Unit name | Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise |
---|---|
Unit code | INOVM0013 |
Credit points | 10 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Mr. Sam Crawley |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
Professional Studies A (CENG20004), or Professional Engineering (CENG20008) |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Centre for Innovation |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise (IEE) unit provides an unparalleled opportunity for you to prepare yourselves for the world beyond the University of Bristol.
You will find that this unit requires and rewards different approaches to study than other units you may have undertaken so far. In business, there is a difference between a technically-right answer and a commercially-viable answer; this unit will help you understand that difference.
The world of work is changing rapidly; new technologies are creating not only new companies but new ways of working. Small companies are disrupting established businesses and permanent jobs in many sectors are being discarded in favour of flexible contractors and freelancers. Even established old companies are furiously trying to innovate new offerings to keep up and avoid being disrupted out of business.
To succeed in this emerging economy, you’ll need to not only embrace technology but be enterprising and entrepreneurial in your behaviour to spot and seize opportunities for yourself and for the companies you’ll work for. Entrepreneurial thinking is not just the preserve of Silicon Valley, it’s a way of searching for and executing on business ideas that is relevant to anyone trying to create value for themselves and others.
The aim of this unit is to develop your understanding, abilities and skills in all aspects that are essential to set up or be part of a successful entrepreneurial venture.
You will work in a team, with mentor advice, to develop a business plan and give a presentation to potential investors. You will need to generate a business idea that is sustainable in both senses of the word; firstly, it is economically viable for the ongoing future and, secondly, the impact of the business to the planet’s resources has been thought through and mitigated.
We’re also interested in how your idea developed; and one part of the assessment specifically asks you to document the process through which your team and idea developed.
The broadest view of entrepreneurship is taken in the unit - the entrepreneurial venture could take one of several forms, for example:
•A commercial start-up company which is solely economic growth/profit oriented
•An initiative concerned with social entrepreneurship or a not-for-profit enterprise which combines economic sustainability with some form of social impact
Lectures and workshops will cover examples and latest thinking in several generic areas related to entrepreneurship. However, groups will be expected to identify and engage with a wider range of material, both of an academic and business nature, as required by their particular venture
Upon successful completion of this unit, students will have, as part of working in a team on an entrepreneurial venture:
Lectures
Group meetings
Workshops
Business Plan Assessment (100%) [ILOs 1-7]; The unit will be assessed through the submission of a group business plan assessment. The plan will make a case for a commercial or social venture at the start-up stage. It will give students a holistic view of being an entrepreneur and its context whilst at the same time developing teamwork and leadership skills.