Entrepreneurship

Over the last five years our organization has seen significant change in technology. While this change has been beneficial to Community College and its employees, we have reached a point where we are challenged with the new features and functions of the College’s standard software. In order for our employees to continue to serve student needs effectively and efficiently the Technology Training Project has been created.

This project will create technology training sessions to allow for increased technology understanding and to grow employee confidence. Upon completion, this project will provide for a foundation that will allow our organization to address the probable changes in future technology. TRAINING STRATEGY All employees will have access to technology training opportunities.

The Training Department will provide technology training through the following modes of delivery: Face to face sessions Online via the portal Downloaded material In order to provide these training opportunities the following resources are required: Training opportunities to keep the College trainer / Seems current Current and up to ate handout materials Access to current hardware and software technologies The following is a list of assumption and constraints for the Training & Development Business Plan. Please note that this list may be modified as the project and planning move forward.

Assumptions: All employees have the minimum technology skills as defined by Human Resources All employees have access to the current technology in the form of software and hardware required by their position All employees are encouraged and allowed to articulate in training opportunities This project has the full support of all executive leadership Constraints Attendance will be dependent on employee schedules All new employees must attend new employee orientation modules All equipment and software must be compatible with current technology DELIVERABLES Sessions Method Resources Anticipated Date Technology Sneak Peeks* OFF Trainer Cot/Novo/Deck Beginning Innovate Technology Tuesdays Office – Email/Calendar 1 Page Tip Sheet Training Department Novo/Deck Thumb Drives Training Department/Lot Nodded Word 2013: Navigating the File Tab OFF/Videos Late Novo / Early Deck Word 2013: Solving the Mystery of Headers and Sections Word 2013: Understanding Track Changes – not for the Light Hearted Fondles Excel 2013: Using a Table to Filter and Sort Data Excel 2013: Basic Formulas Fondles Outlook 2013: Using Rules and Categories to Organize Outlook Fondles Outlook 2013: What to Expect from the Outlook 365 Interface Endnote 2013: One What? What exactly is Endnote? Core Technology Training Trainer / Book Intermediate Innovate WI Utilize a Workup Site Portal Essentials: Communicating with your Workup via the Portal OFF / Videos

Portal Essentials: Create Alerts to Maintain Awareness of Office Happenings OFF / Videos Portal Essentials: Create and Maintain Document Libraries with Custom Views OFF / Portal Essentials: Calendar Management OFF / Videos WI 14 Proper Document Storage Personally Identifiable Information * Will schedule times at departments meetings COMMUNICATION DELIVERABLES The Training Department will communicate training opportunities by utilizing the current approved communication methods: Announcements Workup Listserv Emails Downloaded Flyers Portal Website Department Invitations Sneak Peaks SESSION OUTCOMES Office 2013 – These sessions will provide users with the technical training necessary to: a. Create and modify documents (Word) b. Create and modify reports (Word) c. Create and modify spreadsheets (Excel) d. Create and modify presentations (Powering) e. Create and modify calendar items (Outlook) f. Create and modify emails (Outlook) g. Create and maintain a basic database (Access) h. Navigate the new features in Office 2013 I.

Use Endnote to manage and capture information electronically (Endnote) Innovate – these sessions will provide users with the technical training necessary to: . Create basic forms b. Manage a form library c. Edit form library permissions d. Create basic workflow e. Export to Excel How to Utilize a Workup Site – these sessions will provide users with the technical training necessary to: a. Create Announcements b. Create Email Alerts c. Create Document Libraries d. Create Custom views e. Connect Workup Calendar to Outlook ASSESSMENT AND TRACKING The current Training Department Events database will be used for tracking participation. A new participation method will be incorporated when the Sharpening

The emphasis is on the technology itself more than information (as in Information Systems) … ” What is Information Systems? “Information Systems specialists focus on integrating information technology solutions and business processes to meet the information needs of businesses and other enterprises, enabling them to achieve their objectives in an effective and efficient way… ” Definition by: Scam’s Computing Curricula 2005 Overview Report Version 2. 1 Updated July 2010 Table of Contents No. Contents Page Introduction Kit’s Vision and Mission 3 About the Department The Background of BIT Programmer

The Objectives of BIT Programmer 4 Programmer Learning Outcomes Career Opportunity BIT Curriculum Structure Entry Requirement 5 Graduation Requirement University Required Courses Killingly Required Courses 6 Department Required Courses 7 Department Elective Courses 8 Minor in Business Administration 10 Final Year Project 11 Industrial Attachment 12 Appendix A: Course Code Format 13 Study Plan for BIT Programmer Study Plan for BIT with Minor in Business Administration 2 This document provides an overview of the Killingly and the Department, the background of the BIT programmer, the programmer objectives, the curriculum Truckee, and the synopsis of each course. KILLINGLY OF ACT’S VISION AND MISSION Vision: To be an international Centre of Educational Excellence in CIT imbued with Islamic values and ethics. Mission: I. To develop high impact global players in ‘CT. It.

To produce CIT leaders and knowledge-workers who are versatile, innovative, entrepreneurial in response to the societal needs. Iii. To promote CIT as the key enabler in the transformation of the Amah. ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT The Department of Information Systems (AD’S) was first established in 1998 under the Killingly of Economics & Management Sciences. With the establishment of KIT in 001, IDS was transferred into the new Killingly. At the moment, IDS has about 36 academic staff, and about 500 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Currently, IDS offers the Bachelor in Information Technology (BIT) at the undergraduate level, Master in Information Technology (MIT) at the Masters level, and PhD in Information Technology (P_IT) at the doctoral level.

The Master programmers are currently offered in four modes I. E. Master by research, coursework, coursework and dissertation, and coursework and research project. The PhD programmer is currently offered by research mode only. THE BACKGROUND OF THE BIT PROGRAMMER The initial programmer offered under the Killingly of Economics & Management was called Bachelor of Management Information Systems (BUMS). The first batch graduated in September 2001. With the formation of KIT in November 2001, BUMS was transferred to KIT. In July 2002, a revised curriculum for BUMS was introduced, whereby the Killingly- Required courses were revamped to reflect the technology- oriented programmer.

Although managerial courses are still an important component in the new BIT curriculum, the proportion has been reduced drastically to accommodate for more IT related courses, following the standards set by the Ministry f Higher Education of Malaysia. The revised curriculum was renamed as the Bachelor in Information Technology (BIT). In October 2004, the BIT programmer received the recognition by the Public Services Department of Malaysia, which implies that Ill-JAM BIT graduates are nationally recognized as at par, if not better, than other BIT graduates in the country. In June 2008, the Ill-JAM Senate endorsed the new BIT programmer for the new students in Semester 1, 2008/2009.

Hence, the Department is concurrently running two BIT programmers; the BIT programmer for batch of students 073 and below, and the BIT programmer for 081 and above. The BIT programmer is focused towards providing in-depth and up-to-date knowledge in major areas of Information Technology to the students. Students following the programmer are required to complete substantial amount of management and business related courses besides IT or Computer Science courses. The business exposure is necessary for the new breed of IT/IS professionals, as effective and efficient use of the technology is an important element in achieving competitive advantage for business organizations and excellence in service for government and non-profit organizations.

The main objective of the Ill-JAM BIT programmer is to produce IT professionals with the following competencies: Strong technical skills – able to comprehend the sophistication of IT, as well as able to determine, develop and manage information systems as needed by the organization; Sufficient management and problem solving skills – able to make good decisions related to IT use and implementation in organizations; Innovative and entrepreneurial – ability to identify strategic opportunities in using IT that lead organizations to gaining competitive edge or providing superior services; Strong ethical and moral values – applying Islamic values in their professionalism as well as having good moral character. At the end of the programmer, the BIT students are expected to: 1 . Acquire and apply the knowledge, tools and methodologies of IT. 2. Demonstrate an ability to understand and analyses the fundamental aspects of business organizations, models and processes. 3. Integrate IT-based solutions into user environments within business, organization and societal context in accordance to standards and good practices. 4.

Demonstrate effective communication, teamwork, managerial, entrepreneurial and leaderships skills. 5. Demonstrate an ability to evaluate the impacts of IT in global, economic, environmental and societal context. 6. Demonstrate an ability to adhere to the professional and ethical responsibility in developing and utilizing IT in accordance to the teachings of Islam. 7. Recognize the need for, and ability to engage in life long learning.

Let’s let go of the idea of the lone wolf, once and for all.

We have this idea of the entrepreneur as a solo figure — an ambitious, solitary adventurer willing to stand apart from the crowd and risk it all on the strength of a really great idea. That description does have some truth to it. Entrepreneurs do tend to break off from the pack and they do shoulder a lot of risk when they do so. But they shouldn’t be doing it alone.

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The thing is, it’s vitally important for an entrepreneur to have a close network of people who they can rely on for support and advice, not to mention the ability to be able to spitball ideas and get honest feedback.

It doesn’t have to be a big group. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Your close network should be a small group of people immediately around you — people who you trust and speak to regularly and honestly.

This group should understand both you and your business on a level where they are able to help you identify opportunities and interpret your experiences, as well as help you find wisdom in the decisions you make on a daily basis

The Venture, a global competition staged by Chivas, is back to seeking promising, up-and-coming . The competition is open to startups that have a working business model and at the same time, create social good with its endeavors. With 32 countries taking part, each region will have its regional round, whose winners will participant in the grand finals for a chance to win and share a stake from the US$1 million fund. Last year’s judges at the grand finale in New York included Eva Longoria, Sonal Shah, Joe Huff and Alexandre Ricard.

The contest has had an impressive line up of social entrepreneurs over the years: the 2015 GCC winner was , a brand creating handcrafted eco-friendly dolls that can be personalized and donates to an NGO with every purchase, while the 2016 GCC winner was Taka Solutions, presented by founder and Managing Director Charles Blaschke and co-founder and Commercial Director Chris Burkhadt, a startup which aims to use its tech to save money and reduce the world’s energy consumption. Think you have what it takes to represent the GCC region and have a stake at the $1 million fund. Head to and apply before 30^th November 2016.

Starting and then running a business can often feel like navigating a minefield.

There is , while the list of factors that can cause one to fail rivals War and Peace in length. What’s more, no matter how exhaustive the “fail list,” I’d bet it would still not cover every potential pitfall, since many issues might not even cross your mind until they occur.

Having said that, there are a number of common mistakes that are completely preventable– and the best way to mitigate against them is to understand them and put plans in place to ensure they are avoided.

So let’s start with these five.

1. Avoid making decisions by committee

There is an old saying that goes, “A camel is a horse designed by committee,” and that is a fantastic way to describe this all-too-common mistake. Why? Well, just go and ask five people what color to make something simple like a brochure and see how many conflicting opinions you get. Talk about a waste of time.

I should make clear however that I am not advocating forgoing other people’s advice entirely. Absolutely not. But you should . Too often opinions are collected simply because it seems like the right thing to do, rather than because they have something to add. This amounts to plain old quantity over quality, and has no place in a successful business.

Aside from simply being overly complicated and time-consuming, decision by committee can also lead to missing the best advice as you’re too focused on giving everyone equal billing. What’s more, dilution of responsibility can lead to team members suggesting ideas for the sake of it, instead of you soliciting the best ideas from the most relevant people then showing leadership in how you move forward.

2. Avoid being “the idea-a-day guy”

Ideas are great. The problem is when someone thinks that simply having the idea is job done. Any idea, however good it may be, is just a tiny fraction of the work.

Quite simply, businesses do not succeed because someone has a eureka moment in the bathtub. to establishing whether or not that idea is workable and lays down blood, sweat and tears to make it a reality.

That’s why successful entrepreneurs do not throw ideas into the mix at a faster rate than they or their teams can put them into action.

Brian Sharples, CEO of HomeAway Inc and contributor to The Wall Street Journal said of this notion, “The idea is really only a small part of the process of finding a business gem. The real work is done assessing the idea’s viability.”

Sharples explains that the eureka moment for his business wasn’t the idea to start a vacation rental marketplace, but the realization of exactly how to make it a success.

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3. Avoid breaking the law

This one should be obvious, right? Well as the long list of CEOs that have spent time in the slammer goes to show, it seems like it isn’t clear to everyone– Bernie Ebbers, Jeff Skilling and Martha Stewart to name a few. And it’s not just famous corporate high-flyers who fall foul of the law. There are a lot of stories out there about CEOs cutting corners, bending rules and fudging information simply to make (or downright steal) more money.

Keep in mind this saying: “When you’re on the side of the law, you can swing and miss. When you’re a criminal, you only have to miss once.” And when you do miss, the fallout is severe– we’re talking potential insolvency and jail time, not to mention the damage to .

And aside from the possible repercussions for yourself, keep it mind the moral burden too. Many believe that when a corporation or institution is the target of crime (either from outside the business or from within) that nobody gets hurt. As the case of Enron goes to show, this could not be further from the truth. When the energy giant collapsed, it took with it thousands of people’s jobs, pensions and savings– robbing them of their livelihoods and their futures.

4. Avoid the hot and cold emotional outbursts

Find me an entrepreneur who claims never to have lost their temper at work and I will show you a liar. With , we are all liable to a mood swing every now and then. In fact, the UK’s Mental Health Foundation recently found that some 45% of us admit to losing our temper at work.

However, just because it is quite common doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do all you can to avoid it– both for your health and the success of your organization. From a physical and emotional standpoint, our risk of heart attack increases eightfold shortly after an emotional outburst. This is according to research by the Duke University Medical Center who also found that mood swings and outbursts of anger often correlated with a higher incidence of disturbed sleep, stress-levels, irregular heartbeat and stroke.

And it’s not just about losing your cool, but rather maintaining perspective. When it comes to running a business, it is the entrepreneur who takes a long-term, consistent view of things who tends to succeed. This is far more effective than those who flit from euphoria to despair from one minute to the next.

5. Know when to relax

Everyone needs a break– in fact . But when you’re on, you’re on: Your mind should be ticking over with the burning questions– are the finances in order? What is the competition doing? How can we improve our offering? Is it time to grow?

Any successful entrepreneur is utilizing every second of their day, constantly thinking how to improve their business.

And the truth is, these thought patterns are not all that stressful to successful entrepreneurs who live and breathe their business and are always looking for ways to improve. If anything, it is thoughts like these that keep them going– pushing their business forward and .

So how did you get on? If you feel like you have already made or are still making some of the mistakes on this list, don’t worry. As former American basketball coach and inspirational speaker John Wooden once said: “If you’re not making mistakes, then you are not doing anything.”

Wooden was right, mistakes are part and parcel of both business and life in general and can offer an invaluable opportunity to learn.

So avoid what you can, and learn from what you can’t.

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Among all the different qualities that they say an entrepreneur should have (and the list is often unrealistically long!), one that often gets missed out is ‘mentorship’. So why should an entrepreneur have mentoring qualities? When you first launch, the start-up or new initiative is driven entirely by your energy (and your co-founder’s, if you are lucky enough to have one). You can say that you have reached ‘escape velocity’ when the organization, among other things, is able to attract talent on its own merit, without depending on the founders. Between launch and escape velocity lies a tough journey that needs energy from several people – and a journey that can last for several years depending on what you are trying to build.  What could make that journey a bit easier or at least more fun is a great team, one that can bring the mix of energies needed. And during this unstable phase, the team you are able to attract depends largely on you. So here’s my take on five ‘mentorship’ qualities that could potentially help attract and retain a great team…

1. Take the effort to help each team member succeed – and in the way he/she defines success.

There is only so much an entrepreneur can offer by way of stability or role clarity or monetary incentives. But the start-up environment does provide unusual degrees of freedom for people to define and achieve success in different ways. One of your team members might want to speak at a conference. Another might want to experience marketing. Yet another might want the experience to add up towards that Ivy League MBA application. A little bit of effort to understand what is success for each person and tailoring roles and opportunities towards that can go a long way.

2. Be honest, generous and timely in feedback – both positive and negative.

In the ambiguous environment of a start-up, team members are often wondering, “Am I personally doing a good job?”. One way to stop the wondering (because it’s an unnecessary distraction from productive energy) is to provide genuine feedback regularly, on both what’s working and what’s not. Be clear and specific. “Great job – you answered his questions very well” is helpful; just “Great job” is nice to hear but not particularly helpful. “Use more phone follow-ups; you tend to use only email” is helpful; “your follow-ups are ineffective” is not.  

3. Be a great supporter in good and bad times – build your team’s confidence.

I can never forget this incident from more than 15 years back. As a young person in the corporate world, I presented a wrong analysis to 27 CEOs, who were all really surprised but appreciated the ‘counter-intuitive conclusion’, only for me to find a major arithmetic error the next day! I told the partner on the project (a great mentor), expecting a drastic reaction, but instead, her focus was entirely on how we can communicate the revised conclusion to the group of CEOs. And when I asked her to check the details of the revised analysis, she said, “I am sure you won’t get it wrong again”. In an entrepreneurial setting, this becomes even more important – being there to take the brunt of external mistakes and not letting your feedback break a team member’s long-term confidence.

4. Be available, especially for non-urgent questions.

Inbetween the current growth and hectic operations, and the long term business strategy, one often gets into the habit of postponing the seemingly “non-urgent” questions from team members. These could range from “Why are we fundamentally doing this?” to “Can we allocate some budget to set up a snacks corner in the office?”. Be available for these. And if it’s not possible at all at this point, define a milestone, say, “after these specific 3 months of launch”, when you as a team will take up the non-urgent questions.

5. Acknowledge mistakes and failures.

Acknowledging mistakes is probably powerful in every setting, but has some particular benefits in an entrepreneurial setting. It reduces your own burden by making it clear to the team that everyone is building this organization together and the founder’s current views are not necessarily the right ones. It makes giving and taking feedback far more natural and “equal”. And it cements the mentoring relationship as a much more mutual obligation. 

I think that entrepreneurship can be taught, because many of us exactly students had no experience with business and wish to learn about it, not the fact that all people will work on the specialty, but all of them , and one way to reach this goal is entrepreneurship. When it is taught, we already know from what to begin and we study on another’s examples as it is possible to avoid some problems. On the other hand it depends on the person how he can use this knowledge from lesson more efficiently for his firm.  It seems to me that our collegiate entrepreneurs face a lot of barriers with schedule or time management, because they need to pass their course while they control their own businesses. Also when a person launching his own business and it’s connected with producing product, he need demand for his product, but nowadays a lot of customers do not wish to take if the goods are not so known and many of them have got used to take the checked up goods. Another point of barriers is stuff of employees it should be very responsible people.

Of course every collegiate entrepreneur faces some financial obstacle because many of them invest their money, and they want to recover their money quicker, hence many of them look for new highly paid job as they want to be independent. One advantage that collegiate entrepreneurs can do it’s very useful experience for future because they need to analyze will be this project profitable, use knowledge involving accounting, finance, management, marketing and so on also at the beginning it’s interesting will be a boss.

As a student entrepreneur can take suggestion from teachers who provide to him advantageous information. Also lots of young people is very risky and they don’t afraid of launching business and their mind more creative and more fashionable. I think that university can organize some special club for those people who want to begin their own business and invite people who really work as entrepreneurs, who can share their own experience with the other people.