Module Directory

This module will enable students to acquire critical and transferable skills associated with the creation and management of new and entrepreneurial organisations.

This module is a mix of theoretical insights and practical application. It is concerned with enabling students to critically examine and organise different forms of learning, develop skills and capabilities for the better understanding and application of the strategic and functional aspects of creating and managing new and entrepreneurial ventures.

Places on the module are limited to 50. Interested students will be asked to answer some enrolment questions.  Further details are available from EBS Student Services.

The aims of this module are:

• To enable students to obtain a critical and practical understanding of the technological, organisational and behavioural aspects of creating and managing new entrepreneurial ventures, from early stage to innovative growth.


• To support students with the acquisition and application of knowledge, tools and techniques for the application of relevant functional concepts, methods and techniques in different innovative contexts in the form a new venture of their own.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Obtain a thorough appreciation of the meaning, role and functions of the entrepreneur in different economies and in the wider society, working towards the creation of a new venture.


2. Understand critically and work towards application in practice the principles of ideas generation for creating new entrepreneurial ventures, from personal and team perspectives with a view to creating one’s own creative action plan.


3. Obtain an in-depth understanding of the principles of innovation, growth and organisational stability in an uncertain environment, and the barriers to growth for new venture firms and strategies for overcoming the same, and how these can be applied to the development of sustainable new products, new services and new processes.


4. Learn, demonstrate and apply a critical understanding of the methods and techniques used to explore different forms and functions of entrepreneurial venture finance – venture capital, business angels, equity markets, government grants, internal resources, etc. for different projects and ventures.


5. Demonstrate and apply a critical understanding of key issues in venturing such as networking, marketing, value creation and sustainability, and their application in specific contexts.


6. Understand critically, develop and apply critical approaches to individual pre-business development planning and business model development.

This module focuses on the development process of new ventures (new small businesses spin-offs from large firms, and social enterprises) and their management. It covers essential processes, including:

• Critical start-up issues and themes that all prospective entrepreneurs have to focus attention on, including, self-assessment, opportunity identification, self-efficacy, ideas generation.


• New and early-stage enterprise functions and processes such as networking, marketing, financial, and behavioural aspects in different environments.


• Work towards the setting up of new ventures through a series of practical workshops organised by the University's Innovation Centre.

Syllabus

• Entrepreneurial People.


• Who is an Entrepreneur? Understanding the Entrepreneur(s).


• The Entrepreneurial Mindset.


• The Entrepreneurial Organisation.


• The New Firm.


• Small and Medium Sized Entrepreneurial Firms.


• The Large Entrepreneurial Organisation.


• The Entrepreneurial Process.


• Ideas Generation and Opportunity Identification, plus scanning the business environment.


• Innovation and New Product/Service Development.


• Bootstrapping.


• Networking.


• Early-Stage Growth and Barriers to Growth.


• The Entrepreneurial Environment.


• Markets and Marketing for New and Early -Stage Ventures.


• The Role of Government, Institutions and Policy.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour lecture per week for 10 weeks (excepting for workshop and seminar days)
• Two 2-hour workshops per term (with the Innovation Centre)
• Two 2-hour workshops per term

Students are expected to undertake the recommended reading before classes and to be prepared to engage in discussion.

Students are expected to work in groups and review their group work at least once per term with the module leader.