Growth - Managing Your Firm

Course Director: Qiong Wu
Examiner: Valentina Tartari

Aims and contents
The objective of this course is to provide students with insights into the problems and opportunities involved in managing growth in entrepreneurial ventures. The course is designed to introduce a series of concepts, frameworks, and heuristics that enable people to manage entrepreneurially in organisations of all sizes and types.

The course focuses on the decisions and actions owner-managers take in recognising and choosing opportunities, obtaining and allocating resources, challenging and directing personnel, and adapting personal goals and corporate strategies to changing personal and business conditions. In this process, the course examines management challenges that are typical of different stages in the business’s development – start-up, growth, change of direction, etc.

Using this framework, the course will discuss issues of particular importance to rapidly growing firms such as developing networks, managing with limited resources, cash planning, delegation, and professionalizing the business as it grows, dealing with crises, while at the same time being careful to avoid stifling the entrepreneurial spirit as the organisation becomes larger and more complex.

Teaching and learning activities
The course will mix and match lectures with debates, discussions and workshops by the students as well as leaders in the field.

Additional information
The course is offered within the framework of the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship.

Responsible institution: Stockholm School of Economics

Please note that this course will use the SSES Canvas instead of SSE Canvas. All registered students will receive an email with login information to the SSES Canvas approximately 1,5 weeks before their course starts.

All registration queries should be addressed to SSES via info@sses.se

Course administrator: marianne.castren@sses.se

The indented learning outcomes for this course are for the student to be able to:

• analyse and explain why firms grow and what it means for society as a whole
• explain different kinds of resources and its importance for firm growth
• explain the concept of competitive advantage and analyse the competitive advantages of high growth enterprises
• describe the concept of international growth and explain for whom and why it may be appropriate
• describe different kinds of venture capital, use basic models of corporate valuation and argue for its importance for ventures in different growth stages
• explain the concept of exit model, for whom and why a certain exit model would be appropriate
• adapt personal goals and corporate strategies to change personal and business conditions
• argue for common challenges when deciding to expand and grow a venture
• understand and demonstrate how a company can remain entrepreneurial when entering a growth phase

Special eligibility requirements: students must have a minimum of 120 ECTS credits.

Will be announced in connection to the start of the course and communicated to enrolled participants.

Attendance
Attendance and active participation is mandatory.

Grades and form of assessment
The student’s final grade is determined by the following factors:

Test: 30 points

Individual assignment 1: My Growth, Pass/Fail

Individual assignment 2: Smart Growth, 30 points

Group assignment: Report, 40 points

Group assignment: Presentation, Pass/Fail

Total: 100 points

Grading for courses offered within the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES)

Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES) is a collaboration of six schools in the Stockholm area. In order to harmonize the SSE grading scale with that of the other participating schools and to adapt to the pedagogical design of the courses, SSE has decided to use the following grading scale:

90-100 Excellent
75-89 Very good
60-74 Good
50-59 Pass
0-49 Fail

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).