Synthesis Paper

Writing/Format Guidelines For the paper:

there is a minimum word limit of 500 words (excluding your title page, abstract, diagrams and tables, references, and appendices and a maximum of 600 words. Please use vigorous and concise writing -- use strong and effective words that provide meaning. Determine first your message and articulate that message in your paper. Avoid at all costs the tendency to simply provide information. And always remember that graduate-level coursework requires graduate-level effort. Citations/References (optional): If students choose to use references, they must be prepared in accordance with the standards set forth in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition, or a similar style manual (i.e. APA style). Format: Please ensure that you incorporate margins of 1 inch on all four sides of pages; 12 point Times New Roman font (or similar font); single-spaced body text; and page numbers centered at the bottom of each page, including the title page.

Synthesis Paper Topic: The Nature of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Creativity 

The subject matter of this course is narrow relative to the broader field of business. As a result, we will take a deep dive into this narrow topic of Entrepreneurship. By the end of the semester, we will have examined issues involving (1) entrepreneurship, new venture creation, and small business management; (2) innovation and market disruption; and (3) creativity and the design school. In addition, we will explore how the role of functions interact and contribute to their larger social, legal, and business environments. You will have read and discussed various theories relating to self-employment, entrepreneurial intentions, the startup process, value creation, sustainability, market acceptance, opportunity recognition and exploitation, intellectual property, entrepreneurial performance, the nature of technology, the future of work, and the management of creativity and innovation. You will have completed assignments requiring research and personal reflection on entrepreneurship and related topics. This Synthesis Paper is your opportunity to demonstrate your command of the course’s subject matter. 

As graduate students you are expected to demonstrate a high level of critical thinking – an ability to transcend knowledge and truly understand – an ability to connect the dots and make sense of otherwise seemingly disparate information. Most importantly, you are expected to have an opinion, an evidence-based and logical defensible position. This Synthesis Paper is an opportunity for you to express your position on the Nature of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Creativity. The Socratic Skill Builders assignments throughout the semester have been designed to provide ideas and material for your synthesis paper. 

As we will discover, Entrepreneurship can be complex and confusing. For example, does entrepreneurship require innovation? Or maybe it requires novelty? Or maybe simply new venture creation? For example, if you start a hot dog stand business, are you an entrepreneur? There is nothing innovative about a hot dog stand, but maybe this is your first experience with hot dog stands, so the business and market are NOVEL to you. But what if you then start a second hot dog stand business? Now it's not innovative, and not novel. But you did create a new venture, so does starting the second hot dog stand business qualify as entrepreneurship? And what if you buy into a hot dog stand franchise as a franchisee - are you an entrepreneur? 

Your paper might encompass the entirety of the course, attempting to synthesis the essence of entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity. Your paper might attempt to synthesize the different paradigms of entrepreneurship presented in the course. Your paper may speak to your personal experience starting your own new venture, or your ambitions and emotions related to becoming an entrepreneur. Or you may attempt to focus on one of the following questions. What is entrepreneurship, and how does it relate to financial wealth creation or personal happiness? What are the most important issues, advantages, and challenges facing wantrepreneurs (nascent or incipient entrepreneurs). The specific topic is yours to choose. 

This Synthesis Paper represents YOUR view of entrepreneurship and innovation. While you should use the concepts and language developed in this course to demonstrate your command of the subject, this is not an exercise in regurgitation. I want to know your thoughts.

1. READ instructions 

2. LOOK at rubric 

3. ATTACH turn it in results