School of Management, Unit Catalogue 2006/07

MN50124 Entrepreneurship & the small business

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Modular: no specific semester

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW 100%

Requisites:

Aims: This elective focuses upon entrepreneurship and the management of small business. It is concerned with the nature of the creative process and the way in which this can be expressed in business. The Course is located within the context of the small business. It seeks to explain how new firms arise, survive and grow through harnessing entrepreneurial instincts and energies. It explores the control systems that are essential if such creative instincts are not to expose the firm to too great a degree of risk.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this unit, the student should be able to:
* Critically assess a small start-up business to determine its likely success or failure
* Apply growth models to small companies to help determine future successful strategies
* Have an awareness of the characteristics of entrepreneurs and how to predict their behaviour
* Appreciate and influence the creative process of an entrepreneur.
Skills:
Intellectual skills
* the facility to apply subject-specific knowledge into a range of complex situations, taking into account the overall implications for the other areas of the business; F
* a critical awareness of current issues and frameworks in management; T
* the ability to acquire and analyse data, information and situations; to evaluate relevance and validity, and to synthesise it in the context of topical business problems; T & A
* an understanding of appropriate research and methodological techniques that allow detailed investigation into topical business issues and ability to use these skills to produce professional, critical reports in business and management. F&A
Professional Practical skills
* evaluate the current standing of an organization and practically contribute to the attainment of their company's strategies and objectives; F
* operate effectively both independently as well as within teams and assume leadership roles where appropriate; F
* be self-directed and able to act autonomously in planning and implementing projects at professional levels.F
Transferable/Key skills
* ability to conduct in-depth research into management and business issues. F& A
Personal/Interpersonal
* an ability to manage and work in international teams with an awareness of issues such as culture, gender, etc., to identify learning/working styles and to use these to the benefit of the individual and the team;F
* the facility to communicate including presenting and marketing themselves and their ideas; preparation and production of effective business plans and reports; T, F&A
* the ability to recognise intra/entrepreneurial risks and opportunities and to use their enterprise skills to the advantage of start-ups and firms in general. T & A
Content:
Among the topics covered are: innovation, entrepreneurship, risk, management, resourcing and planning.

University | Catalogues for 2006/07