BUSI46J15: Entrepreneurship and Business Start-up (Executive)

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• Entrepreneurship (Full-Time) (BUSI4A715), Entrepreneurship (Executive) (BUSI45515), Small Business Management (Full-Time) (BUSI4B815), Small Business Management (Executive) BUSI47815)

• The aims of this module are threefold:
• Firstly to address the notion of entrepreneurship and the key issues related to the complex process of business start-up.
• Secondly, to review the components of a business - key core business functions such as marketing, finance, human resource and operation management. This is aimed at helping students to appreciate the variety and complexity of business ownership activities.
• Thirdly, to provide a vehicle to enable the students to integrate and synthesise their knowledge and skills obtained from their work experience and studies and apply these in a practical and dynamic enterprise setting.

• Entrepreneurship - the process, people and resources.
• Business functions (marketing, operations, finance & human resource management etc) in the context of business start-up.
• Entrepreneurial thinking, understanding business opportunities and generating new business ideas.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• On successful completion of the module students should have:
• An in-depth knowledge of entrepreneurship and the role of the business owner in the process of new business start-up
• An advanced understanding of the core functions (eg. marketing, operations, finance & human resource management) within a new and/or small business context and their interrelationships in the process of new business start-up
• A critical understanding of the concepts, theories and models that underpin entrepreneurship and new business start-up
• A critical appreciation of the complexity and interrelationship of the functional activities in the process of new business start-up
• An advanced understanding about the complex process of business start-up and reflect their understanding in the form of a realistic business plan.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Upon successful completion of the module, students should:
• Be able to conduct in-depth research into developing a business idea
• Be able to generate new business ideas, apply critical appraisal of these and communicate the proposed business idea effectively
• Be able to construct a realistic business plan

Key Skills:

• Written communication skills
• Planning & organising skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Computer literacy

• Learning outcomes will be met through a combination of lectures, groupwork, case studies and discussion, supported by guided reading. The emphasis throughout will be on integrating theory with practice. The sessions will be highly interactive with class participants being involved in individual and group activities which will encourage critical and creative thinking and learning by doing in understanding the complex issues related to business start-up. Students will be expected to undertake their own research to develop and supplement the material covered in the sessions and to conduct secondary research in their chosen business idea.
• The summative assessment is a 4,000-word business plan in report format. This will assess students understanding of relevant concepts and their ability to apply what they have learned to construct a feasible business plan.

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