Essential Enterprise

Understanding how organisations work is useful no matter what you study or where you want to work. This unit helps you think like a business professional, not by memorising “right answers”, but by learning how to make informed choices when there are several plausible options, each with real trade-offs.

The world you are entering is complex. Economic pressures, social challenges, and environmental limits are happening at the same time, and they interact. Because of this, decisions cannot be based on money alone. They also shape people’s lives, communities, and the planet, sometimes in ways that are not obvious at first.

In this unit you will explore how organisations navigate these tensions in practice. You will look at how value can be created and shared, how decisions play out across wider systems, and how partnerships and community perspectives can strengthen what is possible. You will build confidence in making responsible, evidence-based judgments, even when the path forward is uncertain. The aim is not to turn you into a “startup founder”, but to help you become more enterprising, ethical, and reflective in whatever role you choose. 

This unit forms part of the Enterprise Challenge.  

UCIL units are designed to be accessible to undergraduate students from all disciplines.

UCIL units are credit-bearing and it is not possible to audit UCIL units or take them for additional/extra credits. You must enrol following the standard procedure for your School when adding units outside of your home School.

Students may not take this unit in combination with MCEL20051 (Essential Enterprise: Venture thinking for Social Challenges).

If you are not sure if you are able to enrol on UCIL units you should contact your School Undergraduate office. You may wish to contact your programme director if your programme does not currently allow you to take a UCIL unit.

You can also contact the UCIL office if you have any questions.

This unit aims to support graduate employability by strengthening students’ awareness of key business and enterprise principles, with a clear emphasis on public value, community benefit, and responsible practice in complex real-world contexts.

Students will learn to:

• identify core enterprise principles that inform contemporary practice across sectors  
• analyse how value is created and shared across different organisations and communities, including public value, social outcomes, and environmental benefit  
• evaluate how innovation supports new and improved products and services that meet needs, with attention to inclusion, access, and unintended consequences  
• create a structured, evidence-based report that communicates clearly through a coherent visual narrative  
• reflect on enterprise principles, trade-offs, and how these shape learning and professional development.

Topics covered in previous years:

• Enterprise, Intrapreneurs and Entrepreneurs
• The External Environment
• Searching for Information
• Understanding Customers
• Innovation
• New Product/Service Development

The unit will be delivered as a series of lectures and workshops where you will be able to practically apply the different elements of enterprise.

11 x 2 hour sessions - Weeks 1-5 inclusive, Weeks 7-11 inclusive.

Explain the importance of enterprise in society, including public value and shared benefit.

Describe and compare different ways value is created and shared across organisations and communities. 
 

Analyse the value edge of a product, service, or idea within its wider system, considering uniqueness, sustainability, responsibility, and fit with context.

Evaluate factors that contribute to successful enterprise practice, including trade-offs, risks, and responsible decision-making. 
 

Select, assess, and use credible sources of information to support evidence-based arguments about enterprise, innovation, sustainability, and responsible practice.

Develop and justify an innovative product or service concept, including its delivery pathway, partnerships, and practical assumptions. 
 

Communicate analysis, findings, and recommendations clearly to a professional audience using an appropriate format.

Reflect on how enterprise principles shape your learning and professional development, including how you will apply them in future contexts. 
 

1. Business Proposal - new business idea or improvement to a product or service in an inforgraphic format (500 words) (20%)
2. Opportunity Analysis - a slide deck report showing utilisation of various opportunity analysis, business modules and financial tools (15 slides, excluding title slide - 1,500 words) (60%)
3. Reflection - On balancing purpose and profit including triple bottom line impact target framework (500 words) (20%).

Cohen, B., 2017. Post-capitalist Entrepreneurship: Startups for the 99%. Taylor & Francis.

Costanza-Chock, S., 2020. Design justice: Community-led practices to build the worlds we need. The MIT Press.

Meadows, D., 2008. Thinking in systems: International bestseller. chelsea green publishing.

Nesta, Development Impact and You (DIY) Toolkit https://diy-toolkit.org/

Nesta, 2013. Standards of Evidence: An approach that balances the need for evidence with innovation https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/nesta-standards-of-evidence/  

Ostrom, E., 1990. Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge university press.

Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R., 2011. Creating Shared Value. HBR. Org Harvard Business Review Jan-Feb.

Westhead, P. and Wright, M., 2013. Entrepreneurship: A very short introduction. OUP Oxford.