ENT4300 Entrepreneurship 2: Strategic business development for entrepreneurs  Emneplan

The objective of this course is to familiarize the student with basic business development concepts and theories in the context of newly started ventures or projects. The course provides deepened theoretical and practical knowledge about strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, networking and business development in an international business environment. The aim is to develop capabilities and skills to act upon business and societal opportunities, needs and challenges, in order to develop successful businesses and innovations in a global and changing business environment. The student is provided with tools and framework needed to work on business development, including how to form the firm’s vision, mission, values and how to use various frameworks and tools to analyze the external environment. 

The course provides a guide to theories and practices within strategy, business model development, decision making, business planning, marketing and human resource management that are related to, or relevant for, the development of new ventures and projects. The course emphasizes all aspects of the strategy process of getting new ideas to the market including the formulation, implementation, management and change of strategies. The students use their newly created ventures or project as a basis in this course. This means that students taking this course need a newly started venture or project to work on. All assignments and modules are directly linked to the students’ own projects. 

Language of instruction is English.

This course explicitly builds on the two compulsory courses offered in the first semester: ‘Entrepreneurship 1’ and ‘Søking etter verdiskapende ideer’. Both courses must be passed.

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 

• broad knowledge of the foundations of strategy and strategic perspectives 

• specialized knowledge of all aspects of the strategy process of getting new ideas to the market including the formulation, implementation, management and change of strategies 

• in-depth knowledge of essential business development perspectives needed in an early phase

• in-depth knowledge of go-to-market strategies for early-stage companies and strategies for achieving market adoption 

• specialized knowledge about how different business models can create value 

• a high degree of knowledge about the importance of financial planning, funding possibilities and what the different investment stages look like

• advanced of knowledge about the importance of different resources needed to succeed in entrepreneurship

• specialized knowledge about how to best create and work together in newly formed teams 

• in-depth knowledge about what elements and resources are needed to launch, plan and grow a venture or project

• advanced knowledge of one or more central research issues related to entrepreneurship, commercialization, team, teamwork, and leadership

Skills 

The student is capable of 

• selecting and applying relevant strategic management tools 

• applying different frameworks and templates to map and develop a business model

• developing an investment budget, operating budget, liquidity budget and balance budget

• assessing what type of financing is relevant for different ventures/projects in different phases 

• identifying and analyzing resources needed to succeed with a venture or entrepreneurial project

• working efficiently together with others in cross-disciplinary teams 

• mastering how to write a business plan that communicates value creation

General competence 

The student can 

• integrate knowledge and expertise from different contexts for decision making in companies and organizations as well as for identifying, analyzing and solving problems related to entrepreneurship and business development 

• utilize theoretical concepts and frameworks and tailor them to their own venture or project 

• explain how to best develop businesses when dealing with a high degree of uncertainty

• identify available sources of knowledge, utilize existing knowledge, combine it with new knowledge and apply this knowledge for value creation purposes

• communicate and collaborate with diverse team members and understand the value of being flexible and agile 

• critically reflect on their own decisions and confirmation bias related to gathered data

• critically reflect on the multileveled aspects involved when creating sustainable value that can solve challenges in society

The course is organized as a series of intensive seminars consisting of a combination of lectures, workshops and group discussions underpinned by analysis of their own entrepreneurial ventures/projects. The students are expected to actively participate in discussions and other class activities, where learning by doing is strongly emphasized. The students are introduced to theories, concepts and tools which they can utilize in their own newly started venture or project. 

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 mininum attendance requirement is 70 per cent. Teaching sessions in this course are compulsory to acquire the necessary competencies to meet the objectives of the course; about, for and through entrepreneurship. These competencies cannot be acquired solely from reading the syllabus and/or taking the exam

• Coursework 2: One-page written essay. The one-page written essay are done in groups of 2-5 students. The page must be delievered to Patentstyret. The essay must include the product/service suggested by the group and the target market.

• Coursework 3: Presentation of the business plan. The presentation are done in groups of 2-5 students. The presentation must be a total of 40 minutes and will be in two parts: 20 minutes for the presentation of the business plan with the use of presentation slides (e.g. PowerPoint). 20 minutes for questions and answers. All the students in the group must be part of the presentation.

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

The exam in the course consists of two parts: 

1) Individual essay (40 per cent of final grade):

The individual essay consists of a written essay discussing student's reflection regarding the group's strategic management issues with a scope of four to six pages. Each student is free to decide which topic to focus on, among the range of subjects studied during this course. The essay should include:

• individual reflections regarding the dynamics of collaboration and relationships in the group related to the development process to discuss and define management issue

• individual reflections regarding the student's role in the group

• individual reflections about the chosen strategic management definitions for the firm

Font and font size: Arial or Calibri, 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

2) Term paper (60 per cent of final grade):

The term paper is written in groups and must have a scope of 10-14 pages. The term paper assignment entails submission of a complete business plan for the project identified in the previous course, ‘Søking etter verdiskapende ideer’. The term papers are group assignments involving the groups that have collectively worked on developing the value creation project throughout the semester. Font and font size: Arial or Calibri, 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

Both exams must be passed in order to pass the course.

If a student has to resit the exam, the student can retake each part separately. It is not necessary to take both parts. 

Students awarded a fail grade are given one opportunity to submit an improved version of the term paper and the portfolio for assessment.

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

Grade scale A - F

The individual essay and term paper are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.

At least 25 per cent of the exam papers are assessed by two examiners. The grades awarded for the papers assessed by two examiners form the basis for determining the level for all the exam papers.