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MScEntrepreneurship and Innovation

More information

royalholloway.ac.uk/..-and-innovation.aspx 

Overview

Interested? To learn more about this study programme, entry requirements and application process, please contact one of our consultants in a country nearest to you.

Programme structure

Core modules
Venture Creation and Financial Planning
This module will introduce you to the basic theories and practices related to business planning and the entrepreneurial start-up process. You will look at the discovery of business opportunities, the development and assessment of business ideas, the formation of founding teams, and how to preparare a business plan.

Innovation
In this module you will explore business innovation in the context of new ventures and corporations, discussing how changes in Information technology, markets, and society are affecting the emergence of new business models, products, and services. You will look at sources of innovation and creativity, the innovative organisation, developing new products and services, innovation networks and policies, knowledge management and innovation in the global context for competitive advantage.

Entrepreneurial Marketing
This module will provide you with an introduction to the key topics in marketing, focussing on how small and entrepreneurial organisations with limited resources market and promote themselves. You will develop an understanding of selling and negotiating, market analysis and customer segmentation, consumer behaviour, creativity and innovation, leveraging limited marketing resources, customer relationship management and brand building.

Entrepreneurship and Consultancy
In this module you will develop an understanding of the key aspects of entrepreneurship. You will look at the entrepreneurship process, the key differences between large companies and small and medium sized enterprises, and the financing options available to start-up and developing companies. You will examine enterprise barriers, growth and performance, with particular consideration given to the role of start-up and entrepreneurial activity in the hi-tech and bio-pharma sectors.

Dissertation Preparation and Research Methods
In this module you will develop your analytical research skills so that you are better prepared your dissertation project. You will look at approaches to management research and the assumptions upon which they are based, and consider how to critically evaluate primary and seconadary data sources. You will examine how to choose appropriate quantitative and qualitative research methods for data collection and subsequent analysis, and how to conduct research in a systematic and critical reflective manner. You will also analyse the ethical implications of research investigations and their impact upon findings.

Independent Business Research Project
In this capstone module you will be given a topic, drawn from current issues faced by businesses, and you will be expected to identify and select an organisational or industry context. You will expected to undertake a substantial review of secondary sources, comprising both academic journals and industry publications. Using relevant market research techniques, you will undertake a substantive and unique primary research study, providing a critical analysis with key insights. You will be asked to make justified and feasible managerial suggestions, prepare an executive summary, and deliver a presentation to communicate your findings.

Optional modules
In addition to these mandatory course units there are a number of optional course units available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course units that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new units may be offered or existing units may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

Family and Small Business Management
In this module you will develop an understanding of the challenges and opportunities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). You will consider family businesses as a distinct type of organisation, looking at their strengths and weaknesses. You will examine the prevalence and economic contribution of family firms, as well as issues of governance, strategic management, succession, change and transgenerational value creation, and relationships and conflicts between family members.

Ethics and Social Entreprenuership
In this module you will develop an understanding of the role of business in modern society from an ethical perspective. You will look at different types of business, including publicly traded multinationals, small and medium sized enterprises, social enterprises and family firms. You will examine the issues in these organisational types and articulate moral arguments from a range of perspectives, critiquing alternative models of business, including social entrepreneurship, fair trade and microfinance.

Sustainability and Accounting
In this module you will develop an undersanding of the contemporary issues in the theory and practice of sustainability accounting and accountability. You will explore the philosophical underpinnings of corporate social responsibility and sustainability accounting, and examine the roles of stakeholder engagement and dialogue, including the motivations for social and environmental reporting. You will also consider the applicability of sustainability reporting to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), full impact accounting and the role of silent and shadow accounts in sustainability.

Communication Issues in Accounting
In this module you will develop an understanding of the contemporary issues regarding the theory and practice of communication in accounting. You will look at the nature of the international reporting environment, examining the roles, needs and characteristics of lay and expert readers of financial reports. You will consider how impressions are created through the use of graphs, narratives and pictures, and the role of experimental research. You will also explore rhetorical, literary and cultural theory perspectives in the critical study of financial reporting documents, and will examine case studies on a variety of international reporting practices.

Services Marketing
In this module you will develop an understanding of how the role of service marketing is changing in society, and the changing factors that influence marketing decision-making for organisations. You will look at the differences between services and goods, the key elements of service marketing, the service delivery process, and implementing and managing profitable service strategies.

Arts Marketing
This module will introduce you to the basic marketing theories and practices necessary for the successful running of art galleries. You will look at how art is consumed, its consumers, and how arts organisations operate across the private, public, and voluntary sectors. You will consider the particularities of ‘marketing for the arts’, such as audience development, corporate sponsorship, and philanthropy, and how they are addressed alongside conventional marketing concerns, such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, branding, intermediation, and promotions. You will also examine financial investment vehicles for theatre, film, and fine art, and the role of institutional critique by contemporary artists.

Marketing Communications
In this module you will examine the principal means of marketing communications – advertising, promotion, public relations, direct marketing and sales teams. You will develop an understanding of the contemporary media environment and how this impacts on marketers’ efforts to communicate with stakeholders. You will examine how communications must be tailored to the market segment, and look at the impact of communication cultures, particularly overseas, on market entry.

Consumption, Markets and Cultures
In this module you will develop an understanding of the broader socio-cultural issues relevant to marketing practice in the 21st Century. You will look at the interactions that occur between the market, consumers and the marketplace, focussing on how particular manifestations of culture are constituted, maintained and transformed by broader forces such as cultural narratives, myths, ideologies and grounded in specific socioe-conomic circumstances and marketplace systems. You will engage with complex theoretical concepts including consumer culture theory, symbolic consumption and the production of culture.

Career opportunities

On graduating with a Masters degreein Entrepreneurship from Royal Holloway you will be highly employable and have a variety of career paths available, including: product development/research, business planning, growth and operations/strategic management in existing businesses, creating new businesses, providing business support and advice or specialising in entrepreneurship policy, research and education. You will also have a solid foundation to continue PhD studies.

Apply now! Fall semester 2023/24
Application period has ended
Notes
Please see the university profile or contact us for the deadlines that apply to you
Apply now! Fall semester 2023/24
Application period has ended
Notes
Please see the university profile or contact us for the deadlines that apply to you