MSci Pharmacology / Course details

The unit examines the ways that entrepreneurs (or intrapraneurs) assess potential business opportunities using a range of simple business tools and models. The unit encourages students to make reasoned business decisions based on evidence available to them that may help them start their own businesses and/or increase their employability.   

This unit cannot be studied with MCEL30031.

The unit aims to:

• To explore the role of entrepreneurs in society
• To examine the processes involved in taking an idea and developing it into a business proposition
• To understand the market for a business proposition and how to position the proposition within that market
• To inspire students to passionately embrace enterprise as an essential component of their development

The unit focuses on analysing the steps needed to take an idea and shape it into a viable business proposition. The unit looks specifically at the entrepreneurial process - i.e. how an entrepreneur assesses an opportunity, the resources and the team available to develop a sustainable business strategy.

The importance of entrepreneurship (both economically and socially) is covered and reference is made to enterprise within existing organizations (denoted intrapreneurship).

The following will be covered:

Enterprise and the Knowledge Economy

The External Environment

Opportunity Recognition and Evaluation

Introduction to Marketing

Market Research Processes

Business Strategy

Business Models

Social Enterprise

Entrepreneurs, Resources and Teams

Lectures

The unit will be delivered as a series of lectures with case studies and in-class activities for students to work on both alone and in small informal groups.

Students should be able to:

 Identify the essential links between market requirements and product/service development.

Students should be able to:

Evaluate the importance of entrepreneurship and the role of enterprise creation in the modern economy.
Review and contrast the various methods by which technology can be commercialised and protected.
Demonstrate an understanding of technology transfer processes and mechanisms.
Critically evaluate the issues to be considered in founding a business.
Analyse the competitive environment and market requirements.

Students should be able to:

Perform an analysis using a number of information sources.
Express findings in a reasoned way to build a robust case leading to a logical conclusion.

Students should be able to:

Report presentation – create a structured report with well justified and referenced points presented in a professional style.
Manage personal time resource effectively so as to deliver completed tasks to deadlines.

Summative assessments: Business Report 1000 to 1500 words - 20%Examination 2 hours - 80%

• 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.

Reading References

Main Texts

Enterprise: Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Concepts, Contexts and Commercialisation by Robin Lowe and Sue Marriott Butterworth Heinemann 2006

Recommended Reading

Exploring Corporate Strategy’ Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes, Richard Whittington,  Duncan Angwin, & Patrick Regnér10^th edition (Pearson) 2014.

Marketing Research Essentials’ Carl McDaniel, Jr. & Roger Gates, 8^th edition (Wiley) 2012.

Additional References

Marketing Management and Strategy’, Peter Doyle, Prentice Hall 4th Ed 2006

2nd year students are welcome to take this unit.

This unit runs in both semester one and semester two. Please choose only one semester in which you wish to take this unit.

Note: This unit should not be studied with MCEL30031.

For Academic Year 2022/23

Updated: March 2022

Approved by: March UG Committee