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Entrepreneurship Resources

BUERBS280 Introduction to Business Strategies

3 semester credits. This course is an introduction to the concept of business strategy in both internal and international contexts. Covered topics include economic and market analysis, market entry, contracting with intermediaries, investment, strategic alliances, and internal organization of businesses. Students will be expected to simulate individual strategies based on case studies.

BUEREV300 Startup Ventures and Entrepreneurship

3 semester credits. One week of on-site field learning and lab activities before session start: Locations include Florence and surroundings for an integrated experience of local businesses and the FUA campus and EntrepreLearn Lab. Held in collaboration with Confindustria Firenze, the principle association representing business and manufacturing industries in the Province of Florence. This course is a unique exploration of startup ventures and entrepreneurship from an Italian perspective. Topics introduce the factors involved in initiating new entrepreneurial ventures that have the enduring power to become a successful company. Essential building blocks to be examined are market analysis and strategy, innovation and management, product development, operations, financial frameworks, and competitor analysis. Case studies are drawn from the Italian economy with a local focus on Florentine and Tuscan companies from the perspective of Innovation, Tradition, and Evolution, in order to understand how enterprises in Italy are generating new ventures. The teaching method is a combined approach of lectures, visits, and laboratory activities enhanced by the active participation of involved companies. Coursework and projects will be supported by the EntrepreLearn Lab of FUA’s International School of Business, which also features workshops, activities, and networking events. The overall aim of advancing entrepreneurial knowledge through an academically grounded approach and interaction with the local economy is to prepare students for transforming ideas and projects into concrete and viable startup projects from an international perspective. Field learning is a method of educating through first-hand experience. Skills, knowledge, and experience are acquired outside of the traditional academic classroom setting and may include field activities, field research, and service learning projects. The field learning experience is cultural because it is intended to be wide-reaching, field-related content is not limited to the course subject but seeks to supplement and enrich academic topics. Students will have the opportunity to integrate theory and practice while experiencing Italian culture, art, and community within the Italian territory. Faculty will lead students in experiencing Italian culture through guided projects and field experiences as planned for the course. Field learning will be developed through classroom preparation, follow up projects, and guided learning outcomes. Field learning will provide students with the opportunity to develop skills and appreciate the multifold components of Italian Culture through direct experience. Field education will advance student learning as a relationship-centered process.

BUEREV320 Startup Ventures and Entrepreneurship

3 semester credits. This course is a unique exploration of startup ventures and entrepreneurship from an Italian perspective. Topics introduce the factors involved in initiating new entrepreneurial ventures that have the enduring power to become a successful company. Essential building blocks to be examined are market analysis and strategy, innovation and management, product development, operations, financial frameworks, and competitor analysis. Case studies are drawn from the Italian economy with a local focus on Florentine and Tuscan companies from the perspective of Innovation, Tradition, and Evolution, in order to understand how enterprises in Italy are generating new ventures. The teaching method is a combined approach of lectures, visits, and laboratory activities enhanced by the active participation of involved companies. Coursework and projects will be supported by the EntrepreLearn Lab of FUA’s International School of Business, which also features workshops, activities, and networking events. The overall aim of advancing entrepreneurial knowledge through an academically grounded approach and interaction with the local economy is to prepare students for transforming ideas and projects into concrete and viable startup projects from an international perspective.

BUEREV370 Startup Ventures and Entrepreneurship

6 semester credits. One week of on-site field learning and lab activities before session start: Locations include Florence and surroundings for an integrated experience of local businesses and the FUA campus and EntrepreLearn Lab. Held in collaboration with Confindustria Firenze, the principle association representing business and manufacturing industries in the Province of Florence. Upon completion of the field learning week, the course continues as a regular academic session in Florence. This course is a unique exploration of startup ventures and entrepreneurship from an Italian perspective. Topics introduce the factors involved in initiating new entrepreneurial ventures that have the enduring power to become a successful company. Essential building blocks to be examined are market analysis and strategy, innovation and management, product development, operations, financial frameworks, and competitor analysis. Case studies are drawn from the Italian economy with a local focus on Florentine and Tuscan companies from the perspective of Innovation, Tradition, and Evolution, in order to understand how enterprises in Italy are generating new ventures. The teaching method is a combined approach of lectures, visits, and laboratory activities enhanced by the active participation of involved companies. Coursework and projects will be supported by the EntrepreLearn Lab of FUA’s International School of Business, which also features workshops, activities, and networking events. The overall aim of advancing entrepreneurial knowledge through an academically grounded approach and interaction with the local economy is to prepare students for transforming ideas and projects into concrete and viable startup projects from an international perspective. Field learning is a method of educating through first-hand experience. Skills, knowledge, and experience are acquired outside of the traditional academic classroom setting and may include field activities, field research, and service learning projects. The field learning experience is cultural because it is intended to be wide-reaching, field-related content is not limited to the course subject but seeks to supplement and enrich academic topics. Students will have the opportunity to integrate theory and practice while experiencing Italian culture, art, and community within the Italian territory. Faculty will lead students in experiencing Italian culture through guided projects and field experiences as planned for the course. Field learning will be developed through classroom preparation, follow up projects, and guided learning outcomes. Field learning will provide students with the opportunity to develop skills and appreciate the multifold components of Italian Culture through direct experience. Field education will advance student learning as a relationship-centered process.

BUERFB280 Greenmapping Family-Run Businesses in Italy

3 semester credits. This unique course offers a dynamic opportunity to create a green map of the family-run enterprises on the Italian landscape. Green mapping, a geographic concept used as a social tool to raise awareness of particular issues, will enable students not only to analyze family initiatives and entrepreneurial strategies (whether on a small or large level and applied by single craftsmen or industries) but also to track similarities, divergences, and developments highlighted on a larger scale by geographical coordinates.

BUERFB310 The Art of the Italian Family Business

3 semester credits. Family enterprises have always been central to the social and economic fabric of Italy. Some of the world's oldest family companies are Italian and the city of Florence represents a very important starting point. The course will explore the evolution, characteristics, and significance of Italian family firms and also analyze the changes and trends in Italian family businesses over the centuries, how a 2,000-year-old system is reacting to an age of increasing European unity and integration, mass immigration to Italy, and globalization and competition with China and India. The first part of the course will provide an overview of the history of family-owned firms from the Roman empire to the present day and their role in the social, political, and economic life of Italy. The second part will consider case studies in different sectors: wine and food, fashion, the automobile industry and the hospitality sector. Site visits to family enterprises in and around Florence are an integral part of the course.

BUERIE340 Italian Entrepreneurs

3 semester credits. Italy is home to several entrepreneurial empires recognized globally for distinctive branding of products and successful strategies of expansion. From the Agnelli family (founders and owners of Fiat) to Berlusconi's media monopoly, this course will focus on extraordinary case studies of modern entrepreneurs that influenced and continue to impact the Italian economy in the present day. Particular emphasis will be placed on Leonardo Del Vecchio (CEO Luxottica), Renzo Rosso (CEO of Diesel), and Enzo Ferrari.