Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Tools, Techniques and Real-Life Examples

By the end of this unit you will be able to:

• Understand the key concepts of enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation
• Understand the various local, regional and national sources of business start-up support
• Understand and appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of the ‘life-world’ of the entrepreneur by observation and sharing of best practice
• Use an informed, evidence-based approach to identify problems of enterprise practice, implement enterprising solutions and develop intrapreneurship skills

Unit Description

The module will consider innovation and enterprise tools and techniques and ‘real-life’ case studies and examples will be used. You will learn how entrepreneurs think and their motivations and characteristics; for example, you will learn how they develop confidence and a ‘mind-set’ for success (the concept of ‘self-efficacy’) and their attitude to risk (often entrepreneurs are not as comfortable risk-takers as you might expect). You will be introduced to and inspired by a wide range of local entrepreneurs so that you can observe and question them to derive insights, conclusions and role-models. Most entrepreneurs ‘fail’ at some stage and usually obtain their key learning experiences and values as a result, therefore concepts such as ‘fail-forward’, ‘bounce-back-ability’ and ‘resilience’ will be familiar to you by the end of the module.

In addition to understanding the individual elements of entrepreneurship you will consider the role of the ‘intrapreneur’ (an individual who is comfortable being entrepreneurial for others). You will learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses and entrepreneurial competencies and capacities and reflect on whether you would prefer to work for yourself or others on graduation.

How you will learn

Material will be delivered in lecture and seminars and the information derived will be directly applied to ‘real-world’ and ‘real-life’ entrepreneurial individuals and organisations. Apart from the traditional lecture material, there will be an emphasis on small group interaction, in-class exercises and tasks so you have the opportunity to work with other students to help facilitate the flow of knowledge and ideas to reinforce learning.  

How much time the module requires

For a 20 credit module, you are expected to study for 200 hours (which equates to 10 hours per credit). This total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent study and assessment activity. Students are expected to attend ALL scheduled sessions and there is a strong correlation between attendance and academic achievement.

How you will be assessed

Formative Assessments are tasks which help you to learn and prepare you for summative tasks. The focus of both formative assessments below is very much on collecting information in a supportive learning environment and ‘sharing’ a wide knowledge-base of local enterprise companies, resources and challenges with other students studying this module.

Formative 1:  Pitch presentation

Early on in the module, you will be taught how to present an ‘elevator pitch’ for an idea/concept of a product or service that you have identified as being of interest to you. After practicing, with full support from the tutor, you will make a team elevator pitch presentation to the rest of the class. In this manner you will be acting like an entrepreneur.

Why am I doing this?

Pitch presentation is a skill which entrepreneurs use when conveying the value of their idea to potential investors and stakeholders to secure support for their idea. This activity will help you gain the skills and confidence to deliver a convincing pitch for your ideas.

Formative 2:  Group presentation

Having reviewed key business support agencies in your city (examples in Southampton include ‘Solent Futures’, the Enterprise Programme, Start Your Own Business (SYOB) Southampton) and other agencies operating nationally such as Enterprise Connections, Federation of Small Business (FSB), Enterprise First (Virgin) etc, you will identify a local ‘start-up’ organisation, presenting its challenges and problems and offering enterprising solutions. You may or may not be in a position to speak to the start-up company themselves.

Why am I doing this?

This gives you an awareness of entities that provide start-up businesses with support and an understanding of what they do. You also gain an understanding of the typical challenges start-up businesses face and start thinking through solutions to these issues. You develop your research, creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills. You will need this knowledge and skills to effectively complete the summative assessment below.

Summative Assessment: (This is your assessed task which counts for 100% of your mark for this module)

This is the only summative assessment for this module. Based on the two formative assessments outlined above, you are required to prepare and submit a formal group written report on a particular local or regional industry or company which you find inspirational from an intra/entrepreneurial perspective.

You will comment on how they are performing, the challenges they face and solutions you think are necessary to overcome them, their critical success factors and what they need to do to establish themselves in the market-place and create an innovative and entrepreneurial environment.

When assessment does not go to plan

Students that have not been able to pass the summative assessment will receive full support and guidance and a second opportunity to pass. Full details are provided in the ‘Refer/Defer Information Guide which can be located in the Assessments ’tab’ on the Solent Online Learning (SOL) page for this module.