Syllabus for HRM-560

The Entrepreneurial Organization: Learning as Competitive Advantage


COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Entrepreneurial Organization: Learning as Competitive Advantage explores three key concepts and best practices associated with cultivating entrepreneurial behavior within organizations. Integrating adult learning, organizational learning, and knowledge management are central to adapting entrepreneurial behaviors and practices. In this course, students will consider the necessity of understanding adult learning theory to create a culture that supports entrepreneurial behavior. Students will also consider the importance of organizational learning and knowledge management on enabling stakeholders to adopt entrepreneurial orientations and practices, and they will apply these orientations and practices toward advancing entrepreneurialism in the workplace. Finally, students will identify the theoretical and practical intersection points among these topics and analyze the importance of adult learning, organizational learning, and knowledge management on promoting an entrepreneurial organization.

COURSE TOPICS

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, students should be able to:

CO1        Analyze seminal theories and instructional methodologies associated with adult learning.

CO2        Appraise select key primary and secondary psychodynamic mechanisms that inhibit adult learning.

CO3        Analyze foundational theories of knowledge management.

CO4        Evaluate the importance of designing a learning organization.

CO5        Evaluate the influence of adult learning, knowledge management, and organizational learning on the development of entrepreneurship in organizations.

CO6        Recommend an adult learning theory to support a specific instructional methodology and a knowledge management approach to support organizational learning and entrepreneurial behavior.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the University’s textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbook

        ISBN 13: 978-0385517256

COURSE STRUCTURE

The Entrepreneurial Organization: Learning as Competitive Advantage is a three-credit, online course consisting of four modules with four discussion forums, three written assignments, and a final project. Modules include an overview, topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in four online discussion forums, complete three written assignments, and complete a final project. See below for details.

Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in About SafeAssign.

Discussion Forums

You are required to participate in four discussion forums. For each discussion forum, you are required to follow the guidelines outlined in Module 1. Discussions must occur during the module time frame to earn any points. This is a participative component of the course, and it is necessary to keep the discussion on track.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete three written assignments. The written assignments are on a variety of topics associated with the course modules. For each written assignment, you are required to follow the guidelines outlined in Module 1.

The schedule allows for feedback from the mentor on one assignment before the next similar assignment is due. If you submit your work late, this schedule is disrupted and might mean that you do not receive feedback before you submit the next similar assignment. This cannot be helped and is part of the danger of submitting work late.

You are responsible for alerting the mentor when assignments that are late have been submitted for grading. These will be graded during the next grading cycle. If you do not alert the mentor that the assignment has been submitted, the assignment may not be graded until the end of the term. There is a due date on the Course Calendar for the last day that late assignments are accepted. Only assignments submitted by that date will be graded. Any late assignment submitted after that date will earn a zero. Nothing submitted after that date will count toward the 50% course extension policy.

Final Project

For the final project, you will make a concrete recommendation to organizational leadership related to the creation of a system that combines adult learning theory, knowledge management theory/infrastructure/tools, and organizational learning to support entrepreneurial behavior. Your recommendation will include a rationale for why this particular design fits within the organizational context chosen by you and how this will support long-term viability and growth. Your work on the final project will be based off of your work in the first three written assignments in the course.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A

=

93–100

B

=

83–87

A–

=

90–92

C

=

73–82

B+

=

88–89

F

=

Below 73

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Thomas Edison State University is committed to maintaining academic quality, excellence, and honesty. The University expects all members of its community to share the commitment to academic integrity, an essential component of a quality academic experience.

Students at Thomas Edison State University are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

All members of the University community are responsible for reviewing the Academic Code of Conduct Policy in the University Catalog and online at Thomas Edison State University.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State University expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the University insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty can take the following forms:

Plagiarism

Thomas Edison State University is committed to helping students understand the seriousness of plagiarism, which is defined as using the work and ideas of others without proper citation. The University takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing are subject to discipline under the academic code of conduct policy.

If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, or without identifying it as a direct quote, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > Citing Sources.)

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.

For examples of unintentional plagiarism, advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, and information about writing assistance, click the links provided below.

Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism

When to Quote and When to Paraphrase

Writing Assistance at Smarthinking

Disciplinary Process for Plagiarism

Acts of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism violate the Academic Code of Conduct.

If an incident of plagiarism is an isolated minor oversight or an obvious result of ignorance of proper citation requirements, the mentor may handle the matter as a learning exercise. Appropriate consequences may include the completion of tutorials, assignment rewrites, or any other reasonable learning tool in addition to a lower grade for the assignment or course. The mentor will notify the student and appropriate dean of the consequence by e-mail.

If the plagiarism appears intentional and/or is more than an isolated incident, the mentor will refer the matter to the appropriate dean, who will gather information about the violation(s) from the mentor and student, as necessary. The dean will review the matter and notify the student in writing of the specifics of the charge and the sanction to be imposed.

Possible sanctions include:

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