Shaping Ideas for the Market
Unit code | MCEL60022 |
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Credit rating | 15 |
Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
The entrepreneurial process can be thought of in simplified terms as the bringing together of an opportunity and an entrepreneur with the latter then putting together and resourcing the organisation needed to create and capture value for themselves and their stakeholders.
This unit looks in detail at one of the principal steps in that process which is the identification of the opportunity and the subsequent development of the business model. Rae defines an opportunity as the ‘potential for change, improvement or advantage arising from our action in the circumstances’. This definition is used in this unit as it allows for a much broader range of opportunities to be considered, i.e. commercial, societal or environmental. To be effective in this process requires a broad range of information from many different sources, some secondary and some primary. The entrepreneur needs to know how to build and use their networks, gaining information from potential suppliers, partners and customers. Another characteristic of the entrepreneur is the way they seem to process and link information so enabling opportunities to be spotted that perhaps others would not identify.
In this unit, students will learn about the various methods for obtaining market intelligence, how to analyse and make sense of that research in order to identify, evaluate and refine valuable opportunities. The ultimate aim is to be able to develop a viable business model indicating how value is to be created and for whom; how it will be delivered and how value will be captured by the various stakeholders.
Aims
The course unit aims:
- Develop the ability to develop ideas and innovations that may be applied to practical situations.
- Explore how market intelligence may be gathered and analysed in order to identify, develop and evaluate opportunities to create value for the relevant stakeholders whether fiscal, social, creative, environmental or some mix of these.
- Provide individuals with the ability to develop a business model that demonstrates how value is to be created, delivered and captured for appropriate and relevant stakeholders.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit successful students will have achieved the following learning outcomes:
Knowledge and understanding
A1. Describe the various methods by which market intelligence may be acquired including the use of iterative, discovery and learning processes.
A2. Discuss the various mechanisms by which ideas in the form of intellectual property may be protected and used to create value for both the owners and other stakeholders.
Intellectual skills
B1. Demonstrate an ability to recognize, analyse and respond to patterns in complex situations and environments discriminating real opportunities from a spectrum of possible ideas.
B2. Generate, validate, evaluate and develop multiple solutions in response to identified problems, shortfalls and opportunities in contexts that anticipate and accommodate change and contain elements of ambiguity, uncertainty and risk.
Practical skills
C1. Communicate the value of an entrepreneurial opportunity through the use of scenarios, business models and other appropriate visualization methods.
C2. Demonstrate an ability to innovate and offer creative solutions to challenging and complex problems drawing on the input of multiple stakeholder perspectives, requirements and constraints.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
D1. Undertake a process of creative problem-solving employing both convergent and divergent approaches to arrive at appropriate solutions.
D2. Research, analyse and evaluate information from a variety of sources in order to improve decision making employing relevant contextualised information.
Assessment methods
Formative assessment: (0%)
• Individual Report - “Opportunity Identification and Validation”
• Online Citation Quiz (0%)
Summative assessment: Individual report (100%)
• Individual Report – “Problem Definition & Solution Development”
Feedback methods
Formative feedback is the feedback given to help you to develop and improve with the unit of study.
The formative assessment is reviewed and comments are returned to you via Blackboard.
Additional formative feedback is available to you through the following means:
- Attending lectures, joining discussions about case studies and doing short work tasks set within the lecture session.
- Your lecturer will reply to brief individual questions at the end of each lecture session, if there are a few minutes to spare.
- Your lecturer will provide brief replies to your e-mailed enquiry.
- Your lecturer may feedback messages to the whole class via Blackboard if the point that you have raised could be of benefit to the whole class.
Summative work is any course assessment that contribute to the final mark for the unit.
Summative feedback for assignments is provided on Blackboard, 15 working days after the assignment hand in.
You may e-mail the lecturer to ask for further feedback and they might raise the point in the next lecture, reply to you or invite you to attend a brief one to one feedback meeting.
Recommended reading
Main Texts
1. Bragg, A. & Bragg, M (2005) “Developing New Business Ideas”, Prentice Hall, ISBN-13: 978- 0273663256.
2. Rae, D (2007) “Entrepreneurship: From Opportunity to Action”, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN-13: 978-1403941756.
3. Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010) “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers”, Wiley, ISBN-13: 978-0470876411.
4. Mauria A. (2012) “Running Lean – Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works”, O’Reilly, ISBN: 978- 1-449-30517-8.
Students will be encouraged and expected to use on-line resources, the library facilities (general and business sections) as well identifying and utilising their own primary sources.
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Lectures | 33 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 117 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Kassandra Papadopoulou | Unit coordinator |
Fatemeh Salehi Yazdi | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Academic programmes that course is available to:
Master of Enterprise (MEnt)/IME + Open elective unit
Methods Of Feedback From Students/Course Evaluation
The Manchester Enterprise Centre (MEC) welcomes your feedback to help us to improve our Enterprise teaching and learning activities. Enterprise units are reviewed annually, at the end of the second semester.
Please complete the standard university unit questionnaire.
If you have any comments about the unit please always contact the unit lecturer in the first instance.
Informal Contact Methods
Office Hours: email the lecturer
Online Learning Activities (blogs, discussions, self-assessment questions): see ‘Feedback Methods’ section.