Soft Skills and Simulations: Practice Makes Progress
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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
BizCafe webinar recap:
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Introduction to the New eBook: Dr. Michael A. Levin discusses how Brewing a Business aligns with Intro to Business courses and integrates with the BizCafe simulation.
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Teaching Resources: Explore the comprehensive teaching resources that come with the eBook, designed to enhance your classroom experience.
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Updated BizCafe Interface: Discover the latest improvements in the BizCafe simulation interface, including a modern, customizable appearance, easier onboarding experience, and new marketing decisions.
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Q&A Session: Hear the answers to questions from other educators and get insights into best practices for using BizCafe in your curriculum.
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
- Summarize how to start a business
- Restate the purpose of forming a business
- Understand the role of profit and competition in business
- Differentiate between the four elements of decision making
- Explain how society and business interact
- Describe the concept of triple bottom line
Chapter 2: Forming and Funding a Business
- Distinguish between types of plans for a business
- Identify the legal structures for a business
- Describe the benefits and drawbacks of franchising and licensing
- Explain advantages and disadvantages of each source of start-up funds
- Understand the options for exiting a business
Chapter 3: Researching the Business and Measuring Success
- Generalize types of competitors
- Discuss the importance of collaborators
- Describe three forms of motivation
- Identify three sources of data
- Classify costs and investments
- Distinguish between revenue and profit
- Propose measures for triple bottom line
Chapter 4: Marketing: Strategy, Tactics, and Branding
- Understand the significance of marketing for every business
- Name three elements of marketing strategy
- Recall four elements of marketing tactics
- Discuss how to select a target market
- Interpret a perceptual map
- Explain the importance of brand equity
Chapter 5: Money Matters: Accounting and Finance
- Define revenue, costs, and profitability
- Explain the three forms of accounting
- Interpret the entries on the three financial statements
- Use formulae to calculate financial ratios
- Differentiate types of expenses and liabilities
Chapter 6: Management: Skills, Functions, and Responsibilities
- Identify different levels of managers
- List skills associated with effective managers
- Describe the functions of management
- Understand how motivation impacts the workplace
- Explain the hiring, training, and retaining process
Chapter 7: Information Technology & Operations Management
- Distinguish between hardware and software
- Understand how information technology allows us to utilize data
- Describe the role of business analytics
- Discuss specific applications of information technology, like cookies and payment processing
- Explain the types of decisions that necessitate operations management
The Brewing a Business eBook and BizCafe simulation bundle
is available for $79.95 per student.
What our customers say:
“I have been using Interpretive simulations in various forms for over a decade. Recently, I adopted BizCafe, bundled with the Brewing a Business ebook, for an honors section of Introduction to Business—the first of its kind in our department. We wanted a hands-on approach that allowed students to dive deeper into key business topics.
The Brewing a Business ebook is the perfect complement to the simulation. It’s concise and follows a just-in-time learning model, meaning students can immediately apply concepts in a decision-making environment as they run their (simulated) café. I often smile to myself knowing that students are gaining a deeper learning experience, and for me as an instructor, it’s far more engaging to guide their learning rather than just deliver content.
I love Interpretive’s products, and their customer service is outstanding! That said, you might not need support often because the platform is incredibly user-friendly. I wholeheartedly recommend Interpretive’s simulations, whether on their own or bundled with an ebook.”
Dr. Jennifer Muryn at Roosevelt University – Chicago
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.
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