General provisions

The course is offered as a single subject course and can be included in an education programme at Uppsala University according to the degree system. The course syllabus was approved by the board of the Department of Business Studies on delegation from the Faculty of Social Sciences and takes effects as of 2011-08-29.

Learning outcomes

This course prepares participants for a future career as entrepreneurs, either as founders of new businesses or within already established companies. It is designed to give participants practical insights into those business aspects that are particularly important during a firm's early development phases, and to make them more effective in managing and growing the start-up firm. It also provides the cornerstones for successfully launching and implementing entrepreneurial projects within already established organisations.

By the end of the course, participants will know how to pro-actively deal with some of the most common challenges involved in launching a new business venture. Specifically, they will be able to:

- Identify and evaluate new business ideas.

- Write a business plan and effectively communicate and "sell" new business concepts to other people.

- Understand basic financial statements and ratios.

- Distinguish between different sources of financing and select those that best fit the requirements of the new entrepreneurial venture.

- Formulate a business strategy for the new venture that can be communicated to external stakeholders.

- Successfully internationalise the new venture, which involves careful market selection and positioning of products and services in foreign markets.

- Launch and develop new business ventures inside established corporations, and make them survive in an often hostile environment.

Content

While entrepreneurship can be as theoretical as any field of research, the entrepreneurship course has a distinctly practical orientation. Organising frameworks, analytical tools, and discussions around real-life cases provide practical guidance in addressing and solving common problems and challenges in managing the start-up and growing firm. Individual topics include, but are not necessarily limited to: The myths and facts about entrepreneurship, selling and marketing new products and services, understanding financial statements, financing the start-up firm, managing growth, devising a strategy for the expanding firm, internationalisation, and entrepreneurship inside the established corporation.

Instruction

The course is taught in English. Teaching involves a mix of: (a) Lectures that introduce organising frameworks and analytical tools, (b) guest lectures where active entrepreneurs and prominent practitioners share their business experiences and insights with the course participants, and (c) real-life case discussions. In the case discussions, course participants are exposed to a range of business problems and asked to produce practical recommendations and solutions. Some of the cases involve role plays around various business situations and problems.

Typical sessions run for about two hours, although some sessions may be either shorter or longer. Much of the learning will take place during the individual sessions, so active participation is strongly recommended.

Assessment

The students will get one single grade, equivalent to 7.5 credits. The following grades will be used: VG (pass with distinction), G (pass) and U (fail). To pass the course participants have to take active part in the sessions, hand in a group assignment with recommendations for the development of a real-life case company, and successfully complete a written take-home assignment. While examination for classroom participation take into account both the amount and quality of contributions, the group hand-in and take-home assignment are graded with respect to the depth and quality of the account or analysis. The final grade combines the performance from classroom participation (30% of the final grade), the group hand-in (20%), and the take-home assignment (50%).

Any remaining assignments and supplements must be completed and handed in at least within four weeks after the end of the course, otherwise the entire course will have to be redone the next time the course is given, provided there is space in the course.

Uppsala University takes cheating and plagiarism seriously, and disciplinary action will be taken against any student suspected of being involved in any sort of cheating and/or plagiarism. The disciplinary actions take the form of warnings and limited suspensions.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.

Transitional provisions

The course replaces/overlaps among others the following courses: Entrepreneurship A 2FE031, Entrepreneurship 2FE026, Entrepreneurship, Basic Course A 2FE012.