Entrepreneurship Coursework: Investigating the 'Lifeworld' of an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century

Module Learning Outcomes (MLOs)

·To be able to research, identify, and critically evaluate the functional and managerial competencies of an owner/manager in a new small enterprise

·To critically relate the position of a small enterprise within the economy and recognise modern trends in the business world that are impacting on business ventures

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

·Plan, undertake and evaluate an investigation into the market potential for; a business product or service, e-business potential and produce a comprehensive business plan.

·Critically appraise the operation of a small enterprise in marketing, finance, supply and human resource terms

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity):

§The importance of building effective teams and relationships to support a creative culture for the new venture creation

Module Learning Outcomes (MLOs) Assessed by Coursework

·To be able to research, identify, and critically evaluate the functional and managerial competencies of an owner/manager in a new small enterprise

·To critically relate the position of a small enterprise within the economy and recognise modern trends in the business world that are impacting on business ventures

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

·Critically appraise the operation of a small enterprise in marketing, finance, supply and human resource terms

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity):

·The importance of building effective teams and relationships to support a creative culture for the new venture creation

Entrepreneurship is essential in enhancing productivity and growth in the economy and in an era of exponential technological change, there are an infinite number of opportunities for entrepreneurs to exploit. Skills to become a successful entrepreneur go far beyond technical knowhow and innovation, it is the combination of creativity, and business know how, together with a number of interpersonal skills that differentiates them from a manager or innovator.

Coursework Tasks to be completed by Students

The purpose of this coursework is to undertake a personal research project that explores the “lifeworld” of an entrepreneur, discussing and evaluating the skills, pressures and complexities associated with entrepreneurism in the 21st Century. As part of this process, you will:

·Identify and critically evaluate the functional and managerial competencies of an entrepreneur in a new small enterprise.

·Identify the skills and characteristics associated with entrepreneurs and understand their relevancy in a technological era

·Critically relate the position of a small enterprise within the economy and recognise modern trends in the business world that are impacting on business ventures.

·Evaluate the importance of building effective teams and relationships to support a creative culture for the new venture creation.

In order to successfully investigate your individual research project, you will need to conduct an interview with an entrepreneur. You may choose an entrepreneur that you know, or, your tutor will give you guidance in finding one. However, they must not be from an organisation greater than the size of an SME. You should develop a framework of constructive questions from the secondary research and information that you have gathered as part of this module. You should allow at least 30 minutes for your interview. You should inform the module tutor (by email) who you intend to interview no later than 18:00hrs on 23rd March 2020.

The work should be formatted using ‘Arial’ font, of font size ‘11’, with 1.5 line spacing.

The work shall be a maximum of 3,000 words which excludes the abstract, references/bibliography and appendices section.

The work must form a structured and coherent whole.

The assignment deliverables are to be a concise, formally structured and provide a critical evaluation of primary and secondary data to produce a valid research output

The work should be formatted as an academic research project with numbered headings and subheadings

5Assessment Criteria

Personal Research Project requirements and marking scheme (60%)

·Introduction: How well the abstract includes and describes; the purpose, problem, methods, results, and conclusion of your work. The introduction will be assessed on how well you have understood and deliberated the Entrepreneur and their business and how you have positioned it within a practical context 10%

·Main subject matter: This related to the focus, appropriateness, and quality of the research regarding the primary and secondary data. The overall narrative should be coherent, and remain relevant to the focus of the assessment - 15%

·Relationship with existing literature:  The entire research should demonstrate adequate understanding of the relevant literature in the field, cite an appropriate range of literature sources and not ignore any significant work – 20%

·Quality of the Primary Research and Findings:  Primary research is to be presented as a narrative analysis and the findings should draw parallels with the primary research and the literary sources of your secondary research 20%

·Quality of Conclusion: The conclusion of the work should be sufficiently related to the preceding narrative review, and effectively summarize for the reader key knowledge of the research. It is envisaged that this ‘preliminary’ research, can act as a ‘springboard’ for any reader wishing to develop future research efforts in this area, and as such, the work and conclusion in particular, should be positioned for this audience - 10%

·Quality of Communication: The work should clearly express its case. Attention should have been paid to the clarity of expression and readability, such as sentence structure, jargon use, acronyms, etc. - 15%

·General structure and formatting of the work, and the References section The structure is to be presented logically and formatted as an academic report with numbered headings and subheadings - 10%