Course description
MSc
The MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise offers graduates from virtually any discipline, and graduates who may have had little formal business education or work experience, an opportunity to study business innovation, creativity and enterprise at postgraduate level. These subjects are in great demand globally from companies operating in a dynamic and competitive business environment.
The course is delivered at Oxford Brookes over a 12-month period. Students join the course from across the world and this creates a unique opportunity for you to share multicultural experiences, both academically and socially. The knowledge, skills and competences you gain will be relevant for a variety of careers across a range of sectors and organisations at a local and global level. Alternatively, the MSc can be a stepping stone for a further higher research degree, such as a PhD.
Course content
The MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise course is modular in structure and taught over three stages, including a period for completion of the dissertation. Students are normally expected to stay in Oxford for close contact with staff and access to resources during this period.
Stage 1 introduces the three core subjects:
* Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise
* New Economy and Sustainability
* Organisational Learning and Knowledge Management.
These core subjects represent the most important issues facing managers. The extent to which a business can create new ideas and implement them or bring them to market successfully, can take up the opportunities offered by the new economy and sustainable development, and can learn from mistakes and failures will largely govern its success in the 21st century. To develop and reinforce these core elements one of the assignments will involve students working in groups to develop their own business ideas and create plans to finance them. You will also learn how to assess the viability of a proposal for a new business.
These core subjects run parallel to the development of functional, conceptual and skills elements of the curriculum. Functional elements include Principles of Financial Accounting and Statistics, and Principles of Marketing. Experts in these functional areas of business management will provide teaching sessions and workshops for you throughout Stage 1.
During Stage 1 you will also take the Research Methods module, during which we will support and help you in preparing the proposal for your Dissertation or Business Development Project.
Stage 2 comprises Planning for New Business Ventures, in which you will learn how to produce a detailed and comprehensive plan for a new business venture, and Entrepreneurship, in which you will learn about the nature of entrepreneurship and what makes a business successful. These modules will involve input such as presentations and workshops from business people, government agencies, consultants, financiers and others involved with business start-ups and the successful financing and management of enterprises.
On completion of these two core modules you will understand the main causes of business failure and have explored a range of strategies that can be employed in order to save a failing business. You will understand the necessity and importance of business planning and you will be able to produce and present a detailed and comprehensive business plan. Most importantly, you will know what is required to start up and manage a business successfully.
In Stage 2 of the MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise you will also study the Management of Innovation and Change. The introduction of innovation and the associated changes in culture, organisational behaviour and working practices is one of the most important challenges facing managers, a challenge that must be mastered if your business is to survive in the 21st century. Examination of the links between theories of innovation, change management and competitive strategy, and their implications for the management of the human resource, will sit at the heart of this module.
In Stage 3 you will elect to take either the Dissertation or the Business Development Project. Undertaking the Business Development Project will involve a work placement during which you will conduct action research into an area of business and academic interest. An academic will be appointed to support and guide you through the process of researching and writing your dissertation or project. Specialisations developed in Stage 2 may be pursued in the Dissertation or Business Development Project if desired.
Teaching, learning and assessment
The course content is delivered through a series of interactive workshops and seminars with additional lectures, guest speakers and industrial visits. The induction programme, which includes career guidance, takes place daily the week before the start of your formal studies. It introduces you to the teaching methods we use and the ways you can gain maximum value from the course. Assessment is based mainly upon group presentations, individual and group assignments and the dissertation. A Postgraduate Certificate in Business and Enterprise or a Postgraduate Diploma in Business and Enterprise may be awarded to students who achieve sufficient credits but who have not completed the course.
Quality
The reputation of the Business School is underpinned through membership of and programme accreditations received from the Association of MBAs, the Association of Business Schools, and professional associations such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and the European Foundation for Management Development. The Business School is, therefore, widely regarded as one of the best within its peer group.
The Business School's programmes benefit from rigorous quality assurance procedures and regularly receive excellent feedback from external examiners, employers, students and professional bodies. In 2005, Business and Management achieved 'Broad Confidence', the best possible result, in the discipline audit trail as part of the Quality Assurance Agency Institutional Audit.
Many students who graduate from Business School programmes go on to achieve high status in the industry of their choice.
The Business School has an active programme of research based around six key research areas:
* Accounting, Governance and Information Management
* Economics and Strategy
* Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management
* Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour
* Marketing and Operations Management
* Pedagogy
The School maintains a rigorous and dynamic doctoral programme leading to the higher degrees of MPhil and PhD. Postgraduate students join a supportive, friendly and multicultural research environment.
