Newcastle University

Aims

This module allows students from any subject area to use their discipline in an enterprise and entrepreneurial context in order to provide solutions to key societal challenges that affect their area of work, or engage their interests. This module is not an add-on enterprise module, but instead asks students to bring their discipline with them and share their expertise with others to identify commercial solutions. In a fast changing and highly competitive world, all organisations need creative, enterprising and entrepreneurial people, and this module aims to enhance employability by developing these key attributes.

The aim of the module is
- To develop enterprising and entrepreneurial skills and enhance employability through working as teams on complex real life problems and issues. Those real life issues will be drawn from Newcastle University’s Societal Challenge themes of Sustainability, Changing Age and Social Renewal.
- To demonstrate the positive and potentially transformational impact of enterprise, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation in wider society, by exploring problems and issues, and coming up with solutions which have the potential to become new ventures.
- To demonstrate that new ventures can take a number of forms, including mainstream business, social and community enterprises, both for profit and not for profit. To show that being enterprising and entrepreneurial is about making meaning and creating change – making a difference, making things happen in a variety of contexts, not only in mainstream business, but also in organisations of all types and in wider society.
- To create opportunities for experiential learning and assessing risk, which aim to build confidence in handling the uncertainty and rapid change which characterise the 21st century world.
- To examine the theoretical principles of venture creation and development including opportunity recognition, creativity and innovation.
- To apply knowledge of the theory and practise of key business functions.
- To evaluate the viability of solutions to problems and potential new ventures by applying key business functions and conducting market research.
- To develop awareness of personal strengths and capabilities, and how complementary strengths are essential to team and organisational success, by reflecting on the ongoing experience of the module in a reflective journal, and creating a poster for the final university wide Showcase event, which will celebrate what has been learned and achieved during the module.
- To create opportunities for interdisciplinary working and to develop the skills of networking.

Outline Of Syllabus

Exploring Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Employability
Introduction to societal themes
Where ideas come from
Creativity and Innovation
World Café creativity workshop
Shaping an idea
Cultural awareness
Teams and why they matter
MARKETS Approach (Vyakarnam, S)
Legal and ethical issues
Market Research Techniques
Marketing ‘Apprentice’ Task
Networking Event – Skills Wall
SOLVERS workshop
Intellectual Property
Finance
Network Development
Selling task (fieldwork)
Business Planning
Pitching/presenting

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module will use an extremely varied range of teaching methods. It will provide highly participative opportunities for experiential learning, to meet the Learning and Skills Outcomes as follows:
- Lectures and workshops; provided by internal staff and academics from the Faculties, NUBS, Changing Age Team, NIReS, Culture Lab/SiDE, professionals guest speakers, practitioners and student and alumni entrepreneurs. This will include the theory and practice of key business functions including venture creation, innovation and creativity, opportunity recognition, market research, marketing, financial management, sales, customer care, team formation and development, human resources, the functions of business planning. This will provide the basis for generating, critically evaluating, selecting, developing a business idea with viability and potential.

- Workshop sessions will include the theory of creative thinking, problem solving and idea generation and offer the opportunity to practically apply this, for example, through a World Cafe sessions using the societal challenge themes as provocations. Scenarios from real life and wider societal issues will be considered to challenge and expand students' thinking by providing problems and issues, and putting them into a market context. This will give a basis for generating ideas and spotting potential business opportunities. Access to advice and support from Business Advisors, Development Officers and Entrepreneurs in Residence will be available to help critically evaluating the viability and potential of a business idea. Fieldwork will include Apprentice style tasks such as trading tasters and marketing challenges to enable students to practise the knowledge and skills being taught.

- Skills Practice and fieldwork will include community and team building through shared experiences, networking events and skills exchanges as part of developing their intrapersonal and communication skills. A group presentation in the form of a Showcase event with poster presentations will test the students ability to communicate and present what they have learned to both assessors and a wider audience, and demonstrate that they have critically evaluated and applied the theory, knowledge and skills from the module.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

A1: Market research report (1000 words per person, expected team size 4-6) showing viability and potential of the chosen business idea. This report will test the understanding, critical evaluation and application of theory, skills and knowledge of opportunity recognition, creativity and innovation, market research, market sizes and dynamics, venture creation, market segmentation, marketing, pricing and positioning, human resources, rationale for launching the business or service and for developing the business This will account for 40% of the module assessment. It will be subject to a peer assessment, which will enable marks from + 30% to – 30% of the assessed mark to be allocated, with students meeting as a team to agree the allocation.
A2: Poster presentation by the individual students in the form of a Director’s profile. This is based on premise that investors may like an idea but are only likely to invest if they believe in the people – therefore need to “sell” oneself, using the experience gained during this module, showing how the journey travelled has contributed to personal development. It will also test knowledge, critical evaluation and application of the theory of team formation and development and human resource considerations in organisations. It will demonstrate that this journey has not just been about a business idea and the understanding and application of the knowledge and skills taught and practised in the module, but also about personal development, reflexivity and self awareness, increased employability as well as developing skills for self employment. This summative assessment will account for 15% of the module assessment.
A3 Showcase Event – Group Presentation in the form of a Trade Stand
They will present the business idea to a hypothetical audience of potential funders, and aim to secure Proof of Concept funding for the idea. This would be a University-wide, high profile event with an invited audience including academics and guests and also students from other modules, and student and graduate entrepreneurs. This will be both a means of assessing work and of celebrating achievements, knowledge, skills and experience gained. The Trade Stand will be a summative group assessment which will account for 25% of the module assessment. It will be subject to a peer assessment, which will enable marks from + 30% to – 30% of the assessed mark to be allocated, with students meeting as a team to agree the allocation.
Students will be given a budget for the trade stand and posters, calling for the use of budgeting skills.
A3: Each student will write a reflective essay (1500 words) covering their individual journey and how they have learned from the experience, using evidence from the reflective journal that they will keep throughout the module. This journal will also support the preparation of their poster presentation. The reflective essay will test understanding, critical evaluation and application of the theory, knowledge and skills taught, including entrepreneurial behaviours, attributes and attitudes to risk, team formation and development, This summative assessment will account for 20% of the module assessment.
The Reflective Journal will be the subject of a formative assessment near the end of Semester One.