ENT4000 Entrepreneurship 1: Introduction to entrepreneurship   Course description

This course is an introduction to entrepreneurship and covers entrepreneurial theories, concepts and practices. The course introduces how to identify challenges in society and evaluate new solutions to these identified challenges. Perspectives on value creation for others, entrepreneurship and innovation are emphasized. The course also provides experience in entrepreneurial work methods including design thinking, introduction to market research and feasibility studies.

Students are expected to create ideas and validate their value creation potential in contact with real stakeholders. Throughout the course, students are presented with different entrepreneurial theories, tools and frameworks and are expected to make use of them in their work. The course challenges the students to step outside their comfort zone, expose themselves to a high degree of uncertainty and develop their entrepreneurial competencies and mindset. The goal of the course is to develop the students’ ability to identify, create and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities that can create value for others.

Language of instruction is Norwegian or English.

This course aims to enable students to understand the research process in the broad field of management and the specific requirements of entrepreneurship and innovation research. The course provides opportunities for students to plan, carry out and communicate research projects for their project work as well as for their master’s thesis. In particular, the course aims to cover current qualitative research designs and tools for innovators and entrepreneurs as well as knowledge about how to interpret quantitative research designs. Particular attention is given to participant-oriented and practice-oriented research such as action research, phenomenology, ethnography, qualitative experiments and narrative methods. Case study as an overarching research design that enables bridging theory and practice. The course goes back to the classics in qualitative theory and moves on to applications in innovation and entrepreneurship research.

Language of instruction is Norwegian.

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student has

• in-depth knowledge about innovation, entrepreneurship and value creation
• a high level of knowledge about the identification and seizing of value creation opportunities. This includes an ability to identify needs and challenges that need to be considered.
• specialized understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to entrepreneurship
• an in-depth understanding of the impact and implications of innovation and entrepreneurship on people, profit and planet
• a high level of knowledge about idea generation, evaluation and how to create a product or service that can meet needs in the market

Skills

The student is capable of

• identifying and understanding users’ or customers’ problems and creating new solutions to identified problems
• assessing and evaluating the commercialization potential of an idea, and the potential consequences and effects of entrepreneurial action on target communities, the markets, the environment and society at large
• participating in teamwork and driving teamwork forward in BANI (brittle, ambiguous, nonlinear and incomprehensible) environments
• using and explaining entrepreneurial tools and processes, such as design thinking and business modelling

General competence

The student can

• explore and experiment with creative and innovative approaches
• apply knowledge and skills when creating or seizing opportunities
• communicate and master theoretical concepts, language and different forms of expression
• identify and assess individual and group strengths and weaknesses and give and receive feedback in a group
• use reflection as a tool to learn from experiences

The study of entrepreneurship requires an interactive learning environment. The student is expected to actively contribute to and participate in class discussions and exercises, and to support learning processes. This course will include lectures, readings, problem solving, project work, oral and written presentations, field research, workshops, guest speakers and cases. The activities are performed both individually and in groups.

The following coursework requirements must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework 1: Teaching sessions in the course are compulsory. The minimum attendance requirement is 70 percent active participation.

• Coursework 2: Students are to hand in 8 small assignments related to the relevant themes of the course throughout the semester, of which some will be individual and some in teams. Each assignment will be between 1-4 pages of written text or presentation. Details on each assignment will be listed at the start of the semester. 75 percent of the hand-ins must be completed and approved.

All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline for the student to take the exam. If one or more coursework requirements have not been approved, the student will be given one opportunity to submit an improved version by the given deadline.

The following coursework requirements must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework 1: Participate in the first practical analysis seminar in a group of three to four students. Students must prepare and present a research proposal based on their own innovation/entrepreneurial idea from value exploration research 2 or 3. The presentation must be between 15-60 minutes. The groups must hand in their adjusted proposal the next day on Canvas. The proposal must have a scope of two pages (+/- 10 per cent). Font and font size: Arial or Calibri, 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.
• Coursework 2: Participate in a second practical analysis seminar in a group of three to four students. Students must prepare and present a research proposal based on their own innovation/entrepreneurial idea from value exploration research 4. The presentation must be between 15-60 minutes. The groups must hand in their adjusted proposal the next day on Canvas. The proposal must have a scope of five pages (+/- 10 per cent). Font and font size: Arial or Calibri, 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

The purpose of the requirements is to prepare the students for entrepreneurial projects where they need to identify information needs, collect, analyze and interpret information.

Students who are unable to attend the seminars will be given an alternative compulsory activity consisting of a reflection note on both the first and second drafts of the research proposal, based on comments from the seminar leader.

All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline for the student to take the exam. If one or more coursework requirements have not been approved, the student will be given one opportunity to submit an improved version by the given deadline.

The students can hand in their proposal in Norwegian or English.

The exam in the course is a group-based (two to four students) research proposal based on a case of their choice. In this proposal, students must define the problem definition, the purpose of the research, research design, sampling strategy, data collection method, a time schedule, and a budget. The chosen research design and method of analysis must be substantiated based on its applicability to the chosen research question and purpose.

The exam paper must have a scope of 15 pages as a basis, plus two pages per group member (+/- 10 per cent). Font and font size: Arial or Calibri, 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

The students can write their exam in English or Norwegian.

Students awarded a fail grade are given one opportunity to submit an improved version of the research proposal for assessment.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A - F