Entrepreneurship, Finance and Innovation MSc

What you'll study

The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship delivers teaching from world class academics, influential thought leaders and inspiring professionals who share a passion for enterprise and entrepreneurship.

• Compulsory
• Optional

Advanced Market Analysis and Strategy

Advanced Market Analysis and Strategy

By the end of this module, you will be able to perform a critical analysis of the competitive environment in which an organisation operates. You will learn how to critically analyse an organisation's ability to face competition, develop and grow, both nationally and internationally. You will develop a critical understanding of SWOT, DPEST and Porter models and will utilise these alongside insights from game theory, to identify the strategic challenges and opportunities facing an organisation. This module will draw on key theories in strategic management, and will build on the latest academic insight in this area. Topics addressed in the module include company positioning, internationalisation strategies, alliances, strategic organisation, industry architecture and dynamics, and stratgic decision-making.

Learning Outcomes

• On completion of this module, students should be able to:
• Identify and critically assess the forces impacting on company strategies
• Demonstrate an awareness of factors involved in strategy making
• Assess the resources and constraints for strategy making in a competitive environment
• Explain and critically reflect on the importance of social, economic, political and technological forces in a company's environment
• Critically investigate and reflect on the impact of internationalisation company strategy
• Identify key drivers of companies' competitive positioning
• Critically analyse companies' preparedness to face competition and ability to develop to grow, including internationally
• Synthesise information from appropriate sources
• Demonstrate effective communication to persuade and influence stakeholders
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Select and use appropriate investigative research skills

Assessment

• 100% coursework

Collaborative Project

Collaborative Project

With a multi-talented group of students you will work on a brief from a real company looking to solve a real social or business problem.

Together with your student team, you will research and build solutions to a business problem, supported by our project tutors, clients and staff. Previous clients include Foster + Partners, Speedo, The London Legacy Development Corporation as well as many other companies, start-ups and charities.

The Collaborative Project provides a means for you to engage in critical enquiry and to be exposed to project-based teamwork in multicultural and interdisciplinary settings. By undertaking this module, you will strengthen your cooperative and collaborative working skills and competencies, whilst raising your awareness and appreciation of cultural and disciplinary diversity and differences.

The Collaborative Project aims to provide you with a hands-on experience of identifying, framing and resolving practice-oriented and real-world based challenges and problems, using creativity and appropriate tools to achieve valuable and relevant solutions. Alongside the collaborative elements of the module, you will be provided with opportunities to network with stakeholders, organisations and corporations, which will give you the experience and skills needed to connect to relevant parties and potentially develop future employment opportunities.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Work effectively in diverse and interdisciplinary teams
• Undertake and contribute towards a project-based development process
• Apply critical enquiry, reflection, and creative methods to identify, frame, and resolve issues and problems at hand
• Identify user and stakeholder needs and value creation opportunities, whilst collecting and applying evidence-based information and knowledge to develop appropriate insights, practices and solutions
• Identify, structure, reflect on key issues and propose solutions to problems in creative ways
• Enhance your appreciation for diversity and divergent individual and disciplinary perspectives
• Be able to provide structured, reflective and critical feedback to peers and other stakeholders
• Plan and execute a project plan including scope, resources and timing
• Effectively communicate ideas, methods and results to a diverse range of stakeholders
• Use multiple, state-of-the-art date media and technologies to communicate with collaborators
• Make informed, critical and reflective decisions in time-limited situations

Assessment

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 20% Group project proposal
• 20% Individual reflection
• 30% Final Project Report
• 30% Project deliverables to the client

Dissertation

Dissertation

The Dissertation module will equip you with the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding to embark on your own research project.

You will have the choice of three dissertation pathways:

1. A desk based research project that could be set by an organisation or could be a subject of the student's choice
2. A project that involves collection of primary data from within an organisation or based on lab and/or field experiments
3. An Internship within an organisation during which time students will complete a project as part of their role in agreement with the organisation (subject to a suitable placement position being obtained)

By undertaking a dissertation at master's level, you will achieve a high level of understanding in your chosen subject area and will produce a written thesis or project report which will discuss your research in more detail.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The importance of project planning;
• The importance of a clear hypothesis or research question;
• The ethical implications of research;
• The relevant empirical data and methodologies for data collection or knowledge assimilation for the subject area;
• Methods of data analysis and their suitability for the intended data;
• The areas of expertise or publications of the major individuals or organisations in the subject or business area;
• The previous research or current knowledge in the specific subject or business area;
• Theoretical perspectives relevant to your chosen topic;
• The most effective methods of presentation for data or knowledge;
• Developing a clear, coherent and original research question, hypothesis or business problem in a suitable subject area;
• Synthesising relevant sources (e.g. research literature, primary data) to construct a coherent argument in response to your research question, hypothesis or business problem;
• Analysing primary or secondary data collected by an appropriate method;
• Critically evaluating data collected in context with previously published knowledge or information;
• Engaging in critical debate and argumentation in written work;
• Applying principles of good scholarly practice to your written work;
• Performing appropriate literature searching/business information searching using library databases or other reputable sources;
• Planning a research project and producing a realistic gantt chart demonstrating your intended timelines;
• Synthesising information from appropriate sources;
• Demonstrating rational use of research method tools;
• Selecting and using appropriate investigative and research skills;
• Demonstrating effective project planning skills;
• Finding and evaluating scholarly sources;
• Engaging in critical reasoning, debate and argumentation;
• Demonstrating effective report writing skills;
• Recognising and using resources effectively;
• Successfully managing a project from idea to completion;
• Demonstrating commercial awareness or the impact of knowledge transfer in a business or research environment

Assesement

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 20% Literature review
• 20% Research proposal
• 60% Dissertation report/essay

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

This module will include: entrepreneurship and the economy; the theories of entrepreneurship; recognizing and measuring entrepreneurial tendencies; and entrepreneurship in different organizational contexts.

The aims of this module are to introduce you to the field of entrepreneurship; to examine the role entrepreneurship plays in modern economies; to analyse the different types of activity contained within the definition, and the main theoretical and analytical approaches used to understand the concept; to consider entrepreneurial innovation at different stages of a business, from start-up to more mature firms; to enable you to assess their own entrepreneurial tendencies; and to enable you to test their theories in a mini research project.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, you should have a critical appreciation of:

• The varying and pervasive role of entrepreneurship within the economy
• The different contexts in which entrepreneurs operate
• The approaches developed by researchers in attempting to understand the entrepreneurial process
• Their own entrepreneurial tendencies
• A firm academic and empirical understanding of the dimensions and role of entrepreneurship in a modern economy
• The ability to interpret and contextualize commentary and analysis relating to the field
• Select and use appropriate investigative and research skills
• Demonstrate effective essay/report writing skills
• Demonstrate resourcefulness to carry out data collection
• Understand their own skills and opportunities
• Demonstrate a positive attitude towards a challenge

Assessment

• 40% Reflective essay
• 60% Project

Funding

Funding

You will learn basic financial calculations, how to analyse the financial status of a company and prepare a pitch to an investor. The aim of this module is to equip you with an in depth knowledge of the various funding options available for new ventures and the processes involved in obtaining financial backing.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module you should be able to:

• Identify the financial requirements of an organisation
• Understand the relevant sources of funding and their acquisition
• Analyse data and information in order to make effective decisions
• Demonstrate effective communication to persuade and influence stakeholders
• Evaluate the funding needs of a new venture
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Work effectively in a team
• Demonstrate good oral communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrate a positive attitude towards a commercial opportunity
• Demonstrate problem solving ability

Assessment

• 25% Group Presentation
• 75% Case study

Governance for Start-up Companies

Governance for Start-up Companies

Our Governance for Start-up Companies module provides in-depth study into the following areas:

• Governance and corporate governance frameworks
• Elements of good corporate governance and what benefits this can have for SMEs
• The values and impact of SME boards (impact on growth, strategy, controls, business risk management and failure)
• Corporate governance challenges for SMEs
• How good corporate governance can influence company growth

The aim of this module is to equip you with a working knowledge of governance and corporate governance frameworks and how these relate to SMEs and start-up businesses.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module you should be able to:

• Critically reflect on and provide well-grounded analysis of the elements crucial for small business finance
• Analyse the main elements of good corporate governance
• Develop a corporate governance frameworks for small and medium sized businesses
• Evaluate the value and impact of company boards
• Critically appraise corporate governance challenges for small and medium sized businesses
• Construct a corporate governance framework for a small or medium sized business, considering alternatives and assessing these in light of recent academic insights
• Evaluate business risks and opportunities for growth, reflecting on the potential for contributing to success as demonstrated by recent academic research
• Synthesise information from appropriate sources
• Demonstrate effective communication to persuade and influence stakeholders
• Select and use appropriate investigative and research skills
• Recognise ethical dilemmas and corporate social responsibility issues
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills

Assessment

• 100% Coursework

Innovation Management

Innovation Management

This module will include: the innovation process and models for innovation; the importance of innovation to the economy; government support for innovation; and the importance of innovation in the contemporary business environment.

The module aims to equip you with an in depth knowledge of the innovation process, its importance to the economy and an understanding of the factors affecting its success.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module you should be able to:

• Explain the complexity of the innovation process
• Highlight the types and patterns of innovation
• Understand the interrelationship between an organisations environment and its innovative capability
• Relate innovation theory to the performance of organisations
• Interpret company performance in relation to the dynamic environment in which it operates
• Synthesise information from appropriate sources
• Demonstrate rational use of business and risk analysis tools to analyse company performance
• Select and use appropriate investigative and research skills
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Demonstrate commercial awareness
• Recognise ethical dilemmas and corporate social responsibility issues

Assessment

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 5% Introduction Assignment
• 95% Report

Small Business Finance

Small Business Finance

Our Small Business Finance module provides in-depth study into the following areas:

• Company structure and registration
• Governance and legal requirements
• Forecasting and budgeting
• Cash flow management
• Costing and pricing
• Margin management
• Managing working capital
• Relevant costs for decision making
• Risk identification and management
• Company life cycle and growth
• Long-term investment appraisal

The aim of this module is to equip you with a working knowledge of the accounting and commercial skills required both to monitor and evaluate company performance, and to understand the financial consequences of business decisions, particularly for relatively small and young firms.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, you should be able to:

• Critically reflect on and provide well-grounded analysis of these elements crucial for small business finance
• Analyse the role of the accountant
• Evaluate the importance of cash flow, margin and profitability management
• Critically appraise the intricacies of product costing and pricing
• Analyse working capital needs
• Evaluate Investment appraisal techniques
• Identify key commercial drivers in different business models
• Evaluate business decisions required for financial success; consider alternatives
• Interpret complex commercial data
• Demonstrate effective communication to persuade and influence stakeholders
• Evaluate business need for expert intervention
• Demonstrate effective report writing skills
• Demonstrate good oral communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrate a positive attitude towards a commercial opportunity

Assessment

• 25% Presentation
• 75% Case Study

Applied Business Statistics

Applied Business Statistics

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By the end of this module you will be able to make informed assessments of the design and construction of quantitative data sources and their implications for analyses in support of business decisions