Business Management and Entrepreneurship

3 ECTS credits
90 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4023402DNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (D) Master - preliminary level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Studenten die dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen, moeten geslaagd zijn voor ‘Bedrijfsbeleid' of voor "Economie en het Bedrijfsleven". Studenten master Bio-Ingenieurswetenschappen, kunnen dit vak opnemen. Students from the following programs, can take up this course without additional prerequisites: European Master of Photonics, Master of Chemical and Materials, Master of Electromechanical Engineering

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool

Department

Business Technology and Operations

Educational team

Marc Goldchstein
Kevin De Moortel (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

33 contact hours Lecture

Course Content

Provide students from non-economic faculties with insights into the different aspects of the working of a(n entrepreneurial) firm: industry dynamics, management, finance, marketing, human resources, legal aspects

Understanding business ecosystems

The first sessions are dedicated to understanding how ‘industries’ are ‘organised’. We will elaborate on how different sectors are defined, the role of supply chains and workflows within those sectors, the main types of actors in these supply chains and ecosystems. We get to know industry dynamics such as network effects, standards, economies of scale, regional clusters. We then focus on the actor of change in these ecosystems: innovation. We learn to differentiate between different types of innovation. We study how innovations are adopted by industry and evolve over time.

Formulating strategies

We address the challenge of formulating a strategy that leads to a viable spot in the business ecosystem. We cover topics as core assets, value propositions and performance criteria, value chain strategies, the role of industrial partners. We discuss different business- and revenue models; we learn to chart an ecosystem map. We discuss different perspectives that are used to assess the potential of a venture, as well as the challenge of formulating strategies in inherently uncertain worlds.

Legal aspects

We elaborate on some key legal aspects related to entrepreneurship, such as the different legal forms,and the basics of setting-up and managing a company (NV/BV, Board, management, shares,...).

Marketing

We elaborate on marketing aspects. First we study key differences between selling to consumers and businesses. We discuss how entrepreneurs can assemble knowledge about their markets. We touch on the role of product management and discuss pricing aspects. We discuss marketing communications, the role of distribution channels and sales organisations, and touch on the role of customer service.

Intellectual Property (IP)

In this session we wil discuss key concepts of patents and other IP rights.

Finance: accounting and startup funding

We allocate three sessions on the key topic of financial management. We study key financial reports (balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements) and accounting concepts (investment, depreciation, stock, accrual…). We learn to analyse financial accounts; we study cash flow planning. We cover specific aspects such as VAT, taxes, labour costs, insurance… Finally, we address the topic of startup funding.

Team and management aspects

In this module we focus on the human resources aspects of business. We elaborate a/o on the key challenge of building and motivating a team of top notch professionals.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Syllabus and slides made electronically available, Canvas by the course holder

Additional info

Not applicable.

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

Students with non-economics background will be introduced to the most important aspects of how business organizations work: fundamentals of business, management, finance, marketing, human resource management, product design and development.

After this course, students should be able to:

explain the various theories studied with respect to all functional areas,
identify the complementarity and differences of various theories studied.
apply these theories in specific case environments.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Written Exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Written exam, closed book (100%), is composed of 2 parts :

a number of open questions, optionally based on a case (80%)
Multiple-choice questions (20%), with guess correction

The student has the right to take the exam in Dutch.

De student heeft het recht het examen in het Nederlands af te leggen.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context