Overview
The unit is designed to familiarize students with the world of entrepreneurship, innovation and start-ups. It examines the nature and roles of entrepreneurship, innovation and the entrepreneur in society. You will identify the key factors for entrepreneurial success and how to evaluate these factors. You will also learn the stages that entrepreneurs go through in taking the seed of an idea through to planning for the growth of a successful business. Emphasis is placed on planning, financing, starting and managing new start-ups.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Completion of 48 credit points in first year of study.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student Survey
Pehaps for the assessment 2, providing more resources or examples for pitch
A guide on how to pitch the business idea should be provided/uploaded in the unit's Moodle.
Feedback from Student Survey
The lecturer explained everything in detail about assessments
An updated guide, along with a recorded video, should be uploaded in Moodle, providing details on each assessment. In addition, the lecturer/s should dedicate at least five minutes in each workshop to answer students' questions related to assessment.
- Demonstrate an understanding of entrepreneurship, innovation and new start-ups through critical review and synthesis of knowledge and current developments in the field
- Synthesise knowledge and exercise critical thinking to appreciate the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation within society
- Critically analyse and synthesise the knowledge, qualities and skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur in start-up ventures
- Demonstrate creative skills and critical thinking to identify a new start-up opportunity and evaluate its feasibility
- Synthesise knowledge and exercise critical thinking to apply appropriate frameworks that evaluate the preferred business model for the start-up opportunity
- Apply technical skills to formulate a business plan for the launch of a start-up venture.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 60% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 60% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, Updated Global Edition, 6th edition
Updated Global Edition, 6th edition (2021)
Authors: Bruce R. Barringer R Duane Ireland
Pearson
ISBN: 9781292402826
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
j.zhang@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Describe entrepreneurs, corporate entrepreneurship, and the characteristics of entrepreneurial firms.
- Discuss three main reasons people decide to become entrepreneurs.
- Identify four main characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.
- Explain five common myths regarding entrepreneurship.
- Describe three types of start-up firms.
Discuss the changing demographics of entrepreneurs. - Discuss the positive effects of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial firms on economies and societies.
- Explain the entrepreneurial process.
Module/Topic
Developing the Business Idea: Recognizing Opportunities and Generating Ideas
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Explain the difference between opportunities and ideas.
- Describe the three general approaches entrepreneurs use to identify opportunities.
- Discuss the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs that contribute to their ability to recognise business opportunities.
- Identify and describe techniques entrepreneurs use to generate ideas.
Module/Topic
Developing the Business Idea: Feasibility, Industry and Competitor Analysis
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapters 3 and 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Explain what a feasibility analysis is and why it’s important.
- Describe the four stages of feasibility analysis, including Product/Service Feasibility, Industry/Target Market Feasibility, Organizational Feasibility, and Financial Feasibility, and the major issues to consider in each stage of feasibility analysis.
- Describe a feasibility analysis template.
- Explain the purpose of an industry analysis and identify the five competitive forces that determine industry profitability.
- Identify the five primary industry types and the opportunities they offer.
Module/Topic
Developing an effective business model
Chapter
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Describe business models and discuss their importance.
- Identify and describe types of business models.
- Explain the components of the Business Model canvas that entrepreneurs can use to develop a business model for their firm.
Module/Topic
Writing a business plan
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Explain the purpose of a business plan.
- Understand who reads a business plan and what they’re looking for.
- Discuss the guidelines to follow to write an effective business plan.
- Identify and describe a suggested outline of a business plan.
- Explain how to effectively present a business plan to potential investors.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Building a new-venture team
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Explain the concept called liabilities of newness.
- Describe a new venture team and discuss the primary elements that form such a team.
- Identify professional advisers and explain their role with a new-venture team.
- Explain why a new venture team might use consultants to obtain advice.
Assessment 1: New enterprise idea and feasibility study Due: Week 6 Monday (19 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Financial viability and funding
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapters 8 and 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Learn about the importance of understanding the financial management of an entrepreneurial firm.
- Identify the four main financial objectives of entrepreneurial firms.
- Describe the process of financial management.
- Identify and describe the various sources of financing available to entrepreneurs.
Module/Topic
Marketing for startups
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Explain the three steps (segmenting the market, selecting a target market, and establishing a unique market position) entrepreneurial firms use to identify their customers.
- Define a brand and explain why it is important for an entrepreneurial firm’s marketing efforts.
- Identify and explain the 4Ps of marketing activities (product, price, promotion, and place) used by entrepreneurial firms.
- Describe the seven-step sales process an entrepreneurial firm uses to identify prospects and close sales.
Module/Topic
Ethical and Legal foundations for startups
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 7
Chapple, et al. (2016). Company Law (1st ed.): Chapter 1.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the actions founders can take to establish a strong ethical culture in their entrepreneurial ventures.
- Describe actions taken in new firms to effectively deal with legal issues.
- Identify and describe the different forms of organization available to new firms.
Module/Topic
The importance of intellectual property
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapter 12
Select reading material from Australian Government resources given on the Unit Moodle site
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Define the term “intellectual property” and describe its importance.
- Explain what a patent is and describe different types of patents.
- Describe a trademark and explain the process entrepreneurs use to obtain one.
- Describe a copyright and identify what a copyright can protect.
- Describe a trade secret and understand the common causes of trade secret disputes.
Module/Topic
Growing and managing the entrepreneurial firm
Chapter
Barringer & Ireland (2019): Chapters 13 and 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Learning Objectives
- Describe how firms can properly prepare for growth.
- Discuss the six most common reasons firms pursue growth and explain the importance of being able to manage the stages of growth.
- Describe the challenges of firm growth.
- Discuss the internal growth strategy for entrepreneurial firms.
- Discuss different types of external growth strategies.
Module/Topic
Wrap-up and reflections
Chapter
No readings
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
This assignment requires you to compose a business report of approximately 1800 words (+/- 10%), offering a practical application of the theoretical concepts discussed in this Unit by developing a new business idea. Your report should begin with a succinct description of your business concept, followed by a discussion of the methodology used in its development. Additionally, you should integrate a review of academic literature to identify the essential skills required for successful entrepreneurship. The assignment also involves conducting a feasibility study to evaluate the practicality of your business idea within society and a further review of the literature to underline the significance of your idea in the field.
Week 6 Monday (19 Aug 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
A late penalty @ 5% per day will be applied
Week 8 Monday (2 Sept 2024)
Grade will be released on Moodle
New enterprise idea and feasibility study (40% weighting, i.e. 40 marks)
- Provision of a description of the idea or opportunity (6 marks).
- Identification of the process followed to develop the business idea or opportunity (6 marks).
- Discussion of the skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur (6 marks).
- Evaluation of the viability of the proposed social or commercial enterprise through a feasibility study and concept statement (10 marks).
- Explanation of the importance of the proposed enterprise within society (6 marks).
- Citation of 10-12 relevant academic scholarly sources (journal articles and book chapters) and a minimum of 5-6 industry sources (news articles, websites, industry reports) using the APA referencing style (3 marks).
- Correct use of the essay structure and appropriate conventions of academic writing (3 marks).
- Demonstrate an understanding of entrepreneurship, innovation and new start-ups through critical review and synthesis of knowledge and current developments in the field
- Synthesise knowledge and exercise critical thinking to appreciate the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation within society
- Critically analyse and synthesise the knowledge, qualities and skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur in start-up ventures
- Demonstrate creative skills and critical thinking to identify a new start-up opportunity and evaluate its feasibility
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Ethical practice
- Social Innovation
2 Written Assessment
This is a group assignment including two parts: (i) a 10-minute (+/- 2 minutes) pitch presentation and (ii) a business report of 2,000 words (+/- 10%) for a new enterprise.
The assessment will allow you to think and work like a potential entrepreneur with founding team members. You are required to expand upon the idea of enterprise identified in Assessment 1 to indicate how the idea can be developed into a potentially successful and purposeful venture. This assessment task provides you with the opportunity to enhance your research, analysis, critical thinking, teamwork, and written and oral communication skills, particularly in the areas of developing an argument in the context of a new business plan and pitch.
Within a group of 4-5 members, you and your team members will play the role of startup founders in this applied learning assessment task. It is difficult to make changes to the assessment groups once selected, so please make sure that you join a group committed to contributing to the assessment task until the end of the Unit. Detailed guidelines on group enrollment will be made available on the unit's Moodle site.
Week 12 Friday (4 Oct 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
A late penalty @ 5% per day will be applied
Grades will be released after the certification of grades date
Pitch/Presentation (15 Marks)
- A 10-minute (+/- 2 minutes) presentation on the selected social or commercial enterprise business idea.
- All group members must participate in the pitch presentation, and each member must be visible in the video recording to showcase individual contributions.
Business Report (45 Marks)
- Company Description: Provide a description of the proposed new business and a compelling justification for the 'need' of the new business idea. Clarify if there is a tangible 'need' for its product or service in the real world and whether it offers a potential solution to an actual problem (10 marks).
- Team: Discuss the composition of the Founder Team (as you and your team members will take on the role of co-founders), including the proposed roles of members in the new venture. Additionally, include a brief reflective note on the contributions of each individual member to the group assessment tasks (3 marks).
- Legal Structure: Outline the proposed legal structure for your new business venture (2 marks).
- Business Plan Structure and Completeness: Ensure the business plan is professionally structured and complete, covering key aspects such as industry discussion, competitor analysis, target market, operational plan, and financial plan (8 marks).
- Explanation of Business Plan Elements: Provide a compelling explanation of all the key elements of the business plan outlined above within the report (8 marks).
- Business Model Canvas: Use the business model canvas to detail elements crucial to the development of a social or commercial enterprise (10 marks).
- Research Quality and APA Referencing: Demonstrate the quality of research and the accurate application of APA referencing throughout the report (2 marks).
- Report Structure and Academic Writing Conventions: Adhere to the correct report structure and apply the appropriate conventions of academic writing (2 marks).
- Critically analyse and synthesise the knowledge, qualities and skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur in start-up ventures
- Synthesise knowledge and exercise critical thinking to apply appropriate frameworks that evaluate the preferred business model for the start-up opportunity
- Apply technical skills to formulate a business plan for the launch of a start-up venture.
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Ethical practice
- Social Innovation
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
