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Entrepreneurship and Family Business
Graduate Certificate
Entrepreneurship and Family Business
Today's rapidly evolving economy generates opportunities for both entrepreneurs and family businesses to find and create space to thrive. Whether you're just beginning to dream of creating your own business or seeking to take your company to the next level, Etown's Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Family Business will prepare you for success through skills including business ideation, leadership, strategic planning, management, and more.
Family-owned businesses are the backbone of our economy. This certificate incorporates elements of family business management into the curriculum, including governance, group dynamic, and succession planning. Our program also leverages a partnership with the High Center for Family Business to provide expert-level training in growing a business.
This 12-credit certificate includes four online courses, which can be completed in as little as one year. The certificate can also be stacked into Etown's 36-credit Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Strategic Leadership (MSL) or the 32-credit Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD).
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Program Formats:
Online
Credits Required: 12
Tuition:
- $695/Credit
- 10% Alumni Scholarship
Program Outcomes
- Evaluate the steps to start, innovate, and grow a business.
- Analyze the strategies involved in running a successful business.
- Articulate leadership skills and practices to optimize business performance.
- Critique governance structures and succession planning as a vital component of a business model.
- Develop a business plan for a new entrepreneurial business idea or possible innovation.
Certificate Requirements
The Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Family Business from Elizabethtown College requires 12 credit hours of academic work. Students must take all 12 credits from Elizabethtown College to be awarded the graduate certificate.
Entrepreneurship and Family Business Course Descriptions
From Dreams to Reality: Where are you in the business ownership cycle? Businesses pass through several important stages and successful entrepreneurs and owners learn what it takes to manage the business through these stages and work with others to convert their ideas and vision into action. As a “sub-set” of entrepreneurship, family businesses make significant contributions to the overall economy, thus improving the economic well-being of all stakeholders. It is, therefore, important to look at how family business fits into and complements the field of entrepreneurship and small business from a historical, societal, and practical perspective. This course will explore the history and nature of entrepreneurship and small businesses, how the family business evolved into such an important component, and the interconnectedness of the entrepreneurship mindset in any business model. In this course, students will develop a component of the business plan focusing on the business value proposition.
Learn how to think critically and formulate a strategy that will help differentiate the entrepreneurial or family business from its competition. In this course, students will learn what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur or family business owner to innovate and build a sustainable enterprise. Students will assess the challenges and opportunities facing individuals and families involved in business relationships through conceptual frameworks for strategic thinking and using data in decision-making to gain a competitive edge. Students will develop a component of the business plan focusing on the feasibility of a new business venture or innovation.
Take leadership theories and principles applicable to owning a business to the next level. In this course, students will learn leadership skills and behavior techniques to optimize performance, hardwire practices and processes, and empower others to lead. Students will develop a leadership plan to integrate into a business plan.
Family, partners, and group dynamics make or break a business. Students will learn the importance of establishing rules and structure for governing the business, managing wealth and operations, and planning for transition to the next generation of leadership/ownership. In this course, students will develop a component of the business plan focusing on governing and succession planning.
Sample Full-Time Course Schedule:
| Fall 1 | Fall 2 | Winter | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | |
| Year One |
EFB 510– Dreams to Reality: Where are you in the business ownership cycle? |
EFB 520- Strategy and Gaining a Competitive Edge |
EFB 530 Leading as Your Business Grows |
EFB 540 Dynamics, Governing, Managing, and Succession Planning |
Sample Part-Time Course Schedule:
| Fall 1 | Fall 2 | Winter | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | |
| Year One |
EFB 510 - Dreams to Reality: Where are you in the business ownership cycle? |
|
|
EFB 530 - Leading as Your Business Grows |
|
| Year Two |
|
EFB 520 - Strategy and Gaining a Competitive Edge |
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EFB 540 -Dynamics, Governing, Managing, and Succession Planning |
Are you ready to add a credential to your resume? Get started now with a Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Family Business from Elizabethtown College.
Unique Program Features
Etown's Entrepreneurship and Family Business Graduate Certificate is one of the only programs of its kind in Pennsylvania. Factors that set our program apart from other entrepreneurship-related certificates include:
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Through a partnership with the High Center for Family Business, one of the oldest and largest centers of its kind, a coach is available upon request throughout the completion of the certificate. These experienced individuals will provide students with expertise in developing business growth.
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Industry experts will facilitate specific modules within individual courses to help students make real-world connections to course topics and gain insights from experienced entrepreneurs.
- Apply the credits earned through the certificate to Etown's 36-credit Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Strategic Leadership (MSL) or the 32-credit Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) .
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Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2298© 2019 Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2298© 2019 Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown College does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, possession of a general education development certificate as compared to a high school diploma, or any other legally protected status. This commitment applies but is not limited to decisions made with respect to hiring and promotion, the administration educational programs and policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other College administered programs. Discrimination or harassment of any kind is strictly forbidden.