Entrepreneurship and Innovation

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: Professor Helen Lawton Smith
• Tutors: Professor Helen Lawton Smith, Professor Daniele Archibugi 
• Assessment: a 3000-word essay (100%)

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of any economy. Since the 1980s successive British governments have sought to promote entrepreneurship, both as a way of tackling economic problems and capitalising on the private and public knowledge-base.

In this module we bring together theory and practice through a visiting speaker programme, which includes entrepreneurs and policy makers. We will:

• provide you with a thorough understanding of the entrepreneurial process and business practice
• familiarise you with key debates addressing theories of entrepreneurship and innovation
• provide you with evidence on the applications of these theories to studies of new business creation and growth
• highlight how some contexts are more conducive to entrepreneurship and innovation than others
• demonstrate patterns of entrepreneurship and innovation in the UK in comparison with other countries, particularly the US.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• analyse information on entrepreneurship and innovation and synthesise it to evaluate decision alternatives
• understand the nature and processes of entrepreneurship and innovation by applying various concepts to an understanding of the management of new business creation and growth
• understand and critically assess issues of entrepreneurial behaviour and innovation and firm performance
• evaluate enterprise policies in different national and regional contexts.