Module Description
This core module will enable students to acquire critical and transferable skills associated with the creation and growth of new business ventures. The module focuses on the development process, from start up to early stage growth of new ventures (new small businesses spin-offs from large firms, and especially innovative, technology-based firms). It covers essential processes associated with new venturing- opportunity identification, self-efficacy, ideas generation, bricolage and bootstrapping, developing business models, networking, marketing, financial, and behavioural aspects in different environments.

The module is practical in scope and character and is concerned with enabling students to critically examine and organise different forms of learning, skills development, and aspects of creating and managing new and entrepreneurial (especially technology-based)ventures.




Aims
The main aim of this module is to enable students to obtain a critical and practical
understanding of the technological, organisational and behavioural aspects of creating and managing new entrepreneurial ventures, from early stage to innovative growth, and to acquire knowledge and critical understanding of relevant functional concepts, methods and techniques and their application in an innovative context.


Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students should be able to

Obtain a critical understanding of the stages and principles of new business formation and early stage growth (from idea generation to business model development.
Obtain a critical understanding of the principles of innovation, growth and organisational stability in an uncertain environment, and the barriers to growth for new venture firms and strategies for overcoming the same.
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the methods and techniques used to explore different forms of venture finance, bootstrapping, venture capital, business angels, equity markets, government grants, internal resources, etc. for different projects.
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles of marketing and the contextual and conceptual issues related to marketing for creative and innovative organisations.
Understand critically the concepts and practice of networking and internationalisation as they apply to new and growing ventures .
Understand critically and develop critical approaches to business planning and towards developing and writing a business plan.