As the fundamental unit of society, families provide a unique mixture of values, trust and passion that has kindled entrepreneurship in societies around the world for centuries. In the United States, family-owned businesses generate over half of the nation's GDP, employ almost two-thirds of the workforce, and are responsible for over three quarters of all new job creation. This course uses a case-based approach to address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by family entrepreneurs as they build the family enterprise. Topics to be covered include mission/vision/values, building and maintaining the business's culture; family business governance; succession planning; financial management and wealth planning; and conflict resolution.

This course is designed as the capstone to the family business co-specialization. Students will develop a capstone research project in the field by constructively analyzing an actual family business. Topics to be covered include scaling/growth; leadership within family business (internal and external to the family); additional governance and succession challenges that come with scale.

ENT455 gives students the opportunity to develop their own start up businesses while studying great cases including iconic brands such as Apple, Home Depot and Disney. Using the Business Model Canvas and Core and Explore frameworks, the classroom experience will also feature interactive lectures by notable members of the VentureLab@CatholicU Alumni Leadership Board on topics including leadership, ideation, and finance.  

A study centered on the splendor, truth, and reality of being a human person, with special emphasis on the implications in the drama of business and entrepreneurial life. The course draws on the rich Judeo-Christian intellectual tradition, which provides a comprehensive perspective for realizing how business theory and practice can actually be person-centric. Sources include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, as well as contemporary figures such as Viktor Frankl, Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Novak, and John Paul II. 

This course provides an in-depth examination of the fundamentals of professional selling and sales management. The course covers the techniques of selling products and services in the retail, business-to-consumer, and business-to-business marketplace. Course topics include the development of selling as a discipline, selling philosophies, sales relationship strategies, product strategies, customer strategies, competitive strategies, sales presentations, sales management, account management, sales force automation and theories of various selling techniques. 

Interested in knowing more about the source of development and growth? Why advertising and marketing are crucial to the functioning of the marketplace? Or the role of venture capital and angel investing in the future of the US economy? This course provides the tools to understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship in all its facets, including in the marketplace and in non-profit settings. All students including those with finance, marketing or management major will gain a strong understanding of entrepreneurship. Topics include entrepreneurship and the organization, culture, psychology, institutions, public policy, politics, strategic entrepreneurship, Catholic Social Teaching and ethics. Lecture and discussion format around assigned readings. One final presentation. No quiz. Also see Enrollment Requirements. 

Learn how to create good profit through principled entrepreneurship. We will explore entrepreneurship theories like Market Based Management (MBM), Long-Term Sustainable Value Creation (LTSVC), The Business Model Canvas and The Lean Startup. The class is based on the case method and will involve several class projects but no exams or other tests. During the course of the semester, students will meet successful entrepreneurs and have a chance to interact with them to learn about what they found useful during their careers.  

This course looks at one of the most important issues to understand the reality of the social world: why and how entrepreneurship has been the driving force behind the rise of civilization. It is a course on the political economy of entrepreneurial capitalism. The economic history of the West can be interpreted as a history of the spirit of entrepreneurial capitalism. That history is one of: (a) public and private institutions that enabled production and trade, (b) entrepreneurs and business organizations, and (c) an ecology which includes Christianity and its culture of dignity, virtues, and excellence, as well as other mechanisms enabling reciprocity and the respect of promises made. This course analyzes the history of entrepreneurial capitalism emphasizing these three intertwined aspects.  

This course is intended for specific, semester only topics in the subject area. The specific topic being taught in a given semester is listed on Cardinal Station.  

This course provides the student with a general knowledge base of marketing backed up by specific cases involving different product type such as high-tech products, packaged goods and consumer durables. The course explores both analytical dimensions (forecasting, P&L and market research) and strategic dimensions (brand equity, channels management, new product development and pricing formulation. Also see Enrollment Requirements.