A major focus of the course is the development of a business plan and the raising of debt and equity capital for a small business. Other topics are marketing, operations management, human resource management, and strategy development for the smaller business. Extensive use is made of case studies of small businesses in Canada and visiting speakers from the small business community. An examination of the theory and practice of evaluating investment expenditure proposals. This course develops an understanding of the strategic acquisitions and divestiture process.
Firms constantly make small-scale decisions to make, lease or buy certain assets.
The same ideas can be applied to larger-scale assets and the major product divisions of the firm. These decisions involve mergers and acquisitions of existing firms, as well as spin-offs and divestitures of existing assets. The course will explore the risks and rewards of several modes of B2B strategies as well as new B2B opportunities and organizational forms emerging in turbulent product markets. Firms that cannot manage B2B strategies face the very real possibility of customer defections, and takeover. In exploring these topics, students will integrate conceptual knowledge about strategic management with opportunities to develop practical managerial skills.