASTNameFirstName.doc(x) (Use your NTU official register name)

*File format MUST be in Microsoft Word (.doc or docx) format

*Your report will be submitted to Turn-It-In for plagiarism checks. You are advised to give
the system sufficient time (at least 24 hours before submission deadline) to generate the
second originality report if your first originality report attains a high similarity index (that is
not attributed to common text e.g. cover sheet, contents page, etc.). Plagiarism amounts to
academic dishonesty and will be dealt with accordingly.

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 ET9134
Minor in Entrepreneurship AY2018/19 – S2
Batch 50

Assessment 5: Individual Class Participation [Individual, 10%]

Classroom discussion is vital to the learning process in this course. Each student is expected to
contribute to class discussions and appropriate marks will be awarded at the end of each
session on the basis of the quality of one’s contribution. Assessment criteria will include
demonstration of analytical capability, integrative thinking, and interpersonal and
communication skills.

Excellent quality comments, remarks, and questions are those that move the discussion forward
by: (1) revealing important issues; (2) making decisions and offering opinions that are well
thought out and logical; and (3) debating or challenging your classmates without personal
attack. While it is compulsory for you to be physically present, merely showing up for class does
not constitute a contribution.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Assignments, projects, class exercises and any other assessable components must be submitted
punctually. Marks will be deducted for late submission. Grades will be deducted accordingly
(refer to below table) for assignments that are submitted after the stipulated deadline.

Timeframe: Grading:
1st Day* Mark down by one grade (‘A-‘ ‘B+’)
2nd Day Mark down by two grades (‘A-‘ ‘B’)
3rd Day and part-thereof Submitted assignment will not be
accepted
* After the stipulated submission deadline, it will be considered the next day.

TEXTBOOK AND REFERENCES

Textbook
1. Barringer, B. R. & Ireland R. D. (2012) Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New
Ventures, 4th Edition, Pearson Higher Education
2. Kotler, P. (1999) Kotler on Marketing, How to Create, Win and Dominate Markets, New York:
Free Press.

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