Doctoral Introduction to Entrepreneurship 1

Academic unit or major

Entrepreneurship courses

Instructor(s)

Nobuhiko Seki

Class Format

Lecture (Face-to-face)

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

3-4 Tue (M-107(H113))

Class

-

Course Code

ENT.V601

Number of credits

100

Course offered

2025

Offered quarter

3Q

Syllabus updated

Sep 22, 2025

Language

English

※ Courses with parentheses in the course number have different subject codes depending on the student's year of admission.

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

This course focuses on entrepreneurship in its broadest sense, including academic research, startups, social entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs, and explores the social frameworks that constitute entrepreneurship from an interdisciplinary perspective.
This course aims to deepen students' interdisciplinary understanding of the social sciences (economics, political science, geopolitics, marketing, management, etc.) as complex systems that form and sustain entrepreneurship. Through this, students will gain an understanding of the importance of entrepreneurship and the societal framework.

Course description and aims

Through this course, students aim to acquire the following abilities:
1. Understanding the importance of interdisciplinary thinking within complex systems
2. Understanding the social systems that constitute entrepreneurship
3. Understanding the importance of disruptive innovation and commercialization, along with the role of marketing and management born from logical thinking
4. Understanding the emergence of unknown ethical issues in a society where AI coexists

Student learning outcomes

実務経験と講義内容との関連 (又は実践的教育内容)

The professor, who has extensive experience ranging from research on decentralized networks in Bali to project management and entrepreneurship—including work in the automotive industry, renewable energy, Linux OS startups, and international initiatives—will lecture on the significance, perspectives, and inevitability of startups in the modern age.
Major Achievements
・Le Mans 24-Hour Race Project (Mazda)
・Lectures on energy-saving technology transfer in 10 cities across China (Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan)
・Renewable energy projects (Nishi-Izu Town in Shizuoka Prefecture, Sugadaira Highlands in Nagano Prefecture, and others)
・Founder of a Linux OS (Client Cloud Computing) startup
・Smart meter project for the Government of Bangladesh
・Corporate revitalization project with Sweden’s SAAB Corporation
・Food security project in the Middle East
・Lectures on entrepreneurship and related topics at Kochi University of Technology and other institutions
・Drafted the establishment plan for the School of Data & Innovation at Kochi University of Technology
・Member of the Skill Definition Committee of the Japan Data Scientist Society
・Recognized by the Indonesian National Parliament as an “Intellectual on Bali”
and others

Keywords

Entrepreneurial spirit, interdisciplinary thinking, R＞G, authoritative distribution of value, logical thinking, project management, marketing, team building, scientific value creation, AI, ethics、data science

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills
• ・Developing practical skills to drive social change through an interdisciplinary understanding of societal complexities.

Class flow

・　Lectures
・　Reports
・　Group discussions
・　Thought exercises using case studies

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Course materials are provided during classes.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

• Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty
• Das Kapital by Karl Marx
• Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
• The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato
• The Savage Mind by Claude Lévi-Strauss
• Mind and Nature by Gregory Bateson
• UN Charter（United Nations）
• Money Creation in the Modern Economy (Bank of England)
and others

Evaluation methods and criteria

Grades will be based on in-class participation and dialogue, discussions on the LMS, weekly mini-reports related to class themes, and a final report. Active participation in class discussions is particularly emphasized in this course, so students are expected to engage proactively. To facilitate this, you'll need to prepare and review the class materials.
・　In-class participation/dialogue and LMS discussions: 40%
・　Mini-reports: 30%
・　Final report: 30%

Related courses

• ENT.B201 ： Introduction to Entrepreneurship
• ENT.V401 ： Master's Introduction to Entrepreneurship 1
• ENT.V402 ： Master's Introduction to Entrepreneurship 2
• ENT.V602 ： Doctoral Introduction to Entrepreneurship 2

Prerequisites

N/A

Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).

cee.info[at]jim.titech.ac.jp

Office hours

Please feel free to contact me by email at any time if you have any questions or concerns.

Other

GA0D
In each class session, a mini-report assignment related to the next topic will be given.
Discussions outside of class will take place on the LMS, and their content will be reflected in the final grade.