Unit information: Idea to Launch in 2028/29

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Idea to Launch
Unit code INOVM0019
Credit points 40
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Mr. Neild
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

None

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one

None

School/department Centre for Innovation
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

This unit explains how to set up a new venture from initial idea to launch. It covers both commercial entities and social enterprises, as well as intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial ventures, with a specific focus tailored to your degree pathway.

This unit guides you through the entrepreneurial journey, providing a broad understanding of the entrepreneur's role. You'll explore everything from the risk-taking and emotional aspects of starting an enterprise to developing a robust enterprise plan. This plan will cover the practical, financial, and legal requirements of setting up and running a new social or commercial enterprise.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study

You'll work in an agile manner in self-selected groups to research, prototype, and demonstrate early evidence for a venture that your group will agree upon. This unit provides your starting point for managing and developing a new start-up or spin-out venture. This includes searching for and validating an original idea (including market analysis, intellectual property searches, and securing new IP), developing a suitable business model that addresses the enterprise's internal and external requirements, defining the venture's mission, vision, and values, translating your enterprise idea into an attractive and feasible enterprise plan, and securing a sustainable competitive advantage.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

You will be introduced to fundamental concepts for planning and running an enterprise. These include market analysis, sales and marketing, competitor analysis, pricing, resources and risk management, financial planning, funding strategies, and legal issues (covering company structures, contracts, and intellectual property). We will also examine the mindset and behaviour of those creating new ventures and explore what it means to think and act entrepreneurially.

How will students, personally, be different as a result of this unit

You'll gain competence and confidence in applying your research and design skills to creating a venture. Your Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, and business development knowledge will be extended, and you will be able to select and apply these skills to a range of real and imagined scenarios. You will further develop your understanding of what thinking and acting like an entrepreneur means to you, personally.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to: 

  1. Select and apply a range of appropriate tools and approaches to develop a compelling value proposition for a new venture.
  2. Critically evaluate the desirability, feasibility, viability, adaptability, and credibility of a proposed new venture.
  3. Present a professional-standard plan for a new venture covering all aspects of the market analysis, route to market, strategic advantage, and financial case.
  4. Document and reflect critically on the process of discovering and validating a viable value creation opportunity.
  5. Demonstrate skills in collaborative opportunity-creation.

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including lectures, group meetings and workshops supported by collaborative and self-directed learning.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

Venture Plan (group assessment), 5000 words or equivalent (50%)  [ILOs 1,2,3, and 5]

Individual Process Reflection (individual assessment), 3000 words or equivalent (50%) [ILOs 1,2,4, and 5]

When assessment does not go to plan

When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year. 

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. INOVM0019).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.