Master In Entrepreneurship

• A. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

The Master in Entrepreneurship course is a 12 unit post-graduate program being offered by the Charleston Management Centre Master of Entrepreneurship course comprises subjects carefully chosen from a combination of management disciplines with options for emphasis in finance and marketing subjects. To graduate, students enrolled are required to satisfactorily complete 12 compulsory study units in entrepreneurial issues. The course is designed to meet the needs of part-time students through weekend seminar delivery session and weekday evening tutorial sessions.

• B. AIMS OF THE COURSE

The Master of Entrepreneurship course is aimed at providing emerging entrepreneurs and corporate intrapreneurs with the necessary knowledge coupled with management and technical skills to successfully initiate and commercialize new business ventures or to pursue a successful career as a manager within the private and/or public sectors, both locally and internationally.

• 1) More specifically, the objectives of the Master of Entrepreneurship course are designed to:
Allow students to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to critically assess and implement new ventures and new business ideas Generate awareness of the process of identifying, creating and managing a successful new business venture with a strong growth potential Assist students to develop a personal roadmap to learn about and to successfully apply entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial management skills Develop an agility to take advantage of the numerous new business opportunities offered by new technology developments, the growing services industries and small information-based enterprises Encourage joint research possibilities with the business sector in the entrepreneurial process Identify and promote the leadership and management skills necessary to develop and enhance global business leaders who create value with new setups Provide practical entrepreneurial applications for students by inviting and engaging successful entrepreneurs to discuss their experiences and by sending students into the business community as apprentices.

• 2) Graduates from the Master of Entrepreneurship course should be able to:
• Understand the scope and processes involved in entrepreneurial, corporate innovation and new venture management activities Take advantage of opportunities to become more enterprising and more entrepreneurial in attitudes, skills and behaviors Critically assess their own skills, abilities and aptitude for self-employment as entrepreneurs or as intrapreneurs in new venture management Apply the knowledge and skills needed to strategically establish themselves to manage and work within innovative and entrepreneurial enterprises.

• C. ADMISSION REGULATIONS
• 1. Intake Periods
• Intake commences in March, July and November.
• 2. Application For Admission
Applications for admission must be made on the HGS admission application form. Applicants are required to sign the declaration on the application form certifying that the information provided on the form or attached to the form or subsequently provided in support of their application, is deemed to be true and correct.

3. Admission Requirements

An approved degree or an equivalent professional qualification with minimum 3 years work or relevant entrepreneurial experience And An English proficiency level considered sufficient to satisfactorily complete the course.

• D. COURSE ASSESSMENT
• 1. Course assessment
• Each subject will have a minimum of three assessment items:
• A 2-hour written examination
Submission of 2 assignments on topics relevant to the subject Other assessment items may be used at the discretion of the subject facilitators. These may include individual or group assignments, project writing, tests, class discussion and class participation.

• The weightage of each assessment item is based on the following percentage:
• Examination 20%
• Assignment 1 30%
• Assignment 2 50%
Total 100%

• Grading Scale
• High Distinction (HD) 85 - 100 marks
• Distinction (DI) 75 - 84 marks
• Credit (CR) 65 - 74 marks
• Pass (PS) 50 - 64 marks
• Fail (FL) 0 - 49 marks

• 2. Course Duration
• Normally 18 months on a modular basis.
• Each subject will have a minimum of 42 contact hours comprising:
• 16-hour weekend seminar session
• 26-hour weekday seminar sessions
• E. SUBJECTS OFFERED IN THE CHARLESTON MANAGEMENT CENTRE MASTER IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP COURSE
• The subjects offered in the Master of Entrepreneurship are listed below. Students are required to enroll for 12 compulsory units comprising:
• Compulsory units:
• MER501 Entrepreneurship Management
• MER502 Psychology of the Entrepreneurship
• MER503 New Venture Project Evaluation & Management
• MER504 Financial Planning for Entrepreneurs
• MER505 New Venture Strategic Marketing
• MER506 New Venture Growth Management
• MER507 Corporate Leadership & Governance
• MER508 Advanced Seminars in Creativity & Innovation
• MER509 Strategic Alliances & Venture Negotiations
• MER510 Global Ventures for Entrepreneurs
• MER511 Strategy Management for Entrepreneurs
• MER512 Business Plan for New Ventures (Project Paper)
• F. SUBJECT SYPNOSIS
• MER501 ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT

Today there are increasing number of people who aspire to be entrepreneurs and to start their own business. Entrepreneurship is now the driving force behind economic growth and rejuvenation in all countries. This course has been designed to provide students with the tools they need to master the most important issues involved in starting and managing a successful business venture. For those who are already in existing businesses, this course brings new developments into the entrepreneurship field.

• MER502 PSYCHOLOGY OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The importance of entrepreneurial organizations as the driving force of industrialization around the world cannot be denied. This module considers the issues involved in the creation of entrepreneurial organizations. The nature of entrepreneurship and its development. The success factors necessary for venture success and the preparation of entrepreneurs for success are important components. Students will be trained to write bankable feasibility reports that will define the concept, provide relevant industry data, describe the company's products or services, discuss the competitive analysis and market strategy. Other important information will include data on operations of the business and rudimentary pro-forma projections.

• MER503 NEW VENTURE PROJECT EVALUATION & MANAGEMENT

The process of formulating, initiating and managing the operations of a new venture requires a holistic and fundamental approach in management concept, commonly known as project management. The underlying philosophy of this course is an awareness of the interface relationships of the different aspects of the new venture process and how it interacts with the environment. This encompasses a study of its risk, value, finance, procurement, business strategies, an understanding of the laws and information technology together with an appreciation of the soft skills necessary in the effective management of new ventures. The course has strong links with business and case studies help form an integral part of the teaching, offering entrepreneurs and students an opportunity to further develop their critical thinking ability and to undertake new research into this managerial concept.

• MER504 FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Today's entrepreneur requires an applied and realistic view of financial matters in their activities. As small and growing firms, the understanding of finance also requires an understanding of management, marketing and planning functions in these firms. This subject offers an integrated and comprehensive perspective of financial management in their daily business. It provides a set of concepts and applications arising from the developments in entrepreneurship, finance and accounting. It will prepare students for their entry into new businesses and also offer new and useful insights into the rapid growth of entrepreneurs and their businesses. Both practical and theory will be explored with some emphasis on venture capital and public offerings.

• MER505 NEW VENTURE STRATEGIC MARKETING

This course is designed to offer a broad understanding of marketing and its essential role within new ventures. It is suitable for new ventures who are expected to use marketing as a major activity of their business area and for current entrepreneurs who want to complement their practical knowledge with a sound theoretical base. The course is designed to enhance presentation skills as well as decision-making and problem solving skills. Students are provided with the theoretical frameworks needed to interpret and challenge, current business practices; to develop knowledge and understanding of business/management practices (applied knowledge and understanding) and management skills in marketing.

• MER506 NEW VENTURE GROWTH MANAGEMENT

As the new venture progresses according to the stages of its life cycle, the business will face complex issues, ranging from leadership modes, management challenges, organizational changes and human resource practices. The course will introduce tools and techniques for decision-making and to explore concepts and ideas for practical applications and eventual implementation.

• MER507 CORPORATE LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE

This unit defines the concepts of leaders and leaderships and provides a broad review of the theoretical constructs, theories and studies of leaders and leaderships. Although leadership is a function exercised in different areas of human endeavor, the modular focus and attention is on its relevance, links and application in management of business ventures.

• MER508 ADVANCED SEMINARS IN CREATIVITY & INNOVATION

Established ventures will need to renew and rejuvenate their activities. They will be required to explore deeper into the contexts of entrepreneurial, innovation, strategic relationships and global issues to identify opportunities and new ideas and to rapidly commercialize them. The course discovers methods for innovation and a multi-phased approach to strategic business creativity. This unit discusses present day ventures that offer significant achievements in breakthrough creativity and innovative problem solving. It will also highlight cases that were able to discover opportunities and exploit them to their advantage. Students are challenged to think creatively and incorporate cutting-edge thinking, theories, models and technology to create opportunities for their business or organization resulting in profitable outcomes.

• MER509 STRATEGIC ALLIANCES & VENTURE NEGOTIATIONS

The continued growth and success of new ventures hinges a great deal upon the development and maintenance of proper alliances in the business community. Successful business networking and alliances are critical to the competitive advantage of many enterprises. Networking strategies will enhance relationships and offer benefits to the business. This course is designed to enable students to understand and use strategic relationships better. All communication is viewed as some form of negotiation. Effective negotiation involves an understanding of the negotiation process backed by a systematic technique and modeled with a practical methodology. A sound negotiation approach with a clear process will enable effective results to be produced in the course of pursuing strategic business relationships. Models for successful negotiation in different contexts will be examined to offer insights into positive applications.

• MER510 GLOBAL VENTURES FOR ENTREPRENEURS

For survival today, businesses must move beyond exporting to capitalize on the new opportunities created by the expanding global economy. Astute business leaders understand the need to take their companies to a global position, yet surprisingly few know how to get there. This course offers global perspectives on business processes and strategies that companies can use to enter the global marketplace. It provides the knowledge and expertise businesses need to establish a successful worldwide presence. Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to learn about globally active and financially successful companies in the world, understand how they got there, and apply those lessons to their own ventures. They will explore ways to see global challenges and opportunities, think with an international mindset, act with decisive global-centric leadership behaviors, and mobilize world-class companies to success.

• MER511 STRATEGY MANAGEMENT FOR ENTREPRENEURS

This course proposes to apply the different knowledge of concepts and techniques gained from other functional business units, including accounting, finance and marketing in order to develop an understanding of strategy as an integrative discipline. Specifically, it defines the processes of strategic management and policy formulation. It examines how marketing, finance, operations and human resources can be integrated to attain corporate goals and explores the different ways strategies and policies are implemented, controlled and evaluated for maximum impact. It offers to analyze complex corporate problems on the basis of strategic management fundamentals, real life scenarios and case studies. Students are better equipped to start their own business ventures, become global managers, and to formulate corporate and business level strategies.

• MER512 BUSINESS PLAN FOR NEW VENTURES (PROJECT PAPER)

This course will allow the student to synthesize his experience from the knowledge gained from taking the different modules earlier. Approved in advance by the supervisor, the student is expected to write a substantial paper on a business plan on how to create a venture for profit or how to organize a project to raise additional revenue for a business organization. The students can source materials from newspaper and journal articles, review of scholarly books and academic journal articles on the topic being researched. There is no final examination in this course. Each student will work individually on his/her project. Students are expected to attend all the lectures and to complete the in-depth project paper. Students are encouraged to discuss their project with the supervisor at any stage and to regularly report their progress to the supervisor. Students need to submit their paper (in hard copy) at the end of the module. This submission will provide a full and comprehensive capstone assessment of their participation in the ME program.

Feb. 24, 2007