CBE and EPIC Transform Theory Into Practice

YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia’s (AUA) Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) and Manoogian Simone College of Business and Economics (CBE) have partnered within the scope of the CBE Sales Management course.

Sales Management, an elective course in CBE’s Bachelor of Arts in Business (BAB) program, examines the strategic and tactical aspects of sales management through case study analysis. The course covers business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer relationships. Students engage in individual presentations and group projects to master the art of sales by learning about topics such as preparing winning sales presentations, enhancing individual performance effectiveness in sales, motivation, and organizational design. The course concludes with a group project, which offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their comprehension of subject matter covered in class by applying their acquired knowledge towards meeting the sales objectives of real-life companies.  

For the past two years, EPIC startups have participated in the Sales Management course as case subjects. Back in 2021, six EPIC startups had shared their ideas with students of the course. As a result, the students learned about several startup ideas, startup teams, and their respective strategies for market entry. Applying what they learned in class, the students conducted a SWOT analysis of their competitive position and developed strategies for getting the attention of customers using a feature-advantage-benefit approach. The interaction between AUA students and EPIC teams laid a foundation for continued collaboration after the end of the course. In 2022, two startups from EPIC, OptimUS and Calendix, worked with the students from the course. 

“We were glad to support a group of AUA students to help them learn through a real-life business case,” noted the founders of the Calendix startup.

This program is part of EPIC’s outreach to engage more directly with students through inter-departmental collaboration, wherein groups of business students gain hands-on experience applying their academic knowledge of concepts and frameworks to real-life entrepreneurial contexts provided by EPIC. Meanwhile, EPIC startups obtain a new perspective on various aspects of their startups while also gaining experience in collaborating and networking with groups outside of their venture teams.

The Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) is a platform of the American University of Armenia (AUA) for promoting entrepreneurial education, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and startup venture incubation. EPIC provides an ecosystem for emerging entrepreneurs consisting of first-class facilities and collaborative workspace, programs and events, and a network of mentors, advisors, and investors. EPIC fosters the understanding and application of entrepreneurship in students and faculty at AUA to craft high-impact multidisciplinary ventures.