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BizCafe Simulation and Brewing a Business eBook
An End-to-End Solution for Teaching Introduction to Business
For your Business Essentials class,
BizCafe Simulation
Brewing a Business eBook
eBook Assignments
eBook Mini-Cases
Discussion of Ethical Issues
PowerPoint Slides for each chapter
Video interviews with business owners for each chapter
Chapter quizzes and a final exam
Instructor’s manual
Request a preview of Brewing a Business eBook
What’s New for Brewing a Business, 2nd Edition?
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A more intentional overall structure: The book has been reorganized from seven chapters into six, with a clearer progression from starting a business to researching it, marketing it, managing people, running operations, and understanding the financial results.
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A stronger opening focus on value creation: The second edition begins with the idea that business is fundamentally about creating and exchanging value, framed around who the business serves, what it offers, and how it competes.
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A more developed treatment of entrepreneurship: The new edition more clearly distinguishes among freelancers, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, franchises, licensed businesses, and existing businesses that are purchased.
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Greater emphasis on business judgment: The book now stresses that managers make decisions with limited information and develop sound judgment through knowledge, experience, reflection, and practice.
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Closer integration with BizCafe: The textbook, real-world interviews, discussions, and simulation assignments are more deliberately connected so students can learn a concept and then apply it in the simulation.
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AI integrated throughout the book: Rather than treating technology as a separate topic, the second edition discusses AI within marketing, management, operations, and finance.
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A stronger and more distinct operations chapter: Supply chain, supplier relationships, forecasting, quality control, customer service, SERVQUAL, and robotics now receive fuller treatment in a dedicated chapter.
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Finance moved to the end as an integrating chapter: Accounting and finance now conclude the main book, allowing students to see how earlier marketing, staffing, and operational decisions ultimately affect financial performance.
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More attention to customer experience and the “value gap”: The new edition distinguishes between the value a business promises and the value customers actually receive.
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More contemporary business issues: The revision gives more attention to sustainability, climate-related supply-chain risks, changing employment models, stakeholder expectations, digital marketing, and AI.
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A much-improved visual and reading experience: The second edition uses shorter sections, more white space, photographs, icons, pull quotes, and clearly marked assignments, discussions, interviews, and mini-cases.
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A clearer educational purpose: The revised book more directly explains that students learn through three connected methods: concepts, real-world examples, and simulation experience.
Hear from the author
“I wrote this textbook because I wanted students to do more than just take notes in class, to just simply be passive in a lecture. I wanted them to actively wrestle with decisions.”
– Dr. Michael Levin
Review the full 2nd edition with your Faculty Access.
Why is this bundle right for your Intro to Business course?
Brewing a Business, an introduction to business eBook with BizCafe
The eBook will guide the student journey in understanding how and why people start their own business and the needed knowledge to keep the business operating. Chapters will be brief, focusing on key concepts, frameworks, examples, and linkages to BizCafe. Assignments, ethical discussions, mini-cases, PPT slides, and quizzes will be integrated into each chapter. The eBook will be structured such that instructors can utilize all or select chapters.
The eBook structure is designed to align with most academic formats: e.g., one chapter every week or two weeks for a 14-week semester, and one chapter per week for a 7-week MBA course. Also, the mini-case studies, assignments, and/or quizzes can be used as individual session content. Alternatively, this content can be used in an online setting for instructors who are teaching fully online or using a hybrid approach.
For faculty whose course design requires that a portion of the course be devoted to personal finance, an appendix is included covering supplemental topics like creating a household budget, saving and investing, and understanding credit scores. The instructor can devote in-class and/or out-of-class time to this material.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Starting a Business
- Creating and Exchanging Value
- Creating a Value Proposition
- Starting a Business
- Franchising
- Licensing
- Buying an Existing Business
- Other Important Characteristics of Businesses
- Legal Structure of the Business
- The Competitive Nature of Business
- The Role of Profit
- Funding the Business
- Importance of a Business Plan
- Moving Forward
Chapter 2: Researching the Business and Measuring Success
- Defining the Market
- Market Sizing: Understanding TAM, SAM, and SOM
- Measuring the Market
- Meeting the Competition
- Understanding Competitive Advantage
- Working with Collaborators
- Operating in Context
- Understanding Consumers
- Sources of Data
- Using Data to Make Decisions
- Designing the Business
- Dimensions of Decision-Making
- Let’s Make Money
- Triple Bottom Line
- B Corp and Benefit Corporations
Chapter 3: Marketing Strategy, Tactics, and Branding
- Every Firm Starts Life as a Marketing Firm
- More Than Sales and Advertising
- Marketing Strategy
- Marketing Tactics – the 4 Ps
- Understanding Brand Equity
- Digital Marketing
- Marketing and Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 4: Management: Skills, Functions, and Responsibilities
- Everybody Reports to Somebody
- Management Skills and Functions
- Leadership Styles
- The Benefits of Good Leadership and Management
- Job Design and Redesign
- Role Autonomy
- Control Mechanisms
- Attracting New Employees
- Interviewing Prospective Employees
- Extending the Job Offer
- Providing Benefits
- Training and Evaluating Your Talent
- AI in Management and Human Resources
Chapter 5: Supply Chain and Operations Management
- Operations Management
- Purchasing Process
- Manufacturing, Capacity Planning, and Inventory Management
- Logistics and Distribution
- Supplier Management
- Relationships in Business
- Customer Service and Support
- SERVQUAL Model
- AI in Operations Management
Chapter 6: Money Matters: Accounting and Finance
- Forms of Accounting
- Financial Statements
- Applying the Three Financial Statements
- Financial Planning and Budgeting
- Revenue, Costs, and Profitability
- Risk, Reward, and Finance
- Essential Financial Ratios and Metrics
Personal Finance Appendix
- Household Budget
- Saving and Investments
- Credit Score
- Managing Your Wealth
- Invest in Yourself
- Have Fun
The Brewing a Business eBook and BizCafe simulation bundle
is available for $79.95 per student.
Brewing a Business's Author: Dr. Michael A. Levin
Dr. Michael Levin recently joined the faculty at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette as the Department Head and Associate Professor. Prior to that he was on the faculty at Otterbein University after completing his PhD in Marketing at Texas Tech University. He teaches a variety of courses including Marketing Analytics, Retail Management, and Sales for undergraduate students, as well as MBA Marketing for graduate students.
REVIEW EBOOK & TEACHING RESOURCES:
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