GRA 3164 Developing, Organizing and Leading Entrepreneurial Ventures
GRA 3164 Developing, Organizing and Leading Entrepreneurial Ventures
Entrepreneurs and corporate innovators face significant leadership and organizational challenges such as deciding on and developing the firm's business model, recruiting and leading an entrepreneurial team, leading explorative and experimental work on a shoestring budget, and building an organization from scratch. Successful entrepreneurship requires an understanding of these challenges and a set of leadership skills to overcome them. The course will give students knowledge and understanding of theory and practice of business models, agile design and development, leadership and organizing in entrepreneurial settings and prepare them for careers in start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation efforts.
Upon completion of the course, students should have knowledge of:
- DIfferent types of business models and their application in entrepreneurial ventures
- The leadership challenges and requirements of start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation efforts
- Leadership and development of people and teams in entrepreneurial settings
- Methods for leading and organizing innovative projects
- Decision making in entrepreneurial settings
- The role of technology in leadership and collaboration
- Organizational development and design of entrepreneurial efforts of different types and stages of development
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
- Identify and develop different types of business models, the drivers of their performance, and important strategic choices
- Identify leadership challenges and requirements as well as apply relevant leadership practices
- Assess and choose appropriate processes, methods, and tools for different innovation challenges, as well as to know the basics of how to lead them
- Identify and make strategic decisions
- Assess and choose effective ways to organize start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation efforts
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to reflect and apply knowledge and skills across diverse contexts on:
- The use of theories and models to solve business development, leadership and organizational problems in start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation efforts
- Approaches to collaboration, management and organization of work in an international context
- Impact of digitalization
- Personal career development path
The course covers the following topics:
- Different types of business models and related strategic issues and potential actions
- The leadership capabilities of an entrepreneur: start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation and the different leadership capabilities they require
- Building a team and leading people
- Decision making in entrepreneurial settings
- Leading and organizing innovative projects: introduction to Agile, Lean Startup, rapid prototyping, and Design Thinking methods
- Organizing start-ups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation: the fundamentals of organization design
The course will combine academic rigor and practical relevance through research-based and academic-grade practitioner literature, student involvement, problem solving, and practical exercises in and between lectures. Leading reflective practitioners will be involved in the development and teaching of the course.
Students have to read assigned literature and cases before each class and be prepared for class discussions.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
All parts of the assessment must be passed in order to get a grade in the course.
The examination for this course has been changed starting academic year 23/24. It is not possible to resit the old version of the examination.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 60 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Exam code: GRA 31642 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Handin - all file types Weight: 40 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Video presentation (groups 1-4) plus individual written discussions on videos and class material. Links to the written discussion will be provided by course coordinator. Exam code: GRA 31643 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.
- Develop a business model and organizational development plan for an entrepreneurial effort
- Conduct an assessment of the business model and organization of an entrepreneurial effort