最新糖心Vlog

This course consists of a 1x2 hour weekly lecture (Wednesdays 12noon – 2pm) and a 1x1 hour weekly tutorial. Lectures commence in week one of the semester while tutorials commence in week two.

For a detailed outline of the course timetable by dates and topics, please refer to page 11 of this course information booklet.

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from the Course Planner at

Small firms and family businesses make a significant contribution to the economic development of national economies around the world. According to latest statistics, 96 percent of 最新糖心Vlogn private sector enterprises are small firms while approximately 67 percent are family-controlled businesses. Just as a small firm is not a little ‘big’ firm, an unlisted privately-owned family business is not a ‘clone’ of a publicly-listed business. Therefore it is important to have an understanding of the issues faced in growing and managing a firm from the small and family business perspectives.

As a consequence, the overarching objective of this course is for students to understand how business-related issues (such as marketing, management, finance, law and accounting) are applied and / or addressed in the small and family business contexts.

COMMENCEMENT Common pathways in which an individual becomes a small firm or family business owner	GROWTH Issues that owners need to address when growing a small firm or family business	EXIT Ways in which an owner of a small firm or family business ceases to be an owner
Topic 2: Getting into business: new ventures, franchises, and purchasing or inheriting a business	Topic 3: Strategic planning and business plans Topic 4: Marketing: product, price and promotion decisions Topic 5: Financing the business Topic 6: Legal issues Topic 7: Managing growth & transition Topic 8: Accounting issues Topic 9: Taxation issues	Topic 10: Exit – part 1 (succession & next gen) Topic 11: Exit – part 2 (decline & closure or turnaround and/or sale)
F O U N D A T I O N: TOPIC 1 - Definition, characteristics and significance of small firms and family businesses

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Define and differentiate between what is meant by the terms ‘small firm’ and ‘family business’ and describe their significance and contributions to national economies;
2. Describe the alternatives to commence working in (or owning) a small firm or a family business and identify their relative advantages and challenges;
3. Formulate a business plan which outlines a firm’s objectives, business and marketing strategy, management structure, sources of finances and projected financial results.
4. Identify the family, ownership and business issues that need to be considered when developing a strategic plan for a family business;
5. Evaluate the appropriateness of a range of interrelated decisions associated with managing an growing a small firm and a family business;
6. Identify the alternative legal 最新糖心Vlog available to small firms and choose the most appropriate form according to the objectives and needs of the owners;
7. Evaluate the appropriateness of a firm’s management structure and processes in place based on its stage of development and growth;
8. Identify the issues that need to be addressed when planning for succession to the next generation;
9. Describe common reasons why firms become financially distressed and identify what steps can be taken to enact a turnaround;
10. Develop an ability to apply the course concepts, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.

There are three primary resources which are required for this course:

a) Prescribed text book: Schaper, M., Volery, T., Weber, P. & Lewis, K. (2014), Entrepreneurship and Small Business (4th Asia-Pacific Edition), Wiley, Milton, Qld.
Textbooks will be available for purchase from the 最新糖心Vlog’s Unibook store. Alternatively you can purchase an e-book version of the text at a significantly discounted rate. The e-book version has the following features:

• Available on your laptop, smartphone, tablet or online
• Permanent access – never expires
• Use the search function to locate key concepts
• Create your own colour-coded highlights as you revise
• Share notes with your friends
  
  For more information, please visit:

b) Additional readings: some of the readings for this course have been taken from alternative sources. These are listed in the detailed course timetable. Rather than students having to purchase these texts (or borrow and photocopy the relevant sections from the library), electronic copies of these readings will be made available for download from the course’s MyUni website.

c) Mikes Bikes (Intro) – in order for students to get a realistic ‘experience’ in managing a small business, this course uses an online business simulation game. Each student will be provided a licence (at no cost as it has been paid by the 最新糖心Vlog) to the online game and will be allocated to a group where together students will manage their company and compete with other groups in the class. More details about this online simulation game will be provided under assessment summary (section 5.3 of this course information) and during the semester via lectures and MyUni.

Other reading resources which students may find useful include: 

• Burns, P. (2011), Entrepreneurship & Small Business: Start-up, Growth and Maturity (3rd Ed), Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
• Hatton, T. (2011), Small Business Management: Entrepreneurship and Beyond, South-Western.
• Mazzarol, T. (2011), Small Business Management: An Applied Approach (2nd ed.), Tilde 最新糖心Vlog Press, Prahran, Victoria.
• Longenecker, J.G., Petty, J.M., Palich, L.E. & Moore, C.W. (2009), Small Business Management (15th Ed), South-Western.
• Scarborough, N.M. (2012), Effective Small Business Management: An Entrepreneurial Approach (10th Ed), Pearson, New Jersey. 

Please make sure to check the course’s MyUni website regularly as this will be the main method in which I communicate to students and make additional information and resources available.

This course contains three main avenues for learning (apart from assessment). These are:

1. The weekly two-hour lecture (commencing week 1): Lectures provide students with an overview of how business-related issues (such as marketing, management, finance, law and accounting) are applied and / or addressed in the small and family business contexts. The material covered in lectures will be discussed in tutorials held in the following week. The format of the lectures will vary from week to week as we will also have guest presenters from industry, DVD case studies of small business start-ups, as well as the course tests (see assessment summary for more information). At the end of some of the lectures, there will be opportunities for students to meet up with their allocated group members to work on the Mike’s Bikes online simulation game (see point 3 below).

2. The weekly one-hour tutorial (commencing week 2): tutorial class discussion provides students with the opportunity to clarify concepts and principles introduced in the lectures. Students should come prepared for each tutorial class. This includes undertaking the prescribed reading and attempting the discussion questions for that topic.

3. Mikes Bikes online simulation game: – a weekly activity to give students to get a realistic ‘experience’ in managing a small business in a competitive environment. Students will be allocated to a group of 4 students and collectively will manage a virtual business and compete with other groups in the course.

The university expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours (for a 3 unit course) of private study outside of your weekly three hours of classes (i.e. 9 hours private study + 3 hours of lecture & tutorials = 12 hours per week).

A role will be taken at each tutorial class, and student participation at these classes will form part of the overall assessment as outlined in the assessment summary below.

Please refer to the detailed course timetable on page 11 for an overview of the topics covered in this course.

Assessment item	% of Total Mark	Objectives	Due or scheduled date
Tutorial participation	10%	To encourage and build confidence in students to make constructive contributions to class discussion	Continuously assessed
Tests (3 in total)	50%	Understanding of topic material Test 1: Topics 1 to 3 ( 15%) Test 2: Topics 4 to 6 (15%) Test 3: Topics 7 to 10 (20%)	2nd April 7th May 4th June
Mikes Bikes Online Simulation Game	30%	Understanding of a range of issues associated with managing a small business based on Mike’s Bikes simulation; build group work skills.	Continuously assessed
Reflective learning journal	10%	Reflect on what was learnt about group work when undertaking the Mikes Bikes game.	Learning journal due 14 th May

• To pass this course students must achieve 50% of the overall course assessment.
• All assessment tasks are compulsory and none are redeemable.
• The tests are conducted under closed book conditions and no materials whatsoever will be permitted to be taken into the test (with the exception of a calculator that cannot store text). Dictionaries of any kind are NOT permitted. 

• Tutorial Participation (10%)
• In order to encourage class discussion and give students the opportunity to demonstrate an understanding of the prescribed readings and the discussion questions, 10 percent of assessment will be based on class participation. Participation will be continually assessed throughout the semester. 
• Tests (50%)
• The in-class tests are an opportunity to assess your understanding of the concepts taught throughout the course. The timing of the tests are indicated in the topic schedule (page 11) and will be held at the start of the LECTURE [so please ensure you arrive on time for this class session]. The first two tests will be 50 minutes in duration while the final test will be 70 minutes in duration (as it covers more topics). The test will be conducted under closed book conditions (no material or dictionaries permitted). Further details regarding the tests (including format) will be communicated via MyUni.
• Mikes Bikes Online Simulation Game (30%)
• This online simulation game provide a ‘real-world’ hands-on experience of some of the issues that owners face when managing and growing a small business in a competitive environment. This assessment is undertaken as a group exercise which will run throughout the semester. In the third week of tutorials, students will be allocated into groups of four. Mikes Bikes Online Simulation Game is a general business simulation developed to suit those with little, to no prior business experience. Each group will compete against others in their ‘world’ (total of 7 groups per world) under a business name of their choosing. Initially groups are given the responsibility of Pricing and Promotion for a single product. As the simulation progresses, more decisions and additional products are added. Eventually each group is given full control (as CEO) over their own Bicycle Manufacturing Company. The challenge is to build their firm into the leading player in the market. As part of this online competitive game, students will analyse real market and financial reports, and collaborate with each other to create their own cross-functional strategic plan. As MikesBikes uses a dynamic-competitive marketplace, students must adapt to the changing market and demands of consumers, while also considering external forces - reinforcing the importance of planning and evaluation. 

This assessment piece is conducted over a total of 8 weeks and is marked out of 30 as follows:

• 8 marks awarded for participation in each week of the game (8 weeks x 1 mark per week = 8 marks) – this involves meeting with your group each week, reviewing past performance, deciding on what decisions to take to improve your company performance relative to others in your ‘world’ and entering these decisions into the online simulation software;
• 14 marks awarded for improving the shareholder value of your company. Assessed from the 2nd week of the game, 2 marks will awarded each week for improving the value of your company (7 weeks x 2 marks per week = 14 marks).
• 8 marks awarded according to the final position (at the end of the game) of your company relative to others in your ‘world’. Team with the highest shareholder value in the world your group has been allocated to will receive 8 marks, second highest team will score 6 marks, third highest 5 marks and so on.

Last year, some groups started poorly but enacted a significant turnaround by the end of the course. Such groups were awarded (at the course co-ordinator’s discretion) bonus marks (to a maximum mark of 30 / 30). So, even if you group starts poorly, significant turnarounds may attract bonus marks.

More information about how to play the game will be made available to students during the semester.

Reflective journal (10%) (1,000 words)
The Mikes Bikes Online Simulation Game gives students the opportunity to learn about working effectively in a group over a period of time. The reflective journal assignment provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their group work experience (strengths / weaknesses, contributions to group dynamics) and identify the underlying principles of effective group work.

More guidance relating to this assignment will be made available on the course websit

The personal reflective journal should be submitted online by the due date using the MyUni ‘Turnitin’ function. For more details, please visit the Myuni website. Assignments should be completed using the assignment proforma (available from course website) which includes an assignment cover sheet.

Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons. All requests for extensions must be emailed to the lecturer in charge of the course before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. A late assignment (without prior arrangement) will be penalised by a 5% mark reduction for each day that it is late.