Establishing and Managing Stakeholder Expectations in a Start-up Multidisciplinary Technology Entrepreneurship Program
R. Keith Stanfill, University of Florida
Integrated Technology Ventures (ITV) is designed to provide engineering and
business students with an immersive entrepreneurial experience. Participating
students learn the entrepreneurial process as members of a virtual company
led by a serial entrepreneur who acts as a CEO. The company is composed
of a CEO, a business development team and a multidisciplinary technology
development team. The company is responsible for creating a prototype and
business plan for presentation to investors. Three E-Teams chartered in the
initial offering completed their projects in spring 2004. A board was formed
to oversee the ITV program and each virtual company. During the pilot, it was
discovered that the ITV stakeholders-including students, inventors, faculty,
CEOs, and board-had different levels of understanding and operated under
differing assumptions regarding the roles and responsibilities for themselves
and the others. This paper addresses the lessons learned in managing these
expectations and the future strategy.
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