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The unit examines the ways that entrepreneurs (or intrapraneurs) assess potential business opportunities using a range of simple business tools and models. The unit encourages students to make reasoned business decisions based on evidence available to them that may help them start their own businesses and/or increase their employability.

This unit cannot be studied with MCEL30031.

The unit aims to:
•    To explore the role of entrepreneurs in society
•    To examine the processes involved in taking an idea and developing it into a business proposition
•    To understand the market for a business proposition and how to position the proposition within that market
•    To inspire students to passionately embrace enterprise as an essential component of their development

Expected Outcomes

The unit examines the ways that entrepreneurs (or intrapraneurs) assess potential business opportunities using a range of simple business tools and models. The unit encourages students to make reasoned business decisions based on evidence available to them that may help them start their own businesses. In addition, the course also focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation in a self-employment context, encouraging students to pursue their own paths to work and value creation.  

A range of pertinent skills that are linked to employability: time management, critical thinking, information literacy, and making decisions based on incomplete evidence or information are required.
 

The unit focuses on analysing the steps needed to take an idea and shape it into a viable business proposition. The unit looks specifically at the entrepreneurial process - i.e. how an entrepreneur assesses an opportunity, the resources and the team available to develop a sustainable business strategy.

The importance of entrepreneurship (both economically and socially) is covered and reference is made to enterprise within existing organizations (denoted intrapreneurship).

The following will be covered:

• Enterprise and the Knowledge Economy
• The External Environment
• Opportunity Recognition and Evaluation
• Introduction to Marketing
• Market Research Processes
• Business Strategy
• Business Models
• Social Enterprise
• Entrepreneurs, Resources and Teams 

The unit will be delivered as a series of lectures with case studies and in-class activities for 
students to work on both alone and in small informal groups. 

• Identify the essential links between market requirements and product/service development.
• Demonstrate an understanding of technology transfer processes and mechanisms.
• Review and contrast the various methods by which technology can be commercialised and protected.

• Analyse the competitive environment and market requirements  
• Evaluate the importance of entrepreneurship and the role of enterprise creation in the modern economy.
• Critically evaluate the issues to be considered in founding a business 

• Perform an analysis using a number of information sources.
• Express findings in a reasoned way to build a robust case leading to a logical conclusion.

• Manage personal time resource effectively so as to deliver completed tasks to deadlines.

Formative Assessment
Exam question based on week 2 case study

In class activities

Summative Assessment

Exam (100%)  

Group feedback via VLE 

Core Text: 

Williams, J. T. Business Financial Literacy for Entrepreneurs.

Brealey, R. A., Myers, S. C., & Allen, F. Principles of Corporate Finance.

Tracy, J. A. How to Read Financial Statements.

Longenecker, J. G., Moore, C. W., & Petty, J. W. Small Business Management: An Entrepreneurial Emphasis. Southwestern College Publishing.

Barrow, C., Barrow, P., & Brown, R. The Business Plan Workbook. Kogan Page.

Wickham, P. Strategic Entrepreneurship: A Decision-Making Approach. Prentice Hall.

Kirby, D. Entrepreneurship. McGraw Hill.

Cox, D., & Fardon, M. Costing & Reports. Osborne Books.

 

Supplementary Text:

Robin Lowe, Sue Marriott. Enterprise: Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Richard Whittington, Patrick Regnér, Duncan Angwin, Gerry Johnson. Exploring Strategy: Text & Cases (2023)

Philip T. Kotler, Gary Armstrong, Lloyd C. Harris and others. Principles of Marketing (2019)

Peter F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Eric Ries. The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers

Jim Collins. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t

Michael E. Porter. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors 

2nd year students are welcome to take this unit.

This unit runs in both semester one and semester two. Please choose only one semester in which you wish to take this unit.

Note: This unit can not be studied with MCEL30031.

 

The year studying abroad is an integral part of the course and must be completed. Some costs, such as tuition fees, are substantially lower. Other costs can vary and are not included in the tuition fee. For example, living costs may be higher or lower than the UK, and there are travel-related costs to consider, such as paying for a passport, visa fees, health insurance, and (if needed) vaccinations.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's (PDF document, 91KB).

Students participating in placements outside the UK may be able to apply for funding from the depending on eligibility. Priority will be given to students from low income households.